Learn what you can do after a car accident in Texas to protect your rights and start building a strong insurance claim.
On average, someone in Texas is injured in a vehicle accident every 2 minutes and 12 seconds.¹
If you or a family member are injured in an accident caused by someone else, you may be entitled to compensation. Here we lay out the steps you can take after a crash to protect your legal rights, how to determine liability, and what you can expect for compensation.
What to Do After a Texas Car Accident
Follow these five steps to preserve your safety and your right to injury compensation.
1. Stay At the Scene and Exchange Information
Texas car accident law requires drivers in an accident involving injury or death to stop and remain at the scene, or as close to the scene as safely possible. Drivers must give their name, vehicle registration number, and insurance information to drivers and occupants of any vehicles involved in the accident. Drivers must display their license if requested.
2. Call 911 and Help the Injured
Drivers involved in an accident must provide reasonable assistance to the injured, including arranging for transportation to the nearest medical facility when the person is obviously injured or asks for transport.
Calling 911 to report the crash and ask for an ambulance should meet this obligation. Do what you can to help the injured until emergency responders arrive.
3. Seek Prompt Medical Treatment
You may be stunned after an accident or experience a surge of adrenaline triggered by the impact. This can mask injury symptoms, especially if you have children or other loved ones in the car to worry about.
Symptoms of injuries, like brain trauma, internal bleeding, and other serious conditions may develop over time. In the immediate aftermath of a crash, people have been known to walk around with broken bones and not even realize it.
See to your children, but look after your own health and safety as well. Never refuse or delay medical care after a car accident. Delays give the insurance company an excuse to deny or minimize your injury claim. If you wait a few days to see how you feel, the adjuster will argue that your injuries aren’t related to the accident.
Discuss all your injuries and symptoms with your medical provider, even cuts, bruises, and sore areas. You are entitled to compensation for all your car accident injuries, not just the most significant one.
4. Gather Evidence From the Scene
In traditional fault states like Texas, the claimant bears the burden of proving the other driver caused the crash. The police accident report is excellent evidence of fault, especially when the other driver was cited for traffic violations.
Other types of evidence include:
- Photographs and video of the crash scene
- Names and contact information from witnesses
- Your personal notes about the accident
5. Notify Both Insurance Companies
Notify the at-fault driver’s insurance company of your intent to file an injury claim as soon as possible. You don’t have to be fully recovered to put the insurance company on notice, but it’s best not to discuss settlement while you are still dealing with injuries.
The insurance company will typically send an acknowledgment letter with a claim number. When an adjuster is assigned to your claim, they might contact you with a fast settlement offer and ask for your side of the story.
Beware if the adjuster wants to take your recorded statement. Adjusters are trained to get you to say something they can use to challenge your claim. You are not required to provide a recorded statement. If the adjuster tries to bully you, talk to an attorney.
What to Expect from Your Insurance Company
No matter who caused the collision, you are contractually obligated by your insurance policy to notify your own insurer after an accident. You also must cooperate with the company’s investigation.
Your insurance company has a duty to defend you if you get sued by someone else in the accident. You could forfeit that protection if you fail to promptly advise them of the accident, or covered up important information.
Texas Fault and Liability Rules
Texas is a traditional at-fault state, so you will seek compensation for car accident damages directly from the negligent driver and other at-fault parties. For example, if you were hit by a driver operating a company truck, you’ll also have a claim against the driver’s employer.
In most cases, you’ll start by filing a claim with the negligent driver’s auto insurance company.
If you’ve purchased optional coverages under your own auto policy, like collision coverage for vehicle repairs, you might choose to ask your own insurer to cover it. After paying your collision claim, your insurer will go after the at-fault driver’s insurance company for reimbursement.
Texas Shared Fault Rules
Texas follows a modified comparative fault rule. You are barred from compensation when you are more to blame than the other driver. Otherwise, your compensation is reduced according to your percentage of fault.
Example of Modified Comparative Fault in Texas
On a warm Thursday night, Charlie was driving his old Mustang down Blanco Street in Austin. On this evening, Charlie didn’t realize that his brake lights weren’t working.
When a dog darted out into the street, Charlie hit the brakes. That’s when he was jolted forward and back from the impact of a rear-end crash.
Jessica had been driving her car behind the old Mustang. By the time she realized the car had stopped, it was too late for her to avoid plowing into the back of Charlie’s car.
Charlie had a significant whiplash injury that kept him from his electrician job for six weeks. He filed an injury claim with Jessica’s insurance company demanding $30,000. When negotiations failed, he filed a lawsuit.
At trial, the jury found Jessica to be 60 percent to blame for the crash for following too closely. Charlie was determined to be 40 percent to blame because he was driving a vehicle with non-working tail lights. Charlie was awarded $18,000, reflecting a 40 percent reduction to his claim value.
Texas Car Accident Compensation
Insurance companies in Texas payout more than $14 billion in auto accident claims each year.
You can estimate the value of a minor to moderate injury claim by adding up your economic damages, including medical expenses and lost wages, then adding one to three times that amount to account for your non-economic damages, often called pain and suffering.
A multiple of one is fair for minor injuries like bruises, or a few days of soreness. Multiples of two or three can be used for injuries that had a bigger impact on your daily activities, like a slipped disc or broken leg.
You’ll need an experienced personal injury attorney to determine the value of a severe injury or wrongful death claim. High-dollar claims include future medical costs, loss of income capacity, and the extreme pain and distress suffered by the victim and their family.
Average Car Accident Settlements in Texas
The average injury settlement for a moderate car accident claim in Texas is $45,596, with average payouts ranging from $8,224 to $2,284,418. Settlements and court awards can range from $2,226 for minor injuries to $23,500,000 for catastrophic injuries.
Texas injury settlements can vary widely, depending on the facts of the accident, the extent of the victim’s injuries, and the available insurance limits. Accidents involving severe injuries and commercial liability insurance will have the largest payouts.
For example, look at these two rear-end accident cases with low and high payouts:
- In Tarrant County, Burns v. Carroll, 67th-268144-13, a jury awarded $2,226 to the victim for soft-tissue neck injuries and headaches. The claimant waited two months after the accident to seek treatment for headaches.
- In Jackson County, Arredondo v. Neely, 1610-15257, a jury awarded $10,222,667 to a woman who suffered a brain injury when the car she was riding in was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer, causing the car to roll three times.
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Factors that impact car accident compensation include:
- Scope and severity of injuries
- Shared fault for the crash
- Multiple-vehicle collisions
- Multiple injured victims
- Fatalities
- Available insurance coverage
When accident victims suffer serious injuries, the at-fault driver’s liability coverage may not be enough to pay all the damages. Additional coverage may be available from your own policy, depending on the circumstances of the crash and the optional coverages on your policy.
Texas State Minimum Insurance Requirements
Texas drivers are required to carry an auto insurance policy with minimum bodily injury liability limits of $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property damage.
Texas also requires auto insurance companies to offer uninsured (UM) and underinsured (UIM) motorist coverage, although policyholders may decline the offer in writing.
When you have UM and UIM coverages, you can turn to your own insurance company for compensation after an accident caused by a hit-and-run, a driver with no insurance, or a driver with liability limits that are too low to cover all your damages.
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