What To Do After a Car Accident in Texas
The decisions that matter most are made in the first hour, when you are least equipped to make them. This is what protects both your health and your claim.
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Call the police, even for a minor collision
Texas requires a driver to report a collision that causes injury, death or enough property damage to make a vehicle unsafe to drive. Beyond the legal duty, the crash report creates a contemporaneous official record of the vehicles, the drivers, the insurance, the conditions and the witnesses.
Without a report, a claim frequently becomes one driver's word against another's, and the other driver's account tends to improve once they have spoken to their insurer. Drivers who agree to handle it privately at the scene routinely find the other party denies the collision happened at all.
Do not apologize or discuss fault
Say what is necessary and nothing more. An apology at the scene is a normal human reflex and it is treated as an admission later. You also do not yet know what caused the collision. A driver who believes they drifted may in fact have been struck first, and a driver who feels responsible may have been reacting to someone else's failure.
State facts to the officer. Do not speculate about speed, distance or what you should have done differently.
Photograph more than the damage
Photograph both vehicles from every corner, including the undamaged sides, because that establishes the geometry of the impact. Capture the position of the vehicles before they are moved, skid marks, debris fields, the road surface, traffic controls, sight lines, and the weather and light conditions.
Photograph the other driver's license, insurance card and license plate. Photograph any business with a camera facing the scene, because that footage is often overwritten within days and you will need to know where to send a preservation request.
Get names before witnesses leave
Witnesses disperse within minutes and the crash report does not always record them. A name and phone number written down at the scene is worth more than any later attempt to find them. An independent witness with no stake in the outcome is frequently the single most valuable piece of evidence in a disputed liability case.
See a doctor within days, not weeks
Adrenaline masks pain, and several serious injuries present late. A gap between the collision and the first medical visit is the argument an insurer uses to say the crash did not cause the injury, and it is difficult to answer after the fact.
Tell the treating clinician about every symptom, not only the worst one. Complaints that go unrecorded in the first visit are treated as having appeared later.
Report to your own insurer, and be careful with the other one
Your policy requires you to notify your own insurer promptly, and failing to do so can jeopardise your own coverage, including uninsured motorist benefits. Report the collision.
The other driver's insurer is a different matter. You have no obligation to give them a recorded statement, and the adjuster who calls in the first days is gathering material to reduce what they pay. Speak to a lawyer before that conversation.
Summary
| When | Do | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| At the scene | Call police, photograph everything, collect witness details | Creates the contemporaneous record the claim rests on |
| At the scene | Say nothing about fault | Apologies become admissions |
| Same day | Seek medical attention | Closes the causation gap before it opens |
| Within 24 hours | Notify your own insurer | Protects your own coverage |
| Within days | Request preservation of nearby camera footage | Most systems overwrite quickly |
| Before speaking to the other insurer | Get legal advice | A recorded statement is used for the life of the claim |
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Frequently asked questions
Texas requires a report where there is injury, death, or enough property damage to make a vehicle unsafe to drive. Even below that threshold, calling creates an official record that protects you if the other driver later changes their account or denies the collision.
See a doctor anyway. Adrenaline masks pain, and concussions, soft tissue injuries and internal injuries commonly present days later. A delay between the crash and the first medical visit is the argument an insurer uses to dispute causation.
Not before you know the full medical picture. A settlement closes the claim permanently, and an early offer is made precisely because the insurer does not yet know what the injury will cost either.
Decline. Private arrangements collapse routinely once the other driver understands the cost, and by then the evidence is gone and the report was never made.
Talk it through with a lawyer
A free consultation covers whether you have a claim, what the deadline is, and what insurance is actually available.
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