- Stopping is not optional. Leaving the scene of an injury crash is a felony-level offense under Tex. Transp. Code §550.021; leaving a damage-only crash is a misdemeanor under §550.022.
- Police must be called immediately when someone is hurt or a vehicle cannot be normally and safely driven (§550.026).
- The officer's CR-3 report is bought from TxDOT; the driver's CR-2 self-report no longer exists — do not look for one.
- On your own policy, Texas insurers have 15 days to acknowledge, 15 business days to decide, and 5 business days to pay (Tex. Ins. Code §542.055–.057).
- Liability-only means your own car is not covered — if the other driver is uninsured, or at fault and slow to pay, UM/UIM, PIP and collision are what respond.
Step 1: Stop, Get Safe, and Check for Injuries
The first duty is the simplest and the one with the harshest penalty for getting it wrong. Texas Transportation Code §550.021 requires the driver of any vehicle involved in a crash that injures or kills someone to immediately stop at the scene, or as close to it as possible without blocking traffic more than necessary, determine whether anyone is hurt, and remain there until the information-and-aid duties below are complete. Leaving the scene of an injury crash is a felony-level offense carrying up to five years in prison (a third-degree felony if the injury was serious); leaving a crash that caused a death is a second-degree felony. §550.022 applies the same stop-and-remain duty to crashes that only damage vehicles, as a misdemeanor.
Stopping does not mean leaving the cars in a live lane. Under §550.022, if the crash happens on a freeway in a metropolitan area and every vehicle can still be driven, the drivers are required to move them out of the main travel lanes as soon as possible — to a designated collision investigation site if one is nearby, otherwise the frontage road or nearest suitable cross street — before exchanging information; failing to do so is itself a Class C misdemeanor under §550.022(c-1). On Dallas–Fort Worth and San Antonio highways the second-collision risk is real: hazard lights on, everyone out of the roadway. Check yourself and your passengers first; adrenaline masks injury, and nobody seriously hurt should be moved unless traffic or fire makes it necessary.
Step 2: When You Must Call the Police in Texas
Texas Transportation Code §550.026 sets the legal threshold. The driver of a vehicle involved in a crash resulting in injury to or death of a person, or in damage to a vehicle to the extent that it cannot be normally and safely driven, must immediately, by the quickest means available, notify the local police department (inside a city), the police or sheriff's office (within 100 feet of city limits), or the sheriff's office or nearest Department of Public Safety office elsewhere. In practice that means calling 911 from the scene — give the dispatcher your location precisely (street, nearest intersection or mile marker, and direction of travel) and say whether anyone is hurt. A vehicle that needs a tow, or that can only move by creating a further hazard, fails the “normally and safely driven” test.
Below that threshold — nobody hurt, both cars drivable — the statute does not require a call. That is where a lot of Texas claims go wrong. Without an officer at the scene there is no CR-3 crash report, and the claim rests entirely on your photographs and two competing accounts. A driver who was apologetic at the roadside can describe the crash very differently to an adjuster a week later. A-LA agents tell customers to call unless the damage is trivially cosmetic and the other driver's identity and insurance are fully documented on camera.
If the other driver leaves, do not chase them. Photograph the plate, note the make, model and color, and report the crash anyway — a hit-and-run is still a crash your own policy may cover.
Step 3: Render Aid and Exchange Information
Texas Transportation Code §550.023 lists what each driver owes the other. You must give your name and address, the registration number of the vehicle you were driving, and the name of your motor vehicle liability insurer to any injured person and to the driver or occupant of the other vehicle. If asked, and if you have it with you, you must show your driver's license. You must also give reasonable assistance to anyone injured — including arranging transport to a doctor or hospital when treatment is obviously needed or the injured person asks for it.
Collect the same four items from the other driver, and photograph their insurance card and license rather than copying them by hand. Texas is an at-fault state, so the other driver's liability insurer pays for your car and injuries if they caused the crash — and that insurer's name is the one thing you cannot easily recover later. What you are not required to do is discuss fault. Do not say “I'm sorry,” “it was my fault” or “I didn't see you” — roadside remarks like these get repeated to adjusters and can be used against you in the claim. Stick to the facts, and let the evidence and the officer's report establish what happened.
Step 4: What to Photograph and Write Down Before You Leave
Fault in a Texas claim is decided on evidence, and most of that evidence disappears within minutes of the cars being moved. Your phone is the most important tool you have at the scene. Shoot more than feels necessary:
| Capture | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Both vehicles from all four corners, plus close-ups of every damaged panel | Establishes the point and direction of impact before anything is moved or repaired |
| The other driver's license, insurance card and license plate | Name, address, registration number and insurer are the four items §550.023 entitles you to |
| The wider scene: lane markings, signals, skid marks, debris, weather and lighting | Fault in Texas is decided on evidence — the scene changes within minutes |
| Names and phone numbers of witnesses, and the responding officer's name and agency | You will need the agency name and crash date to find the CR-3 report later |
| Your own account, dictated into your phone while it is fresh | Adjusters compare statements; a dated account recorded at the scene is hard to dispute later |
If an officer responds, ask for their name, badge number and agency and whether a crash report will be filed. If you have a dash camera, save the clip before it is overwritten. Then dictate the time, weather, direction of travel and what you saw into your phone while it is fresh — an early, time-stamped account carries weight with adjusters.
Step 5: How to Get the Officer's Crash Report (CR-3) — and Why There Is No CR-2
Under Texas Transportation Code §550.062, a peace officer who investigates a crash involving injury, death, or apparent property damage of $1,000 or more must file a written report with the Texas Department of Transportation not later than the tenth day after the crash. That report is the Texas Peace Officer's Crash Report, form CR-3: the officer's diagram, the drivers' and witnesses' statements, contributing factors and any citations. Adjusters on both sides read it first.
You obtain it from TxDOT Crash Records through the Crash Report Online Purchase System, which emails the report after purchase. TxDOT lists the fee at $6 for a regular copy and $8 for a certified copy, plus a small online-system surcharge that TxDOT adds at checkout; anyone involved in the crash, their representative, the vehicle owner or the insurer may request it. If the report has not appeared yet, the officer may still be inside the ten-day window.
Older websites still advise filing a driver's crash report, form CR-2, when no officer responded. Do not. Texas stopped accepting and retaining the CR-2 on September 1, 2017, and TxDOT no longer keeps or provides copies of any driver self-report. If no officer came, there is no state record — your photographs, notes and the other driver's details are the record, which is the strongest argument for calling police in the first place.
Step 6: Notify Your Insurer — How a Texas Car Accident Insurance Claim Proceeds
Report the crash to your own insurer promptly — ideally within 24 hours — even if you are certain the other driver was at fault. Nearly every Texas auto policy requires prompt notice of an accident as a condition of coverage, and late notice is one of the most avoidable reasons a claim gets complicated. If you are an A-LA customer, call your office or (866) 252-6116: bilingual agents at all 18 offices across Texas — 17 in Dallas–Fort Worth and one in San Antonio — open the claim with your carrier, explain in English or Spanish which coverages on your policy respond, and help you gather what the adjuster will ask for. Give your insurer the basic facts: time, location, the other driver's details and the crash report number. If the other driver's insurer calls asking for a recorded statement, you are not required to give one on the spot — take the claim number and speak to your agent first.
From there the claim runs on two tracks. If the other driver caused the crash, a liability claim goes to their insurer, which investigates fault and, if it accepts responsibility, pays for your vehicle and injuries. If you carry collision, you can instead claim on your own policy, pay your deductible, and let your carrier recover from theirs — usually faster. Texas law puts real deadlines on that second track:
| Your insurer must | Deadline | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Acknowledge your claim, start investigating, and request the documents it needs | Within 15 days of receiving notice of the claim | Tex. Ins. Code §542.055 |
| Accept or reject the claim in writing | Within 15 business days of receiving everything it asked for (may take up to 45 more days if it first notifies you of the reasons it needs more time, §542.056(d)) | §542.056 |
| Pay an accepted claim | Within 5 business days of telling you it is accepted | §542.057 |
Those Texas Insurance Code Chapter 542 deadlines apply to first-party claims such as collision, comprehensive and PIP on your own policy. UM/UIM claims are the exception: under Brainard v. Trinity Universal (Tex. 2006) the UM/UIM insurer's duty to pay does not arise until the other driver's fault and your damages are legally established, so the Chapter 542 clocks are not a practical guide for a UM/UIM claim. They also do not govern a liability claim against the other driver's insurer, which has no statutory clock and can drag while fault is argued. Two practical points: the 15-business-day decision clock only starts once the insurer has everything it asked for, so send documents the day they are requested; and the gap between the two tracks is the strongest argument for carrying coverage on your own side of the crash.
Step 8: See a Doctor Even If You Feel Fine — Then Repairs and Disputes
Medical evaluation. Many crash injuries — especially soft-tissue injuries such as whiplash — produce no symptoms at the scene. Adrenaline masks pain, and the stiffness or headaches can surface 24 to 72 hours later. Being checked promptly creates a dated medical record that ties the injury to the crash; wait a week and an adjuster will argue the injury was pre-existing or unrelated. If your policy carries PIP, it pays those bills regardless of who was at fault.
Repairs. Once the claim is open, the adjuster inspects the damage, reads the CR-3 and allocates fault. You have the right to use your own repair shop or the insurer's recommended network — the choice is yours. Get a written estimate either way, and do not authorize repairs until the adjuster has seen the car or approved the shop's photos.
Disputes. If you disagree with the fault decision or the settlement offer, you can negotiate with the adjuster, ask for a supervisor review, complain to the Texas Department of Insurance, or seek independent legal advice. A lawyer is rarely needed for a drivable-car, no-injury fender-bender; a consultation is worth having whenever someone was hurt.
What If the Other Driver Has No Insurance?
Texas requires every driver to carry at least 30/60/25 liability under Transportation Code §601.072, and driving without it is a Class C misdemeanor under §601.191 with a first-offense fine of $175 to $350. That fine does nothing for you at the roadside. When the at-fault driver is uninsured, or has too little coverage to pay for what they did, you are relying on your own policy — and what happens next depends entirely on what is on it.
- Uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) pays for your injuries when the at-fault driver has no insurance or not enough; with UM property damage it also pays for your car. Texas carriers must offer it, and you must reject it in writing to go without.
- Personal Injury Protection (PIP) pays your and your passengers' medical bills and part of your lost wages regardless of fault, without waiting for the other side to accept responsibility.
- Collision repairs your own car no matter who was at fault, less your deductible — the fastest route to getting back on the road when the other driver cannot pay.
This is the part A-LA agents are most direct about. A liability-only policy — the $28-per-month starting point that keeps you legal — pays for other people's cars and injuries when you are at fault. It carries none of the three coverages above, so your own car is not covered at all if an uninsured driver hits it. Get the driver's name, plate and address anyway, insist on a police report, and read the full coverage vs liability comparison before your next renewal.
Rental Cars, Rates, and SR-22 After an At-Fault Accident
Rental car. If the other driver was at fault and their insurer accepts liability, it generally covers a rental while your car is repaired. If you are claiming on your own policy, a rental is paid only if you bought rental reimbursement as an add-on — it is not part of collision. The rental car coverage guide explains the difference, and towing from the scene is covered only if you carry roadside assistance or the at-fault insurer picks it up.
Rates. An at-fault accident normally raises your premium at renewal and stays on your record for several years; how much, and for how long, varies by carrier — and a carrier that surcharges you heavily is not the only carrier. A-LA re-shops the policy across 35+ Texas-licensed carriers after a claim, with no credit check. See what car insurance costs in Texas for the factors that matter most.
SR-22. An ordinary insured at-fault accident does not require an SR-22. Texas generally requires the filing when the Department of Public Safety suspends your license or as a condition of keeping it — most commonly after a crash while you were uninsured, a repeat no-insurance conviction, or a DWI. If that happens, A-LA files the SR-22 electronically with the Texas DPS the same day you buy the policy; the DPS then processes it on its own schedule, so no agent can promise a reinstatement date. Drivers without a car can meet the requirement with a non-owner SR-22 policy.
After a Car Accident in Texas — FAQ
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