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After an Accident

What should I do after a car accident in Houston?

Accidents Suck. Lawyer Up.

Get medical care first, even if you feel okay. Don't give recorded statements to any insurance company. Photograph the scene, vehicles, and injuries, get the crash report number from Houston PD or the responding agency, and call a lawyer before an adjuster calls you.

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The Houston specifics

Everything in our general Texas checklist applies. A few things are particular to Houston.

Which agency worked your crash

Houston's geography means the responding agency varies. Houston Police handle crashes inside the city. DPS often works the freeways — I-10, 610, 45, 59/69, the Beltway. Harris County Sheriff's deputies and constables cover unincorporated areas, and Fort Bend, Montgomery and Brazoria have their own. Metro has its own police for transit incidents.

Ask the responding officer which agency they are with and get the crash report number before you leave. The report is filed with that agency, and requesting it from the wrong one wastes days. Texas crash reports are typically available about ten days after the crash.

If a government vehicle or a city road condition is involved

This is the one that catches people. If you were hit by a City of Houston vehicle, injured by a city employee working, or hurt by a dangerous condition the city was responsible for, the city charter requires written, notarized notice within 90 days, filed with the City Secretary. That is not the two-year lawsuit deadline — it comes first, and missing it can end the claim before it starts.

Metro, the county, a school district and the State each have their own requirements and their own deadlines. If anything about your crash involved a public entity, that needs to be identified in the first days.

Traffic and weather conditions matter here

Houston produces a specific set of crashes: heavy-truck traffic around the Ship Channel and the industrial corridors, sudden stops on congested freeways, and flooding that turns an underpass dangerous within minutes. If standing water, a missing barricade, a dark stretch or a malfunctioning signal contributed, photograph it that day. Conditions change and the evidence that a hazard existed disappears with them.

Getting treated

Go the same day. If cost is the obstacle, PIP on your own policy pays regardless of fault, and many Houston providers will treat on a letter of protection and wait to be paid from the settlement. Do not skip care because you are worried about a bill.

Authority: City of Houston — filing a claim

What to do

Your next steps

At the scene

Get the agency and report number

HPD, DPS, Harris County or Metro. Requesting from the wrong agency costs days.

Same day

Photograph any road hazard

Standing water, a missing barricade, a dead signal. Conditions change and the proof goes with them.

Within 90 days

If the City may be involved, give notice

Written, notarized, to the City Secretary. This deadline arrives long before the two-year one.

Same day

See a doctor

PIP or a letter of protection can cover it if cost is the problem.

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Related questions

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