The ten minutes after a crash are the ones that decide how clean or how messy the next six months are going to be. Adrenaline makes people skip steps they would never skip on a calm day — not moving the car, not getting the other driver's information, not calling it in. None of that is complicated, but a lot of it only works if you do it in the right order and before you leave the scene.
1. Stop, and check for injuries first
Texas law requires you to stop at the scene of any accident involving injury, death or damage to another vehicle that someone is driving or attending, and to stay until you have given your name, address, vehicle registration and insurance information, shown your driver's license if asked, and made sure anyone injured gets help. Leaving before that is a criminal offense, not just a civil problem.
Check yourself and your passengers before anything else. If anyone is hurt, call 911 immediately and let the dispatcher route both police and EMS. Do not try to move someone who may have a neck or back injury unless they are in immediate danger, such as a vehicle fire or oncoming traffic.
2. Get out of traffic if you safely can
If no one is injured and the vehicles can be driven, move them out of the travel lane to the shoulder or a nearby parking lot. On a freeway in a metropolitan area this is not just good practice: Texas law requires each driver to move a vehicle that can be normally and safely driven (meaning it does not need towing and runs under its own power) to a frontage road, the nearest suitable cross street or another suitable location, and failing to do so is a Class C misdemeanor. A stopped vehicle in an active lane is also one of the more common causes of a second, worse collision. Turn on hazard lights either way.
3. Call the police — and know when you are required to
You are legally required to notify police immediately if the accident causes injury or death, or if a vehicle is damaged badly enough that it cannot be normally and safely driven — for example, it needs a tow. Even when the law does not strictly require the call, make it anyway. An officer who investigates must write a crash report when there is an injury or at least $1,000 in apparent damage to any one person's property, and one vehicle's repair bill clears that figure in most accidents. That report is worth having.
A responding officer's crash report becomes one of the most useful documents in the entire claims process. It records both drivers' accounts, contact and insurance information, and often an initial opinion on fault. Ask for the report number before the officer leaves, and request a copy once it is available — crash reports are available through the Texas Department of Transportation's Crash Records Information System (CRIS), for $6.
4. Exchange information — completely, not just insurance cards
Get, at minimum:
- The other driver's name, phone number and address
- Driver's license number
- License plate and vehicle description
- Insurance company and policy number
- If the driver is not the vehicle owner, the owner's information too
If there are witnesses, get their names and phone numbers as well. Witnesses are under no obligation to stay, and independent accounts are far more persuasive to an adjuster than either driver's own version of events.
5. Document the scene before anything gets moved or cleaned up
Take photos with your phone — more than you think you need. Cover:
- Both vehicles from multiple angles, including close-ups of the damage
- The full accident scene, showing lane position, traffic signals and any skid marks
- License plates
- Street signs or landmarks that establish exactly where this happened
- Any visible injuries
- Weather and road conditions
Photos taken in the first few minutes carry more weight than anything reconstructed later from memory, and they cost nothing to take.
6. Be careful what you say at the scene
Stick to facts when you talk to the other driver, witnesses and police: what happened, where, when. Do not speculate about fault, apologize in a way that could be read as an admission, or guess at things you did not actually see, such as the other driver's speed. Adrenaline makes people fill silence with guesses, and a guess offered at the scene has a way of turning into a quote in someone else's claim file.
7. Understand how fault works in Texas
Texas is an at-fault state, which means the driver responsible for causing the accident — or their insurer — is financially responsible for the resulting damage and injuries. Texas also follows a modified comparative negligence rule: an injured party can recover damages as long as they are found less than 51% responsible for the accident, with their recovery reduced by their own percentage of fault. A driver found 51% or more at fault recovers nothing.
That makes the police report and your own documentation genuinely consequential — they are frequently what fault percentages end up getting built on.
8. Get medical attention even if you feel fine
Adrenaline suppresses pain for hours, sometimes longer. Soft-tissue injuries, concussions and some spinal injuries commonly do not announce themselves until the next day or two. Getting checked out — even at an urgent care rather than an ER, for a low-speed accident with no obvious injury — does two things: it catches something before it worsens, and it creates a medical record with a timestamp close to the accident. Waiting a week to see a doctor gives an insurance adjuster room to argue the injury came from somewhere else.
9. Notify your own insurer promptly
Call your insurer to report the accident even if you believe the other driver was entirely at fault. Most policies require reasonably prompt notice, and reporting late can complicate your own claim regardless of who caused the accident. This is a factual report of what happened — not an admission of fault, and not something to skip just because you expect the other driver's insurer to pay.
10. If the other driver is uninsured or underinsured
Texas has a meaningful share of drivers carrying no insurance, or only the state minimum. If the at-fault driver cannot cover your damage, uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage on your own policy is what pays instead — assuming you carry it. More on what Texas requires versus what actually protects you here.
11. Handle the other insurer's adjuster carefully
If the at-fault driver's insurance company calls you, it is reasonable to give basic facts — the date, location and that an accident occurred. You are not obligated to give a detailed recorded statement to the other driver's insurer, and it is reasonable to decline until you have had a chance to see a doctor and understand the extent of any injury. Be especially cautious with an early settlement offer that arrives before you know the full extent of damage or injury — once you sign a release, it is typically final, even if problems surface later.
12. Choose your own repair shop
You are not required to use a shop the insurer recommends. You can choose your own, get a second estimate if the first one looks off, and use OEM parts where that matters to you, subject to your policy's terms. Keep in mind the insurer only has to pay a reasonable amount for the repair, so a shop that charges well above the going rate can leave you covering the difference. If your vehicle is financed or leased, check your loan agreement — lenders sometimes have their own requirements about repair quality and gap coverage.
When it is time to talk to an attorney
Most minor accidents resolve through the normal claims process without one. Consider talking to a personal injury attorney if there is a serious injury, a dispute over who was at fault, an insurer denying or lowballing a claim that seems clearly valid, or a fatality involved. Many personal injury attorneys offer a free initial consultation, so the cost of finding out where you stand is usually nothing.
A short checklist for the glovebox
- Check for injuries, call 911 if needed
- Move vehicles out of traffic if safe to do so
- Call police and get the report number
- Exchange full information with the other driver
- Photograph everything before it moves
- Get checked out medically, even if you feel fine
- Report the accident to your own insurer
None of this prevents an accident. It just means that when one happens, you are not making decisions on the fly that a calmer version of you would have made differently.