What should I do after a car accident in Houston?
- Texas Attorney
- Yale B.A. · University of Houston Law Center J.D.
- Habla español
- Updated October 1, 2026
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.
Tell me what happened
Jimmy reads every request himself and will be in touch with you shortly.
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
Your next steps, and ours
Call Jimmy
713-600-6233Call before an adjuster calls you. If a City of Houston vehicle, worker or road was involved, notarized notice is due within 90 days; we file it.
See a doctor
Go today. If cost is the worry, don't skip care; PIP and letters of protection exist for exactly this.
We find the right agency's report
HPD, DPS, Harris County or Metro. We work out who responded and pull the report, so you don't lose days chasing the wrong one.
We document the road
Standing water, a dead signal, a missing barricade. If you have photos, keep them; we handle the rest of the proof.
If someone else's negligence put you here, we take it from here
Car Accidents
Rear-endings, intersection crashes, uninsured drivers, hit-and-runs — in Houston, El Paso, and everywhere in between.
Truck & 18-Wheeler Crashes
Federal regulations, black-box data, driver logs, multiple insurers. We move fast to preserve evidence before it disappears.
Work Accidents
Hurt on the job for a non-subscriber employer, or injured by a third party at a job site? Texas gives you real options.
Wrongful Death
When the worst happens, we pursue accountability for surviving families with the care and seriousness it deserves.
¿Lastimado en un accidente? Hablemos — en español.
La consulta es gratis y confidencial. No paga nada a menos que ganemos su caso. Jimmy se comunicará con usted en breve. ¿Sin papeles? Usted tiene derechos.
Every day you wait, evidence disappears and the insurer gets ahead. One free call. Straight answers about your case — in English or Spanish. If you need a fighter, you'll have one, from the first call to the last check.