- What should you do in the first hour after an accident in Dallas, TX?
- How do you get medical care and document treatment in the first week?
- How should you preserve evidence, and why does it matter in Texas?
- How do you report an accident in Dallas and request the crash report?
- What should you tell the insurance company during the first week?
- What are the key Texas deadlines, including the statute of limitations?
- What if you might be partly at fault under Texas proportionate responsibility?
- What expenses and damages should you track during the first week?
- Can social media, texts, and emails help or hurt your injury case?
- What if the at fault driver is uninsured or underinsured in Texas?
- How does a Texas injury claim usually progress after the first week?
- Which Dallas and DFW resources can help in the first week?
- Why does having a lawyer early make a difference in Texas civil cases?
- How does GoSuits help Dallas injury clients in the first week and beyond?
- References and resources
What should you do in the first hour after an accident in Dallas, TX?
Your safety and health come first. In Dallas, the first hour after an accident is often hectic, but a calm checklist helps protect you and any future injury claim. Texas law requires reporting certain crashes and exchanging information at the scene when there is injury or death, so follow the steps below to stay compliant and to create a clear record of what happened: [1] [2].
- Move to a safe location if possible. If vehicles are drivable and there is immediate danger, move out of live traffic. Use hazard lights and flares if available.
- Call 911 for police and medical help. When there are injuries, a peace officer will complete a crash report as required under Texas law [1].
- Check for visible and hidden injuries. Adrenaline may mask symptoms. If you suspect a head, neck, or back injury, try not to move until help arrives.
- Exchange information correctly. Share and request names, contact details, insurance company and policy number, and vehicle registration. Ask for the other driver’s license plate and driver license number [2].
- Document the scene with your phone. Take wide and close photos of vehicle positions, damage, skid marks, debris, road conditions, traffic signals, and any visible injuries. Capture the weather and lighting.
- Identify witnesses. Get names, mobile numbers, and email addresses of witnesses. Ask them to text you what they saw while it is fresh.
- Limit conversation at the scene. Be courteous, but do not guess about fault. Simple statements such as I will cooperate with the investigation are enough. Let the facts speak through photos and the crash report.
If you are hurting, do not wait to get checked. Early care creates a medical record that links the crash to your injuries, which is crucial for Texas personal injury claims.
How do you get medical care and document treatment in the first week?
Prompt evaluation protects your health and builds the foundation for your claim. During the first week, create a consistent medical paper trail and keep every receipt and record. Texas procedure allows the use of affidavits to support the reasonableness and necessity of medical charges, which means clean documentation can reduce disputes later: [12].
- Go to urgent care or an emergency department the same day if you have symptoms. Even seemingly minor pain can evolve into more serious issues after the initial shock wears off.
- Schedule follow up visits and imaging your doctor orders. Gaps in care are frequently used by insurers to argue that injuries are not serious or not related.
- Collect and keep all medical documents. Discharge summaries, radiology reports, prescriptions, physical therapy plans, and itemized bills all matter. Ask for electronic copies to simplify organization.
- Create a treatment and pain journal. Each day, write down symptoms, limitations, missed work, and how pain affects sleep and daily activities. These details help show non economic losses when negotiating or at trial.
- Track travel and out of pocket costs. Mileage to medical visits can be a reimbursable expense in some claims. The Internal Revenue Service publishes mileage rates each year that can guide how to log costs [13].
If you have health insurance, use it for care. Coordination of benefits can be addressed during settlement. If you lack coverage, discuss medical provider options that will treat you and delay billing pending your claim. Keep all communications and appointment confirmations.
How should you preserve evidence, and why does it matter in Texas?
Evidence can vanish quickly. In Texas, courts can impose remedies if important evidence is lost, and juries may hear about missing materials if a party had a duty to preserve and failed. Texas case law explains how courts handle spoliation and the potential impact on a case [11]. For electronic evidence specifically, federal rules recognize obligations to preserve relevant emails, texts, and other electronically stored information and allow remedies if they are not preserved [10].
- Send a preservation letter promptly. A written notice to involved parties and insurers asks them to keep dashcam or bodycam footage, event data recorder downloads, surveillance video, phone logs, and maintenance records. Courts look at reasonable steps taken to preserve relevant evidence [10] [11].
- Secure your own photos, videos, and device data. Back up photos, dashcam clips, and phone health data to more than one location. Keep the original digital files if possible because metadata can matter.
- Gather vehicle and product records. If a tire blowout or airbag issue is suspected, keep receipts, recall notices, and maintenance logs. For premises injuries, request incident reports and ask that any surveillance footage be retained immediately.
- Keep a copy of the police crash report. The Texas crash report is often the starting point for insurance negotiations and litigation discovery.
The goal is simple: Preserve everything that could help reconstruct what happened and how it affected you. When in doubt, save it and log where it came from and the date you received it.
How do you report an accident in Dallas and request the crash report?
Texas law requires peace officers to file a crash report when a crash results in injury, death, or property damage meeting reporting thresholds [1]. After a Dallas crash, you can request the official report through the state portal.
- Call 911 at the scene if anyone is hurt. This will trigger law enforcement response and the crash reporting process [1].
- Get the report number from the officer or card at the scene. If you did not receive one, you can still search by date, location, and names.
- Request the Texas crash report. Use the state Crash Records Information System portal to search and purchase the report, photographs if available, and any supplemental documents [6].
Keep copies for your records and share them with your care team and insurer. If there are errors in the report, make a note. Some corrections require contacting the reporting agency promptly.
What should you tell the insurance company during the first week?
Expect early calls from insurers. It is common for adjusters to ask for a recorded statement and a broad medical authorization. Approach these requests carefully. In Texas, insurers handling first party claims have timelines to acknowledge and process claims, and the Texas Department of Insurance provides consumer guidance on communicating with carriers [7].
- Report the crash to your insurer promptly. Provide the date, time, location, vehicles involved, and whether injuries were reported. Give only the facts, not opinions about fault.
- Be careful with recorded statements. You can provide basic information without agreeing to a recorded interview until you have reviewed your notes and the crash report. Misstatements can be used to challenge your claim later.
- Avoid signing broad authorizations. An unrestricted medical release may give access to unrelated history. Ask for a limited, time bound authorization, or provide records yourself.
- Confirm everything in writing. Send a short email or letter summarizing any phone conversation. Note dates, times, and the name of the adjuster.
Many people search for car accident lawyers when conversations with insurers begin to feel adversarial. Legal help can coordinate statements, authorizations, and documentation in a way that protects your rights and keeps your claim moving.
What are the key Texas deadlines, including the statute of limitations?
Texas law imposes critical deadlines for civil injury cases. Missing these timelines can end a claim even when liability is clear. Mark these dates during the first week and build your calendar around them:
- Two year statute of limitations for most injury claims. In Texas, most personal injury and property damage claims must be filed within two years from the date of the incident [3].
- Two year deadline for wrongful death and survival claims. These claims generally follow the same two year window, measured by the date of death or the underlying incident depending on the claim [3].
- Comparative fault threshold matters. Texas bars recovery if a claimant is more than 50 percent at fault, which can influence settlement posture before suit is filed [4].
- Exemplary damage limits apply. Texas law caps exemplary damages in most civil cases, which can affect case valuation and litigation strategy [5].
Other timing issues can apply to particular defendants and claims. For example, claims procedures for governmental entities are specialized and often much shorter. Talk through unique timelines early, so you do not miss a notice requirement.
What if you might be partly at fault under Texas proportionate responsibility?
Do not assume that a mistake on your part eliminates your claim. Texas follows a proportionate responsibility system. Your compensation, if any, can be reduced by your percentage of responsibility, and you cannot recover if your share exceeds 50 percent [4].
- Collect facts that reduce your share. Photos showing that the other driver ran a red light or rear ended your vehicle can help minimize your percentage of responsibility.
- Use medical records to connect injuries to the crash. Clear documentation reduces arguments that your injuries stem mostly from pre existing conditions rather than the incident.
- Frame witness statements carefully. A neutral observer describing the sequence of events can be persuasive when assigning percentages of responsibility.
Your first week efforts to document the scene and your injuries can have a direct impact on the proportionate responsibility analysis that insurers and juries apply in Texas [4].
What expenses and damages should you track during the first week?
Injury cases typically include economic damages like medical bills and lost wages, and non economic damages like pain and physical limitations. Accurate first week tracking helps establish both categories:
- Medical bills and out of pocket costs. Keep itemized statements, receipts for prescriptions, medical devices, and copays. Maintain a running spreadsheet of charges with dates and providers.
- Travel and mileage. Log miles to doctor visits and therapy appointments. The IRS publishes mileage rates that help standardize this calculation for documentation purposes [13].
- Lost income and time off. Save wage statements, PTO records, and written employer confirmations of missed shifts or modified duties.
- Home care and help you needed. Note paid and unpaid assistance with childcare, transportation, housekeeping, and personal care while you recover.
- Daily pain journal. A short daily entry about pain levels, sleep quality, and activities you avoided helps tell the human story of your injury.
Texas law allows affidavits to support the reasonableness and necessity of medical expenses, which means clean, consistent documentation can streamline proof of medical damages [12].
Can social media, texts, and emails help or hurt your injury case?
Digital communications can be powerful evidence. They can also be taken out of context. The safest approach during the first week is to assume that anything you post could be shown to an adjuster, mediator, judge, or jury.
- Avoid posting about the crash or your injuries. Even well meaning updates can be misinterpreted. Set accounts to private, but do not assume privacy settings will shield posts.
- Preserve helpful texts and emails. Save messages where the other party admits fault or describes the event. Export them and back them up.
- Do not delete relevant content. Deletion after a duty to preserve arises can trigger sanctions in some courts. Federal rules address loss of electronically stored information and potential remedies [10].
When in doubt, focus on offline communication with your care team and your legal team, and preserve all potentially relevant messages and media.
What if the at fault driver is uninsured or underinsured in Texas?
Texas policies often include optional personal injury protection, uninsured motorist, and underinsured motorist coverage. These first party coverages can help pay medical bills and other losses when the at fault driver lacks sufficient coverage. The Texas Department of Insurance publishes consumer guidance on how these coverages work and what to expect when filing claims [7].
- Check your declarations page. Confirm whether personal injury protection, medical payments, uninsured motorist, and underinsured motorist coverages are listed and the limits for each.
- Open claims with your insurer promptly. Separate claim numbers are common for first party coverages. Keep claim notes and confirmation emails.
- Coordinate benefits carefully. First party payments may have reimbursement rights from any later third party settlement, so keep detailed records for accurate accounting.
If your injuries are serious and the other driver has minimum limits, your first week planning should include a strategy for UM or UIM claims and how they interact with health insurance and provider billing [7].
How does a Texas injury claim usually progress after the first week?
Every case is unique, but most Dallas injury claims follow a familiar path. Understanding the roadmap helps you set expectations and prioritize tasks.
What is the typical early investigation timeline?
- Week one to four. Medical evaluation and treatment plan, crash report and scene documentation collected, witness outreach, and preservation letters sent.
- Month two to three. Ongoing treatment, compilation of bills, wage loss documentation, vehicle repair or total loss resolution, and insurance liability evaluation.
- Month three to six. Demand package prepared and submitted when you reach a stable point in care or have a future care plan. Negotiations begin with supporting records and legal analysis.
What happens if settlement negotiations stall?
- Filing suit before the deadline. If settlement is not possible on fair terms, a petition can be filed in Dallas County courts or federal court as appropriate. Texas maintains a robust e filing system for civil cases [15].
- Discovery and depositions. Parties exchange documents and take sworn testimony. Preservation steps in week one can significantly influence discovery results [10] [11].
- Mediation and trial settings. Many cases resolve at mediation. Trials can be bench or jury, depending on the case and forum.
Throughout this process, accurate records and timely action are your best allies. Clear documentation often leads to faster and better claim outcomes.
Which Dallas and DFW resources can help in the first week?
Here are trusted public resources many Dallas residents use within the first week after a crash:
- Dallas County courts pages. Find basic information about local civil courts, filing, and clerk contacts to understand where a case may be heard [14].
- Texas Crash Records portal. Request the official crash report and related files when available [6].
- Texas courts e filing information. Learn how civil filings are submitted through the statewide electronic system [15].
- TxDOT crash statistics. Review statewide crash trends and context for roadway safety discussions [8].
- TDI consumer help. Read about auto claim steps, timelines, and coverage basics [7].
Why does having a lawyer early make a difference in Texas civil cases?
Early legal help can shape the trajectory of a claim. Preservation letters go out sooner, records are gathered in an organized way, and communications with insurers are documented and consistent. In Texas, where comparative fault and evidence preservation rules can make or break a case, having an advocate engaged in week one can be decisive [4] [10] [11].
Many injured people choose to consult lawyers who handle injury claims to manage communications, organize medical billing, and prepare a strategy that fits Texas law and Dallas courts. This allows you to focus on recovery while your claim is prepared thoroughly for negotiation and, if needed, litigation.
When motor vehicle collisions are involved, Dallas attorneys who handle car crashes can help coordinate crash report requests, scene investigation, and technical analysis while you continue treatment and work.
What statistics show the stakes in Texas and Dallas?
Statewide crash data and public health analyses underline why decisive first week action matters. Texas reported thousands of traffic fatalities and many more serious injuries in recent years, and the economic toll on families is significant [8] [9].
- Texas statewide crash burden. Recent TxDOT summaries report thousands of lives lost and hundreds of thousands of injuries in a single year, with substantial numbers in urban areas like Dallas [8].
- Economic cost of crash injuries. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates large statewide medical and work loss costs associated with motor vehicle crashes. These figures help explain why documenting bills, wages, and care is crucial from day one [9].
Behind every number is a person and a family. That is why we focus heavily on getting medical care stabilized and preserving crucial evidence during the first week.
What should you do after a car crash in Dallas during the first week?
For Dallas vehicle collisions, a structured plan helps protect your health and claim. The steps below align with Texas law and practical insurance considerations:
- Finish your medical workup. If you left the scene without emergency transport, consider urgent care the same day. Follow physician referrals for imaging or specialty evaluation.
- Order the crash report as soon as it is available. Most reports are accessible within days through the state portal [6].
- Notify your insurer and consider limited communications with the other insurer. Provide only essential facts while you collect records and photos [7].
- Preserve your vehicle. Do not authorize disposal before liability is resolved. Photograph the vehicle thoroughly. Consider an inspection to download event data if relevant.
- Map out deadlines. Add the two year statute date and other key reminders to your calendar now [3].
If questions arise about fault or coverage, attorneys in Dallas who handle car crashes can help you weigh options, including potential first party benefits like uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage [7].
What if you were hurt on someone else’s property in Dallas?
Premises incidents require quick attention to notice and evidence. Businesses often overwrite surveillance footage within days.
- Report the incident to the property owner immediately. Request an incident report and take photos of the condition that caused your injury, such as liquid, debris, or a broken fixture.
- Ask in writing that all video from the time window be preserved. Preservation requests sent during the first week can help secure important footage [11].
- Seek medical care and document footwear and clothing. Keep the shoes and clothing you wore in a clean bag in case they are needed later.
The same documentation principles apply. Detailed records of medical care and how the injury affects your daily life will matter in negotiations and, if needed, in court.
How does GoSuits help Dallas injury clients in the first week and beyond?
If you were hurt in Dallas, TX, we designed this first week guide to help you stabilize care, preserve evidence, and protect your rights in civil cases. A free consultation with a personal injury attorney can help you understand timelines, communications with insurers, and next steps grounded in Texas law. GoSuits represents clients across Texas, and we focus our approach on both compassionate service and strong courtroom readiness.
- Technology driven from day one. Our exclusive proprietary software maps deadlines, tracks medical records, flags missing documents, and generates preservation and notice packets faster, so we can act in your first week without delay.
- Dedicated attorneys for every client. Although we use technology to speed up routine steps, we do not use case managers. Every client has unfettered access to their attorney for strategy and updates.
- Leadership in innovation. We have integrated data driven tools into investigation, discovery, and trial preparation to surface key facts early and present them clearly.
- Trial experience that shapes negotiation leverage. Our team has taken cases through trial settings, which helps us evaluate risk, prepare evidence, and communicate what a jury may find persuasive.
- Past results available for review. See representative outcomes on our page for prior cases. Results depend on the facts of each matter.
- Meet the team behind your case. Learn more about our attorneys, how we collaborate, and how we stay accessible to you.
- Wide ranging personal injury practice areas. Explore our practice areas, including motor vehicle collisions, premises incidents, product liability, and more, supported by over 30 years of combined experience.
- Get to know our values and approach. Visit about us to see how we align service, technology, and advocacy.
If you are comparing options after a collision, many Dallas injury attorneys focus on proactive first week action. The right early steps can secure vital evidence and set a strong course for settlement or trial.
For vehicle collisions, some people want immediate guidance from Dallas car accident lawyers on the crash report, insurance communication, and early medical coordination, so they can focus on recovery while the claim is built methodically.
References and resources
- Texas Transportation Code section 550.062 Crash Reports by Officers – Texas Legislature Online
- Texas Transportation Code section 550.021 Accident Involving Personal Injury or Death – Texas Legislature Online
- Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 16.003 Limitations – Texas Legislature Online
- Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 33.001 Proportionate Responsibility – Texas Legislature Online
- Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 41.008 Limitations on Amount of Recovery – Texas Legislature Online
- Texas Crash Report Search CRIS – Texas Department of Transportation
- Auto Insurance and Claims Consumer Help – Texas Department of Insurance
- Texas Motor Vehicle Traffic Crash Facts Calendar Year 2022 – Texas Department of Transportation
- Costs of Motor Vehicle Crash Injuries – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37 Failure to Make Disclosures or to Cooperate in Discovery – Legal Information Institute
- Brookshire Brothers Ltd. v. Aldridge 438 S.W.3d 9 Tex. 2014 – CourtListener
- Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 18.001 Affidavit Concerning Cost and Necessity of Services – Texas Legislature Online
- IRS Standard Mileage Rates for 2024 – Internal Revenue Service
- Courts Information – Dallas County
- Texas eFile Information – Texas Judicial Branch
