Single-Car Accident in Texas: Who Pays, and Can You Make a Claim?

Legally reviewed by Alexander Begum, Personal Injury Attorney

Key Takeaways

• Your own policy usually pays first. Texas auto policies include personal injury protection (PIP) unless you rejected it in writing, and PIP pays medical bills and lost income no matter who caused the crash.
• A single-car accident is not always the driver’s fault. A road hazard, a defective tire or part, or another driver who forced you off the road can make someone else responsible.
• A phantom driver needs physical contact. Texas uninsured motorist coverage pays for an unidentified driver only if that vehicle actually touched you or your car, so a near miss that ran you off the road needs witnesses or video.
• Passengers almost always have a claim. A passenger hurt in a single-car crash can claim against the driver’s liability insurance and can also use PIP from the car’s policy.
• Road defect claims have a six-month notice deadline. If a city, county or the state is responsible for the road, Texas requires written notice within six months, and a city charter can require it sooner.
• Most claims must be filed within two years. Texas generally allows two years to sue for an injury or property damage, so evidence such as the car itself should be preserved right away.

After a single-car accident in Texas, your own personal injury protection usually pays your first medical bills and lost wages, regardless of fault. If a dangerous road, a defective part or another driver caused the crash, that party can also owe you damages, even though only one car was involved.

A single-car accident (or single-vehicle crash) is one where only one vehicle is involved: a car that leaves the road and hits a tree, pole, guardrail or ditch, or rolls over. Many drivers assume nobody else owes them anything. That is often wrong. Our Texas car accident lawyers look at what caused the crash before anyone decides who pays.

Who Pays for a Single-Car Accident in Texas?

Who pays depends on why the car left the road. When the driver was the only cause, the driver’s own coverage is the main source of money. When something else contributed, there may be a second, larger source.

Sources: Texas Insurance Code ch. 1952; Civil Practice and Remedies Code ch. 101 and §16.012; Alcoholic Beverage Code §2.02.

What Your Own Insurance Covers

If nobody else contributed to the crash, your recovery comes from the coverage you bought, and Texas makes one piece of it standard.

Personal injury protection

Every Texas auto liability policy must include PIP unless a named insured rejected it in writing (Insurance Code §1952.152). PIP pays reasonable medical expenses, lost income, and, for someone who was not earning wages, the cost of household services they can no longer do (§1952.151). The required amount is $2,500 per person, and many drivers buy more (§1952.153).

Two PIP rules matter most after a single-car crash. First, PIP benefits are payable without regard to fault (§1952.155), so the insurer cannot deny your PIP claim because you lost control of the car. Second, the insurer must pay within 30 days after it receives satisfactory proof of the claim, and your policy may require that proof within as little as six months of the crash (§1952.156). Read your policy and file early.

Collision and MedPay

Collision coverage, which is optional, pays to repair or replace your own car, minus your deductible. Some policies also include medical payments coverage for medical bills. If the car is a total loss and you still owe on it, our guide on owing money on a totaled vehicle explains what happens to the loan.

When Someone Else Is to Blame

Adjusters often treat a single-car crash as the driver’s fault by default. The facts may say otherwise.

A driver who ran you off the road

A car that swerves into your lane or forces you onto the shoulder can cause a crash without touching you. If that driver is identified through a witness, video or a plate number, you can pursue their liability insurance as after any collision.

If the driver drove away and is never identified, Texas law draws a hard line. For uninsured motorist coverage to pay when the other driver is unknown, there must have been actual physical contact between that driver’s vehicle and you or your car (Insurance Code §1952.104(3)). A near miss with no contact does not qualify. That makes finding the other driver the most important early step. Our hit-and-run accident lawyers work on exactly this problem.

A dangerous road

Potholes, a sharp curve with no warning sign or debris left in a lane can send a car off the road. When a government agency maintains the road, the claim runs under the Texas Tort Claims Act, which allows claims for injuries caused by a condition of real property (Civil Practice and Remedies Code §101.021).

These claims are harder than a typical crash claim. For an ordinary road defect, the government owes only the limited duty a private landowner owes a licensee (§101.022), which usually means showing the agency knew about the danger. The rules are more favorable for “special defects” such as excavations or obstructions on a road. A claim about a missing or broken sign or signal generally requires that the agency failed to fix it within a reasonable time after notice (§101.060). Damages are capped at $250,000 per person against a city or the state and $100,000 per person against other local governments such as counties (§101.023).

Most important, the government must receive written notice of the claim within six months of the crash, and a city charter can require it even sooner (§101.101). If a work zone was involved, a private construction company may share responsibility as well; see our page on work zone accidents. A Texas Tort Claims Act lawyer can sort out who maintains the road.

A defective car or part

A tire tread that separates at highway speed, brakes that fail, a steering defect or an airbag that does not deploy can turn a manageable moment into a rollover. Texas allows a products liability action against the manufacturer or seller of a defective product or component (Civil Practice and Remedies Code §82.001). These claims generally must be brought within 15 years after the product was sold, on top of the usual two-year deadline (§16.012). See our product liability lawyers page for how these cases work.

Can a Passenger Sue After a Single-Car Accident?

Yes. A passenger did nothing to cause the crash, so a passenger can claim against the driver’s liability insurance when the driver was careless, and against anyone else who contributed. Passengers are also covered by PIP on the car’s policy, which pays any authorized passenger or guest occupant (Insurance Code §1952.151).

Texas requires every driver’s liability policy to carry at least $30,000 per injured person and $60,000 per crash for bodily injury (Transportation Code §601.072). If the driver had been drinking, a bar or restaurant that served the driver while obviously intoxicated may also be liable (Alcoholic Beverage Code §2.02); our drunk driving accident page covers those claims. In most cases the claim is paid by the driver’s insurer, not out of a friend’s or relative’s pocket. See our passenger injury lawyers page, and our post on a crash in a borrowed car if the driver did not own it.

What if You Were Partly at Fault?

Many single-car crashes have more than one cause, such as a little extra speed on an unmarked curve. Texas uses proportionate responsibility. You can still recover as long as you are not more than 50% responsible (Civil Practice and Remedies Code §33.001), and your damages are reduced by your share of fault (§33.012). Someone found 20% at fault, for example, recovers 80% of their damages. PIP is different: it pays regardless of fault.

Do You Have to Report a Single-Car Accident in Texas?

Often, yes. If anyone is hurt or killed, or if the car cannot be normally and safely driven, the driver must immediately notify the local police department or sheriff’s office (Transportation Code §550.026). If the crash damaged only a fence, sign, guardrail or other fixture next to the road, the driver must take reasonable steps to find and notify the owner (§550.025). Skipping that step is a misdemeanor.

An officer who investigates a crash with an injury, a death or at least $1,000 in apparent damage must file a written report (§550.062). It often records road conditions and witnesses. Our guide to getting your Texas crash report explains how to order a copy.

Deadlines After a Single-Car Accident

The shortest deadlines apply to the claims most likely to make a single-car crash someone else’s responsibility.

The general deadline to file a lawsuit for personal injury or property damage in Texas is two years after the crash; for a death, it is two years after the date of death (§16.003). PIP covers expenses incurred within three years of the crash (Insurance Code §1952.151), but your policy can set an earlier deadline to send proof of loss.

What to Do After a Single-Car Accident

1. Call 911, and get checked by a doctor even if you feel fine.
2. Photograph the road, skid marks, potholes, signs or missing signs, and the car from every side.
3. Write down what made you leave the road while you still remember it clearly.
4. Ask anyone who stopped for their name and number, especially if another car was involved.
5. Notify the police and, if you hit a fence or sign, its owner.
6. Report the crash to your own insurer and open a PIP claim.
7. Keep the car and any failed part until a lawyer has looked at it.
8. Talk to a lawyer before giving a recorded statement about how the crash happened.

See our full checklist of what to do after a car accident, and how we handle serious injury claims.

Frequently Asked Questions

Hurt in a Single-Car Crash? Get The Giant on Your Side

A single-car accident can still be someone else’s fault, but the road, the car and the witnesses do not wait. The Law Giant represents people hurt in car crashes across Texas, from the Rio Grande Valley to San Antonio, Houston and Dallas.

The consultation is free, and you pay no attorney’s fee unless we win. Call (956) 982-1800 or contact us online.

Sources and authorities

• Texas Insurance Code, ch. 1952: §1952.101, §1952.104, §1952.151, §1952.152, §1952.153, §1952.155, §1952.156.
• Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code: §16.003, §16.012, §33.001, §33.012, §82.001, §101.021, §101.022, §101.023, §101.060, §101.101.
• Texas Transportation Code: §550.025, §550.026, §550.062, §601.072.
• Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code: §2.02.

This article is general information about Texas law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case depends on its facts; talk to a lawyer about yours. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.