Car accident claims: what to do next in Texas

Texas car accident lawsuits are filed in the state district courts of the county where the crash occurred or where a defendant resides; district courts hear the larger personal injury claims, while county courts at law handle smaller-dollar matters. High-volume venues include the district courts of Harris County (Houston), Dallas County, Bexar County (San Antonio), Tarrant County (Fort Worth), and Travis County (Austin). Texas is an at-fault (“tort”) state, so the driver responsible for a crash — and their insurer — bears financial responsibility.

The statute of limitations for most Texas personal injury claims is two years from the date of the crash, under Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 16.003. Missing that deadline generally bars the claim, so the initial lawsuit must be filed with the court before the two-year anniversary even if settlement discussions are ongoing.

Texas follows modified comparative fault — “proportionate responsibility” under Chapter 33 of the Civil Practice & Remedies Code. An injured person can still recover if partly at fault, but recovery is reduced by their share of responsibility, and a plaintiff found more than 50% at fault (the “51% bar”) recovers nothing. Texas also sets minimum liability insurance at 30/60/25.

Because Texas juries assign percentages of fault among all parties, careful investigation — crash reports, scene evidence, and witness accounts — often drives the outcome. Individual outcomes vary with the facts, and nothing here guarantees any particular result.