Texas gives you 2 years to file most truck accident claims, and it follows modified comparative negligence (51% bar). Federal FMCSA rules govern the trucking company; Texas law governs your injury claim.
If a big rig hit you in Texas, odds are it happened on a road built for freight first and people second. You need a Texas truck accident lawyer who knows that a crash outside Laredo and a crash on the Katy Freeway are two very different cases, even when the rules on paper are the same.
From the Laredo bridges to the Houston ship channel
Southbound trailers stack up for miles waiting to clear the World Trade Bridge, then pour north on I-35 once they're through. By San Antonio they're sharing lanes with commuters, and by Austin they're squeezed onto the upper and lower decks where merges come fast and there's no shoulder to bail onto.
Out west it's a different animal. I-10 and I-20 run long and straight past El Paso and Midland, where oilfield trucks, frac sand haulers and tired long-haul drivers share two-lane feeders at night. Crosswinds push empty trailers around, and a blown steer tire at 75 mph doesn't leave much room.
Texas carries more truck freight than any other state. Laredo is the busiest land port of entry in the United States, and the I-35 corridor above it runs a near-continuous stream of cross-border tractor-trailers through San Antonio, Austin, and the Dallas–Fort Worth inland port complex.
- I-35 (Laredo–San Antonio–Austin–Dallas, the NAFTA corridor)
- I-10 (El Paso–San Antonio–Houston)
- I-45 (Dallas–Houston)
- I-20 (West Texas–Dallas–Shreveport)
- I-30, I-27, and US-59 / I-69
Hurt behind the wheel of your own truck in Texas
If you were the one driving the rig, your side of the story lives in your ELD, your dash cam and your bill of lading. Pull copies of all three before anybody from the safety department 'helps' you. A cross-border load can also mean a Mexican carrier, a U.S. broker and a Texas shipper all pointing fingers, so write down every company name on your paperwork while you still have it.
When it was your family's car on I-35 or I-45
Families in cars usually get the first call from the carrier's insurer within days. They're friendly, and they want a recorded statement about speed and lane changes. You don't have to give one. Get the CR-3 crash report, keep every receipt, and let someone licensed in Texas handle that conversation.
How Texas splits fault
Texas calls this proportionate responsibility. Your recovery is reduced by your share of fault, and you recover nothing if you are found more than 50% responsible.
Also see who can be held liable.
What's different about Texas claims
Before you talk to an adjuster
- Punitive (exemplary) damages are capped in Texas at the greater of $200,000 or twice economic damages plus an equal amount of non-economic damages up to $750,000. Compensatory damages in an ordinary injury case are not capped.
- Claims against a Texas governmental unit fall under the Texas Tort Claims Act, which requires formal notice — often within six months, and sooner under many city charters — and caps recovery.
- Texas crash reports (form CR-3) are obtained through TxDOT's Crash Report Online Purchase System.
The federal layer
An interstate carrier in Texas answers to the same federal floor as everywhere else: at least $750,000 in liability coverage, hours-of-service limits under 49 CFR Part 395, and a six-month retention floor on driver duty records. Read about preserving the truck's data and the federal safety regulations.
Finding a lawyer in Texas
Ask any Texas attorney you talk to whether they've dealt with cross-border carriers or oilfield operators before. Those cases turn on who actually controlled the truck, and that can take real digging.
Network attorneys cover Houston, Dallas–Fort Worth, San Antonio, Austin, El Paso, and Laredo. Start a free case review.
Other states
See all states → or check filing deadlines for all 50 states.
Sources
- Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts — Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
- SAFER Company Snapshot — carrier safety records — Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
- Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) — National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Federal regulations and crash statistics are updated periodically. Figures cited on this page reflect the referenced publications at the time of writing; check the source for the current edition.