Frequently asked questions

No. Crash Steps is an independent educational publisher. It is not a law firm, not an attorney-referral service, and not a government agency. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship, a patient relationship, or an agency relationship. Nothing on the site is a solicitation for legal work.

Texas Transportation Code § 550.026 requires immediate notice in the crashes it describes: injury or death, or damage so a vehicle cannot be normally and safely driven. Where you call depends on whether the spot is inside a city, within 100 feet outside a city, or farther out. Separate from that statute, HPD’s contact page says to use 911 for an emergency and (713) 884-3131 for non-emergency police service inside Houston city limits. If you are unsure, calling 911 is the safety step. This site cannot tell you that your crash is too small to report.

On a main lane, ramp, shoulder, median, or adjacent freeway area in a metropolitan area, § 550.022(b) tells each driver to move the vehicle when every vehicle can be normally and safely driven. A vehicle meets that test in the statute only if it does not need a tow and can be driven under its own power in its usual manner, without more damage or hazard. If a car will not move safely, do not push it through traffic. City freeway guidance for a disabled vehicle says to stay belted if you are not injured. That guidance is not a medical exam.

The sources do not agree on a single wait, so this site will not invent one. Section 550.062 gives an investigating officer until the 10th day after the crash to file the written report with TxDOT when the report is required. HPD’s records page says accident reports need 5 to 8 days of processing. HPD’s December 2025 request form says not to submit a request until at least 10 days after the crash. Report filing and appearance in a purchase search are separate stages; no download date is guaranteed here. Use the instructions on the official page you are following that day.

Houston Police investigate inside the City of Houston. Other incorporated cities have their own police departments. Unincorporated Harris County is the Sheriff’s Office’s usual territory, and the sheriff publishes a non-emergency number and a traffic-crash section on its site. A “Houston” mailing address can sit outside the city limits. The crash location controls, not the driver’s home address. Within 100 feet outside a city, § 550.026 allows notice to that city’s police or the sheriff.

Texas law still requires drivers to be able to show financial responsibility, and TDI describes the minimum liability amounts as $30,000 / $60,000 / $25,000. Those minimums pay other people when you are at fault. They do not repair your own car. TDI says uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, if you kept it, is the coverage aimed at a driver with no insurance or too little insurance, and that collision coverage is another way a policy may pay for your car. Whether a claim is paid depends on the policy. This site cannot tell you that yours will be.

Get to safety and call 911. Do not chase. Try to remember a plate, color, and direction only if you can do that safely. Chapter 550 makes failing to stop a criminal offense in the situations the statute describes, with different classifications for injury, death, and property damage. That is a description of the statute, not a prediction of a charge. TDI says collision coverage or uninsured/underinsured property-damage coverage is what may pay to repair your car after a hit-and-run, if your policy has it. Liability coverage does not repair your own car.

Call 911 if someone may be seriously hurt or you are not sure. CDC’s mild traumatic brain injury page lists danger signs after a bump, blow, or jolt to the head, including a worsening headache, repeated vomiting, seizures, weakness, slurred speech, unequal pupils, confusion, or a person who cannot be woken. CDC also says symptoms can appear later and that a possible concussion should be seen by a health care provider. Those pages are not a crash triage tool, and they do not rule injury out. This site cannot tell you that you are well.

Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003 states a two-year period for many personal-injury and wrongful-death suits, and it names exceptions. Other laws can toll a deadline or add a notice step. Notice rules can be shorter when a city, county, or other government might be a defendant. This guide does not state a City of Houston charter notice period, because that charter text was not re-verified here, and it does not calculate a date for any person. A countdown on a website is not your deadline.

No. The checklist stores only which step-ids are marked, in local storage on this browser. It does not store a story, a photo, a name, a plate, or a policy number. Marks are not notice to the police, not a claim, and not evidence. Use your own notes for anything an insurer or an officer asks you to keep.