Austin Car Accident Lawyer

Do you have a car accident case?

If a negligent driver caused your crash in Travis or Williamson County, you almost certainly do. The two-year deadline under Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code §16.003 is short, the evidence trail is shorter (dashcam files overwrite, witness memories fade, repair shops scrap totaled vehicles), and Texas's modified comparative fault rule under §33.001 gives insurance adjusters a strong incentive to assign you blame. The work in the first thirty days — preserving evidence, getting a treating-doctor record, sending preservation-of-evidence letters to the at-fault carrier — is what builds the case.

We handle car accident representation across Austin and the suburbs. The pages that follow walk through the Texas-specific law that governs recovery, the local geography that shapes how these cases get litigated, and the process from first call through resolution.

What to do in the next 24 hours

Before anything else, before calling any attorney:

• See a doctor today, even if you feel fine. Soft-tissue injuries and concussion symptoms often surface 24-72 hours after a crash. A same-day medical record is the difference between a documented injury and an insurance defense built around delay.
• Photograph everything. Vehicle damage, the scene, skid marks, traffic signs, the other driver's license plate and insurance card. Photos taken at the scene rarely get retaken.
• Save the dashcam file. Most aftermarket and OEM dashcams overwrite on a 24-72 hour loop. Pull the SD card, copy the file, store it somewhere you'll find it again.
• Don't talk to the at-fault driver's insurance. A recorded statement to the other carrier is not required and is rarely in your interest. Get advice first.
• Save every receipt. ER discharge papers, prescriptions, mileage to and from appointments, repair estimates. Keep a single folder.
• Write down what happened while it's fresh. Time, weather, what you saw, what was said. Your written account is admissible as a recorded recollection if memory fades by the time of deposition.

None of the above requires an attorney. It costs nothing. It is the single most useful thing you can do in the first day, with or without representation.

What makes a Texas car accident case different

Three rules shape every car accident claim in Texas, and the differences from neighboring states are substantial.

Modified comparative fault under §33.001. Texas allows recovery as long as the plaintiff is 50% or less at fault. At 51%, recovery is barred entirely — the "51% bar." This creates a strong defense incentive: every adjuster files looking for facts that push the plaintiff over the line. Lane change at the wrong second, a missed yield, a "sudden stop" — these are the building blocks of a 51% argument. Documenting your account before talking to the insurer matters.

Two-year statute of limitations under §16.003. Most personal injury claims, including car accident claims, must be filed within two years of the crash. There are narrow exceptions for minors and for delayed-discovery situations involving latent injuries, but the default is hard. Wrongful death claims also run two years from the date of death.

Paid-or-incurred recovery under Haygood. Haygood v. De Escabedo (356 S.W.3d 390, Tex. 2011) limits recovery for past medical expenses to amounts actually paid or that the plaintiff is liable for. If health insurance paid $4,200 on a $12,000 hospital bill, the recoverable figure is $4,200, not $12,000. The rule changes how cases are valued and is one of the more frequently misunderstood areas of Texas personal injury practice.

PIP, UM, and UIM coverages — required to be offered, can be rejected in writing — sit on your own policy and pay regardless of who was at fault for crash-related medical bills (PIP) or against an uninsured/underinsured at-fault driver (UM/UIM).

Texas law that governs recovery

The statutory framework most often invoked in a car accident claim:

• Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §16.003 — two-year statute of limitations for personal injury and wrongful death.
• Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §33.001 — modified comparative responsibility; recovery barred at 51% fault.
• Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §41.008 — caps on exemplary (punitive) damages.
• Tex. Ins. Code §1952.101 — UM/UIM coverage required in every Texas auto liability policy unless rejected in writing.
• Tex. Ins. Code §1952.152 (PIP) — PIP coverage required to be offered on auto policies; rejected in writing under §1952.152(b). Maximum required PIP amount under §1952.153 is $2,500 per person in aggregate benefits.
• Haygood v. De Escabedo, 356 S.W.3d 390 (Tex. 2011) — paid-or-incurred rule limiting past medical recovery to amounts paid or incurred.

For criminal-restitution and dram-shop overlap (drunk driver cases), see Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code §2.02. For defective-product crashes, the Texas products-liability statute (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Chapter 82) governs.

Where Austin car accidents happen

City of Austin Vision Zero data and Travis County crash reports concentrate around a small set of corridors. The geography matters because venue, treating-hospital records, and witness identification all flow from the location.

• I-35 through Austin, particularly the segment between Riverside Drive and 51st Street, accounts for a disproportionate share of high-speed and rear-end crashes in the metro area. Construction-zone crashes during the I-35 capital expansion overlap with TxDOT contractor liability questions.
• MoPac (Loop 1) between Far West and Cesar Chavez sees congestion-driven rear-end and lane-change crashes. The Express Lane toll-gantry transitions are common collision points.
• US 183 north of 290 and through Cedar Park sees commute-corridor crashes; the SH-130 toll road handles a high share of commercial-vehicle traffic that occasionally collides with passenger cars.
• US 290 east through east Austin and SH-71 east toward the airport are common high-speed corridors with mixed commercial and passenger traffic.

Trauma cases route to Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas (the region's only Level I trauma center), St. David's South Austin Medical Center, and Ascension Seton Medical Center. These records become the medical-expense evidence base for the claim.

Travis County civil cases file in the Travis County Civil District Court at 1700 Guadalupe Street. Williamson County cases file in the Williamson County District Courts in Georgetown.

What is recoverable

A car accident claim under Texas law typically covers:

• Past and future medical expenses (subject to Haygood paid-or-incurred)
• Past and future lost earnings and lost earning capacity
• Physical pain and mental anguish
• Physical impairment and disfigurement
• Property damage to the vehicle and personal property inside it
• Loss of consortium, in spousal and certain family contexts

Exemplary (punitive) damages are available in narrow circumstances — typically where the at-fault driver was intoxicated or the conduct was grossly negligent. Cap rules under §41.008 apply.

What the process looks like

Most car accident representation moves through four phases:

1. Intake and conflict check. First call covers the facts, the injury, the insurance landscape, and a conflict check against existing clients. If there is no conflict and the case fits, an engagement letter follows.

2. Investigation and evidence preservation. Police reports, scene photos, dashcam recovery, witness contact, repair-shop estimates, and preservation-of-evidence letters to the at-fault carrier and any commercial defendants. Treating-doctor records build over the next 60-180 days as treatment progresses.

3. Demand and negotiation. When treatment plateaus or the prognosis is clear, the demand package goes to the at-fault carrier with documented expenses, lost wages, and a settlement number. Most pre-suit cases resolve in this phase.

4. Suit, discovery, and trial preparation. When the carrier won't move, suit is filed in Travis or Williamson County District Court. Discovery, depositions, and mediation follow. Trial preparation begins as soon as discovery closes.

Why this firm

Direct attorney access. When you call us, you reach an attorney, not an intake coordinator routing you to a paralegal. Anselmo Aguirre handles your case personally — intake, investigation, negotiation, and trial.

Smaller caseload than the firms that advertise on the freeway. We turn down cases for conflict, for fit, and when another firm is a better match for the facts. The cases we take get attention, not assembly-line treatment.

Real Texas-specific work. Statutes by section, hospitals by name, courts by location. The pages on this site are the firm's own analysis, reviewed by Anselmo Aguirre — not borrowed from a content mill.