Car accident laws change from state to state. It is important to understand whether your state adheres to an “at-fault” or “no-fault” law if you get injured in a car accident. This distinction will determine whether or not you can file a Laredo accident claim against another driver for causing your crash. Texas is an at-fault or tort-based state, not a no-fault state.
Texas’s At-Fault Insurance Law
An at-fault car insurance state allows its motorists to recover financial compensation from the insurance provider of the at-fault party after an automobile accident occurs. All drivers (and other crash victims, such as vehicle passengers) have the right to file a claim against the person who caused the crash in Texas. This is known as a third-party insurance claim.
States with no-fault laws, on the other hand, require injured accident victims to file claims only with their own car insurance providers (first-party claims) unless an exception exists, such as severe or permanent injuries. While there is typically less coverage available under no-fault rules, the tradeoff is that the victim does not have to prove fault.
What Car Insurance Is Required in Texas?
Under Texas’s car insurance laws, every motor vehicle owner must purchase and maintain minimum amounts of automobile insurance coverage. Since Texas is an at-fault state, drivers must have enough coverage to pay for the losses of others after an at-fault accident. The required amounts are currently:
- Bodily injury liability: $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident (two or more people). This will pay for the other driver’s (and any passengers’) medical expenses and some other costs.
- Property damage liability: $25,000 per accident. This pays to repair damage to the other driver’s vehicle or, if the car was totaled (too damaged to repair), its total pre-crash value.
Liability insurance in Texas will pay for the other driver’s losses, not the policyholder’s, if the policyholder is at fault. This is in contrast to the personal injury protection (PIP) insurance required in no-fault states, which offers medical bill coverage to the policyholder and his or her passengers alone.
Proving Fault After a Car Wreck in Texas
If you get injured in a car accident in Texas, it will be necessary to determine who is at fault before you file an insurance claim. Fault is often identified with help from an official investigation by the police and a car insurance company. Typically, the driver blamed for the accident is the one who was in violation of a traffic law at the time of the wreck.
If one driver ran a red light and caused a T-bone collision, for example, that driver will be held financially responsible (liable) for all victims’ bills and losses. As a crash victim, you or your car accident attorney will need to prove fault using evidence. Evidence may include photographs and video footage, a police report, eyewitness statements, cell phone records, and statements from crash reconstruction experts.
If your case goes to trial, the burden of proof that must be met to secure compensation is “based on a preponderance of the evidence,” meaning the claim is more likely to be true than not true. Meeting this burden in a civil case requires compelling evidence. It is important to collect as much evidence as possible in the aftermath of a Texas car accident. Then, contact a local Laredo injury attorney for assistance filing your at-fault car insurance claim.