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El Paso Car Accident Lawyer
Are you the victim of a traffic accident? We can help
El Paso Car Accident Attorneys
The first ten days after an El Paso car crash decide most of what your claim is worth.
In that short window, the camera above the intersection records over its footage, the other driver settles on a version where nothing was their fault, and an adjuster you have not even met starts deciding how little to pay you.
An El Paso car accident lawyer goes to work on all three before that window closes, because once it closes it does not reopen.
This page follows the hours and days after an El Paso crash, shows you what the other side does in each window, and names the one move that protects you at every step.
The consultation is free, and you pay nothing unless we win. Call (512) 254-4424 any hour, day or night.
Legally reviewed by Matthew Kotzen
A former insurance-defense trial attorney, Matthew Kotzen spent the early part of his career representing insurance companies before switching sides to fight for injured people. He earned his J.D. from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University, is a Lifetime Member of Best Attorneys of America, and is admitted to the State Bar of Texas.
“I spent years building cases for insurance companies. Now I use that same playbook to make sure they pay what they actually owe.”
Goldberg & Loren Fights for Maximum Compensation
Pay Nothing, Unless We Win
Texas Injury Law at a Glance
| Deadline to file a lawsuit | Two years from the date of the injury. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003 |
| Fault rule | Modified comparative responsibility ("51% bar"): you recover only if you are 50% or less at fault, and your award is reduced by your share. §§ 33.001, 33.012 |
| Reporting the crash | Notify police immediately when there is injury, death, or a vehicle that cannot be driven away safely. Tex. Transp. Code § 550.026 |
The First Hour After an El Paso Car Crash Decides What You Can Prove
Right after impact, your body floods with adrenaline and your only instinct is to get off the road. That instinct keeps you safe, but it is also when the most fragile evidence vanishes. Cars get towed, glass gets swept, and the exact resting positions that show who hit whom are gone within the hour. The attorneys at Goldberg & Loren tell every caller the same thing: that the first hour is worth more than the next month if you use it well.
Call 911 and let officers start the CR-3 crash report, because that document anchors your claim later. Then, if you can move safely, start capturing everything you can, because those early details often decide the claim. The police report captures the official version, but your phone captures the details an officer racing between calls will never write down.
What to Photograph Before the Tow Truck Hauls the Cars Away
Shoot wide first, then close. A wide shot shows both vehicles where they stopped, the lane lines, and the direction each car faced. Then move in on the damage to each bumper, the plate of the other car, any skid marks, and the debris field where the collision actually happened. Photograph the other driver’s insurance card and get the names and numbers of anyone who stopped to help.
Why El Paso Sun Glare and Blowing Dust Belong in Your Photos
El Paso hands drivers two hazards most cities do not. Low sun on the long east-west streets can wash out a windshield for a full minute at dawn and dusk, and spring dust storms can drop visibility on I-10 and Loop 375 to almost nothing in seconds. If either played a role, capture it. A photo of blinding glare or a wall of blowing dust helps explain why a driver failed to stop, and it quietly answers the claim that you appeared out of nowhere.
Why Saying You Feel Fine at the Scene Can Cost You Later
Adrenaline hides your pain for hours, which is why so many people tell the officer and the other driver that they feel fine, only to wake up the next morning barely able to turn their neck. Those cheerful words at the scene get repeated back to you later as proof you were never really hurt.
Say as little as possible about your condition until a doctor has checked you. You are not being dishonest by declining to guess. You simply do not yet know what the crash did to your body, and it is fair to say so.
Days One to Three When the El Paso Insurer Calls First
The other driver’s insurance company will often reach you before your bruises darken. The call is friendly, the adjuster sounds concerned, and the questions feel routine. They are not. Every answer is measured against one goal, moving as much fault onto you as the facts will allow. Texas follows modified comparative fault: your recovery drops by your share of the blame, and if your share climbs past half, it disappears entirely. That single rule explains why the early calls are so pleasant and so pointed at the same time.
The Comparative Fault Math That Turns 51% Into Nothing
Chapter 33 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code sets the rule. You recover as long as your share of fault stays at 50% or below, and your award shrinks by whatever percentage lands on you. Reach 51%, and you collect nothing at all.
Put real numbers on it. On a $150,000 claim, a 20% share still leaves you $120,000. At an even 50%, you keep $75,000. One point higher, at 51%, and the same claim pays zero. The insurer does not need to prove you caused the whole wreck. It only needs to push your number across the halfway line, which is why it fights for every percentage point from the first call.
How El Paso Adjusters Build a 51% Argument From Small Admissions
Watch how the number gets built. A casual I might have been going a little fast becomes speed. A polite I never saw them becomes inattention. None of these felt like admissions when you said them, yet each one adds a few points to your column. Stacked together, they are how a claim that should pay full value gets talked down to half or worse.
The Phone Call on Day Two You Do Not Have to Take
Within a day or two, the adjuster usually asks for a recorded statement. It sounds like a formality. It is actually the moment loose words get locked into evidence and quoted back for two years. You are not required to give that statement, and declining is not suspicious; it is smart.
Before you talk to anyone, run through a short list that protects the claim while the details are fresh.
- See a doctor the same day, even if you feel fine, because adrenaline hides injuries for hours.
- Photograph both cars, the intersection, and the weather before anything gets moved or towed.
- Collect the other driver’s insurance, plate, and the names of everyone who stopped.
- Give no recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer, no matter how friendly the call.
- Keep every bill, brace, prescription, and missed-work pay stub in one folder.
None of these steps require a law degree, and each one makes your claim harder to attack. The sooner they happen, the less room the insurer has to invent a version where the crash was your fault.
Table of Contents
El Paso Practice Areas
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Bus Accidents
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Car Accidents
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Dog Bites
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Motorcycle Accidents
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Pedestrian Accidents
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Personal Injury
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Premises Liability
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Rideshare Accidents
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Truck Accidents
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Wrongful Death
The Medical Window That Makes or Breaks Your El Paso Injury Claim
There is a narrow window right after a crash where medical care and legal proof become the same thing. A visit to an emergency room or to University Medical Center, the region’s Level I trauma center, does two jobs at once. It catches injuries adrenaline is hiding, and it creates a dated record that ties those injuries to the wreck.
Soft tissue damage, concussions, and internal bleeding often stay quiet for a day or two, then get much worse. Getting checked early means a doctor documents the link before the insurer can suggest you got hurt somewhere else.
Why a Two-Week Treatment Gap Becomes the Insurer's Favorite Argument
Wait two weeks to see a doctor, and you hand the insurance company its best line. It will argue that a truly injured person would have gone sooner, and that something between the crash and your first visit must be to blame. The argument is not fair, but it works, and it costs claimants money every single day.
Follow the treatment plan once you have one. Skipped appointments and long gaps read, to an adjuster, like a person who healed and changed their mind. Steady care tells the true story of an injury that took time to resolve.
The El Paso Medical Records That Actually Move an Adjuster
Not all records carry the same weight. A specialist referral, imaging that shows a herniated disc, and a physician note connecting your pain to the crash mean far more than a single urgent-care visit. We help gather the records that show the full arc of the injury rather than a snapshot of one bad day.
Days Four to Ten When El Paso Crash Evidence Starts to Disappear
By the end of the first week, the scene is long cleared, and the evidence begins slipping away. Two kinds of evidence are especially fragile, and either one can decide a disputed case; lose them and a strong claim can collapse into your word against theirs.
The Intersection Camera Footage That Erases Itself Within Days
Traffic cameras, nearby business security systems, and doorbell cameras capture more El Paso crashes than people expect. The problem is that most of these systems record over themselves within days or a few short weeks. The clip that shows the other driver running a red light can be gone before you finish your first doctor visit.
A written preservation letter stops that overwrite, and we send one right away, naming the cameras and the time window so the footage survives long enough to matter. Business owners rarely volunteer video, yet they hold it when a lawyer formally demands it.
The Black Box Data Your El Paso Car Accident Lawyer Can Pull
Most modern vehicles carry an event data recorder that logs speed, braking, and throttle in the seconds before impact. That data can flatly contradict a driver who swears they were at the limit and stopped in time. Pulled early, it becomes some of the most persuasive proof in the case.
The catch is access. Once a totaled car is sold for salvage, the recorder can leave with it, so an El Paso car accident lawyer moves to preserve the vehicle and download the module before that happens.
The Two-Year Deadline Behind Every El Paso Car Accident Claim
All of these short clocks sit inside one long one. Texas law generally gives you two years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit. Miss it and the court will almost always refuse the case no matter how badly you were hurt.
Two years sounds like plenty, and that is the trap. Cameras overwrite in weeks, witnesses move away, and salvage yards crush cars long before the deadline arrives. Starting early does not just protect the filing date, it protects everything the case will eventually need.
The Shorter Clock Hiding Inside a Crash With a City Vehicle
If a Sun Metro bus, a city truck, or another government vehicle hit you, the two year rule is not your real deadline. Claims against a Texas government body require formal written notice far sooner, sometimes within months, and El Paso sets its own short window by ordinance. Miss that notice and the two year clock never even gets a chance to matter, which is why these crashes need a lawyer immediately.
Days Eleven and Beyond When the First Settlement Offer Arrives
Once the first ten days have passed, the insurer often shifts tactics. Instead of gathering statements, it makes an offer, and it tends to arrive faster than you expect. A quick check that feels generous while the bills pile up is one of the most effective tools an insurer has, because a signed release ends the claim for good. The trouble is that an early offer is built on what is known today, not on what your injury will actually cost, and accepting it can leave you paying for the crash long after the money is gone.
Why the First Offer Comes So Fast
Speed serves the insurer, not you. The sooner you sign, the less time you have to discover a herniated disc, a lingering concussion, or a surgery you did not know you needed. A fast offer also lands before a lawyer can measure the full value of the claim, which is exactly the point. We treat an eager first offer as a signal that the claim is worth more than the number on the check.
The Future Costs an Early Offer Leaves Out
A serious injury keeps costing money long after the first round of treatment. Follow-up care, physical therapy, future surgery, and time away from work all carry a price that an early offer ignores. Texas lets you recover for those future losses, but only if you account for them before you settle. We work with your doctors to project what the injury will require, so the demand reflects the real cost rather than the first guess.
How a Lawyer Values an El Paso Car Accident Claim
Valuing a claim is more than adding up receipts. It means weighing the severity of the injury, the strength of the liability evidence, the effect on your daily life, and the coverage available to pay. Putting those pieces together is how a fair number takes shape, and it is work the insurer is counting on you to skip.
How Long Do You Have to Report a Crash in Texas?
Reporting a crash and filing a lawsuit are two very different deadlines, and the reporting one is far shorter. Under Texas law, if anyone is injured or killed, or a vehicle is too damaged to be driven away safely, the drivers involved must notify police immediately, by the quickest means available, not days later (Tex. Transp. Code § 550.026). You also have to stop at the scene, give your name, address, and insurance information, and help anyone who is hurt (§§ 550.021–550.023). Leaving the scene of an injury crash is a serious crime in Texas, not a paperwork issue.
You may have heard that you have “ten days to file a crash report.” That ten-day deadline actually belongs to the investigating police officer, who must send the official crash report to the Texas Department of Transportation within ten days when a wreck causes injury, death, or at least $1,000 in property damage (§ 550.062). The separate report drivers once mailed in themselves was eliminated years ago. Your job is to report the crash to police right away, then notify your own insurance company promptly, as your policy requires.
If your crash happened in El Paso, you can get a copy of your official crash report from the EPPD Records Division at the Gregory K. Allen Police Headquarters, 911 N. Raynor St., El Paso, TX 79903 ((915) 212-4267), or order it online through the Texas Department of Transportation. That report is one of the first things your attorney pulls. If you are not sure how to get your report or what it says about fault, call us at (512) 254-4424.
Talk to an El Paso Car Accident Lawyer While the Evidence Is Fresh
The first ten days after a crash are the ones you cannot get back. Every day the footage sits unclaimed and the adjuster works unanswered is a day the case gets harder. Moving early is the single biggest advantage you have, and it costs you nothing to start.
Our firm handles El Paso car accident claims from the first phone call, dealing with the insurer so you can focus on healing. The consultation is free, and you pay nothing unless we win your case.
Call (512) 254-4424 any hour, or reach us through our contact page to get started today.
Talk to an El Paso car accident lawyer while the cameras still remember what happened and the evidence is still there to collect.
Frequently Asked Questions on El Paso Car Accidents
How Long Do You Have to Report a Crash in Texas?
Reporting a crash and filing a lawsuit are two very different deadlines, and the reporting one is far shorter. Under Texas law, if anyone is injured or killed, or a vehicle is too damaged to be driven away safely, the drivers involved must notify police immediately, not days later (Tex. Transp. Code § 550.026). You also have to stop, give your name, address, and insurance information, and help anyone who is hurt (§§ 550.021–550.023). Leaving the scene of an injury crash is a serious crime in Texas, not a paperwork issue.
You may have heard that you have “ten days to file a crash report.” That ten-day deadline actually belongs to the investigating officer, who must send the official crash report to TxDOT within ten days when a wreck causes injury, death, or at least $1,000 in property damage (§ 550.062). Your job is to report the crash to police right away, then notify your own insurer promptly. If your crash happened inside Austin city limits, you can get a copy of your official crash report from APD Headquarters at 715 E. 8th Street, Austin, TX 78701 (512-974-2000), or order it online through the Texas Department of Transportation. That report is one of the first things your attorney pulls.
What Austin Hospital Should I Go To After a Car Accident?
In a true emergency, take the closest option or let paramedics decide, Dell Seton Medical Center at The University of Texas is the region’s Level I trauma center and is built for the most serious injuries. St. David’s Medical Center and Ascension Seton also operate emergency rooms across the Austin metro. Getting examined the same day matters for both your health and your claim, because a treatment gap is the first thing an adjuster uses to argue the crash did not really hurt you.
Where Do the Most Car Accidents Happen in Austin?
The heaviest crash volume clusters on a few well-known corridors: I-35 from downtown to the airport, US-183 (Research Boulevard), MoPac (Loop 1), Lamar Boulevard, South Congress Avenue, East Riverside Drive, and Airport Boulevard, plus the busy intersections around the UT campus and the Domain. These are among the most congested and crash-prone roads in Travis County, and the location itself can help frame how the crash occurred.
What If an I-35 Construction Zone Caused My Crash?
The ongoing I-35 Capital Express project and other TxDOT work zones reroute lanes, shift barriers, and change striping constantly, and a confusing or poorly marked setup can put fault on TxDOT or its contractor rather than on you. These cases turn on evidence that disappears fast, since the zone is reconfigured week to week. We photograph the layout right away and pull the approved traffic control plans before the next change erases what caused your wreck.
Can I Sue the City of Austin for a Road Defect?
Sometimes, but the rules are far stricter than an ordinary claim. The Texas Tort Claims Act lets you pursue a government entity for certain road and property defects, yet it requires formal written notice of your claim well before the two-year lawsuit deadline, generally within six months, and some cities require notice even sooner by local charter (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 101.023, 101.101). Miss that notice window and an otherwise strong claim can be barred, so call us immediately if you think a road defect played a role.
What If I Was Hurt in a Suburb Like Round Rock or Cedar Park?
We handle crashes throughout the Austin metro, including the suburbs in neighboring Williamson and Hays counties, Round Rock, Cedar Park, Pflugerville, Georgetown, Leander, and San Marcos. Which county your crash happened in can affect where your case is filed and which court hears it. The same Texas injury laws apply across all of them, so your rights do not change just because the wreck was outside the Austin city limits.
How Long Does an Austin Car Accident Claim Take To Settle?
It depends on the severity of your injuries and how hard the insurer fights fault. Straightforward claims can resolve in a few months, while cases with serious injuries, disputed liability, or work-zone questions often take a year or longer. We do not rush you into an early release before your doctors know the full extent of your injuries, because once you settle, the claim is closed for good.
Legal Sources & References
The Texas laws described on this page are cited to the official statutes published by the Texas Legislature and were last reviewed on August 14, 2026.
- Statute of limitations (2 years), Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003
- Comparative responsibility & reduction, Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 33.001, 33.012
- Duty to report a crash, Tex. Transp. Code §§ 550.021–550.026, 550.062
- Texas crash data, Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)
Goldberg & Loren
211 Ranch Rd 620 S, Suite #230
Lakeway, TX 78734
(512) 254-4424
El Paso isn't a typical crash market. We've got I-10 running straight through the middle of the city, heavy commercial traffic coming off the international bridges, and a large military community that moves in and out. When a tractor-trailer is involved, there's a corporate defense team working the file within hours. You should have someone working yours just as fast.