Challenging a Police Fault Determination After a Texas Crash

Attorney Answer

A police officer's fault call does not decide who pays. It is an opinion, formed quickly, sometimes on half the story — and in a Texas civil case fault is decided by the parties and their insurers or, if it goes that far, by a jury. You can dispute it.

Texas assigns fault in percentages. Under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.003, the trier of fact determines a percentage of responsibility, stated in whole numbers, for each claimant, each defendant, each settling person, and each responsible third party designated in the case. Those percentages then drive the money. Under § 33.001, a claimant whose share is greater than 50 percent recovers nothing at all. Under § 33.012(a), a claimant below that line has damages reduced by their own percentage. Under § 33.013(a), each liable defendant owes only its own share. Section 33.013(b) is the exception: a defendant whose own share is greater than 50 percent, or who acted in concert with another in certain intentional criminal conduct, is jointly and severally liable for the whole. None of that machinery asks what box an officer checked at the scene.

What does matter is who had the right of way. Under Tex. Transp. Code § 545.151(a), a driver must obey the traffic-control devices at an intersection and may proceed only when the intersection can be entered safely, without interference or collision. Under § 545.153, a driver who has stopped at a stop sign must still yield to traffic already in the intersection or close enough to be a hazard, and § 545.153(d) provides that driving past a yield sign without stopping, followed by a collision, is prima facie evidence that the driver failed to yield. Those rules are answered with evidence, not with opinions.

One more thing worth knowing: a traffic ticket is a separate proceeding from the civil claim, and how it turns out does not settle who is financially responsible for the damage.

What you can do

1. Give your own insurer your account of the crash, in writing, and tell it plainly that you dispute the fault finding. It owes you an investigation and, if you are sued, a defense.

2. Get a copy of the crash report from the agency that wrote it, read it closely, and note every factual error. Ask the agency what its process is for submitting a correction or a supplemental statement.

3. Collect the evidence that outlasts memory: your photographs, the damage to both vehicles, any dashcam footage, and video from businesses near the intersection. Ask for that video now, because most systems overwrite within days or weeks.

4. Track down witnesses. If anyone stopped at the scene, their name and phone number are worth more than any argument you can make on your own behalf.

5. Do not pay anything, sign anything, or give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurer while fault is in dispute.

6. If you are sued, or the demands escalate, take the report and your evidence to a Texas attorney.

Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a) sets a two-year period for personal injury and property damage suits in Texas, running from the day the cause of action accrues. Where your dates fall depends on your facts, and a Texas attorney should check them rather than a page like this one.