Moving a Wrecked Car Off a Texas Freeway
Start a free AI-assisted chat and connect with an experienced Texas attorney, with no obligation.
Reviewed & verified by A. Jason Velez, Esq.*
Founding Attorney, 1LAW · Last reviewed March 6, 2023
Legal Inquiry
Consumer Legal Issue
I was in a wreck on a major highway with a ton of traffic. I got off the highway and called the police to report it. Will I get charged with leaving the scene?
Attorney Answer
Probably not, and on a busy freeway Texas law may well have required you to do exactly what you did. Moving a drivable car out of live traffic is not what "leaving the scene" means. The risk in your situation is not that you moved — it is whether you completed the exchange the statute requires with the other driver before you left.
Tex. Transp. Code § 550.022(b) is written for this. If a collision occurs on a main lane, ramp, shoulder, median, or adjacent area of a freeway in a metropolitan area and each vehicle involved can be normally and safely driven, each operator shall move the vehicle as soon as possible to a designated collision investigation site if one is available, a location on the frontage road, the nearest suitable cross street, or another suitable location, in order to complete the requirements of § 550.023 and minimize interference with freeway traffic. Under § 550.022(d), a vehicle can be normally and safely driven only if it does not require towing and can be operated under its own power in its usual manner without additional damage or hazard. So the statute names a duty to move, not a duty to stand still.
The condition attached to that duty is the part people miss. The move is permitted for the purpose of completing the requirements of Section 550.023, and those requirements travel with you. Section 550.023 requires the operator to give the operator's name and address, the registration number of the vehicle, and the name of the operator's liability insurer to any person injured and to the operator or occupant of any other vehicle involved; to show a driver's license if requested and available; and to give reasonable assistance to anyone injured, including arranging transport for treatment where it is apparently necessary or requested. Getting off the highway and calling the police does not by itself satisfy that.
Two things change the analysis. If the collision resulted or was reasonably likely to result in injury to or death of a person, § 550.021(a) governs instead. It requires the operator to stop at the scene or as close to it as possible, to return immediately if the vehicle was not stopped there, to determine whether anyone involved needs aid, and to remain until the § 550.023 requirements are met. And if the other vehicle could not be driven normally and safely, or the crash was not on a freeway in a metropolitan area, § 550.022(b) does not apply and § 550.022(a) sets the ordinary stop-and-remain duty.
Whether a charge is filed is a decision made by police and a prosecutor on facts you cannot control, including where the other driver ended up, whether anyone reported an injury, and what got exchanged. That is a question to put to a criminal-defense lawyer rather than to work out on your own.
What you can do
1. Do not write out your version of events for the police, the other driver, or any insurer, and do not give a recorded statement yet.
2. Take the facts to a Texas criminal-defense lawyer before you have any further contact about the crash. If an officer has asked you to come in or call back, mention that on the first call.
3. Keep what already exists and create nothing new: photographs already on your phone, the time-stamped record of your call to police, any dash-camera footage, texts, and repair or tow paperwork.
4. Ask that lawyer to obtain the officer's crash report once it is available, and to decide who requests it. It shows how the incident was written up, and while it is an ordinary records request, the timing of one made in your own name is a question for the lawyer while a charge is possible.
5. Let a lawyer make the contact with the other driver and with any insurer, including your own.
*Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts — where exactly the collision happened and what was exchanged before you drove off — is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.*
⏱ Time limits apply. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a) generally gives two years from the day the claim accrues for personal injury and property damage, which is the civil clock on anything arising from this crash. The criminal side runs on separate deadlines this page does not set, and when either clock started depends on your facts. Have a Texas attorney review the dates now.
*Attorney review is supported by AI-assisted drafting and legal research algorithms. Use of this Chat does not create an attorney-client relationship.
By using this service you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.
Courts & Legal Aid in Texas
- File or look up a case through the Texas Judicial Branch.
- Get free civil legal help from TexasLawHelp.
- Use the LSC — Find Legal Aid to find a local legal-aid office by ZIP code.
- Use the LawHelp.org to browse free legal information and self-help resources.
- Use the ABA Lawyer Referral Directory to get matched with a local attorney through your state bar.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Texas require drivers to move a drivable car off a freeway after a crash?
In many cases yes. Tex. Transp. Code § 550.022(b) provides that if a collision occurs on a main lane, ramp, shoulder, median, or adjacent area of a freeway in a metropolitan area and each vehicle involved can be normally and safely driven, each operator shall move the vehicle as soon as possible to a designated collision investigation site if available, a location on the frontage road, the nearest suitable cross street, or another suitable location, to complete the requirements of § 550.023 and minimize interference with freeway traffic. Section 550.022(d) says a vehicle can be normally and safely driven only if it does not require towing and can run under its own power in its usual manner without additional damage or hazard.
Is relocating after a crash the same as leaving the scene in Texas?
Not by itself. The offense is built on failing to stop, failing to return, or failing to remain until the exchange duty is satisfied. Under § 550.022(b) the permitted move is expressly for the purpose of completing what § 550.023 requires, so the duty follows the driver to the new location rather than ending at the old one. Where a collision results or is reasonably likely to result in injury or death, § 550.021(a) applies instead, requiring the operator to stop at or as close as possible to the scene, return immediately if not stopped there, determine whether anyone needs aid, and remain until § 550.023 is met.
What information must a Texas driver give after a collision?
Tex. Transp. Code § 550.023 requires the operator to give the operator's name and address, the registration number of the vehicle the operator was driving, and the name of the operator's motor vehicle liability insurer to any person injured and to the operator or occupant of another vehicle involved; to show a driver's license if requested and available; and to provide reasonable assistance to anyone injured, including transporting or arranging transport for medical treatment where it is apparently necessary or the injured person asks. Calling the police is useful, but it is not a substitute for that exchange.