What an Injured Passenger Can Recover After a Texas Wreck

Attorney Answer

A passenger is usually the one person in a wreck with no share of the blame, and Texas law lets you claim against whichever driver's negligence caused it — including the driver of the car you were riding in. You do not have to choose between them, and you do not have to prove which one was worse before you start.

Fault in Texas is divided by percentage. A claimant more than 50 percent responsible recovers nothing (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.001), and below that the recovery is reduced by the claimant's own percentage (§ 33.012(a)). A passenger ordinarily carries none of that. The rule that reaches you instead is § 33.013(a): each liable defendant owes only the percentage of the damages matching its own percentage of responsibility. Only a defendant found more than 50 percent responsible — or one who acted in concert in certain intentional conduct — is jointly and severally liable for the whole amount (§ 33.013(b)). In practice that means where two drivers share fault, you look to two policies.

Three sources of money are worth identifying early. The at-fault driver's liability coverage, which in Texas has minimum limits of $30,000 per injured person, $60,000 per crash and $25,000 for property damage (Tex. Transp. Code § 601.072(a-1)). Personal injury protection, which must be included in a Texas auto policy unless it is rejected in writing (Tex. Ins. Code § 1952.152) and which pays without regard to fault or to any other source of payment (§ 1952.155(a)) — this is normally the fastest help with early medical bills. And uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, which a Texas insurer must provide unless a named insured rejected it in writing (§ 1952.101(b), (c)), and which matters when the at-fault driver has too little coverage or none. Whether you are a covered person under any particular policy — as a passenger, or as a resident relative on a household policy — depends on that policy's own wording.

At the scene, each driver was required to give name and address, the registration number of the vehicle driven, and the name of the liability insurer to any person injured and to the other vehicle's occupants, and to show a driver's license on request if available (Tex. Transp. Code § 550.023). If you did not get that information, the crash report is the next place to look.

What you can do

1. Get checked and keep treating as directed. Injuries that get documented late are the ones that get argued about.

2. Request the crash report from the agency that responded.

3. Identify every policy: the driver of your car, the other driver, your own auto policy if you have one, and any auto policy in your household.

4. Ask each insurer in writing to confirm its limits and whether the policy includes personal injury protection and uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. Open the personal injury protection claim right away.

5. Keep every bill and receipt and a record of work you missed.

6. Do not give a recorded statement or sign a release or a broad medical authorization before speaking with a lawyer.

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) requires suit for personal injury within two years after the day the cause of action accrues. Where that lands for you depends on your facts, so have a Texas attorney review the dates instead of relying on a rough count from the crash.