Texas Car Accident Leads for Law Firms

Texas logged 4,150 traffic fatalities in 2024, a 3.29% decrease from 4,291 in 2023, with more than 251,000 injuries and a reportable crash every 57 seconds (Texas Department of Transportation, Crash Records Information System). The fatality rate was 1.35 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. Roughly half of all 2024 fatalities occurred in rural regions; single-vehicle, run-off-the-road crashes accounted for 1,353 deaths (32.6% of fatalities). Drunk-driver crashes claimed 1,127 lives, more than 26% of all traffic deaths. Of vehicle occupants killed where restraint use was known, 45.34% were not wearing seat belts.

Claim volume concentrates in the four major metros and their suburban rings. Harris County (Houston) leads every metric and recorded 579 traffic fatalities and 447 fatal crashes in 2024, the most of any Texas county; Houston specifically logged 301 traffic fatalities, a record high and a 15% increase year over year. Dallas County, Tarrant County (Fort Worth and Arlington), Bexar County (San Antonio), and Travis County (Austin) follow, with Collin, Denton, Fort Bend, Hidalgo, El Paso, Williamson, Montgomery, Galveston, and Nueces (Corpus Christi) rounding out the next tier. Interstate 45 through Houston is the most dangerous road in Texas and the second-most dangerous in the country, averaging 56.5 fatal accidents per 100 miles in an eight-year analysis. Interstate 10, Interstate 35 (290 fatalities in the last five years), Loop 610, US-59 / I-69, and US-290 anchor the rest of the catastrophic-injury caseload.

The 51% bar comparative fault rule under CPRC § 33.001 is the single most operationally consequential rule for Texas auto intake. A plaintiff who is more than 50% at fault is fully barred from recovery. At 50% or below, damages are reduced by plaintiff fault percentage. That 50/51 line is unforgiving relative to pure-comparative venues like California, Missouri, or New York where recovery is preserved at any fault percentage. Borderline-fault Texas files (lane-change disputes, intersection T-bones with disputed signal timing) are screened with the 51% bar in mind, with telematics, witness, and 911-call evidence flagged where available.

HB 19 (CPRC § 72.051 et seq., effective September 1, 2021) reshaped Texas commercial-vehicle litigation. Motor carriers can request bifurcated trials separating driver liability from company-level negligent hiring, training, and supervision claims, with Phase 1 evidence largely limited to facts proximately causing the injury and Phase 2 reserved for company-conduct and exemplary damages. Texas trucking practice has materially restructured around the bifurcation rules. Every commercial-vehicle lead delivered to your firm is flagged so the file is routed to whichever attorney owns the bifurcated-trucking docket.

Texas does not cap auto compensatory damages. CPRC Chapter 74 caps medical malpractice noneconomic damages at $250K per individual provider class and $250K per institution (max $500K across institutions, $750K aggregate), but those caps do not apply to motor vehicle files. Punitives are capped under CPRC § 41.008 at the greater of $200K or 2x economic damages plus up to $750K noneconomic. The CPRC § 71.010 wrongful death "all damages" cap is CPI-indexed and currently exceeds $2.5M per claimant. Minimum auto liability is 30/60/25, with UM/UIM offered but waivable on written rejection.