When the Other Driver Drives Away: Hit-and-Run Claims in Texas

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A hit-and-run leaves you with the injuries and the damage and no one to claim against. In Texas the law gives you two things to work with: the duties the other driver broke by leaving, which make the driver easier to find and harder to defend, and your own uninsured motorist coverage, which can stand in for the missing driver’s insurance. This article explains both.

Leaving the scene is a crime

A driver in a collision that results or is reasonably likely to result in injury or death must stop, go back if necessary, find out whether anyone needs aid and stay until the information exchange is done (Transportation Code 550.021). Leaving is a felony of the second degree when someone dies and of the third degree when someone suffers serious bodily injury. Even in a damage-only collision with an attended vehicle, the driver must stop and give a name, address, plate number and insurer (550.022 and 550.023). If the car hit was parked and empty, the driver must find the owner or leave a written note (550.024).

What to do in the first hour

1. Call 911 and get medical help for anyone hurt.
2. Write down everything you remember about the car: make, model, color, damage, plate letters, direction of travel. Memory fades fast.
3. Photograph your car, the road and any debris. A broken piece of the other car’s light or trim can identify the model.
4. Ask anyone nearby what they saw, and take names and phone numbers.
5. Look for cameras: businesses, homes with doorbell cameras, traffic cameras, other drivers’ dashcams. Video is often recorded over within days.

If the driver is found

The claim then goes against the driver’s liability insurance, like any other wreck. Leaving the scene does not cancel that coverage, but it can help your case on fault and, where the conduct was bad enough, on exemplary damages, which require clear and convincing evidence of gross negligence, malice or fraud (Civil Practice and Remedies Code 41.003). If the driver turns out to have no insurance, your uninsured motorist coverage applies.

If the driver is never found

Your own uninsured motorist coverage can pay what you could have recovered from the unknown driver. UM coverage is part of every Texas auto policy unless a named insured rejected it in writing (Insurance Code 1952.101). There is one condition specific to unknown drivers: the policy must require actual physical contact between the unknown vehicle and you or your property (1952.104). If a driver ran you off the road without touching your car, the UM claim is much harder, which is why witnesses and video matter so much in those cases.

UM property damage coverage, if you have it, is subject to a $250 deductible (1952.105). Your PIP coverage pays medical bills and lost income in either case, because PIP is paid without regard to fault (1952.155).

A UM claim is still a claim

Claiming against your own insurer can feel like it should be simple. It is not always. In a UM claim your insurer takes the place of the missing driver, and it can question how the wreck happened and what your injuries are worth just as that driver’s insurer would. Treat it with the same care: report promptly as your policy requires, give the police report number, and get advice before giving a recorded statement.

Where to read more

Our auto accident lawyer San Antonio page covers hit-and-run wrecks alongside other kinds of collisions, and our car wreck lawyer San Antonio guide covers the first month after any wreck. The two-year deadline to sue still runs from the day of the wreck (Civil Practice and Remedies Code 16.003).

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