I Was in a Houston Truck Accident. What Should I Do?
Call 911 and get checked by a doctor, even if you feel fine. Then, before you talk to anyone from the trucking company or its insurer, start preserving evidence. Those three steps, in that order, protect both your health and your claim.
A wreck with an 80,000-pound commercial truck is not a bigger car wreck. It is a different kind of case, with federal regulations, corporate defendants, and a response team that mobilizes fast. Here is what to do, roughly in the order it matters.
At the Truck Accident Scene
If you can move and it is safe, these steps make everything easier later:
- Call 911 and ask for police and EMS: A Houston Police or Harris County Sheriff’s unit should create the crash report that becomes the baseline record of the wreck.
- Get the truck’s identifying details: Photograph the USDOT number and the company name on the cab door, plus the license plates of both the tractor and the trailer, which different companies frequently own.
- Photograph broadly, not just the damage: Capture skid marks, debris fields, cargo, the truck’s final resting position, lane markings, and any nearby buildings that might have cameras.
- Collect witness contact information yourself: Officers do not always get everyone, and witnesses scatter quickly on a road like the 610 Loop.
- Say as little as possible about fault: You are required to exchange information and render aid under Texas Transportation Code § 550.023, but you are not required to (and should not) speculate about the cause of the wreck.
Texas law already requires you to report a wreck involving injury or a disabled vehicle under Texas Transportation Code § 550.026, and the police report that follows becomes the first official record of what happened. What most people do not realize is that the trucking company is building its own record at the same time, often within hours, and the evidence that could prove your side has a shelf life measured in months.
In the First 48 Hours
Get medical attention even if you walked away feeling okay. Adrenaline masks injury, and internal bleeding, spinal damage, and brain injuries frequently announce themselves a day or two later. A gap between the wreck and your first medical visit is the first thing an insurance adjuster will point to when arguing your injuries came from something else.
Expect the trucking company’s insurer to contact you quickly, sometimes before you are discharged. They may sound sympathetic, offer to cover your rental, and ask for a recorded statement. That statement is not a formality. It is a discovery tool, meaning it can later be used as evidence against you in the case, and it exists so that your words can be used to narrow or defeat your claim later. You are under no obligation to give a recorded statement.
Why the Evidence Clock Is So Short
This is the part that surprises people. A commercial truck generates a paper trail that a passenger car never does: electronic logs of the driver’s hours behind the wheel, dispatch and maintenance records, data from the truck’s engine control module, and the driver’s qualification file, which shows their training and background.
That data can show a driver who had been on the road too long, a brake system that failed inspection, or a dispatcher who pushed an impossible schedule.
Requirements for Maintaining Records
The problem is that much of it is only required to be kept for a short window. Under 49 CFR § 395.8(k)(1), a motor carrier must retain a driver’s records of duty status and supporting documents for at least 6 months. Six months is a floor, not a promise, and once that period runs, records can lawfully disappear. Meanwhile, that same engine control module can be overwritten as the vehicle continues to drive, and the truck itself may be repaired and returned to service.
This is why a formal spoliation letter, a written demand that the company preserve specific evidence, needs to go out early. It converts routine document destruction into something a court can punish. Waiting even a few months can quietly cost you the best proof in your case.
The Deadline for Filing, and Why It Is Not Your Real Deadline
You generally have two years from the date of the wreck to file a personal injury lawsuit in Texas under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003. Families bringing a wrongful death claim generally have two years from the date of death under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 71.002.
Treat that two-year mark as an outer boundary rather than a plan. The evidence that decides truck accident cases has already begun aging out long before it arrives.
What Not to Do
A few common moves quietly damage strong cases:
- Giving a recorded statement to the trucking company’s insurer without advice
- Accepting a fast settlement check before the full extent of your injuries is known
- Posting about the wreck, your recovery, or your activities on social media
- Signing a broad medical authorization that lets the insurer comb through your entire health history
- Skipping follow-up appointments or physical therapy
- Assuming you have no case because you think you were partly at fault
That last one deserves a note. Texas uses proportionate responsibility under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 33.001, which means you can still recover as long as you are not found more than 50% responsible, with your recovery reduced by your share of the blame. Being partly at fault is not the end of a claim, though the other side will happily let you believe it is.
Talk with A Truck Accident Attorney From The Buzbee Law Firm Before You Talk to Your Insurer
If a commercial truck hurt you or killed someone in your family anywhere in Texas, the company’s investigators, adjusters, and defense counsel are already working. We are loud, proud, and trusted statewide, and we do not lose. Our firm answers that with a team that tries cases instead of trading them away, backed by a trial record against trucking companies and their insurers, and you can hear how we approach these fights on our podcast, Swimming with the Sharks.
At The Buzbee Law Firm, we offer a free consultation, and the sooner we can send a preservation letter, the more of your case survives. Call 800-992-5393 or contact us online today.