Texas Hit-and-Run Accident Lawyer: Failure to Stop and Render Aid, the UM Contact Rule, Restitution and Crime Victims’ Compensation (Updated November 2026)

By the Beverly Law legal team. Updated November 2026.

What to do after a hit-and-run in Texas

1. Call 911 and get medical care.
2. Make a police report. TDI warns that uninsured motorist coverage won’t pay for a hit-and-run you didn’t report to police (TDI auto insurance guide). The state crime victims’ compensation program also requires a police report.
3. Note the car: plate letters, color, make, damage and direction. In the Webster case below, police released a description of a red Chevrolet sedan with front-end damage.
4. Ask nearby businesses and neighbors for video in writing, before it is recorded over.
5. Tell your own insurer and ask about UM, PIP and MedPay benefits.
6. Be careful what you say. In Texas, a finding that you were more than 50% at fault ends the case.

Texas duties after a crash and the penalties for leaving

A driver in a collision that results, or is reasonably likely to result, in injury or death must immediately stop at or as near the scene as possible, return if the car did not stop there, determine whether anyone needs aid, and remain until the duties in section 550.023 are met (Transp. Code § 550.021). Those duties are to give a name and address, the vehicle’s registration number and the name of the driver’s liability insurer, show a driver’s license if asked, and give reasonable help, including taking or arranging to take the injured person to a doctor or hospital (§ 550.023).

A driver in a crash with injury or death must also notify police immediately by the quickest means available (§ 550.026).

How a Texas hit-and-run claim gets paid

Uninsured motorist coverage. Texas auto policies must include UM/UIM coverage unless a named insured rejects it in writing (Ins. Code § 1952.101). For an unknown driver, the policy must require “actual physical contact” between the unknown vehicle and the insured or the insured’s property (§ 1952.104(3)). A driver who ran you off the road without touching you does not meet that rule.

PIP and MedPay. Personal injury protection is part of every Texas auto policy unless declined in writing. It pays medical bills and lost income for the named insured and household members, but the law requires only $2,500 per person, so check the limit you bought (§ 1952.151; § 1952.152; § 1952.153). TDI says MedPay also covers you while walking or biking (TDI).

If the driver is found. Texas is an at-fault state (is Texas a no-fault state?). The driver’s policy must carry at least $30,000 per person and $60,000 per crash (Transp. Code § 601.072). If that is too little, your underinsured coverage can pay the gap (making a UIM claim).

Restitution when the driver is convicted

The sentencing court may order a convicted driver to pay restitution, and if it does not, or orders only part, it must state its reasons on the record. When the offense caused personal injury, restitution can cover the victim’s expenses; if the victim died, it is paid to the estate (Code Crim. Proc. art. 42.037).

• The conviction helps the civil case. A conviction estops the defendant from denying the essential allegations of the offense in a later civil suit by the victim, to the extent state law allows (art. 42.037(l)).
• No double payment. A civil recovery is reduced by restitution the driver already paid (art. 42.037(f)(2)).
• Enforcement. The victim named in the order can enforce it like a civil judgment (art. 42.037(m)).

Criminal cases take time. In El Paso, a 37-year-old woman was killed crossing Tim Foster Street in February 2026; a grand jury indicted the driver for collision involving death in July, and the arrest came about seven months after the crash (Tim Foster Street, El Paso). Do not wait for the criminal case to protect the two-year civil deadline.

The Texas Crime Victims’ Compensation Program

The program, run by the attorney general, generally excludes conduct arising from the use of a motor vehicle. Violating Transportation Code 550.021 is one of the listed exceptions, along with intent to injure, intoxication offenses such as driving while intoxicated and intoxication assault, and reckless driving that causes injury (Code Crim. Proc. art. 56B.003(4)). So a hit-and-run with injury can qualify even when the driver is never caught.

• Deadline: apply by the third anniversary of the crime (art. 56B.052).
• Police report: the crime must be reported to law enforcement within a reasonable time (art. 56B.053).
• Limits: up to $50,000 in total, plus up to $75,000 more for a catastrophic injury that causes total and permanent disability (art. 56B.106).
• Reductions: an award may be denied or reduced if you did not cooperate with police, if you share responsibility, or to the extent insurance or another collateral source pays (art. 56B.107).

Texas deadlines and fault rules for hit-and-run claims

The 51% bar matters in hit-and-run cases because the driver who fled is not there to tell a story, but the insurer will still look for one: where you were walking, whether you were in a lane, whether lights were on. See comparative fault in CA, TX and WA. Families have two years from the death: Texas wrongful death deadline and Texas wrongful death and survival claims. Texas cases are handled by the firm’s Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou.

Hit-and-run crashes in Texas

• From 2017 to 2023, 7.4% of the 28,074 people killed in Texas traffic crashes died in hit-and-run crashes (AAA Foundation).
• Nationally, hit-and-run deaths reached 2,972 in 2022, the most ever recorded, and 2,872 in 2023. Most hit-and-run deaths happen in the dark, and the share of deaths involving a driver who fled was highest between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m.

Our Texas news desk sees these crashes every month. On October 30, 2026, a driver hit two people on the 200 block of Water Street in Webster, killing a 24-year-old man and critically injuring a 20-year-old woman (Webster hit-and-run). In September 2026 a 16-year-old girl on foot was killed on westbound I-20 in Ector County, and the driver was later located in Ward County (I-20, Odessa). In Austin, police offered a Crime Stoppers reward of up to $1,000 after a driver fled a two-car crash on West Slaughter Lane (West Slaughter Lane, Austin). Local page: Austin car accident lawyer.

Evidence to gather in Texas

• The crash report. City guides: Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.
• Video and 911 recordings, requested in writing within days.
• Proof of contact: photos of paint transfer and damage, and the parts left at the scene, to satisfy the physical contact rule.
• Your policy’s declarations page, to confirm UM, PIP and MedPay limits.
• The criminal file, including toxicology, if the driver is caught.

Related pages

• California hit-and-run accident lawyer
• Washington hit-and-run accident lawyer
• Texas car accident lawyer
• Texas pedestrian accident lawyer
• Texas motorcycle accident lawyer
• Austin car accident lawyer

Common questions

Important: This page is general information, not legal or medical advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different; talk to a lawyer about yours. Texas cases are handled by the firm’s Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou. Last reviewed: November 6, 2026.