Texas Head-On and Wrong-Way Collision Lawyer: Transportation Code Lane Rules, Uncapped Damages for Intoxication and Road Claims Under the Tort Claims Act (Updated November 2026)

By the Beverly Law legal team. Updated November 2026.

What to do after a head-on or wrong-way crash in Texas

1. Call 911 and say if the other car was going the wrong way. Officers can then check for signs of impairment at the scene.
2. Get medical care the same day and keep every record.
3. Photograph the lane lines, debris and final positions of the cars before they are towed. That evidence shows which car crossed over.
4. Get witness names and numbers, including drivers who saw the wrong-way car first.
5. Get the crash report. Texas officers file the Texas Peace Officer’s Crash Report (CR-3), the source of TxDOT’s statistics (TxDOT Crash Facts 2025). City guides: Houston, San Antonio, Austin and Dallas.
6. Be careful what you tell any insurer. Being found more than 50% responsible ends the case.

The Texas lane rules that decide fault

The 51% bar. You may not recover if your percentage of responsibility is greater than 50% (CPRC § 33.001). Below that line, the court reduces your damages by your percentage (§ 33.012(a)). Texas is an at-fault state (is Texas a no-fault state?); see also comparative fault in CA, TX and WA.

Head-on and wrong-way crashes in Texas

• 555 people were killed in head-on crashes in Texas in 2025, out of 3,769 traffic deaths. Rural crashes accounted for 50.12% of the deaths (TxDOT Crash Facts 2025).
• The Texas A&M Transportation Institute reports about 240 wrong-way driving events a year on Texas freeways. Its research found a 38% drop in wrong-way incidents after flashing wrong-way signs went up along US 281 in San Antonio, and TxDOT expanded those signs in San Antonio, Fort Worth and Houston (TTI, Nov. 3, 2017).
• TxDOT’s San Antonio District has since added geofenced phone alerts and AI-enabled thermal cameras to its wrong-way detection (TxDOT innovation catalog).
• Nationally, the NTSB found that 60% of wrong-way drivers in fatal freeway crashes from 2004 to 2009 showed alcohol involvement, and about 78% of those crashes happened between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. (NTSB, 2012).

Recent crashes reported by our news desk:

• In late August 2026, a pickup driver headed south in the northbound lanes of the Eastex Freeway near East Mount Houston Avenue hit a Honda Accord head-on at about 1:47 a.m., killing the woman driving it. ABC13 reported he had allegedly driven nearly two miles the wrong way; he was charged with intoxication manslaughter, which is an allegation (Eastex Freeway, Houston).
• At about 4:41 a.m. on November 1, 2026, a GMC Yukon allegedly traveling the wrong way collided head-on with a Chevrolet Tahoe on the northbound I-35 overpass to Mines Road in Laredo; four people were hospitalized (I-35, Laredo).
• Around noon on November 4, 2026, an eastbound Mazda on State Highway 46 near Boerne crossed into the opposite lane and hit a Mitsubishi SUV; the 22-year-old Mazda driver died (SH 46, Boerne).

Local page: Austin car accident lawyer.

Exemplary damages against an intoxicated wrong-way driver

Exemplary damages require clear and convincing proof that the harm resulted from fraud, malice or gross negligence, and the jury must be unanimous on both liability and amount (CPRC § 41.003). They are usually capped at the greater of $200,000 or two times economic damages plus noneconomic damages up to $750,000 (§ 41.008(b)). The cap does not apply when the claim is based on conduct described as a felony in listed Penal Code sections, including intoxication assault and intoxication manslaughter, and for those two offenses the statute drops the usual requirement that the conduct was knowing or intentional (§ 41.008(c)). Intoxication assault means causing serious bodily injury by reason of intoxication while operating a motor vehicle in a public place (Penal Code § 49.07); intoxication manslaughter means causing a death that way (§ 49.08). Our Texas drunk driving accident lawyer page covers the Dram Shop Act and restitution.

Road design and the Texas Tort Claims Act

A Texas government unit can be liable for injury or death caused by an employee’s negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and for injury or death caused by a condition or use of real property if a private person would be liable (CPRC § 101.021). For road conditions the law is narrow:

• Design is discretionary. The Act does not apply to discretionary decisions (§ 101.056). In State v. Rodriguez, 985 S.W.2d 83 (Tex. 1999), the Texas Supreme Court said the design of any public work, such as a roadway, is a discretionary function, and held the State immune for the design of a highway detour (opinion).
• Premise defects get a low duty. For an ordinary premise defect the unit owes only the duty owed to a licensee. That limit does not apply to the duty to warn of special defects such as excavations or obstructions on roads (§ 101.022).
• Special defects are narrow. In Denton County v. Beynon, 283 S.W.3d 329 (Tex. 2009), a driver moved right to avoid an oncoming car with bright lights, dropped off the pavement and slid into an unsecured floodgate arm. The court held the arm was not a special defect because it was not like an excavation or obstruction that threatens ordinary users of the road (opinion).
• Signs and signals. A unit is not liable for failing to place a sign as a matter of discretion, or for a missing or malfunctioning sign or signal unless it fails to correct the problem within a reasonable time after notice (§ 101.060).

Caps and notice. Damages are capped at $250,000 per person and $500,000 per occurrence for the State and for cities, and $100,000 and $300,000 for other local units (§ 101.023). The unit must receive notice within six months describing the injury, the time and place, and the incident; city charters can require it sooner, and the formal notice is excused only if the unit had actual notice (§ 101.101).

Insurance after a head-on crash in Texas

The minimum Texas liability policy is $30,000 for one person and $60,000 for two or more people in one collision (Transp. Code § 601.072). Every Texas auto policy includes uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage unless a named insured rejected it in writing (Ins. Code § 1952.101). Ask for your declarations page. Head-on crashes with 18-wheelers on two-lane highways are covered on our Texas truck accident lawyer page.

Texas deadlines and rules for head-on collision claims

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.

Evidence to gather in Texas

• The CR-3 crash report and any trooper diagram showing the point of impact.
• Event data recorder downloads from both vehicles.
• Blood test results and the arrest report, which support gross negligence and the cap exception.
• 911 calls about a wrong-way driver before the crash.
• Your policy’s declarations page, to confirm UM/UIM limits.

For head trauma, see our Texas brain injury lawyer page.

Related pages

• California head-on collision lawyer
• Washington head-on collision lawyer
• Texas car accident lawyer
• Texas drunk driving accident lawyer
• Texas truck accident lawyer
• Texas wrongful death lawyer
• Texas brain injury 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.