Highway Car Accident in Dallas-Fort Worth: Your Rights After a Freeway Crash

After a highway crash in DFW, your first priority is avoiding a secondary collision. Do not get out of your vehicle to inspect damage if you are in an active travel lane. Secondary crashes — where another vehicle strikes people or cars already stopped on the highway — are a leading cause of fatality on I-635, I-30, and I-35E.

Call 911 immediately. Tell the dispatcher your exact location: the highway, direction of travel, nearest exit or mile marker. If your vehicle is drivable and you can safely move to the shoulder, do so. Turn on your hazard lights. If your vehicle is disabled in a travel lane, keep your seatbelt on and wait for emergency responders.

Texas DPS, Dallas PD, or Fort Worth PD will respond depending on jurisdiction. For major highway crashes, first responders will close lanes and set up a protected zone before allowing anyone to exit vehicles. Cooperate with police and EMS. The officer will create a crash report documenting the scene, vehicle positions, and statements from all drivers.

If you can safely photograph the scene from inside your vehicle, do so. Capture the positions of all vehicles, damage patterns, road conditions, and weather. Highway crashes often involve multiple vehicles, and the positions of cars after impact tell the story of how the collision happened.

Once it is safe to exit (after police secure the scene), photograph all vehicles involved, license plates, the road surface (skid marks, debris, fluid spills), and any construction zone signage or barriers. Get contact information from all drivers and witnesses. On busy DFW highways, witnesses often leave quickly — get their info before they go.

If your vehicle has a dashcam, preserve the footage immediately. Check whether the crash happened near a TxDOT traffic camera — footage may be available through a records request. If the crash occurred in a toll zone (NTTA operates the DFW toll system), electronic toll records can establish timing and vehicle presence.

Highway crashes at freeway speeds cause injuries that are qualitatively different from low-speed crashes. The force of a 60 mph rear-end collision is four times greater than a 30 mph collision. Common highway crash injuries include traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, multiple fractures, internal organ damage, and chest injuries from seatbelt and airbag forces.

Accept EMS transport to the hospital if it is offered. If you decline at the scene, get to an emergency room within hours — not days. DFW has Level I trauma centers at Parkland Memorial Hospital and John Peter Smith Hospital (Fort Worth) that handle the most severe injuries. Baylor Scott & White, Medical City Dallas, and Texas Health Resources also have trauma-capable facilities throughout the Metroplex.

Tell the ER doctors exactly how the crash happened — the speed, the type of impact (rear-end, side-impact, rollover), whether you lost consciousness, and every symptom you are experiencing. This information goes into your medical record and is critical for connecting your injuries to the crash.

Highway crashes in DFW frequently involve multiple vehicles. A rear-end chain reaction on I-635 during rush hour might involve 3, 5, or even 10+ vehicles. Determining fault in a multi-vehicle crash is more complex than in a two-car collision because multiple drivers may share responsibility.

Texas uses proportionate responsibility (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Section 33.001), which means fault is allocated among all parties based on their percentage of responsibility. The driver who initiated the chain reaction bears the most fault, but other drivers may share responsibility if they were following too closely, speeding, or distracted.

In a multi-vehicle crash, multiple insurance companies are involved, and each one is trying to shift blame to the other drivers. This is where evidence matters most. The police crash report, witness statements, dashcam footage, and accident reconstruction experts all help establish each driver's share of fault. You can recover damages as long as your fault does not exceed 50%.

DFW has perpetual highway construction. The I-635 East project, I-35E expansion, and ongoing I-30 improvements create construction zones with narrowed lanes, shifted traffic patterns, reduced speed limits, and concrete barriers that leave no room for error. Construction zone crashes are common and often involve government entities or construction companies.

If your crash happened in a construction zone, the responsible parties may include not just other drivers but also the construction company (for improper signage, unsafe lane shifts, or debris), TxDOT (for road design or maintenance failures), or the construction zone traffic control plan designer. These are complex claims that may involve government immunity issues.

If a government entity is responsible, the Texas Tort Claims Act (Section 101.101) requires you to file a formal notice within 6 months. This is a much shorter deadline than the standard 2-year statute of limitations. Do not wait to investigate construction zone liability.

Highway crashes at high speeds often cause damages that exceed the at-fault driver's insurance policy limits. Texas minimum coverage is 30/60/25 — $30,000 per person, $60,000 per accident for bodily injury. A serious highway crash with multiple injuries can easily exceed $60,000.

If the at-fault driver's coverage is insufficient, your underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage fills the gap. In multi-vehicle crashes, you may be able to stack claims against multiple at-fault drivers' policies. If an at-fault driver is uninsured (about 14.1% of Texas drivers), your UM coverage applies.

Commercial vehicles — 18-wheelers, delivery trucks, company vehicles — carry much higher insurance limits, often $1 million or more. If a commercial vehicle caused the highway crash, the claim may be significantly larger. The trucking company's insurer will deploy an aggressive defense team quickly, so early evidence preservation is critical.

The statute of limitations for personal injury claims in Texas is 2 years from the date of injury (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Section 16.003). For wrongful death claims, the same 2-year deadline applies. If a government vehicle or government-maintained road defect contributed to the crash, you must file notice within 6 months under the Texas Tort Claims Act (Section 101.101).

Highway crash evidence degrades quickly. Dashcam and surveillance footage is overwritten, skid marks fade, construction zones change configuration, and witnesses relocate. Preserving evidence early — ideally with the help of an attorney who can send spoliation letters to prevent evidence destruction — is essential.

Injured in a highway crash in Dallas-Fort Worth? Take our free 2-minute assessment. Answer a few questions about your accident, injuries, and insurance coverage. We will provide a personalized report explaining your claim — including fault allocation, insurance coverage issues, and potential recovery — and connect you with a DFW attorney experienced in high-speed highway accident cases.

Highway crashes are terrifying. One second you are driving normally, the next you are surrounded by crumpled metal and airbag dust. The injuries are often severe, the medical bills stack up fast, and multiple insurance companies start pointing fingers at each other. You need someone in your corner. Start with the assessment.