Texas Hit-and-Run Accident Guide: What to Do, the Law, and How to Get Paid

If a driver hit you and drove away, you are probably hurting, angry, and wondering who is going to pay for any of it. I am Adam Miller, The Texas Bulldog, and I help Houston drivers, passengers, cyclists, and pedestrians who were hit by someone who never stopped.

Here is the part most people do not realize: a driver who flees does not close the door on your claim. Texas law requires that driver to stop and help, fleeing is a crime, and your own insurance policy may pay even if the driver is never found. This guide explains what to do at the scene, what the law says, how the money works, and the mistakes I see hurt hit-and-run claims.

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What Counts as a Hit-and-Run in Texas

In Texas, a hit and run happens when a driver involved in a collision leaves without stopping, staying until they have given their name, address, vehicle registration, and insurance information, and helping anyone who is hurt. Texas law does not actually use the phrase “hit and run.” The offense is failing to stop and help after a collision, and it lives in Chapter 550 of the Transportation Code. Three sections matter most:

• Collisions involving injury or death (§550.021). A driver in a collision that results, or is reasonably likely to result, in injury or death must stop immediately, find out whether anyone needs aid, and stay at the scene until the duties in §550.023 are met.
• Collisions involving vehicle damage (§550.022). The same duty to stop and stay applies when the crash only damages a vehicle that is driven or attended by someone.
• Striking an unattended vehicle (§550.024). A driver who hits a parked car must stop and either find the owner or leave a written note with the names and addresses of the driver and the owner and a short statement of what happened.

Staying at the scene is not enough by itself. Section 550.023 requires a driver in a crash with an injury or vehicle damage to give their name, address, vehicle registration number, and liability insurer to the other people involved, to show a driver’s license if asked, and to give reasonable help to anyone who is hurt, including arranging a ride to a hospital when treatment is clearly needed. A driver who pulls over, hands you nothing, and leaves can still break the law. You can read the full text of Chapter 550 of the Transportation Code on the Texas Legislature’s website.

If you are wondering whether you may leave a crash scene to get medical care yourself, I answer that in Can You Leave the Scene of an Accident to Go to the Hospital in Texas?

Hit-and-Run Crashes by the Numbers

Hit-and-run crashes are not rare, and Houston is one of the places where they turn deadly most often. In March 2026 the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety published an analysis of federal crash data covering 2017 through 2023. These are the numbers I think every driver in Texas should know.

A few things stand out. The problem is growing: deaths in hit-and-run crashes across the country rose from 2,010 in 2017 to 2,972 in 2022. Pedestrians and cyclists carry the worst of it, with about one in four of their deaths in 2023 happening in a hit-and-run. And it is mostly a nighttime problem. Roughly four in five hit-and-run deaths nationwide happened in the dark.

Texas runs above the national average, and Houston runs well above it. In the AAA Foundation’s ranking of large urban areas, Houston landed among the top ten for the share of deaths in hit-and-run crashes. If you drive, ride, or walk in this city, this is a real risk, not a rare accident. For drivers who were caught, the study found that about two in five did not have a valid license and nearly three in five were not driving their own vehicle. A driver in that position may be less likely to carry insurance that pays you, which is one reason your own coverage often ends up carrying the claim.

What the Driver Faces: Texas Hit-and-Run Penalties

How serious the charge is depends on what happened to the people in the other vehicle. Under §550.021, a driver who flees a crash with a death faces a second-degree felony, and a driver who flees a crash with serious bodily injury faces a third-degree felony. Here is how the penalties break down:

Felony punishment ranges come from Penal Code §12.33 and §12.34. Misdemeanor ranges come from Penal Code §12.22 and §12.23. “Serious bodily injury” is defined in Penal Code §1.07.

Keep one thing in mind. Those penalties punish the driver, and a prosecutor controls that case, not you. A criminal conviction can help your civil claim, but you do not have to wait for one, and a prison sentence does not pay a single medical bill. This page is written for people who were hurt. If you are a driver facing a hit-and-run charge, you should speak with a criminal defense attorney.

What to Do After a Hit-and-Run

What you do in the first hours often decides how strong your claim is later. Here is the order I would follow.

1. Get safe and call 911. Move out of traffic if you can, turn on your hazard lights, and tell the dispatcher you were hit by a driver who left. Say which direction the vehicle went. Texas law (§550.026) also requires the operator of a vehicle in a crash that injures someone, or that damages a vehicle so it cannot be normally and safely driven, to report it right away to the police or sheriff.
2. Get medical care, even if you feel fine. Adrenaline hides injuries, and some of the most serious ones, like concussions and internal injuries, can take hours or days to show up. See my guide on concussion symptoms and timelines. Treatment records also tie your injuries to the crash, which insurers look for first.
3. Write down everything while it is fresh. Make, model, and color of the vehicle, any part of the license plate, damage you saw, the direction it headed, what the driver looked like, and the exact time and place. A voice memo on your phone works fine.
4. Photograph the scene. Take pictures of the damage to your vehicle, paint transfer, debris, skid marks, road conditions, and your injuries. Do not pick up debris from the road.
5. Find witnesses and cameras fast. Get names and phone numbers from anyone who saw the crash. Then look around for business security cameras, doorbell cameras, traffic cameras, and dashcams. Footage is often overwritten within days or weeks, so ask right away and put the request in writing.
6. Get the police report and read it. Make sure it says the other driver left the scene and that the details match what happened. If it is wrong, see what to do when your police report is wrong.
7. Tell your own insurance company, carefully. Report the crash promptly, because your policy may require quick notice before it pays. But do not give a recorded statement or accept a quick offer before you understand your coverage. I explain why in the first settlement offer and how insurers lowball injury claims.
8. Stay off social media. Anything you post about the crash, your injuries, or your activities can be used to dispute your claim.

How You Get Paid When the Driver Is Never Found

This is the question I hear most from hit-and-run victims: “If they never catch the driver, who pays?” Often the answer is your own insurance. Here are the main sources, from the most important to the least obvious.

Uninsured motorist (UM) coverage

UM coverage exists for exactly this situation. Under Texas Insurance Code §1952.101, an insurer must include uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage in an auto liability policy unless the named insured rejects it in writing. That means you may have coverage you forgot you bought, and it also means you should check your declarations page now to see whether you rejected it. For a deeper look, read my Texas uninsured and underinsured motorist guide. Not sure how much to carry? See how much car insurance you need in Texas.

When the driver is unknown, there is one catch you need to understand. Texas requires the UM provisions of an auto policy to say that the insured can recover only if there was actual physical contact between the unknown driver’s vehicle and you or your property (§1952.104). A car that clips your bumper is covered by that rule. A car that runs you off the road without touching you is where these claims get hard. That does not mean you have no claim, but it does mean witnesses, physical evidence, and how the claim is presented matter a great deal. Read the “unknown driver” language in your policy and talk to a lawyer before you give your insurer a statement. The full text of Insurance Code Chapter 1952 is available online.

Personal injury protection (PIP) and medical payments

Insurers must also offer personal injury protection, and you can reject it in writing (§1952.152). PIP typically pays reasonable medical expenses and certain other losses such as lost income, no matter who caused the crash, for expenses incurred within three years of the accident (§1952.151). If you bought medical payments coverage, that can help with bills too. Check your policy for the exact benefits and limits.

Health insurance, hospital bills, and liens

Your health insurance can pay your treatment while the claim is pending, but it often wants to be repaid from your settlement, and hospitals can file liens. How those bills are counted also affects what you can recover, which I explain in my guides to hospital liens and the paid-versus-incurred rule.

A claim against the driver, if they are found

If police or an investigator identify the driver, your claim can go against that person’s liability insurance. If they have no insurance, your UM coverage steps in as it would for any uninsured driver. Texas also uses proportionate responsibility, so if you share some of the blame, your recovery can be reduced. My comparative fault guide explains how that works. And if the driver had no insurance at all, you can see what they were required to carry in Is Car Insurance Required in Texas?

Hit-and-run cases involving pedestrians often involve severe injuries and extra coverage questions. If that is your situation, read about pedestrian injury claims in Houston.

How the Driver Gets Found

Some hit-and-run drivers are identified and some never are, and when they are, early evidence is usually the reason. Investigations tend to move forward when there is a partial plate number, a vehicle description, surveillance or doorbell video, paint chips or parts left at the scene, or a witness who stayed. Tips from body shops or posts on social media can also lead police to a driver.

That is why the steps in the last section matter. Preserving video before it is erased and getting a complete police report give an investigator, and later your lawyer, something to build on. A lawyer can also send written preservation requests to businesses and handle your own insurer, which becomes an adversary once you file a UM claim. Even if the driver is never identified, the same evidence supports your UM claim by showing what happened.

Deadlines That Matter

Texas generally gives you two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit (Civil Practice and Remedies Code §16.003). Two years sounds like plenty, but evidence disappears much sooner, and insurers rarely mention the clock. My statute of limitations guide covers the exceptions. Your own policy may have separate rules too, such as how quickly you must notify the insurer, and PIP covers expenses incurred within three years of the accident. If you are close to any deadline, do not wait to get advice.

Mistakes That Hurt Hit-and-Run Claims

I see the same mistakes again and again, and almost all of them are avoidable.

• Skipping the police report. Without one, an insurer can claim the crash never happened the way you say.
• Waiting to see a doctor. Gaps in treatment give insurers an easy argument that you were not really hurt.
• Not knowing your own coverage. People are surprised to learn they have UM coverage, or that they rejected it years ago. Find your declarations page today.
• Giving a recorded statement too soon. It is easy to guess at the wrong time or speed, and insurers use those guesses against you.
• Accepting the first offer. The first number is usually the lowest, and quick settlements often leave out future medical care.
• Assuming it is hopeless without a name. No driver does not mean no claim. It means your own coverage and your evidence matter even more.

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This guide is for general information and is not legal advice. Every case is different, and results depend on the facts. Statistics are from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (March 2026). Statutes were checked against the Texas Legislature’s online codes.