Texas rear end collision lawyer.
Reviewed by Josh Alexander, Founder & Managing Attorney · Updated July 2026
If I get rear ended who pays? That driver’s own auto liability policy is what pays you, once we prove what they did wrong. Texas hands you nothing automatically for being hit from behind, so we build the proof while you get treated. If that policy runs out, your own coverage is the next stop.
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The first letter you get
The defense opens by blaming you.
Dallas rear end claims
Our rear end collision attorneys work the crash data, the following distance, and the medical record as one file, because that is the combination that turns a denial into a number.
Further Legal Reading: (Tex. Transp. Code Sec. 545.062) and (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Sec. 33.001)
1 The letterThe sentence you will read
The exact sentence carriers use to pin the stop on you.
Carriers word it differently, but it reads about like this: “Our insured reports that your vehicle stopped abruptly and without warning, and our review reflects shared responsibility for this loss.”
That sentence is doing two jobs at once. It moves the cause from the driver behind you onto you, and it plants a percentage that comes straight out of whatever you recover. The fight is about proof from that moment on, and we start collecting it from the first call.
2 The definitionWhat counts as a rear end
The definition, the common causes, and who is usually at fault.
What counts as a rear end in an accident? Any crash where the front of the car behind strikes the back of the car ahead, whether you were stopped, slowing, or rolling with traffic.
Most of them here trace to a gap too tight for the speed, eyes on a phone, or both. Who is most often at fault in a rear end collision? The driver in back, because the assured distance duty rode with them. Each common cause is a duty with a statute behind it, so naming the cause of a rear end collision is most of naming the negligence. Most often is not always, and the letters blaming you exist because insurers know the difference.
3 The Texas ruleWe tie the crash to a specific failure
The Texas rule, the proof we collect, and the fact file we build.
Here is the part that surprises people. Texas courts have held that a rear end crash on its own is not negligence as a matter of law.
It can be some evidence of negligence, and a jury weighs it against everything else it hears. You still have to name what the driver behind you did wrong and show that it caused the harm. The Fort Worth Court of Appeals put it in those terms in Roberts v. Staples in 2022. Read that the way we do. The crash gets you through the door. The facts win the case.
So we build the answer fact by fact. When the accusation escalates to a brake check, it has become a claim about your brake pedal, and your brake pedal left a record we can pull.
Evidence is where this one gets won, and the clock is already running. The steps that protect any claim still apply, so follow the first moves after any Texas crash while your memory is fresh. A rear end case adds one more. The data inside both cars can be hauled off and sold with the wreck, so we move on it before that happens.
In Texas, you usually have just 2 years to file.
The recorder in the car that hit you can be gone in weeks once the wreck sells for salvage. The sooner the preservation letter goes out, the stronger your claim.
We have already settled a rear end crash in Texas traffic.
Recovered for a family after a fatal collision with a commercial truck.
Resolved for a client seriously hurt in a wreck with a tractor trailer.
Recovered after a heavy truck caused a high impact highway collision.
Settlement for injuries from a commercial truck collision.
Recovered for a driver injured by another motorist’s negligence.
Settlement for a client rear ended in Texas traffic.
Sample results from past cases. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome; every case is different.
The defense angles
We expose the angles the defense uses to blame you.
1 Sudden stopWe answer the sudden stop story with your own brake data
“You stopped without warning and
I had no way to avoid it.”
Texas measures the gap by vehicle conditions. Section 545.062(a) requires the driver behind you to keep a clear distance with the speed of the vehicles and traffic in mind. Traffic that stops is an ordinary condition on a Dallas highway. A driver who couldn’t stop before hitting you was too close, and the recorder in your car logs your speed and your brake switch in the seconds before impact.
A normal stop reads like a normal stop once somebody pulls the numbers.
2 Brake checkWe ensure the brake check accusation is credible
“You brake checked me and I could not react.”
Is brake checking illegal in Texas? In effect, yes. A punitive stop can be considered reckless driving under Section 545.401(a), driving “in wilful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.” Whoever makes the accusation has to prove it, and we look at the data from all vehicles involed to show the facts.
Opinion is irrelevant the moment we obtain vehicle records.
3 The car that swervedWe look at the reason behind the car swerving.
“A car swerved into my lane and I had no time.”
If one irresponisble lane change got you into a wreck, the traffic cameras reveal the space and time and who’s at fault.
A car that is operated by an agressive or intoxicated driver can lead to catastrophe.
4 Brake lights not workingWe settle the brake light question before any cars are repaired
“I never saw a brake light come on before I reached you.”
This one has a physical answer. Section 547.323 requires at least two stop lights that display when the service brake is applied and stay visible in normal sunlight from 300 feet behind. Either your brake lights worked or they didn’t. Bulbs, wiring, and the switch can all be inspected while your car still sits at the storage yard, and the service records of your car determine fault. So we ask for that inspection first.
Service records for brake lights give us the answer we need.
5 The lane changeWe timestamp your lane change instead of arguing about it
“You moved in front of me and braked with no room left.”
Abrupt lane changes can be proven with tire marks on the road, traffic cameras, and the exact damages on involed vehicles. Your speed samples show that you were driving within the speed limi. And a dashcam in either vehicle ends the conversation quickly.
Damage squared across the middle of your bumper doesn’t describe a car that just merged.
6 Chained car crashes We follow the impact back to the car that started the chain
“Someone hit me from behind and pushed me into your car.”
The fault here varies on many factors, every car in the line carries its role so the order can be reconstructed instead of debated. We work out who set it off and put the bill on that driver’s policy. Our chain reaction page covers when the car behind you was pushed into you
The blame slides down the line, and your claim goes right along with it.
7 The driver who fled We ask for proof the car was ever there
“A vehicle cut across, I couldn’t avoid it then it drove off.”
A driver nobody can name and nobody can place is a claim, not a fact. We look for evidence of this driver’s involvement. Police reports and vehicle damages help reveal the potential to pursue a fleeing driver.
Vanishing cars are easy to describe and hard to prove.
8 Fault shavingWe fight every point of blame they try to hang on you
“We accept some liability. We put your share at 20 percent.”
Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 33.001 says a claimant “may not recover damages if his percentage of responsibility is greater than 50 percent.” Section 33.012(a) then cuts what you do recover by your own share. A jury that puts you at 50 percent still pays you, cut in half. If you’re faulted At 51 percent the case is over.
Every percentage point they float is a number we fight for.
Most of these angles land in the first month, before you have hired anyone. That timing is deliberate. A rear end collision attorney who reads the letter early can go get the reports, the vehicle data, and the camera footage while all three still exist.
The module in the other car
We go after the black box in the car that hit you.
1 What the black box holds
The black box data shows us the vehicle speed, and brake positions.
The data reveals the truth.
A federal rule, 49 CFR Part 563, sets the stage a recorder has to capture, so the request we send names them one by one.
For the cars on the road today, that pre crash data window runs about five seconds.
| Recorded fields | How often |
|---|---|
| Vehicle indicated speed The speed the car itself reported | Twice a second |
| Service brake, on or off Whether the pedal was down in each of those seconds | Twice a second |
| Engine throttle How much of full throttle the driver was still holding | Twice a second |
| Driver belt status Whether or not the driver’s seatbelt was buckled. | One sample |
| Longitudinal delta V Front to back axis of car’s speed changed through the impact | 100 times a second |
Fields and sampling rates come from Table I to 49 CFR Section 563.7. Part 563 reaches passenger vehicles built on or after September 1, 2012, and only where that vehicle carries a recorder. The rule standardizes recorders. It does not require a carmaker to install one, so whether a specific car holds readable data is a question we answer by checking.
2 Who owns the dataTexas hands the data to the car’s owner, so we ask in writing
Who legally controls the recorder and the four ways to get it.
Under Texas Transportation Code Section 547.615, the information a recorder stores belongs to the vehicle’s owner, so nobody pulls it out of that car on a hunch.
The statute names the owner as the person holding legal title, a buyer entitled to possession under a security agreement, or someone leasing the car under a written lease of at least three months.
Anyone else may retrieve what the device recorded in the following situations:
- under a court order
- with the owner’s consent for diagnosis, service, or repair
- for safety research that leaves the owner and driver unnamed
- to respond to a collision so emergency medical care can be arranged
These are the exceptions. For the vehicle that struck you, it leaves two doors, the owner agreeing or a judge ordering it, and both take time so acting fast is crucial.
The same statute makes the manufacturer disclose the recorder in the owner’s manual for cars sold or leased in Texas. So the box is not a secret. It is simply property, and property has rules.
3 The preservation letterWe send the preservation letter while the car is still findable
How a totaled car moves through the salvage process in four steps.
The module rides inside a car that is already moving toward an auction, so our letter goes out the same week the file opens.
Once the insurer calls the vehicle a total loss, it gets titled salvage or nonrepairable under the Texas title rules, moved into storage, and sold.
Where the other driver’s car goes while your claim is still fresh
- We find the car. The crash report gives us the plate, the insurer, and usually the yard that towed it, which is enough to find the module.
- The preservation letter goes out. It tells the owner and the carrier to hold the vehicle thus holding the recorder, and it puts the request on a dated page.
- We take the consent route or the court route. Section 547.615 gives us two lawful routes to the other car’s data, and we open the faster one first.
- A retrieval technician images the module. Trained crash data retrieval technicians connect the manufacturer’s tool to the recorder or the diagnostic port, copy what is stored, and print a report.
Texas ties consequences to a duty that somebody triggered. In Brookshire Brothers, Ltd. v. Aldridge, the Texas Supreme Court framed spoliation, the legal name for evidence a party let disappear, around a party that had a duty to reasonably preserve evidence and then breached it, with the burden on whoever raises the issue, and it called for a spoliation jury instruction (a harsh remedy generally saved for a party that set out to conceal.) So a letter is not an automatic sanction. What it does is make the duty concrete and dated, which is the whole reason a rear end accident attorney sends it in week one rather than week ten.
Ask a rear end collision lawyer to start the preservation letter today, at no cost to you.
When a carrier tells me my client stopped for no reason, I stop trading opinions and go get the module. Often the tow yards will already process the car for auction, so sending out the letter and having a technician download the data is the right move. The download is never dramatic. It is a few lines of speed and brake status. What it changes is what the two sides are allowed to argue about.
Former insurance defense attorney
Our process
We run your rear end case in seven moves.
We lock down the scene evidence
Where the proof still lives.
How we lock it down
Photos of both cars, the lane you were stopped in, and the traffic ahead that made you stop. We pull the officer’s crash report and look for a camera aimed at that stretch of road.
We send the data letter
Why the data in each car runs on a deadline of its own.
How the letter works
Most modern cars carry an event data recorder, and the one in each car holds the seconds before impact. In Texas that data belongs to the vehicle owner, so we ask for consent and go to a judge for an order if consent isn’t given. The letter goes out while the car data is still salvageable.
We get you seen that week
What week one buys you.
Why the first week
A gap between the crash and the first appointment is the first thing an adjuster circles. Feeling fine at the curb is ordinary, and the soreness often waits until you are back at work. If you are not sure whether what you feel needs a doctor give us a call and, see which crash symptoms need a doctor
We build the fault file
How a pile of loose facts turns into something a carrier has to answer.
What goes in the file
Witness names while the memory is fresh, the damage pattern on both bumpers, phone records when distracted driving is in question, and the recorder data. A Texas rear end claim turns on named acts of negligence, so we name them.
We put a demand on their policy
What goes in the package, and who has to read it.
What the demand carries
The claim goes to the at fault driver’s personal auto insurer with the records, the bills, the wage loss, and the proof of what they did wrong. The adjuster gets a number and the reasons standing behind it.
We check everyone’s limits
The two policies that can pay you, and the order they pay in.
Where the limits sit
Their policy has a hard cap on it, and the declarations page which is the coverage summary at the front of every auto policy, is where we find it. When your injuries are worth more than that cap, we open the underinsured motorist claim on your own policy.
We sue fast
The one date every other date on this page works around.
How the deadline drives it
If the carrier will not pay what the file is worth, we file suit and let a jury weigh the evidence. Suit has to be filed inside the two year window, so we work backwards from that date.
Every file gets all seven moves
Our rear end accident lawyers run all seven moves on every file, whether the case settles in four months or ends up in front of a Dallas jury.
Minor damage, major injury
We answer the minor damage argument with the module, not the photos.
Delta V is a recorded field under Table I to 49 CFR Section 563.7. An estimate is a quote for bodywork. Neither one is a diagnosis, and we do not hang an injury threshold on either.
1 The bumper ruleThe federal bumper standard was written about bumpers
What the federal bumper rule was actually written to protect.
The rule that governs car bumpers states is property damage.
Under 49 CFR Section 581.2, “The purpose of this standard is to reduce physical damage to the front and rear ends of a passenger motor vehicle from low speed collisions.” Compliance gets checked with pendulum strikes at 1.5 and 2.5 miles per hour and a barrier at 2.5 miles per hour.
A bumper that shrugged off the hit tells you it did its job. It says nothing at all about the damage to the person sitting inside the car.
2 The photoWe do not let a damage photo stand in for a biomechanics opinion
Why a photo of a car wreck cannot answer medical questions.
So when a carrier leads with a photograph of a scuffed bumper cover, we lead with the facts the car modules recorded. Those facts turn into a figure and that figure comes from same data recorder our preservation letter locks down.
A damage photo only shows an angle of evidence. It does not show how injuries were sustained inside the vehicles, and it carries little weight compared to hard data which we preserve immediately.
We asnwer with the facts, pictures help but they aren’t everything.
3 The claims ruleWe name the minor impact rule for what it is, a filing category
Where the low impact denial comes from, and what options it creates.
The low impact denial usually comes out of a claims handling rule, not medical opinion.
Auto insurers use claim handling tactics to minimize minimize or deny payouts for soft tissue injuries after low speed fender benders
What moves the number after force
The module answers the force question. Your medical file answers everything after it, and that is the part that moves the number. Our rear end soft tissue page walks through the full record that answers the low impact argument.
The injury pattern
We document what the impact did to your neck.
We do not rebuild the valuation math on this page. Our whiplash page walks through how a whiplash claim is valued in Texas.
The same motion can also herniate a disc in your neck or lower back, which shows up on an MRI rather than on an X ray.
Our rear end collision injury lawyers read the whole chart instead of the summary, because the chart is what the adjuster reads before writing a number.
! The timelineWaking up sore on day three is an ordinary pattern
Why symptoms start late
and what that means for the record.
Whiplash symptoms commonly appear 24 to 72 hours after the collision rather than at the scene, and in some people later still.
Adrenaline at impact holds the pain down, and the inflammation in strained tissue builds over the days that follow. So walking away feeling fine and then losing the ability to turn your head is the usual sequence, not a suspicious one. That gap in the record is exactly what the low impact denial leans on, which is why same week care protects the claim as much as your neck. Tell the doctor about every symptom at the first visit.
Who pays
We put your claim on the policy that pays first.
You will not see their limits on day one. Coverage surfaces when we make a formal demand, and the declarations page tells us the ceiling. That ceiling matters more than people expect, because a Texas policy can legally carry as little as $30,000 for one injured person and $60,000 for everyone hurt in the crash.
1 The adjusterThe adjuster is working a number, not your story
How the adjuster builds a number, and what we hand over.
The person on the other end has a file, a set of internal rules, and a target. Our insurance page explains how adjusters build their number. What we hand over is a file where the cheap answers are already closed off: care that started the same week, a documented reason the other driver is answerable for this wreck, and a wage loss with paper under it.
A rear end collision attorney also checks the coverage you already own before that first call, because two of those layers pay you while the fault fight is still open.
2 The callWhen their adjuster calls
What not to say,
and why a guessed number costs you money.
What should you not tell the other driver’s insurance company? Do not give a recorded statement, do not guess your speed or the gap, and do not agree to any version of events on a phone call.
A guessed number turns into a percentage of fault, and every percentage comes off the recovery under the “greater than 50 percent bar”. We take those calls from the first week, and statement prep is part of our intake for exactly this reason.
4 The layersThe four layers that can pay you
Liability, PIP, MedPay, and UIM, and which one pays first.
His liability coverage. The main source in a car claim. It covers your medical bills, your lost income, and your pain once fault is resolved.
Your PIP, personal injury protection. Pays medical bills and part of your lost income whoever caused the wreck. A Texas insurer has to offer it, so you carry it unless you turned it down in writing.
Your MedPay. Does the same job for medical bills alone, if that is the one you bought.
Your UIM, the underinsured motorist layer. Sits behind their coverage as excess and pays the gap when their limits run out before your damages do.
When the car behind you never stopped
A rear end hit from a driver who drives off is not a liability claim at all, because there is no policy to bill.
It moves to the uninsured motorist coverage on your own policy, and it carries proof requirements an ordinary claim never faces. See how we work it when the driver who hit you took off.
Find your crash
We handle three rear end crashes on other pages.
1 Truck defendantA commercial truck hit you
Carrier defendants, federal logs, and where that claim runs.
A loaded tractor trailer that strikes you from behind brings a motor carrier, a safety file, and federal rules a family sedan never touches. The defendant there is a company, not a neighbor. That claim runs on our page for being hit from behind by a commercial truck.
2 Middle carYou were pushed into the car ahead
The middle car problem and how impact order gets proven.
Who is at fault in a 3 car rear end collision in Texas? Usually the driver who set the chain moving. The car out front, stopped in traffic, rarely owns any of it. A hit from behind that shoves you into the bumper ahead makes you the middle car, hurt and blamed in the same wreck. Which impact landed first decides your share, and it gets settled with the damage pattern and the recorder data.
3 Driver goneThe driver behind you left
The uninsured motorist branch when the car that hit you is gone.
If the car that rear ended you sped off before you had a plate, your claim leaves the liability track and runs through your own uninsured motorist coverage instead. The coverage section above sets out that branch and points you to the page that handles it.
The two year clock
We file before the two year deadline ends the case.
The full rules, including the narrow situations that move the date, sit on our page covering how long you have to file in Texas.
! The evidence clockWhy the early call matters
Why the evidence clock runs out long before the legal one.
Two years sounds like plenty of room. The evidence does not last that long. A totaled car goes to auction with its recorder still bolted inside, camera footage writes over itself in days, and a witness who saw the whole thing stops being sure which lane you were in.
If you are looking for a lawyer for rear end collision claims in Dallas, the earlier the call comes, the more of that file still exists.
Ask us what your deadline is and what your file still needs. There is no fee unless we recover for you.
Common questions
We answer the rear end questions clients ask first.
If I get rear ended who pays?
How much is a rear end accident worth?
How long does a rear end collision settlement take?
What is the average settlement for a rear end accident?
Can they blame me for stopping suddenly?
What if the impact herniated a disc?
Is it worth getting a lawyer after being rear ended?
I rear ended someone who stopped suddenly.
How soon should you get a lawyer after being rear ended?
What should you not tell your own attorney?
Do injections increase your settlement?
How much compensation for anxiety after a car accident?
How much will I get from a $50,000 settlement?
Will my insurance go up if someone rear ends me?
Want your own question answered? Put your crash in front of a rear end accident lawyer and get a straight read on it, at no charge.
Call 469-807-7480Your legal team
We put a trial lawyer and a former defense litigator on your rear end case.
Josh Alexander
Marine Corps veteran and Texas trial lawyer, with millions recovered for injured clients in Texas and Oklahoma. On a rear end case he owns the fault file, which means pinning the impact to a specific failure and lining up the proof for each piece of it. He reads the defense script early too, so the sudden stop version of your crash gets answered before an adjuster writes it into the record.
Meet Josh Alexander
Matthew Graham
Ten plus years on the insurance defense side, directing litigation across a ten state region for one of the largest auto carriers in the country. On a rear end case he gets the black box preservation letter out while the other car is still in the carrier’s hands, and he sits with you before the recorded statement so nothing you say gets turned into a fault argument. He knows what the adjuster is fishing for, because he used to write the questions.
Meet Matthew Graham
Laura Rivas
Nine years representing injured people in motor vehicle, 18-wheeler, catastrophic injury, and wrongful death claims, in English and Spanish. On a rear end case she keeps the medical record moving, tying every symptom you report to the treatment your doctors order, so the low impact argument meets a chart it cannot explain away. Texas Bar No. 24096510.
Meet Laura RivasClient reviews
We let our clients say how we work.
“They took the time to answer all of my questions and made me feel confident in them. The whole staff has been friendly and professional.”
“After speaking with them, we were put at ease right away. They made sure my physical therapy was covered and have been invaluable to us.”
“Excelente servicio al cliente, son muy atentos con sus clientes. La comunicacion es muy buena; te ayudan a cualquier hora.”
Reviews from actual clients. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Free resources
Free tools and helpful resources.
Settlement offer analyzer
Enter an offer and see how your fault share, fees, and liens affect what you would actually keep.
Analyze my offerWhat to do after a crash
The steps to take right after a Texas car accident to protect your health and your claim.
Walk the first stepsDo you need a lawyer?
When hiring a lawyer actually adds value after a Texas crash, and when it may not.
Weigh it upSettlement breakdown
See how a Texas car accident settlement is calculated, from fault to fees to your net check.
See the breakdownDealing with insurers
How Texas adjusters work, what to avoid saying, and how to protect the value of your claim.
Know what to sayFiling deadlines
The Texas deadlines that can end your claim, and why acting early protects your evidence.
Check your datesSix offices. The same standard of care.
From DFW to the Gulf Coast to South Texas, an attorney is never far. Find your nearest office and the services we handle there. And if you cannot come to us, we come to you.
Canton
TXCanton, TX 75103 (903) 385-8500
Explore services in Canton
Arlington, TX 76012 (817) 856-0580
Explore services in Arlington
Rear ended anywhere in Texas? Every office sends the same preservation letter and works the same crash data.
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What a rear end collision lawyer costs: nothing until we recover.
The fee is a share of the result, set in writing before we start, and we advance the case costs. When the money arrives, the closing statement shows the fee, the costs, and the medical liens before you sign anything.
Attorney advertising. Josh Alexander is responsible for the content of this page. Principal office 12801 N. Central Expressway, Suite 1100, Dallas, TX 75243. This page is written for people injured when another driver hit them from behind, not for drivers defending a claim. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case. The information here is general and is not legal advice, and contacting the firm or sending a form does not create an attorney client relationship. Spanish speaking staff available.