$30,000 Red Light Accident Settlement for a Driver Hit on His Side by an SUV, Late at Night in the Rain

A Green Light on Tarrant Meets an SUV on Belt Line

The crash happened in Grand Prairie, where Belt Line Road (posted at 45 mph) crosses Tarrant Road (posted at 35 mph) at a signal. It was late at night, dark and wet with rain. An SUV came south on Belt Line while our client drove east on Tarrant, and the officer described the light in these words.

The front of the SUV struck the driver’s side of our client’s car, and a wrecker towed both vehicles. The Grand Prairie Police Department report is linked below. Personal details in it, from names and plates to ID numbers and insurers, are blacked out.

Four Things That Made Proof Harder

In a red light crash, each driver often says the light was green. Texas banned red light cameras statewide in 2019, as our red light camera study shows, so there is usually no footage to settle it. The officer’s account is often the only record of who had the green.

The report describes the other driver’s mistake in two ways. The code sheet defines code 25 as “Failed to Heed Warning Sign.” The officer’s narrative is more specific and says the driver “disregarded the red stop light.” Either way, the only factor sits on the other driver.

Both drivers were coded not injured, and no one left in an ambulance. An adjuster may treat that as a small injury before any doctor has seen him.

Our client first got care about a week after the crash, at an emergency room, for a headache. An insurer may say a week is long enough for something else to have caused it. The emergency room record ties the headache to the crash.

Six Records That Backed His Account

The officer’s words on the green light

The narrative says the green was his and the other driver disregarded the red. With no camera, this is the record of who had the right to go.

Code 25, listed for the other driver only

The report names a single contributing factor, and it is the other driver’s. Our crash report decoder lists what each code means.

The Texas red signal rule

Tex. Transp. Code § 544.007(d) states the duty plainly. “An operator of a vehicle facing only a steady red signal shall stop at a clearly marked stop line.” Also, “A vehicle that is not turning shall remain standing until an indication to proceed is shown.”

The damage ratings and two tows

The report rates the force on our client’s car as coming from 9 o’clock, into his side, at severity 3. Both vehicles were towed. This shows how hard the hit was.

The photos of his doors

The photos show both doors on his side caved in and the rear wheel arch torn. They show where the SUV landed.

The emergency room record and the care after it

Seven days later, an emergency room recorded a headache that started with the crash. Low back pain then led to about four months of pain management and chiropractic care.

Context, not evidence: our $50,000 La Porte red light case is another red light result of ours, and side impact claims like this one are the subject of our T bone accident lawyers page.

Building His Claim Around the Light, the Code and the Week

This is how we build a red light claim like his from the report, the photos and the medical records.

Starting with the officer’s words on the light

We lead with the narrative, not the code. Here it says in plain words who had the green and who disregarded the red, which is the question every red light claim turns on.

Answering the not injured code and the week gap

On his bio, Josh Alexander writes, “I have learned that insurers and corporate defendants often make early evaluations before the whole case is developed.” A not injured code and a first visit a week later invite that early call. The answer to both is the emergency room record, which ties his headache to the crash.

If the insurer blames him for part of it

If an insurer tries to place part of the blame on him, Texas divides fault by percentage, and any share comes off a recovery. No factor on the report is his. Our comparative negligence guide explains the rule.

Putting the injury record in order

His care ran about four months, with pain management and chiropractic care for his lower back. Injections into the small joints of his lower back brought strong relief for a couple of weeks.

Treating the car and the tow yard as their own claim

The damage to his car and the tow are a claim separate from his injuries, and the damage ratings and photos document them.

$30,000, the Other Driver’s Full Policy Limit

The SUV driver’s insurer paid every dollar of the bodily injury coverage on that policy, $30,000. That is the least a Texas driver may carry for one injured person, as our minimum insurance guide explains.

The limit is the most a policy will pay. Once all $30,000 was paid, nothing more could come from that policy, which is why we ask about the other driver’s coverage at the start of every claim.

What to Take From This and What Not To

• That amount is before fees and costs, so his own share was smaller.
• An officer’s codes record his view of the crash. They do not settle fault by themselves.
• A code of not injured is a roadside entry, not a medical finding.
• The crash details come from a certified police report. The firm reports the result.
• Nothing here predicts what another claim will bring, since every crash and injury differs.

The Records Behind This Page

1. The certified crash report for this collision, redacted
2. Tex. Transp. Code § 544.007
3. Proportionate responsibility rules, CPRC §§ 33.001 and 33.012
4. Our research project on the Texas red light camera ban

Attorney Review

Reviewed by: Josh Alexander, Founder and Managing Attorney

Published and reviewed on October 19, 2026

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