We Recovered the $30,000 Policy Limit for a Driver Struck Twice in a Four Car Chain Reaction in Uvalde

Stopped in Traffic, Then Hit From Behind

This four car accident happened in 2023 in the early evening, in clear daylight on a dry road. On the 300 block of East Main Street (US 90) near North Wood Street, a two way road with a signal at the intersection and a posted limit of 30 mph, four vehicles sat westbound in the inside lane. Five people were in them. The first two vehicles were stopped. Our client, driving a small SUV, came to a stop behind them. The Uvalde Police Department crash report tells the rest.

The officer charged only the pickup driver, with “Failed To Control Speed,” and listed failed to control speed as that driver’s contributing factor. No factor was listed for anyone else. That is the most common finding in this kind of crash. Failed to control speed is also the most cited factor statewide: in 2025 it appeared in 89,553 of 136,250 Texas rear end crashes, 65.7%, according to the TxDOT data behind our rear end crash index.

The Report Shows She Was Hit Twice

The narrative describes the chain, and the vehicle damage fields confirm it on her SUV alone. The first damage rating is “12 FC 3,” force from 12 o’clock, front center, severity 3. The second is “6 BC 2,” force from 6 o’clock, back center, severity 2. On the Texas crash report, severity runs from 0 to 7. Our crash report decoder explains these codes. A wrecker towed her SUV from the scene.

Both impacts on her SUV trace back to the same driver: she was stopped, and the officer listed a factor only for the pickup driver. A chain reaction accident can look like one event, yet this report records two separate forces on her vehicle. We saw the same push in our San Antonio three car case, where a car was driven into the one ahead.

One Minimum Policy, One Cap Per Collision

Transportation Code § 601.072(a-1) sets the minimum coverage at “$30,000 for bodily injury to or death of one person in one collision” and “$60,000 for bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in one collision.” In a chain crash, everyone hurt by the same driver may be claiming against the same policy, and a minimum policy caps the total for one collision at $60,000.

That cap is why the policy matters from the start. Our Texas minimum insurance guide explains what these limits cover, and our multi car accident guide covers how responsibility works when several vehicles are involved.

Sore That Evening, Better by Summer 2024

She was sore by that evening, and the next day an emergency room saw her for low back pain. Her X rays came back normal. The report had coded every driver, her included, as not injured, and nobody was taken away by ambulance. Soreness can build in the hours after a crash, and a box filled in at the roadside is not a medical record.

Pain management care, MRIs, chiropractic visits and injections followed over several months. By the summer of 2024 she reported more than 70% improvement, and she was cleared to come back only as needed.

Looking Past the First Explanation

Her claim ran on two tracks, the injury and the car, with one small policy behind the pickup. This is how we handled it.

Read every part of the chain

Josh Alexander, the firm’s founder, says on his published bio: “That is why I do not stop at the first apparent explanation. I look for every person, business, insurer, policy, and decision that may have contributed to the harm.” Here that meant reading the narrative, the damage codes and the policy together.

Keep the car claim separate

Her SUV had its own claim, apart from her injuries. While an insurer weighs whether to fix a car or total it, the storage bill at a tow yard keeps running, so the car question gets asked on the first call.

Hold out for what the file supports

An early offer below what the records justify is one we decline, even when taking it would close the file sooner. With a minimum policy, the file has to show why the full limit is the right number.

$30,000 Paid, the Full Policy Limit

That $30,000 is a gross number, and attorney fees and expenses were subtracted before she was paid. Her result came from the facts of this chain crash, and it cannot tell another driver what a different claim will bring.

Three Points for Drivers Pushed Into Another Car

• Read the damage codes on the report. A front rating and a rear rating on the same vehicle show it was hit from both directions.
• A listed factor for one driver is worth noticing. Ask how the officer coded each unit before accepting that a stopped car shares the blame.
• A minimum policy can be shared across a collision. Ask early what limits apply, and whether a car claim and a tow yard bill are running beside the injury claim.

Attorney Review

Reviewed by: Josh Alexander, Founder and Managing Attorney

Published and reviewed on October 16, 2026

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