Texas Crash Reports: TxDOT, DPS and Insurance Rules
Who has your crash report, what drivers must report, insurance rules and traffic deaths in Texas.
Meanwhile, I-35 runs north from the Mexican border at Laredo through San Antonio, Austin, and Waco before splitting, with I-35E heading into Dallas and I-35W into Fort Worth. Along the way, drivers also share toll roads, county roads, and city streets, each with its own law enforcement jurisdiction. So, if you get into a crash, where it happened matters because it determines which agency handles the report and where you need to go to get a copy.
Who Has Your Texas Crash Report
City police handle crashes inside their city limits. Outside them, the call goes to the county sheriff or the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), whose Highway Patrol troopers investigate rural crashes.
Whichever agency shows up, the officer has to write a report when a crash injures or kills someone or does at least $1,000 in apparent damage to one person’s property. That report goes electronically to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) within 10 days, under the Texas Transportation Code section 550.062. TxDOT is the custodian of crash records for the state, so one purchase site carries reports from DPS and from the city police and sheriffs who file there.
DPS and TxDOT reports. DPS keeps records only for crashes its troopers worked, and it sends requests for copies to TxDOT. Buy the report, the Texas Peace Officer’s Crash Report (CR-3), on TxDOT’s Crash Report Online Purchase System, part of its Crash Records Information System (CRIS). Search by the name of anyone involved, a driver’s license number, vehicle identification number, or TxDOT crash ID. A report can take up to 14 days from the crash date to show up.
A regular copy costs $6. A certified copy, the official version used in a legal proceeding, costs $8, and card payments carry an added processing fee. TxDOT keeps reports for 10 years plus the current year.
Under the state’s Transportation Code section 550.065, the full report goes to people directly concerned in the crash: anyone involved and their representatives, a driver’s employer or parents, owners of damaged vehicles or property, insurers covering a vehicle or person involved, anyone who may sue over a death, and qualifying news outlets. Anyone else can get a redacted copy with names and identifying details removed.
Toll roads. A toll road crash is worked by the agency that patrols that road, and the officer’s report goes to TxDOT like any other. DPS troopers investigated crashes on North Texas Tollway Authority roads, including the Dallas North Tollway, the President George Bush Turnpike and the Sam Rayburn Tollway, until their contract ended August 31, 2026. City police are taking over those roads, with DPS covering during the handoff. In Harris County, constable deputies respond to incidents on Harris County Toll Road Authority roads.
Don’t want to deal with the search, or not sure which agency took your report? We can get a copy of your report for you at no cost.
Police Reports From Major Texas Cities
Several of the state’s biggest departments send you to the same TxDOT site, and others sell reports through LexisNexis BuyCrash or a records counter:
| Agency | How to request | Fee |
| Houston Police Department | BuyCrash online, or the Records Division public counter by phone, mail, or walk-in | Set at request if bought online; $6 when bought directly from HPD |
| San Antonio Police Department | TxDOT CRIS online, or the Records Office, 315 S. Santa Rosa, weekdays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. | $6 not certified; $8 certified |
| Austin Police Department | BuyCrash online | Set at request |
| Fort Worth Police Department | TxDOT CRIS online; call Police Records at 817-392-4160 if the report is not up after 14 days | $6 not certified; $8 certified |
| El Paso Police Department | Records Division, 911 N. Raynor St., in person or by mail; allow 10 business days by mail | $6 not certified; $8 certified; plus $1.50 by mail |
| Arlington Police Department | TxDOT CRIS online, or Police Records at 620 W. Division St., weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. | $6 not certified; $8 certified |
| Tarrant County Sheriff | TxDOT CRIS, about three weeks after the crash; reports written before November 2025 by written request to the Records Division, 200 Taylor St., Fort Worth | $6 not certified; $8 certified; set at request for older reports |
What Texas Drivers Must Report
A driver in a crash that injures or kills someone, or leaves a vehicle too damaged to drive normally and safely, must report it right away by the quickest means available under Transportation Code section 550.026. Inside a city, call the city police. Within 100 feet of city limits, call the city police or the sheriff, and anywhere else, the sheriff or the nearest DPS office.
The CR-2, the driver’s crash report often called the blue form, is a separate document from the officer’s CR-3. TxDOT’s retention period for every CR-2 ran out on January 1, 2019, and the agency holds no driver crash reports today. The copy sold through CRIS is the officer’s report. If no officer investigated your crash, TxDOT says to keep any CR-2 or local crash form you filled out for your own records.
Texas Insurance Rules After a Crash
Since January 1, 2011, Texas drivers have had to carry at least $30,000 for injury or death to one person, $60,000 for two or more people, and $25,000 for property damage (Transportation Code 601.072). The Texas Department of Insurance calls this 30/60/25 coverage.
Texas is a fault state. The driver who causes the crash, through their liability insurance, pays the other driver’s repair and medical bills. Under Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 33.001, a person more than 50% responsible for a crash cannot recover damages.
Every Texas auto policy includes personal injury protection (PIP), which pays your and your passengers’ medical bills plus lost wages, unless you turn it down in writing. Insurers do not have to provide more than $2,500 of PIP per person. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage works the same way: the company must offer it, and you have to reject it in writing. It pays when the driver who hit you has no insurance or too little, and after a hit-and-run.
Texas Traffic Deaths by the Numbers
| Measure | Figure | Year | Source |
| People killed in traffic crashes | 3,769, down 9.38% | 2025 | TxDOT |
| People killed in traffic crashes | 4,159 | 2024 | TxDOT |
| People seriously injured | 17,420 | 2025 | TxDOT |
| Pedestrians killed | 695 | 2025 | TxDOT |
| Motorcyclists killed | 559 | 2025 | TxDOT |
| Deaths in DUI-alcohol crashes | 906 (24% of all deaths) | 2025 | TxDOT |
These figures come from TxDOT’s 2025 Texas Motor Vehicle Traffic Crash Facts, built from crash reports processed through April 7, 2026. Texas went all of 2025 without a single day free of traffic deaths, and rural crashes accounted for 50.12% of all deaths.
Texas Crash Guides by City and County
At Local Accident Reports, we cover crashes across the country. That means going county by county, and then city by city, focusing on car crashes, motorcycle wrecks, commercial and residential fires, and every other kind of accident happening in every corner of the nation.
Texas is no exception. With 254 counties and 1224 municipalities, there are crashes to report every single day, and that’s what we do. But we don’t stop there. We don’t just want to tell drivers and commuters when and where a crash happened. We also want to help people get to know the cities they drive in, including the most important roads and the most dangerous intersections, so they have a clear picture of what to expect behind the wheel.
Here you’ll find the latest accidents across Texas’ counties and communities, along with guides to some of the state’s most important cities.
City crash guides: Austin, TX · Dallas, TX · Fort Worth, TX · Houston, TX
County accident news: Dallas County · Harris County · Travis County · Bexar County · Tarrant County · Lubbock County · Collin County · El Paso County
Compare nearby states: Southwest crash reports and car accident laws by state · No-fault states and insurance minimums in all 50 states
Questions about getting, reading or correcting a police report? See our accident report FAQ.
Specific interchanges and road stretches are covered on our Texas dangerous intersections page.
Help After a Crash
- Local Accident Reports. After a crash, we can connect you with local help, from doctors and body shops to injury attorneys. Contact our team.
- Texas Crime Victims’ Compensation Run by the Attorney General’s office, it helps pay medical bills, counseling, and lost wages for victims of DWI crashes and hit-and-runs. Apply within three years of the crime. 800-983-9933.
- MADD Texas. Free support for people hurt by drunk or drugged drivers and their families. 24-hour help line: 877-MADD-HELP (877-623-3435).
- 911. Call 911 after a crash for support.
- Trauma centers. Texas has 22 Level I trauma facilities among 288 designated statewide, listed by the Department of State Health Services on its trauma facility page.
Texas Crash Questions
How do I get a Texas crash report from DPS or TxDOT?
Buy it on TxDOT’s Crash Report Online Purchase System, part of CRIS, which also holds DPS trooper reports. Search by name, driver’s license number, VIN, or crash ID. A copy costs $6, or $8 certified, and a report can take up to 14 days to be issued.
Do I need to file a CR-2 blue form after a Texas crash?
TxDOT stopped keeping CR-2 driver crash reports when their retention period ran out on January 1, 2019, and it has none on file. If no officer investigated your crash, keep any CR-2 you filled out for your own records. The report it sells is the officer’s CR-3, which police must file for any crash with an injury, a death, or $1,000 or more in apparent damage.
Is Texas a no-fault state?
No. Texas is a fault state, so the at-fault driver’s liability insurance pays the other side’s losses. Every policy includes PIP for your own medical bills unless you reject it in writing, and a person more than 50% responsible cannot recover damages.
How long do I have to file a car accident claim in Texas?
Two years from the crash for injury claims and two years from the death for wrongful death claims, under Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 16.003. A claim against a city, county, or state agency needs notice within six months under section 101.101, and a city’s charter or ordinance can set its own notice deadline.
Recent Texas Crash Coverage
Pedestrian Killed in Crash on Aldine Bender Rd in Houston, TX
Motorcyclist Killed in Four-Vehicle Crash on 10th St North of Edinburg, TX
Cyclist Killed in Car Collision on E Main St in Grand Prairie, TX
Major Crash Closes FM-51 SB South of Hwy 287 in Decatur, TX
Three Hospitalized in North Abilene House Fire on Cockerell Dr in North Abilene, TX
The full archive is at Texas accident news, and recent accident alerts follow new crashes nationwide as they are reported.
Local Accident Reports compiles this information from public agency sources and published reports for general reference. It is not legal advice and is not an official police record. Fees, forms and deadlines change, so confirm with the agency before you send a request. Last updated October 2026.