What to Do After a Car Accident in El Paso

What to Do at the Accident Scene — 7 Steps

Seven actions taken at the crash scene protect your right to compensation under Texas law. Each step builds the evidence record your attorney and the insurance company will rely on, so skip nothing.

1. Move to Safety. If your vehicle is drivable and no one is seriously injured, move it out of active traffic lanes. Turn on hazard lights immediately. Do not leave the scene. Leaving the scene of a crash in Texas is a criminal offense under TX Transportation Code §550.022, even if you are not at fault.

Tip: Pull to the nearest shoulder, parking lot, or side street. If the vehicle can't move, turn on hazard lights and exit only when it's safe to do so.

1. Call 911. Call 911 immediately if there are any injuries or deaths, or if a vehicle can't be safely driven. Transportation Code §550.026 requires police notification in these situations. The responding officer will file a CR-3 crash report when injuries or property damage of $1,000 or more is involved.

Tip: If you're unsure whether you are injured, call 911 anyway. Whiplash, internal bleeding, and traumatic brain injury (TBI) can produce zero symptoms at the scene.

1. Exchange Information. Collect from every other driver: full name, address, phone number, driver's license number, license plate, vehicle make/model/VIN, and insurance company plus policy number.

Tip: Photograph the other driver's license and insurance card directly. GPS timestamps on photos create tamper-resistant documentation that handwritten notes can't match.

1. Document the Scene. Photograph all vehicles (damage and full views), skid marks, road conditions, traffic signs, signal positions, and any visible injuries. Note weather, time of day, and road surface. Ask nearby businesses whether security cameras may have captured the crash.

Tip: Use your phone's GPS timestamp feature. A video walk-around of the scene supplements still photos.

1. Get Witness Information. Ask any bystanders whether they witnessed the auto accident. Get full names and phone numbers. Don't ask them to describe what they saw; collect contact information only and let your attorney handle witness statements.

Tip: Witness memory degrades by approximately 50% within 3 days. Collecting contact information at the scene is far more reliable than trying to locate witnesses later.

1. Do Not Admit Fault. Say nothing about fault to anyone at the scene: not to the other driver, witnesses, or police. Limit your statements to observable facts only, such as where you were going and what you saw. Texas uses modified comparative negligence with a 51% bar (Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code §33.001). Any fault admission can reduce or eliminate your recovery entirely.

Tip: "I'm sorry" is legally interpreted as an admission. Don't say it regardless of context.

1. Do Not Give a Recorded Statement to Insurance. If an insurance adjuster contacts you at the scene or within hours after, decline any recorded statement until you have spoken with an attorney. You have no legal obligation to provide one before consulting counsel. Recorded statements are used to minimize claims, not help claimants.

Tip: You are required to notify your own insurer of the accident, but notification is not the same as a recorded statement. These are two separate obligations.

The infographic below summarizes all seven steps in a visual sequence you can save to your phone.

The scene is handled. The next critical decision is medical: whether and where to go to the emergency room.

When to Go to the Emergency Room After a Car Accident

Go to an emergency room within 24 hours of any car accident, even if you feel fine at the scene. Three scenarios determine how urgently you need to go and where.

• If you experience any loss of consciousness, confusion, numbness, chest pain, difficulty breathing, or visible serious injury: Go directly to the ER. UMC El Paso (Level I) and Del Sol Medical Center (Level II) are your two highest-capability options. Call 911 if you can't drive yourself.
• If you feel sore or have neck or back pain but no alarming symptoms: Still go to an ER or urgent care within 24 hours. Don't wait to see if symptoms improve.
• If you feel completely fine: Still see a doctor within 24 to 48 hours. Tell them explicitly that you were in a car accident and ask them to document it in your chart.

ER visit costs without insurance in Texas range from $200 to $1,600 for minor triage levels (Levels 1 and 2), approximately $2,592 or more for moderate cases (Level 3), $3,240 or more for high-severity visits (Level 4), and $4,320 or more for critical cases (Level 5). These are facility fees only; add professional fees ($500 to $2,000+) and imaging (X-ray $276 to $500; CT $1,000 to $3,500) separately. The statewide average is approximately $2,536. Personal injury claims typically recover all documented medical expenses, and the out-of-pocket cost to a victim treated on a medical lien (an arrangement where the doctor waits for payment from the settlement) is often $0.

El Paso Emergency Rooms — Addresses and Trauma Levels

The table below lists every trauma-designated emergency room in the El Paso area, organized by capability level.

UMC El Paso is the only Level I trauma center within a 270-mile radius. For any suspected serious injury, it is the highest-capability destination in the region.

Why "I Feel Fine" Is Not Medical or Legal Clearance

Feeling fine after a car crash doesn't mean you are uninjured. Whiplash, soft tissue injuries, and traumatic brain injury (TBI) have clinically documented delayed symptom onset of 24 to 72 hours. Adrenaline masks pain at the scene, and this isn't speculation; it's basic trauma physiology.

The insurance company's standard defense argument is straightforward: a gap between the accident and your first medical visit means your injuries were not serious or were caused by something else entirely. This tactic has a name in the industry: the documentation gap defense. Insurance companies argue that if you didn't seek treatment, the crash didn't hurt you. Clinical medicine says otherwise: delayed onset is a documented phenomenon in whiplash, soft tissue damage, and TBI.

A medical record created within 24 to 48 hours of the crash closes this argument before the insurer can make it. Failing to seek immediate treatment is the single most common tactic insurers use to minimize or deny El Paso car accident claims. Don't hand them that weapon.

Once you've addressed your medical needs, the next priority is obtaining your police report.

How to Get a Police Report in El Paso

To get your El Paso car accident police report, visit cris.dot.state.tx.us and search by Crash ID, name and date, driver's license number, or VIN. The report costs $6.00 and is typically available 7 to 14 business days after the crash.

Three methods are available for retrieving your CR-3 crash report, listed from fastest to slowest.

1. Online (fastest). Visit the TxDOT CRIS portal at cris.dot.state.tx.us. Search by Crash ID (obtained at the scene), name and date, driver's license number, or VIN. Pay $6.00 for a regular copy or $8.00 for a certified copy. Download or receive by email.

2. In person. Visit the El Paso Police Department (EPPD) Records Division at 911 N. Raynor St, El Paso TX 79901. Call ahead: (915) 212-4000. Bring a photo ID and the crash date and location. In-person retrieval doesn't reduce the underlying processing time; the report must still be filed by the officer before you can obtain it.

3. By mail. Request forms and instructions are available at the EPPD Records Division. Add approximately 2 to 3 weeks on top of the standard 7 to 14 business day window for mail delivery. Only recommended if online and in-person options are unavailable.

Texas no longer accepts driver-filed CR-2 "blue forms." The officer-filed CR-3 is the only official crash report.

Your attorney can also obtain the crash report on your behalf as part of evidence preservation. While you wait for the report, start building your injury documentation.

How to Document Your Injuries for a Legal Claim

Document your injuries by creating a medical record within 24 hours, photographing visible bruising and swelling, and preserving every receipt tied to the crash. This evidence is what separates a full-value claim from a denied one.

The following actions are organized by priority. HIGH items protect your claim from the most common insurer attacks; ONGOING items build the long-term evidence record that determines your settlement value.

[HIGH — do immediately]

• Go to the ER or urgent care and state you were in a car accident. This creates a contemporaneous medical record linking your injuries to the crash date. No record within 48 hours gives the insurer its strongest defense.
• Photograph all visible injuries (bruises, lacerations, swelling) on the day of the crash and again at 24, 48, and 72 hours as delayed bruising appears.
• Keep every receipt for any out-of-pocket expense connected to the crash: prescriptions, over-the-counter pain medication, transportation to medical appointments, assistive devices.

[ONGOING — throughout treatment]

• Attend every follow-up appointment and comply with all treatment recommendations. Gaps in treatment are documented by insurers as evidence of recovery.
• Keep a pain journal. Write a brief entry every day: date, symptoms, pain level (1 to 10), activities affected, sleep quality. Plain language. This is admissible evidence.
• Preserve employment records showing missed work, reduced hours, or modified duties. Lost wage claims require employer documentation.
• Save all written communications with the insurance company: letters, emails, text messages. Every word matters.

A documentation gap is the insurer's best argument to deny your claim. Every day without a medical record, a receipt, or a journal entry is a day the insurance company will characterize as a day you were not injured.

Your documentation directly determines what your case is worth, because how this documentation affects your settlement is the first thing an adjuster evaluates when calculating an offer. The next question is timing: when should you bring in an attorney?

When to Contact a Car Accident Attorney — and Why Timing Matters

Contact a car accident attorney within 24 to 48 hours of the crash. The legal deadline to file a lawsuit is 2 years under Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code §16.003, but the practical window for protecting your claim is measured in hours and days. Three things disappear fast:

1. CCTV footage. Business and traffic cameras overwrite footage on rolling 30-day cycles [VERIFY]. Once gone, it can't be recovered.
2. Witness memory. Recall of vehicle collision details degrades rapidly. Witnesses who clearly remember what they saw at the scene may have significant gaps within a week.
3. Your leverage. Insurance adjusters are trained to contact claimants within 24 to 48 hours of a crash [VERIFY], before the claimant has spoken to an attorney. Their goal is to obtain a recorded statement that locks you into a description of your injuries before the full extent of harm is known.

Five things change the moment you hire a car accident lawyer in El Paso, and each one shifts the balance of your claim.

1. You stop talking to the insurance company. All contact routes through your attorney, eliminating the recorded statement risk.
2. Your attorney sends an evidence preservation letter (spoliation letter). This legally obligates the opposing party to preserve dashcam footage, corporate fleet records, black-box data, and CCTV recordings.
3. Medical treatment can continue on a medical lien. Your attorney coordinates with doctors who treat on a lien, meaning you pay nothing upfront and bills are settled from your recovery.
4. The insurance company takes your claim seriously. Represented claimants receive materially higher settlement offers than unrepresented claimants.
5. You focus on recovery. Your attorney handles all deadlines, filings, and negotiations.

Don't let the Texas deadline to file your claim lull you into waiting. The statute of limitations (§16.003) gives you 2 years, but the evidence gives you 30 days. 915 Injury charges a contingency fee (a percentage of recovery paid only if the case wins) of one-third (33.33%); if there's no recovery, you pay nothing. The free consultation costs you nothing to start.

What if you've already made one of these mistakes? The next section covers the six most damaging ones.

Common Mistakes That Hurt Your Car Accident Claim

Six mistakes cost El Paso car accident claimants more money than any legal technicality, and the insurance company counts on you making at least one.

1. Delaying medical treatment. Waiting days or weeks to see a doctor after the crash gives the insurer its strongest argument: that the gap between the accident and first treatment means the injuries weren't caused by the crash or weren't serious. Delayed onset is clinically documented for whiplash, soft tissue damage, and TBI; 24 to 72 hours is a recognized medical phenomenon, not a claim fabrication. A doctor's record created within 24 hours closes this argument before the insurer can raise it.

2. Admitting fault at the scene. Any statement suggesting fault, including "I'm sorry" or "I didn't see you," can be used under Texas modified comparative negligence to reduce or eliminate your recovery. If your assigned fault reaches 51%, you recover $0 (Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code §33.001).

3. Giving a recorded statement to the insurance company. Insurance adjusters are trained interviewers. Recorded statements lock claimants into descriptions of injuries and events before the full extent of harm is known. Once recorded, these statements are very difficult to walk back.

4. Posting on social media. Insurance investigators actively monitor claimants' social media accounts. A single photo showing physical activity or travel, or any statement about feeling okay, will be used against your claim. Even photos that predate the car crash can be used if they suggest you weren't injured.

5. Accepting the first settlement offer. What if the insurance company's first offer doesn't even cover your ER bill? First offers are designed to close claims before the full extent of injuries is known. Soft tissue damage and whiplash may take 2 to 4 weeks to fully manifest. Accepting a settlement before reaching maximum medical improvement (MMI, the point at which your doctor says your condition won't get better with more treatment) releases all future claims.

6. Waiting too long to hire an attorney. The practical evidence preservation window closes within 30 days. Attorney involvement triggers legal preservation obligations. Waiting diminishes the strength of the case even if the 2-year statute of limitations under §16.003 has not expired.