The crash report is often the first document an insurance adjuster reads about your crash. Here is how a Texas crash report is made, how to get a copy after a Houston car accident, and what to check when you read it.
This article is from LAWBOSS – Harris, Nelsen & Uvalle, PLLC, the firm behind Car Wreck Lawyers Houston, with its Houston office at 5300 Memorial Dr Ste 810. It is general information, not legal advice. The attorney responsible for this site is Jonathan Harris, Board Certified, Personal Injury Trial Law – Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
Who files the report, and when
A crash with injury, death or a vehicle that cannot be driven must be reported at once to the local police department in a city, or to the sheriff outside one (Transportation Code section 550.026). In Houston that usually means the officers who come to the scene.
An officer who investigates a crash with injury, death or apparent property damage of $1,000 or more must file a written report, the Texas Peace Officer’s Crash Report known as form CR-3, electronically with TxDOT within 10 days (section 550.062). So a report is usually ready within about two weeks of the crash, sometimes sooner.
Who can get a copy
The full report is not public. Texas lets these people get it: the people involved in the crash, their authorized representatives, the owners of the vehicles, the insurers involved and others directly concerned (Transportation Code section 550.065(c)(4)). An attorney representing you counts as your representative.
How to buy it
- Go to TxDOT’s Crash Report Online Purchase System at cris.txdot.gov.
- Search by the crash date, the county (Harris, for a crash in Houston) and a name, the report number or the vehicle details.
- Pay the small fee and download the report.
- If the report is not there yet, check again after a few days.
When you hire us, we request the report for you and go through it with you.
What to check when you read it
The basic facts
Names, addresses, vehicles, insurance companies and policy numbers. A wrong insurer or a wrong policy number can slow a claim.
The diagram and the narrative
The officer’s drawing of the crash and the written description. Compare them with what you remember and with your photos.
Contributing factors
The officer may record factors such as speeding, failing to yield, following too closely or a distraction. Insurers read these closely. They are the officer’s opinion, not a final decision about fault.
Witnesses
Names and contact details of people who saw the crash. Witnesses are easiest to reach in the first weeks.
Keep the report with your other papers from the crash: photos, medical records, bills and letters from insurers. If an adjuster quotes the report to you, ask which part they mean and write it down.
If the report is wrong
Reports are written quickly, often after the cars have moved and while people are upset. A mistake in the report does not decide your claim. Fault in a Texas claim is decided from all the evidence, and you can recover if your share of responsibility is 50 percent or less (Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 33.001). We collect photos, witness statements and video to show what really happened, and in some cases we ask the officer’s agency whether a factual error can be corrected.
Houston crashes by the numbers
TxDOT’s 2024 county table counts 115,173 crashes in Harris County, including 546 fatal crashes and 2,282 crashes with a suspected serious injury. Every one of those injury crashes produced a report like the one you are reading.
After the report
The report starts the claim; it does not finish it. A personal injury lawsuit in Texas generally must be filed within two years of the crash (Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 16.003), and a claim against a government unit needs written notice within six months or less (section 101.101). Get your report, keep a copy, and talk to an attorney about what it means for your claim.
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For the steps that follow, read what a car accident attorney in Houston does at each stage.
Questions people ask
How long does it take to get a crash report in Houston?
The officer must file it with TxDOT within 10 days of the crash (Transportation Code section 550.062), so it is usually available within about two weeks.
Is the crash report free?
TxDOT charges a small fee for a copy through its Crash Report Online Purchase System.
Does the report decide who was at fault?
No. It is important evidence, but fault in a claim is decided from all the evidence, and insurers and juries can reach different conclusions.