Last updated: October 3, 2026 | By Kameron K. Searle, Attorney at Law — former City of Houston Municipal Court Prosecutor
Texas traffic law doesn't define "causing an accident" as an offense by itself. Instead, when an officer investigates a crash and determines that a driver violated a specific traffic law, the officer cites that specific violation — the underlying cause of the collision. Common examples include:
That citation is a criminal (or, for most traffic offenses, criminal-misdemeanor-level) matter prosecuted in municipal or justice court. It is entirely separate from however the property damage and injury claims from the same accident get resolved.
The civil side — vehicle damage and personal injury — is handled first by the insurance companies involved, and, if it can't be resolved between the insurers (or isn't covered), by a civil lawsuit. Your insurer will find out about the accident one way or another: you report it, the other driver reports it, the other driver's attorney sends a letter, or the responding officer's crash report makes its way into the claims process. You have an obligation under your own policy to notify your insurance company of an accident promptly — most policies condition coverage on timely notice, and delaying can create problems with your own claim.
If your insurance company determines you were at fault for the accident, your rates may go up for that reason alone — independent of anything that happens with your ticket.
This is where many drivers get surprised. If you are convicted of the underlying traffic offense — failure to control speed, an unsafe lane change, running a stop sign, running a red light, or whatever the officer cited — that conviction goes on your driving record separately from the accident itself. Your insurance company can factor in both things independently:
In other words, a single accident can affect your insurance twice — once through the claim itself, and again through the conviction, if there is one. Fighting the ticket is about preventing the second hit, not the first.
No. If the citation for the underlying offense is dismissed, reduced, or you're found not guilty, that result does not reverse your insurance company's (or the other driver's insurer's) determination of fault for the accident, and it does not undo a claim payment that has already been made. The civil claims process and the criminal traffic case are decided independently, on their own evidence, by different decision-makers.
The reverse is also true: if your own insurance company tells you that you are "not at fault" for the accident, that is not evidence in court that you are not guilty of the traffic offense the officer cited you for. An insurance adjuster's fault determination is a private, contractual business decision about who pays a claim — it is not admissible proof in your criminal case, and the prosecutor and judge are not bound by it. You still have to address the ticket on its own merits.
Yes, and this is a separate, more serious track than either the insurance claim or the criminal ticket. Under the Texas Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act (Transportation Code Chapter 601), if you are involved in a crash, the officer's crash report indicates you were at fault, you did not have insurance (financial responsibility) at the time of the crash, and the crash caused injury, death, or property damage of $1,000 or more, the Texas Department of Public Safety can suspend your license administratively — separate from, and in addition to, any criminal conviction on the underlying ticket.
Texas law requires every driver to maintain financial responsibility under § 601.051, and a driver who fails to do so can avoid a suspension connected to the accident only by depositing security and filing evidence of financial responsibility under § 601.153. Separately, driving without insurance at all is its own citable offense under § 601.191, with fines of $175–$350 for a first offense and $350–$1,000 for a later one. For the full breakdown of no-insurance citations and crash-related suspensions, see our Failure to Maintain Financial Responsibility article.
Officers are also required to file a written crash report whenever a collision results in injury, death, or property damage of $1,000 or more, under Transportation Code § 550.062 — that report is often the document that triggers both the civil claims process and, where applicable, the DPS suspension review.
Does a police officer write a ticket for "causing an accident"?
No. There is no citation in Texas simply called "accident" or "at fault for a crash." The investigating officer writes a citation for the specific underlying violation that caused the collision — for example, failure to control speed, an unsafe lane change, following too closely, running a red light, or running a stop sign. That citation is a separate criminal matter from the accident itself.
If my insurance company says I wasn't at fault, will my ticket be dismissed?
No. Your insurance company's fault determination is a private business decision about who pays a claim. It is not evidence in your criminal traffic case and does not bind the court, the prosecutor, or the judge. Your citation is resolved separately, based on the evidence in that case.
If my ticket is dismissed, does that undo my insurance company's fault decision?
No. These are two independent tracks. A dismissed citation does not force your insurer, or the other driver's insurer, to reverse a fault determination, reimburse a paid claim, or stop your rates from being affected by the accident itself.
Can I lose my license just from being in an accident?
Yes, under a specific set of circumstances. If you're involved in a crash, the officer's report indicates you were at fault, you did not have insurance at the time, and the crash caused injury, death, or property damage of $1,000 or more, the Texas Department of Public Safety can suspend your license administratively under the Texas Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act — separate from and in addition to any criminal conviction on the underlying ticket.
Do I have to tell my insurance company about an accident?
Yes. Virtually every auto policy requires prompt notice of an accident as a condition of coverage, and in practice your insurer will find out regardless — from you, the other driver, the other driver's attorney, or the officer's crash report. Delaying notice can jeopardize your own coverage.
A traffic citation tied to an accident carries risks your insurance claim alone doesn't — including a permanent mark on your driving record and, in some cases, your license itself. If you were cited for a violation after an accident in Houston or Harris County, find out what's actually at stake on the criminal side before your court date.
Call Houston Ticket Lawyer, Kameron K. Searle, Attorney at Law, at 713-880-4529.
This article is for general information about Texas traffic law and does not constitute legal advice for any specific case. Statutory citations are current as of the publication date above; fines, fees, and court policies are subject to change. Call our office to confirm current requirements for your citation.