Crash during a pursuit in Fort Worth (December 2024): immunity comes before fault
FOX 4 reported a crash connected to a police pursuit in Fort Worth on December 29, 2024. Someone was hurt. We had no involvement in it and we are not going to speculate about the facts. What we can do is set out the legal questions an incident of this kind raises in Texas, because families dealing with one are usually working it out from scratch at the worst possible moment.
Crashes during a pursuit raise immunity questions first
When someone is injured because a fleeing driver crashed — or because a pursuing vehicle did — the first question is not fault in the ordinary sense. It is whether a claim against the public entity is available at all.
The framework
The Texas Tort Claims Act waives governmental immunity only in defined circumstances, and claims arising from emergency response and pursuit are subject to specific limitations. Whether a claim survives usually turns on the manner of operation of the vehicle, applicable laws and ordinances governing emergency action, and the department’s own pursuit policy.
What the records show
- Dash and body camera footage, and in-car video from other responding units
- Radio traffic and dispatch logs, which establish what was known and authorised, and when
- The department’s written pursuit policy and the supervisor decisions made under it
- Vehicle data from every vehicle involved
The deadline is the trap
Formal written notice to the governmental unit is required within a short statutory period, and municipal charters frequently require less. Families dealing with a catastrophic injury routinely discover the requirement after it has passed. If a public vehicle was involved in any way, treat the matter as urgent from the first week.
The fleeing driver remains liable regardless, though their insurance is often minimal or absent — which is precisely when uninsured motorist coverage becomes the claim that matters.
When someone does not survive
Texas limits wrongful death claims to a defined group — the surviving spouse, the children, and the parents of the person who died. They may file individually or together. Siblings cannot bring a wrongful death claim, however close they were. If no family member has filed within three months of the death, the estate’s representative may do so.
Two claims usually arise from one death. The wrongful death claim belongs to the family and covers what they lost: financial support, companionship, mental anguish, lost inheritance, household services. The survival claim belongs to the estate and covers what the person suffered before death, along with medical and funeral expenses.
Where the conduct exceeded ordinary negligence, Texas also permits exemplary damages, subject to a higher burden of proof and statutory limits.
What disappears, and how fast
The evidence that decides these cases has a shorter life than the legal deadline suggests.
- Video. Traffic, business and doorbell cameras commonly overwrite within days.
- Vehicle data. Many vehicles record speed, braking and throttle before impact. That information leaves with the vehicle when it is repaired or sold for salvage.
- The scene. Debris is swept, skid marks fade, and a burned-out street light gets replaced — taking with it the best explanation of why a driver saw nothing.
- Witnesses. People who stopped that day are findable that week and often not a month later.
A written preservation demand sent early obliges the other side to retain what they hold. Sent late, the material is frequently gone under routine retention policy, entirely lawfully.
What to do now
- Get medical attention and keep going — gaps in treatment become the argument that something else caused the injury.
- Ask that any vehicle involved not be repaired or sold until it has been inspected.
- Write down who stopped, what they saw, and anything said at the scene.
- Decline a recorded statement to the other side’s insurer until you have advice.
- Keep every document in one place: the report number, bills, mileage, days missed.
Reporting that prompted this post
We write about incidents reported in the local press to explain the legal questions they raise. We don’t represent anyone involved unless we say so.
Our personal injury attorneys in Garland handle matters like this every day. The case review is free.
This post is general information about Texas law, not legal advice about your situation, and reading it doesn’t make us your attorneys. Every case turns on its own facts.
Our Recent Post
