Crash during a pursuit in North Texas (March 2025): the deadline families miss
FOX 4 reported a crash connected to a police pursuit in North Texas on March 24, 2025. 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.
The deadline is shorter than two years in more cases than people think
The general limitations period for a Texas personal injury suit is two years from the incident, and the same period generally governs wrongful death. That is the number everyone has heard.
The number that catches families out is the other one. Claims against a city, county, transit authority, school district or other governmental unit require formal written notice within a short statutory window, and municipal charters frequently require less — sometimes a matter of weeks. Miss it and an otherwise strong claim can be barred long before the two-year period runs.
Government involvement is not always obvious. A road defect, a work zone under public contract, a public vehicle, a transit bus, or a municipal employee running an errand all bring those rules into play. If there is any prospect of it, the matter should be assessed in the first weeks.
What a claim can actually include
Attention goes to the bills already received, because those are knowable. They are usually the smallest component.
- Future medical care, including further surgery or long-term treatment
- Lost earning capacity — not lost wages, but the gap between what you could have earned and what you can earn now
- Physical impairment, for what you can no longer do
- Disfigurement, where scarring is permanent
- Pain, suffering and mental anguish
- Household services now performed by someone else
Health insurers, hospitals and government programmes may also assert reimbursement rights against any recovery. Negotiating those down is part of what determines how much a family actually keeps.
What families ask first
Two questions come up in almost every call. What does this cost? Most injury matters are handled on a contingency fee — nothing upfront, and no fee unless there is a recovery. How long will it take? That depends on the severity of the injuries, how clear the liability evidence is, and whether the insurer negotiates in good faith. The one thing that should not be rushed is settling before the medical picture is clear.
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 injury attorneys serving 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
