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Tarrant County

Fort Worth Car Accident Claim Guide

Fort Worth is large enough that the first problem after a crash is often basic navigation. The city has a population of 1,008,106 and sits in Tarrant County, where the 2023 NHTSA FARS file reports 204 fatal crashes and 217 traffic deaths. That works out to about 0.56 fatal crashes per day, using 204 ÷ 365. Your next step usually depends on which agency responded, whether that was the Fort Worth Police Department, the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office, or Texas Department of Public Safety, and which Tarrant County court would hear the case if it cannot be resolved informally.

217

People killed, 2023

50%

Fault bars recovery above

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Fatal crashes

Fatal crash data, reported separately

Fatality counts come from a different dataset than the overall crash counts above and are never combined with them. In 2023, Tarrant County recorded 204 fatal crashes in which 217 people died.

60

Pedestrians killed

4

Cyclists killed

Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 2023 national file. Reviewed 2026-07-30.

Local factors

What can affect a Fort Worth claim

Scale matters here. Tarrant County recorded 204 fatal crashes and 217 fatalities in 2023 in the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System national file. In a county this busy, documentation often starts with sorting out who responded to the scene. In Fort Worth, that may be the Fort Worth Police Department inside the city, the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office in county areas, or Texas Department of Public Safety on incidents handled at the state level.

The agency question affects your first paperwork step because Texas CR-3 crash reports are purchased through the TxDOT CRIS portal at https://cris.dot.state.tx.us/public/Purchase/app/home. If you are not sure who filed the report, the responding agency name on your exchange sheet, towing paperwork, or discharge paperwork can help you match the crash to Fort Worth Police Department, the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office, or Texas Department of Public Safety before you search CRIS.

Court structure also affects how a claim moves once it becomes a lawsuit. The structured court list for this page shows Tarrant County District Courts as the trial-general court and Tarrant County Court at Law as the trial-limited court. Which one applies depends on the kind of case and how it is filed, so Fort Worth claims are not just about fault and medical records but also about getting into the right Tarrant County forum.

Texas fault rules matter too, but this page's law section already sets those out. For Fort Worth readers, the practical point is that the state uses a modified comparative fault rule with a 50 percent threshold, the personal injury deadline is 24 months, and the government claim deadline listed here is 6 months. Those statewide rules interact with local facts like which Tarrant County agency investigated the crash and whether a city or county vehicle was involved.

Who responded

Agencies that respond to crashes in Fort Worth

Which agency attended determines who to contact about an incomplete or incorrect report.

Fort Worth Police Department

City police

Tarrant County Sheriff's Office - Administration

County sheriff

Texas Department of Public Safety - Texas Rangers

State patrol

Your crash report

How to get your Fort Worth crash report

Venue

Courts that hear Tarrant County civil cases

Tarrant County District Courts

General civil claims

Tarrant County Court at Law

Smaller civil claims

Texas law

How fault is allocated in Texas

Texas follows modified comparative negligence with a 50% bar. Below that line your recovery is reduced in proportion to your fault. Above it, you recover nothing at all, which makes the fault allocation the central dispute in most contested claims.

As an example, a $100,000 claim in which you are found 20% responsible would yield $80,000. The same claim with 51% responsibility attributed to you would yield nothing, because Texas bars recovery above 50%.

Texas insurance

Insurance requirements in Texas

Not mandatory, but insurers must offer at least $2,500 in personal injury protection with every auto policy, and it is included unless the applicant rejects it in writing. PIP pays medical expenses and 80% of lost income regardless of fault. Tex. Ins. Code § 1952.152.

Minimum liability coverage in Texas is $30,000 per injured person, $60,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property damage. Those are legal floors rather than typical limits, and a serious injury claim often exceeds them.

Deadlines

Texas filing deadlines

Missing a deadline generally ends a claim regardless of how strong it is. Government claims are on a much shorter clock than ordinary claims.

2 years

Personal injury

2 years

Wrongful death

6 months

Claim against a government agency

Reviewed 2026-07-29. Not yet reviewed by a licensed attorney. This is general information, not legal advice.

Government defendants

If a government agency was involved

Texas CR-3 crash reports are purchased through the TxDOT CRIS portal, typically available within a few days of filing.

Local questions

Fort Worth questions

Start with who responded. In this city, the structured agency list includes the Fort Worth Police Department, the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office, and Texas Department of Public Safety. If the crash happened on a Fort Worth city street, Fort Worth Police is a common starting point. If it happened in an unincorporated part of Tarrant County, the sheriff may be involved. If a state agency handled the scene, Texas Department of Public Safety may be the reporting agency. Texas CR-3 reports are then purchased through the TxDOT CRIS portal listed on this page.
Transparency

Sources and review dates

Every figure on this page traces to one of the sources below. Geography and population come from the U.S. Census Bureau.

About this page

State law on this page was last reviewed 2026-07-29 and has not been reviewed by a licensed attorney. It is general information, not legal advice for your situation.

Local commentary on this page was prepared 2026-07-31 and checked automatically against the sources cited on this page. It has not been individually reviewed by a person.

We do not publish attorney profiles or rankings, and nothing on this page recommends or endorses any attorney. CaseValuation.com is operated by LuxeLaw LLC, which is not a law firm.

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