Katy sits in three counties. The city itself reaches past Harris County into Fort Bend and Waller, and most of what people call Katy (Cinco Ranch and the subdivisions north of I-10, for example) is unincorporated land in Harris or Fort Bend. So the first question after a Katy wreck is where it happened, down to the side of the road. That answer decides who writes the crash report, and it’s one of the facts that decides where your case can be filed.
Call (713) 664-4000. The consultation is free, and there’s no fee unless we recover for you. If we don’t recover, you don’t owe us for case expenses either. Don’t give the other driver’s insurance company a recorded statement until you’ve talked to us.
I-10 and the roads built for a smaller Katy
I-10 is the spine of Katy, and the stretch between the Grand Parkway and Barker Cypress is where we see the worst of it, with highway speed and sudden stops in merging traffic. The Grand Parkway and the Westpark Tollway carry the rest of the commuters. Off the highways, FM 1463, Mason Road, Fry Road and Pin Oak Road were built for a much smaller town, and they now run past new subdivisions and Katy ISD campuses. Left turns across those roads cause a lot of injuries.
Inside city limits, Katy police write the report. Outside them, it’s usually a sheriff’s deputy or a constable from that county, and DPS troopers handle some of the highway wrecks too. The officer usually got there after the crash and pieced the report together from whoever stuck around, and the insurer still reads it first. We hold it up against the photos, the vehicle damage, the witnesses and the cars’ event data recorders. We also ask the gas stations and shopping centers along the road for their video before it’s recorded over.
Which courthouse hears a Katy case
A Texas injury suit can be filed in the county where the crash happened or where the at-fault driver lived. If the defendant is a company, it can also be filed where the company has its main Texas office (Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 15.002). For a Katy crash, that usually means the Harris County civil courthouse at 201 Caroline in downtown Houston or the Fort Bend County Justice Center in Richmond. A crash on the Waller County side can also go to the Waller County Justice Center in Hempstead. Juries in those counties don’t look at injury cases the same way, and the insurance company knows it. We pick the venue on purpose.
Katy ERs and the gap-in-treatment argument
People hurt in Katy usually go to Memorial Hermann Katy, a Level III trauma center, or Houston Methodist West on I-10. Injured kids often go to Texas Children’s West Campus. The most serious injuries go to the Level I trauma centers in the Texas Medical Center, either straight from the scene or by transfer. The adjuster will read the notes from that first visit, then check if you followed up when your doctor told you to. A few weeks without treatment is the first thing he points to when he says you weren’t really hurt.
Putting a number on a Katy wreck
When the adjuster asks whether you were in a hurry, he’s working toward a number: your percentage of fault. Texas reduces your recovery by that percentage, and if a jury puts you over 50 percent, you get nothing (Civil Practice and Remedies Code §§ 33.001, 33.012). Your memory of a two-second crash won’t win that argument. The evidence will.
Texas only requires $30,000 per injured person and $60,000 per crash (Transportation Code § 601.072), and a serious injury goes through that fast. We look for every other policy: the vehicle owner’s, the driver’s employer if he was working, a rideshare company’s if one was involved, and your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage (Insurance Code § 1952.101). Your personal injury protection pays medical bills and lost wages no matter who caused the wreck (Insurance Code § 1952.155). Texas insurers have to put it in every auto policy unless someone named on the policy turned it down in writing (§ 1952.152). The standard amount is $2,500 per person, and plenty of policies carry more.
Medical damages are limited to what was actually paid or is still owed for your care, not the full amount billed (Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 41.0105). Health insurance, Medicare, PIP and a letter of protection each change that number differently, so we plan how your treatment gets paid for early.
The damages insurers fight hardest are the ones without a receipt: lost income, lost earning capacity, pain, scarring and what the injury took from your life at home. They’re why we prepare every case as if a jury will decide it.
Katy ISD bus crashes and the six-month notice
The general rule is two years from the wreck to file suit (Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003). If a Katy ISD bus or a local government vehicle hit you, the government has to get notice of your claim within six months, and a city charter can set an even shorter deadline (Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 101.101). Katy has a charter, so don’t wait on this one. Under the Tort Claims Act, a school district can only be sued for an injury that involves a motor vehicle (§ 101.051), which makes a bus crash one of the few injury cases where a district has to answer for what happened.
Past results
A client rear-ended by a commercial truck driver who was following too closely got a $2.95 million settlement. A client hit by a driver who ran a red light got $100,000. See all of our settlements and verdicts. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
We handle Katy cases in all three counties
Jay Blass Cohen was born and raised in Houston and has practiced here since 2009. We handle injury cases in every county Katy touches, and we prepare every case as if it’s going to trial. If an 18-wheeler was involved, see our Katy truck accident page. We also handle crashes caused by a drunk driver and Uber and Lyft crashes.
Call (713) 664-4000. The first few days after a crash are when the evidence is easiest to lock down, so don’t wait on this.
Reviewed by Jay Blass Cohen, founder of Blass Law PLLC, ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist, certified Drug Recognition Expert, and SFST instructor, serving Houston since 2009. This article is general information, not legal advice for your situation. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.