The Woodlands is an unincorporated township, so there’s no city police department and no city courts, and most of it sits in Montgomery County. That makes most Woodlands injury cases Montgomery County cases, filed at the county courthouse in Conroe and tried to a Montgomery County jury. The exception is Creekside Park, on the south side, which is in Harris County. A wreck there can be filed at the Harris County civil courthouse at 201 Caroline in downtown Houston. A Texas injury suit can also be filed where the at-fault driver lived, or where a company defendant has its main Texas office (Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 15.002), and a lot of the drivers on I-45 live in Harris County.
That choice matters. Where a case is filed decides which judges hear it and which jury pool decides it, and adjusters factor that into what they offer. We look at where you were hit and who hit you before we decide where to file.
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. If an insurance adjuster calls, don’t give a recorded statement until you’ve talked to us.
Left turns and rear-enders on the Woodlands parkways
I-45 runs along the east side of The Woodlands, and the interchanges at Woodlands Parkway and, just south of town, the Grand Parkway see some of the worst freeway wrecks. Inside the community, Woodlands Parkway, Research Forest Drive, Lake Woodlands Drive and Kuykendahl carry heavy traffic past shopping centers and schools, and the Hardy Toll Road merges into I-45 just south of town, near the county line. Rear-end crashes and left turns across the parkways cause most of the injuries we see.
Because there’s no city police department, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and Montgomery County Constable Precinct 3 work most crashes in The Woodlands, and Harris County Constable Precinct 4 covers Creekside Park. DPS troopers work a lot of the freeway wrecks. Insurers treat that report as gospel, so we test it against the photos, the damage, the witnesses and the cars’ event data recorders.
Memorial Hermann The Woodlands and your first visit
Memorial Hermann The Woodlands is a Level II trauma center, and so is HCA Houston Healthcare Conroe up the road. Injured kids often go to Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands. The most serious injuries go to the Level I trauma centers in the Texas Medical Center. The insurer will read the notes from that first visit line by line. Mention every spot that hurts, and go back when the doctor says to.
Who pays when you’re hurt in The Woodlands
Start with the other driver’s limits. Texas only requires $30,000 per injured person and $60,000 per crash (Transportation Code § 601.072). A serious injury runs through that quickly, so we look for every other policy: the vehicle owner’s, the driver’s employer if he was working, a trucking company’s if a commercial vehicle hit you, and a rideshare company’s if one was involved.
Then your own. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is on your policy unless someone on it rejected it in writing, and it pays when the other driver has no insurance or not enough (Insurance Code § 1952.101). Your personal injury protection pays medical bills and lost wages no matter who caused the wreck (§ 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. Passengers are covered by the PIP on the car they were riding in (§ 1952.151).
Bills count at what was paid. Your medical damages are what was actually paid or is still owed for your care, not the full amount billed (Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 41.0105).
Fault cuts the total. Your recovery drops by your percentage of fault, and over 50 percent you get nothing (Civil Practice and Remedies Code §§ 33.001, 33.012). We don’t let that turn on your memory of a two-second crash. We answer it with evidence.
Truck crashes and other Woodlands cases
We also take cases for people hurt by drunk drivers, in 18-wheeler crashes on I-45, in Uber and Lyft crashes and in falls on unsafe property. On a property case, the question is whether the business used reasonable care to fix or warn about a dangerous condition it knew about or should have known about. See our 18-wheeler and premises liability pages.
Time limits on a Woodlands claim
The general deadline to sue is two years from the injury (Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003). A claim against Conroe ISD over a bus crash, or against the county over one of its vehicles, needs notice within six months (§ 101.101).
Recoveries for a truck crash and a red-light crash
We’ve recovered $100,000 for a client hit by a driver who ran a red light, and a $2.95 million settlement for a client rear-ended by a commercial truck driver who was following too closely. See all of our settlements and verdicts. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Call about a wreck in The Woodlands
Jay Blass Cohen was born and raised in Houston and has practiced here since 2009. We take injury cases in Montgomery and Harris counties, and we prepare every one as if it’s going to trial. If you were hurt up the road, see our Conroe injury page, and for wrecks just south of the county line, our Spring injury page. If you were charged after a crash, see our Conroe and Montgomery County DWI page.
Call (713) 664-4000. Stores and gas stations tape over their cameras fast. The sooner you call, the more of it we can grab.
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.