I Had An Accident In Texas But I Don’t Have Insurance Nor A Drivers License
I frequently get asked whether the lack of insurance or the lack of a driver’s license affects a car wreck claim. While there are some states in which the answer to that question is “yes”, in Texas the answer is “No.” While the police officer may issue you a citation for driving without insurance or without a driver’s license, those facts have nothing to do with determining fault or with one’s ability to collect from the at-fault driver’s insurance company. As a matter of fact, the jury will likely never hear that you had no driver’s license and will never hear that you had no insurance. That’s because that information is not relevant evidence in determining who was at fault or how much money the plaintiff should get.
Think of it this way: The fact that you were driving without a license and/or without insurance does not constitute negligence and was not the factor/s that contributed to the accident. Accidents are caused because someone ran a red light or stop sign, was following too closely, made a turn from the wrong lane, or otherwise committed some type of negligent act that resulted in an accident. True, some may be tempted to argue that if you had obeyed the law that forbids you to drive without a license or without insurance, you would not have been on the road and would not have been involved in an accident. Thank goodness the rules of evidence don’t work that way. The rules of evidence see that type of argument as too far removed from the causation of the accident to be relevant.
If you have been involved in an accident and you have questions not addressed here nor in any other of the articles on my web site, please feel free to call me.
Robert Rodriguez
Law Offices of Robert Rodriguez
Goldapp-Rodriguez, PC
[email protected]