What should I do first after any serious injury accident in Austin?

The First 72 Hours Determine What Your Case Is Worth

What you do in the first 72 hours after any serious injury accident in Austin determines what evidence is available, what the insurance company can use against you, and whether the full value of your claim is preserved or partially forfeited. The same core protocol applies whether you were in a car crash on I-35, injured on a construction site in East Austin, hit by a delivery van on South Congress, or hurt as a rideshare passenger near the Domain. Call 911. Get medical care the same day. Document before anything is moved. Call Wayne Wright before speaking to any insurance company.

Step 1: Call 911 and Secure an Official Incident Record

Every serious injury accident requires an official incident report. This is true whether the accident was a vehicle crash, a workplace injury, a premises accident, or a rideshare collision:

• Vehicle crashes: Texas Transportation Code §550.026 requires reporting accidents involving injury. Call 911 for APD response. Request the incident number before officers leave the scene. If law enforcement does not respond, file a Texas CR-2 form with the DPS within 10 days
• Workplace accidents: Report to your employer’s designated supervisor immediately — Texas workers’ comp requires injury reporting within 30 days, but same-day reporting protects against “the injury occurred elsewhere” arguments. If OSHA regulations apply, the employer must report fatalities within 8 hours and hospitalizations within 24 hours under 29 CFR §1904.39
• Premises accidents: Request that the property owner or manager complete an incident report on site. Get a copy. Do not sign any document releasing the property owner from liability at the scene
• Rideshare accidents: Call 911 for the crash and simultaneously screenshot the Uber or Lyft app before the driver ends the trip — the trip screen establishes which coverage period was active

Step 2: Seek Medical Attention the Same Day — Not Tomorrow

This is the single most important step for both your health and your legal claim. Go to Dell Seton Medical Center, St. David’s, or the nearest Austin urgent care facility the same day — regardless of how you feel at the scene.

The medical and legal reasons are inseparable:

• Medically: Traumatic brain injuries, cervical spine injuries, internal trauma, and serious soft tissue damage frequently do not manifest for 24–72 hours. The adrenaline response following any serious trauma suppresses pain signals. Feeling fine at the scene is not a medical clearance
• Legally: Every day without medical treatment is a “gap in care” that insurance adjusters use to argue your injuries were not caused by the accident, were not serious enough to require immediate care, or developed from a subsequent incident. The gap argument is one of the most effective claim-reduction tools adjusters have — and it starts building the moment you leave the scene without seeking care

Follow every treatment plan. Attend every scheduled appointment. Never miss a follow-up. A pattern of consistent medical care builds your damages record. Missed appointments are used by defense counsel to argue your injuries were not actually as serious as claimed.

Step 3: Document Everything Before Conditions Change

The physical evidence of any accident is at its most complete at the moment of the incident — and begins degrading immediately:

• Photograph everything: All vehicles from multiple angles, license plates, property damage, environmental conditions, warning signs, barriers, equipment involved, and the precise location and layout of the scene
• Photograph your injuries immediately: Cuts, bruising, swelling, and visible trauma at the scene — and again daily for 72 hours as bruising develops and spreads
• Get witness information: Full names and phone numbers from every available witness before anyone leaves the scene. Bystanders who saw what happened are critical — and they are gone within minutes
• Note nearby surveillance sources: Gas stations, restaurants, businesses, apartment buildings, and transit stops with visible cameras. Their footage overwrites in 48–72 hours and must be preserved with a legal demand within that window
• Write down your account immediately: Record your recollection of exactly what happened while it is fresh — sequence of events, observations about the other party’s behavior, weather and road conditions, what you said and heard. Memory degrades quickly and is altered by subsequent information

Step 4: Identify All Potentially Liable Parties

In Austin’s complex traffic, construction, and commercial environment, the at-fault party is not always the most obvious one:

• Vehicle crashes: Was the other driver working at the time? Was it a commercial vehicle? Did road conditions or TxDOT signage contribute? Was the vehicle mechanically defective?
• Delivery and rideshare crashes: Which platform was the driver working for? Was a DSP or contractor employer involved? Which coverage period applies?
• Workplace accidents: Is the employer a workers’ comp subscriber or non-subscriber? Were there general contractors, subcontractors, or equipment manufacturers involved?
• Premises accidents: Who owns the property? Who manages it? Who was responsible for the condition that caused the injury?

Every additional liable party represents an additional insurance policy and an additional recovery path. Identifying all of them in the first 72 hours — before evidence disappears and insurance companies build their single-defendant narrative — is what experienced Austin injury attorneys do that unrepresented victims cannot.

Step 5: Do Not Speak to Any Insurance Company Without an Attorney

After any serious injury accident in Austin, the opposing insurance company will contact you within hours. The call will be professional, sympathetic, and designed to get a recorded statement before you understand your rights or the full extent of your injuries. Do not provide it.

• You must notify your own insurance company of the accident — this is a policy obligation
• You are not required to give a recorded statement to the opposing carrier before consulting an attorney
• You are not required to accept any settlement offer before your medical treatment is complete
• You should not sign any document, authorization, or release from any insurance company before consulting an attorney

Step 6: Start Your Documentation File Immediately

• Every medical bill, receipt, and explanation of benefits
• Mileage logs for all medical appointments
• Written records of missed work days, documented with employer verification
• A daily pain and limitation journal — dated entries describing your symptoms, their impact on daily activities, sleep, work, and exercise. This becomes evidence at mediation and trial
• Every written communication from any insurance company — save all letters, print all emails, document all calls with date, time, and content

Step 7: Call Wayne Wright Before the Evidence Window Closes

Call 512-543-4397 within hours of any serious Austin injury accident. Wayne Wright issues same-day preservation demands for surveillance footage, platform data, and electronic records. Government entity notices are filed within days. The full liability investigation begins before insurance adjusters have completed their own. The consultation is free. There is no fee unless the firm recovers compensation for you.