Victim of a hit and run in New Braunfels, TX? Contact the top New Braunfels hit and run accident lawyer to seek justice and compensation.
A hit and run leaves you with more than injuries. It leaves you with questions no one is sticking around to answer: who hit you, why they ran, and how you are supposed to pay for a crash someone else caused. On the shoulder of I-35, in a parking lot off Loop 337, or at an intersection near Gruene, the aftermath feels the same. You are hurt, the person responsible is gone, and your own insurance company may already be looking for reasons to pay you less.
At Vendt Accident Attorneys, our New Braunfels hit and run attorneys know how to build a case when the other driver vanishes, and we know how to make your own insurance company honor the coverage you have been paying for. With 85 years of combined experience and an office right on the I-35 frontage road in New Braunfels, we handle the investigation and the insurers so you can focus on healing.
Get a free consultation and discover how our hit and run accident attorneys in New Braunfels can help you seek the compensation and justice you deserve.
Can You File a Claim After a Hit and Run in Texas?
In Texas, you can file a hit and run claim and have more options than you might realize, even if the driver who fled is never identified.
Uninsured Motorist (UM) coverage is the part of your own auto policy designed precisely for this situation: when the at-fault driver abandons the scene, your UM coverage steps in and treats them as an uninsured driver.
Your claim rests on three things: documented injuries, an official police report, and fast action.
What to Do Right Now After a Hit and Run
The steps you take in the first few hours are the foundation of your case. Acting quickly protects both your health and your legal rights.
Step 1: Call 911 and Stay Safe
Move your vehicle off the roadway if you can do so safely, then call 911 right away. Adrenaline is powerful, so request medical services even if you feel fine, because serious injuries like internal bleeding, whiplash, and traumatic brain injuries often show no symptoms for hours.
Step 2: See a Doctor the Same Day
Go to an emergency room or urgent care clinic before you go home. A same-day medical record ties your injuries directly to the crash, and without it, an insurance adjuster will argue your pain came from somewhere else entirely.
Step 3: Gather Evidence at the Scene
While you wait for police, document everything you can:
- Vehicle details: Any portion of the license plate, along with the car’s color, make, model, and the direction it traveled after the crash
- Scene photos: Damage to your vehicle, road debris, skid marks, and the layout of the surrounding intersection
- Witnesses: Full names and phone numbers of anyone who saw the collision
- Camera locations: Note nearby gas stations, ATMs, businesses, or homes with visible security cameras. That footage disappears fast
Step 4: Get a Police Report
Ask the responding officer from the New Braunfels Police Department or Comal County Sheriff’s Office for the official crash report number before you leave. Most UM/UIM policies require this document to process your claim, and it also opens the criminal investigation into the driver who fled.
Step 5: Call Us Before Your Insurer
Do not give a recorded statement to any insurance adjuster before speaking with our team. Call Vendt Accident Attorneys first, and we handle all communication with the insurance companies from that point forward.
Call (832) 490-7088 today for a free, confidential consultation. There is no fee unless we win.
How We Investigate Hit and Run Cases
Our team begins working immediately, before critical evidence disappears. We have the legal authority to subpoena surveillance footage from businesses, gas stations, and TxDOT traffic cameras along I-35, Loop 337, and Highway 46.
We identify and interview witnesses the police may have missed, and we bring in accident reconstruction specialists to establish exactly how the crash happened, even without a cooperative defendant to question. When a hit and run driver is arrested and criminally charged, those proceedings generate evidence and admissions that directly strengthen your civil claim for damages.
One pattern we consistently see in New Braunfels hit and run cases is that the best video comes from businesses, not traffic cameras. Gas stations and shopping centers along Loop 337, Walnut Avenue, and the I-35 frontage roads often keep footage for only a few days before it is recorded over. We contact those businesses immediately, because a partial plate or vehicle description from a single camera can be enough to identify the driver.
Can I Recover Compensation If the Driver Is Not Found?
Absolutely. Your own auto insurance policy likely contains several overlapping sources of recovery:
- UM/UIM Coverage: Covers your bodily injury, and often your property damage, when the at-fault driver is unidentified or has no insurance of their own
- Personal Injury Protection (PIP): A no-fault benefit that pays your medical bills and a portion of your lost wages up to your policy limit, regardless of who caused the crash
- Medical Payments Coverage (MedPay): Covers immediate out-of-pocket medical costs for you and anyone else in your vehicle
- Collision Coverage: Pays to repair or replace your vehicle after your deductible is met
Texas law requires UM/UIM coverage unless you reject it in writing. If you never signed a written rejection when you purchased your policy, you almost certainly have it, and we will fight to make sure you collect every dollar of it.
A tactic we see repeatedly from insurers handling Comal County UM claims is treating their own policyholder like an opposing party from the first phone call. Adjusters question whether the other car really existed, push for a recorded statement, and dispute treatment from local providers like CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital in New Braunfels or Resolute Baptist Hospital. We handle those calls for you and back the claim with the police report, scene evidence, and medical records.
What Is a Hit and Run Under Texas Law?
Under Texas Transportation Code §§550.021–550.023, every driver in an accident causing injury, death, or property damage must stop immediately, share their contact and insurance information, and render aid to anyone who is hurt. A driver who leaves without doing so has committed a criminal offense. The penalties depend on the severity of the harm:
- Property damage only: Class C misdemeanor if the total damage is under $200, or a Class B misdemeanor if it is $200 or more
- Serious bodily injury: Third-degree felony
- Death of another person: Second-degree felony
A driver who fled did not simply make a poor decision in a difficult moment. They made a deliberate choice to abandon you. We use that fact aggressively when building the strongest possible case on your behalf.
What Compensation Can You Recover for a Hit and Run?
Our goal is to account for every loss this crash has created, from your immediate out-of-pocket expenses to the lasting impact on your daily life.
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Economic Damages |
Non-Economic Damages |
|
All current and future medical expenses |
Pain and suffering |
|
Physical therapy and rehabilitation costs |
Mental anguish and emotional distress |
|
Lost wages and reduced earning capacity |
Loss of enjoyment of life |
|
Vehicle repair or total loss replacement |
Disfigurement and permanent scarring |
|
Out-of-pocket and rental car expenses |
Loss of consortium |
If we identify the at-fault driver and their conduct was particularly reckless, such as driving under the influence and then choosing to flee, Texas law punitive damages may allow us to pursue damages that go beyond your direct losses and serve as a financial punishment for deliberate wrongdoing.
How Long Do You Have to File a Hit and Run Claim in Texas?
In Texas, you have two years to file lawsuit from the date of the crash to bring a personal injury claim. Many UM/UIM policies impose short notice requirements for potential claims, and failing to meet those contractual deadlines may give your insurer grounds to deny your claim. The time to act is right now.
In our experience, the deadline that trips up most hit and run victims in New Braunfels is not the two-year statute of limitations. It is the prompt notice requirement in their own auto policy. Victims who wait weeks to report the crash to their insurer, often while recovering from injuries, give the company an easy argument to deny the claim, so we send notice to every carrier as soon as we are hired.
How We Handle Insurers in Hit and Run Claims
Filing a UM claim changes everything about your relationship with your insurance company. They are no longer your advocate. They become the opposing party, with adjusters trained to find reasons to reduce what they pay you. The same company you have been paying premiums to for years is now in the business of protecting its own bottom line, not yours.
We step in and take every call. Our attorneys block adjusters from recording statements that can be twisted against you, compile your full medical records and financial documentation into a persuasive demand package, and push back hard on every lowball offer. When an insurer refuses to negotiate honestly, we are fully prepared to file suit and take your case before a jury.
“Scott Broussard helped me tremendously when I went through a major car accident. It was a very stressful time, but he made the whole ordeal so much more manageable. And he fought to made sure I was taken care of and compensated accordingly! Very highly recommend.” – Abel Rocha
We fight for you, and we fight to win. Call (832) 490-7088. You pay nothing unless we recover for you.
Why Choose Vendt Accident Attorneys in New Braunfels
You deserve an attorney who treats your case as a personal obligation, not a transaction to be settled as cheaply as possible. Here is what we bring to every hit and run case we handle:
- 85 years of combined experience across our team of Texas personal injury attorneys
- A New Braunfels office serving clients throughout Comal County, including Gruene, Canyon Lake, Garden Ridge, Bulverde, and Spring Branch
- Trial-ready advocacy from Scott M. Broussard, an experienced Texas jury trial attorney, and founding attorney Frank Vendt, Jr.
- Contingency fee representation: No upfront costs, no hourly charges, and no fee of any kind unless we win your case. We front all investigation and litigation expenses
- Bilingual support through Senior Counsel April F. Tabangay-Vigilla, fluent in Tagalog and conversant in Spanish
We have handled everything from straightforward collision claims to catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases, and we bring that depth of experience to every hit and run claim we take. We do not hand your file to a paralegal and consider our job done, every client gets direct attorney attention from the first call through verdict or settlement.
“Frank was great to work with. He represented me in a manner that was professional and very efficient. Frank does what he does because he has a passion for justice. I am very appreciative of all that Frank has done for me and I will recommend him to anyone that needs legal representation conducted the ‘right’ way.” – Sharndell Carr
Hit and Run FAQ
Does UM Coverage Apply When There Was No Physical Contact?
Generally, Texas physical contact UM requirement means there must be physical contact between your vehicle and the hit-and-run driver’s vehicle for UM coverage to apply. If there was no contact, what insurers call a “phantom vehicle” situation, Texas courts generally enforce the physical contact requirement, so UM coverage may not apply. Contact can sometimes be indirect, such as when the fleeing vehicle pushes another car into yours, so we review the facts of every no-contact crash closely.
Will My Insurance Rates Increase After a UM or PIP Claim?
Can I Still Recover If the Hit and Run Driver Is Found but Has No Insurance?
Yes, your UM coverage applies whether the at-fault driver was never identified or was found but carries no valid insurance policy of their own.
What Happens If I Miss My Insurer’s Claim Notice Deadline?
Your insurer may use a missed deadline as grounds to deny your entire claim, so call us immediately after the crash so we can notify all required parties before those windows close.
Who Covers My Rental Car After a Hit and Run in New Braunfels?
Rental reimbursement coverage on your own policy applies first. If you do not carry that coverage, rental costs may be recoverable through your collision coverage or as part of your UM property damage claim.
School Bus Accidents in Comal and Guadalupe Counties
When your child is hurt on a school bus, it is both a physical injury and a breach of trust. Our firm holds school districts and their contractors accountable to the specific safety obligations Texas law places on them.
These cases extend well beyond collisions while the bus is moving. Children are hurt in three distinct ways:
- While riding: Hard braking, sharp turns, and collisions throw unsecured passengers against hard surfaces, causing broken bones, head trauma, and spinal injuries.
- During boarding and unloading: A driver who releases a child at an unsafe stop creates liability when that child is subsequently struck or falls.
- By stop-arm runners: Texas Transportation Code §545.066 requires all traffic to stop for a school bus stop arm. Drivers who ignore this law can be held personally liable for every resulting injury.
A pattern we see often in Comal and Guadalupe County school bus cases is the district producing the bus camera footage only after a formal preservation demand and only for the exact minute of impact rather than the full boarding sequence. In the claims we have worked through New Braunfels ISD and Comal ISD routes, the boarding and unloading footage often matters more than the crash itself, which is why we request the full file the same week we are hired.
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Claim Type |
Who You Sue |
Key Deadline |
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Public School Bus (ISD) |
Independent School District |
6-month written notice under the TTCA |
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City or Regional Bus |
Government Transit Authority |
As little as 90 days per city charter |
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Private Charter or Greyhound |
Private Bus Company |
2 years under standard Texas law |
Public Bus and City Transport Claims in New Braunfels
If you were hurt on an Alamo Regional Transit (ART) bus or another government-operated shuttle, your claim falls under the Texas Tort Claims Act. The TTCA partially waives sovereign immunity, the government’s default legal shield against lawsuits, but only in specific circumstances, including motor vehicle accidents involving a government employee.
The TTCA caps recovery at $250,000 per person and $500,000 per occurrence. It also requires formal written notice within a narrow window after the accident, a deadline many injured people don’t discover until it has already passed.
Private, Charter, and Intercity Bus Crashes
Greyhound, FlixBus, tour buses, church vans, and hotel or airport shuttles are legally classified as common carriers, transportation businesses that serve the general public for hire.
Interstate carriers also fall under federal regulations from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), and those records can be central to your case. We investigate:
- Driver logs to identify hours-of-service violations
- Pre-trip and post-trip vehicle inspection reports
- Drug and alcohol testing records
- Maintenance and repair history for the specific bus involved
Hurt on a Greyhound or charter bus? Call Vendt Accident Attorneys.
What we see consistently in charter and intercity bus claims moving through New Braunfels is that the carrier’s FMCSA driver logs do not match the dispatch records once both are pulled side by side. We have found that an hours-of-service violation buried in electronic logging device data is often the detail that turns a disputed liability case into a clear one.
Deadlines and Notice Requirements for Texas Bus Claims
Texas gives injured people two years to file a personal injury lawsuit, but when a government entity is involved, that window closes much faster.
Private bus (Greyhound, charter, shuttle): 2 years from the crash date under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code §16.003.
- Texas school district or state agency: Formal written notice within 6 months under the Texas Tort Claims Act.
- City of New Braunfels or municipal transit: City charters can require notice in as little as 90 days, one of the most compressed deadlines in Texas personal injury law.
Evidence We Preserve Immediately
On-board camera footage is routinely overwritten within days of a crash. Black box data from the event data recorder (EDR), which records the vehicle’s speed, braking force, and GPS location at the moment of impact, disappears just as quickly without formal legal intervention.
We send preservation demand letters the same day we take your case. We also subpoena the driver’s commercial license history, inspection logs, prior complaints, and training records, all of which can reveal a pattern of negligence that predates your accident. Working with accident reconstruction specialists and medical experts, we build a clear factual record of what happened and who is responsible.
“I was represented by Scott Broussard in my personal injury case. Scott helped every step of the way, answering all my questions (I had many!) and preparing me well for discovery. The office staff also was very responsive and helpful. I highly recommend Scott if unfortunately, you find yourself injured and don’t know what to do.” – Tina Michel
Common Injuries in Bus Accident Cases
Bus accidents cause some of the most severe injuries we see, largely because of the vehicle’s weight and the absence of seat belts for standing passengers.
Passengers inside the bus are commonly thrown from seats during sudden stops or impact, suffering whiplash, herniated discs, broken bones, and traumatic brain injuries. Pedestrians and cyclists face catastrophic harm when struck by a bus; large vehicles have significant blind spots that put anyone near a crosswalk or bus stop at serious risk.
Paratransit passengers face a distinct category of risk. Improperly secured wheelchairs, malfunctioning lifts, and inadequate operator training have caused spinal fractures, head trauma, and severe internal injuries in cases just like yours.
Across the paratransit claims we have handled in Comal County, a malfunctioning wheelchair lift or an improperly secured restraint is rarely documented in the driver’s own incident report. We push for the vehicle’s maintenance logs and prior lift-service complaints early, because that history is usually what proves the operator knew about the defect before it hurt someone.
What You Can Recover After a Texas Bus Accident
You should not carry the financial cost of an accident someone else caused. Texas law allows you to pursue full compensation for:
- All medical expenses, from emergency care through long-term rehabilitation
- Lost wages and diminished earning capacity going forward
- Physical pain, emotional suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life
- Permanent disfigurement or disability
- Wrongful death damages if a family member was killed in the crash
When conduct was reckless or intentional, what Texas law calls gross negligence, courts can award punitive damages under Civil Practice and Remedies Code §41.003. Because the TTCA caps government liability, identifying any private co-defendant often determines how much total compensation is actually available to you.
Why New Braunfels Families Choose Vendt Accident Attorneys
We don’t take cases to settle them quickly and move on. Every client gets a dedicated strategy, direct communication, and a team ready to go to trial when that is what your case demands.
Transit authorities and private carriers have legal teams that start working immediately after a crash, and you deserve an advocate who starts working just as fast. Our New Braunfels office gives us direct familiarity with the local courts, transit routes, and road conditions involved in your case. Senior Counsel April Tabangay-Vigilla provides bilingual support in Tagalog and Spanish, so language is never a barrier. When your case reaches a jury, attorney Scott M. Broussard brings over 25 years of Texas courtroom experience to your side. We work entirely on contingency; you pay nothing unless we win.
“Frank was great to work with. He represented me in a manner that was professional and very efficient. Frank does what he does because he has a passion for justice. I am very appreciative of all that Frank has done for me, and I will recommend him to anyone that needs legal representation conducted the ‘right’ way.” – Sharndell Carr
FAQs: New Braunfels Bus Accident Lawyer
How Quickly Must I Notify the City of New Braunfels or a School District?
City charter rules may require written notice in as little as 90 days. The TTCA gives you six months for school district claims. Missing either deadline permanently bars compensation. Contact an attorney immediately.
Can I Sue New Braunfels ISD or Comal ISD After a School Bus Crash?
Yes, but only under the TTCA’s narrow waiver for motor vehicle negligence, and only if you provide written notice within six months of the accident date.
How Do Private Charter Bus Claims Differ from Alamo Regional Transit Claims?
A private carrier like Greyhound follows standard Texas negligence law, no damage caps, two-year deadline. ART falls under the TTCA with shorter notice windows and strict recovery limits.
What Happens If Another Driver Caused the School Bus to Crash?
You may have a separate negligence claim against that driver, entirely independent of any action against the school district or bus operator; we pursue all available recovery on your behalf.
Does It Cost Anything to Hire Vendt Accident Attorneys for a Bus Accident?
There are no upfront fees. We work on contingency, meaning you pay attorney’s fees only if we recover compensation for you.
Talk to a New Braunfels Bus Accident Lawyer Today
Evidence disappears and legal deadlines move faster than most people expect. If you or your family were hurt in a bus crash in New Braunfels, our team is ready to act immediately on your behalf. Call us at (832) 490-7088, visit our office at 382 S I-35 South Frontage Rd, Building C, Suite 109, New Braunfels, TX 78130, or submit your free consultation request online.