In Texas, U-turn accidents are almost always the fault of the driver who made the turn, since state law requires yielding to oncoming traffic first.
When that duty is ignored, the result is often a direct, high-impact collision causing broken bones, spinal injuries, or traumatic brain injuries. Insurance companies know this law and use it strategically to shift blame and reduce what they pay accident victims.
In this article, you will discover when a U-turn is illegal under Texas law, how fault is assigned under the state’s modified comparative fault rules, and how a Texas U-turn car accident attorney can help you gather the evidence needed to protect your right to full compensation.
When Is a U-Turn Illegal in Texas?
Many drivers assume a U-turn is legal as long as there’s no sign telling them otherwise. That assumption causes most of these crashes, and under the Texas Transportation Code, a U-turn is illegal in four specific situations.
Posted Signs Forbid It
If a posted sign reads “No U-Turn” or displays a red slash over the U-turn symbol, the maneuver is prohibited. These signs are commonly placed near fire stations, school zones, and intersections with a known history of dangerous U-turn attempts.
Your View Is Blocked
You may only make a U-turn if you have a clear, unobstructed view of oncoming traffic for at least 500 feet in both directions. On a curve, at the crest of a hill, or anywhere your sightline is blocked, the turn is automatically illegal, even without a posted sign.
You’re on a One-Way Street or Wrong Lane
U-turns are banned on one-way streets. On a multi-lane road, you must start the turn from the far-left lane.
Starting from a middle or right lane is a lane usage violation, a separate traffic offense, that often leads to T-bone or sideswipe collisions and makes it harder to defend your case.
You Failed to Yield to Oncoming Traffic
Even when a U-turn is otherwise legal, you are required to yield to all oncoming traffic, and if any approaching vehicle is close enough to be an immediate hazard, you wait. Misjudging an oncoming driver’s speed is the single most common cause of U-turn crashes in Texas.
Who Is at Fault in a Texas U-Turn Accident?
In most Texas U-turn crashes, fault belongs to the driver who made the turn. They had a legal duty to yield to oncoming traffic, and they didn’t.
Texas uses a rule called modified comparative fault, which means a jury assigns each driver a percentage of blame for the crash. If you’re found to be 51% or more at fault, you recover nothing, at 50% or less, you recover damages reduced by your share of the blame.
Here’s how fault typically breaks down:
- U-turn driver fully at fault: They failed to yield, ignored a posted sign, or turned where an obstructed view made it illegal.
- Shared fault: Both drivers contributed, the U-turning driver didn’t yield, but the oncoming driver was speeding or distracted.
- Oncoming driver at fault: The U-turn was completed legally, but the other driver ran a red light or was driving impaired.
That percentage of fault is exactly why insurance companies push so hard to shift blame onto you, it directly reduces what they have to pay.
One pattern I consistently see in U-turn claims across Lubbock County is that the driver who completed the turn tries to shift blame onto the oncoming driver by claiming excessive speed, even when the real issue was a blocked sightline or a missed stop sign.
In my experience handling these cases in Lubbock County District Court, adjusters lean hard on comparative fault percentages to shave down what they owe, especially when the police report leaves the fault question open.
I’ve found that pinning down the exact sightline distance and the posted signage at the intersection early on is often what turns a shared fault dispute back in my client’s favor.
Are Trucks and 18-Wheelers Held to a Higher Standard?
Yes, a fully loaded 18-wheeler requires more space and time to complete a U-turn than a passenger vehicle, and it can temporarily block multiple lanes of traffic, leaving other drivers with limited options. Crashes at that scale cause catastrophic, life-altering injuries.
Liability in a commercial truck crash doesn’t stop with the driver. The trucking company, its insurer, and sometimes cargo loaders may all share responsibility for what happened.
Here’s what makes these cases especially powerful: most major trucking companies have internal safety policies that explicitly ban their drivers from making U-turns on public roads. Some treat it as a fireable offense.
When we take a trucking case, we demand that safety manual in discovery, along with every driver log, inspection record, and maintenance file tied to that truck. When a trucking company’s own safety manual shows a driver violated company rules, that manual can be used as evidence at trial.
What Evidence Proves a U-Turn Claim?
The evidence that wins U-turn cases disappears fast, sometimes within hours of the crash. Insurance companies know this and count on it.
| Evidence Type | What It Proves | Why It Disappears Fast |
| CR-3 Police Crash Report | Officer’s initial fault assessment | Witness memory fades within days |
| Traffic and Business Camera Video | The crash itself, sightlines, vehicle speeds | Most systems overwrite footage in 3–30 days |
| Dashcam Footage | Point-of-view of both drivers | Automatically deleted on a loop cycle |
| Black Box (EDR) Data | Speed, braking, and throttle before impact | Overwritten when the vehicle is driven again |
| Cell Phone Records | Whether a driver was distracted at impact | Requires a legal preservation letter to obtain |
| Trucking Company Safety Manuals | Whether the driver violated an internal U-turn ban | Only accessible through legal discovery |
A black box, also called an event data recorder, captures exactly what a vehicle was doing in the seconds before the crash. We send legal preservation letters on day one to stop that data, along with surveillance footage and phone records, from being erased before we can use it.
What I see across the U-turn claims I handle on roads like I-27, US-84, and Loop 289 is that the physical evidence that actually proves fault disappears within days, not months.
Surveillance footage from businesses along these corridors is often overwritten on a loop within a week, and hospitals like Covenant Medical Center and University Medical Center rarely hold onto imaging long enough for an adjuster to dispute it later without a formal records request.
In my experience as a Texas personal injury lawyer, sending preservation letters the same day I’m retained is the difference between having real proof of a blocked sightline or an ignored sign and being left with nothing but two conflicting driver accounts.
What Compensation Can You Recover in Texas?
After a U-turn crash, you can recover money for every loss the crash caused, bills you’ve already paid and costs you haven’t faced yet.
- Medical expenses: Past and future treatment, including emergency care, surgeries, physical therapy, and medication.
- Lost wages and earning capacity: Income you lost while you recovered and any long-term reduction in your ability to earn a living.
- Pain and suffering: Physical pain, mental anguish, emotional trauma, and disfigurement caused by your injuries.
- Property damage: Vehicle repair or replacement and rental car costs while your car is out of service.
- Punitive damages: Available when the at-fault driver acted with gross recklessness, like driving drunk, these are awarded by a jury to punish the wrongdoer beyond your base losses.
Don’t accept the first offer you receive, insurance adjusters are trained to close claims quickly, before you understand how serious your injuries are. Once you sign, that claim is finished.
How Long Do You Have to File a U-Turn Claim in Texas?
You have two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit in Texas. Miss that deadline, and you lose your right to recover anything.
Your real clock started the moment the crash happened, evidence disappears in days, not years, and that urgency applies equally to your legal options. If a government vehicle was involved, a city bus, police cruiser, or county truck, you may have as little as six months to file a formal notice of your claim.
In my experience handling U-turn claims across the South Plains, clients are often surprised how quickly the two-year deadline can sneak up once medical treatment, insurance back and forth, and simple recovery time are factored in.
One pattern I consistently see is a claimant who assumes the clock only matters if a lawsuit gets filed, when in reality evidence and witness memory fade long before that deadline arrives.
When a city or county vehicle is involved anywhere in the Permian Basin, I make it a priority to confirm the notice deadline within the first week, because missing it can bar an otherwise strong claim entirely.
What to Do after a U-Turn Crash in Texas
The decisions you make in the first 48 hours shape everything that follows. Here’s what to do.
Call 911 and Document the Scene
Get police to the scene so an official crash report is filed. Use your phone to photograph the vehicle damage, any “No U-Turn” signs, and the sightlines from both drivers’ directions of approach.
Sight-line photos are especially critical if there’s a dispute about whether the 500-foot visibility rule was met at the time of the crash.
See a Doctor Immediately
Get checked out, even if you feel fine. Adrenaline masks serious injuries, and soft-tissue damage and traumatic brain injuries often don’t show up until days after a crash.
A gap in medical treatment is the number one argument insurance adjusters use to cut your claim. Follow every instruction your doctor gives you, missed appointments are another tool adjusters use against you.
Don’t Give the Other Insurance Company a Recorded Statement
The other driver’s adjuster is not calling to help you. They’re trained to get you to say something that reduces what they owe.
You are not required to give a recorded statement to the other carrier. Don’t do it.
Call Us Before You Sign Anything
Insurance companies move fast with lowball settlements, small, quick offers designed to close your case before you understand how serious your injuries are. Don’t sign anything before you talk to us, we’ll lock down the evidence and fight for what your case is actually worth.
Hurt in a Texas U-Turn Crash? Talk to James Perrin Today
Who’s going to pay your medical bills? Can you trust the insurance company to treat you fairly? I’ve spent over 20 years fighting for injured Texans in courtrooms across Texas and eight other states, and the answer to that second question is almost never yes.
At Perrin Law PLLC Injury & Accident Lawyer, I handle every case personally, not a paralegal, not a junior associate. We prepare every case as if it’s going to trial, because that’s what forces insurance companies and corporate defendants to pay what a claim is actually worth.
I’ve taken cases all the way to verdict when that’s what it took to get justice, and I’m prepared to do the same for you. There’s no fee unless we win. Call us anytime for a free consultation at our office at 3901 84th Street in Lubbock.
Texas U-Turn Accident FAQ
How Much Does an Illegal U-Turn Ticket Cost in Texas?
An illegal U-turn ticket in Texas typically runs between $175 and $275 after court costs. That citation can also be used as direct evidence of the other driver’s fault in your personal injury claim.
Does an Illegal U-Turn Ticket Automatically Prove the Other Driver’s Fault?
Not automatically, but it is powerful evidence of negligence per se, a legal concept where violating a safety statute, like a traffic law, is itself treated as proof of negligence in a civil case.
What If the Oncoming Driver Was Speeding When the U-Turn Was Made?
The U-turning driver still had a legal duty to yield, but a speeding oncoming driver may share some of the blame. Texas comparative fault rules allow a jury to assign percentages of fault to both drivers, which affects how much either side can recover.
Can I Sue a Trucking Company for a U-Turn Crash?
Yes. Trucking companies are legally responsible for their drivers’ actions on the road, and that liability is even stronger when the driver violated the company’s own written policy banning U-turns.
How Quickly Can Video Evidence from a U-Turn Crash Disappear?
Surveillance camera and dashcam footage is often recorded on a loop and can be overwritten quickly after a crash, so you should act promptly to preserve it. You need to act within days, not weeks, to ensure that footage is preserved before it’s gone.
What Does It Cost to Hire Perrin Law?
Nothing upfront. We handle all personal injury cases on a contingency-fee basis, meaning you pay nothing unless we win your case.