In 2024, University Park recorded 157 traffic crashes, and 52 of them involved a reported injury or death. Sixty-three people were hurt or killed in those crashes, according to TxDOT’s Crashes and Injuries by Cities and Towns table for 2024. One crash was fatal, five involved a suspected serious injury, 28 involved a suspected minor injury, and 18 involved a possible injury. Those figures come from reportable data collected from Texas Peace Officer’s Crash Reports and processed as of April 9, 2025.
If you were one of those 63 people, the numbers matter less than what happens next. A University Park personal injury lawyer can explain the deadline that applies to your claim, how Texas handles shared fault, and what happens to the hospital bill sitting on your kitchen table. This page sets out the rules that govern a Dallas County injury claim, the court that would hear it, and how to obtain the crash report that describes what happened to you.
University Park is a residential city of 25,268 people, surrounded by Dallas on three sides and by Highland Park to the south. Its streets — Hillcrest Avenue, Lovers Lane, Preston Road, Mockingbird Lane, Daniel Avenue — carry a fraction of Dallas County’s overall crash volume. The county recorded 46,257 crashes in 2024, including 305 fatal crashes in which 331 people were killed. A smaller number of crashes does not make an individual claim simpler, and the insurance company on the other side handles claims from every city in the county the same way.
How Many University Park Crashes Cause Injuries Each Year?
In the most recent year of published state data, 2024, University Park saw 157 crashes, 52 of which involved a reported injury or death. Read the severity breakdown carefully, because it tells you something useful: the great majority of University Park crashes — 95 of the 157 — caused no reported injury at all, and another 10 were recorded with unknown severity.
That distribution shapes how an insurer approaches your file. In a city where most reported crashes are property damage events, an adjuster reviewing a University Park claim may start from the assumption that this one was minor too. The 52 injury crashes and the 63 people hurt or killed are the part of the record that has to be established with evidence in your own case, not assumed from the city’s reputation.
Dallas County’s own figures give the wider frame. With 46,257 crashes countywide in 2024, 305 of them fatal, the carriers that insure drivers in University Park are processing claim volume at a county scale. Our practice covers this territory broadly, and our Richardson personal injury page is the umbrella for the same work across the northern Dallas County suburbs.
Which Court Would Hear a University Park Injury Claim?
A University Park injury lawsuit would be filed in Dallas County, because the city sits inside it, and no Dallas County court sits in University Park itself. The county’s civil district courts sit at the George L. Allen, Sr. Courts Building in downtown Dallas, as the Dallas County District Clerk publishes.
Which level of court applies depends on the amount at stake. The Texas Judicial Branch’s Court Structure of Texas chart, dated December 2025, states that justice courts hear civil actions of not more than $20,000. Claims above that $20,000 figure belong elsewhere in the county system, which is where most serious injury claims end up.
One point of confusion is worth clearing up now, because it comes up constantly. The city describes its municipal court as responsible for Class C misdemeanors and for violations of state laws and city ordinances that are punishable by fine only. A citation written at the scene of your crash is a municipal court matter. Your injury claim is not, and nothing that happens with the ticket resolves the claim for your injuries.
What Does Texas Law Say About Deadlines, Fault, and Medical Bills?
Four rules do most of the work in a Texas injury claim: the filing deadline, the partial-fault bar, the reduction for your own share of fault, and the limit on recoverable medical expenses.
The Deadline, Fault, and Damages Rules
On timing, § 16.003(a) sets the period. Texas gives you two years from the day your claim accrues to file a personal injury lawsuit. A few kinds of claim have their own deadlines under other sections of the same chapter, and some of those run longer than two years. Treat two years as the working deadline, and ask a lawyer about the dates in your own case rather than assuming you are either in or out of time.
Texas also splits fault between the people involved in a crash, sets rules for how a shared-fault finding reduces what you recover, limits which medical expenses count toward your damages, and controls how you get a copy of the crash report — the four subjects covered below.
On fault, § 33.001 sets the bar. Texas splits responsibility between the people who caused an injury. In a claim where those rules apply, being partly at fault does not end your case. You are barred only if your own share of responsibility is greater than 50 percent. Because responsibility is assigned in whole numbers, 51 percent or more bars the claim, while a claimant found exactly 50 percent responsible can still recover.
Where fault is shared but below that line, § 33.012(a) governs the arithmetic. If you are not barred, the court reduces the damages you recover by a percentage equal to your own share of responsibility. That is the reason an insurer’s early theory about how the crash happened is worth taking seriously.
On the bills, § 41.0105 limits what is recoverable. Texas limits the medical or health care expenses you can recover to the amount actually paid or incurred by you or on your behalf — not the amount the hospital first billed. Where an insurer or a negotiated rate brought the bill down, it is the lower figure that counts. This limit reaches medical and health care expenses only.
Getting the Crash Report
The crash report is the document most people want first, and the law treats it in two tiers. Under Texas Transportation Code § 550.065, the full written crash report is confidential, not a public document. The law lists who can obtain the unredacted version on written request and payment of any required fee, including anyone involved in the crash and the authorized representative of a person involved in the crash. A redacted version, with the items of information the statute requires to be withheld removed, must be created, and any person may request it.
In practice there are two routes. TxDOT’s CRIS purchase portal sells an uncertified copy for $6 and a certified copy for $8. Certified reports are usually required for legal proceedings. The University Park Police Records Division sells its own copy for $2, requested by emailing the Accident Report Request Form to Police Records, and states that “Copies are available within 10 business days of a request and will be emailed back to the requestor.”
What Changes Once a Lawyer Is Handling the Claim?
The short answer is that the pace and the documentation both change, once someone besides the insurer is building your file.
Before Counsel Is Involved
Before a lawyer is involved, you are the only person gathering the record, and the adjuster is the only person interpreting it. You are calling for the crash report, fielding recorded statement requests, and reading a liability theory built by someone whose employer pays the claim. The insurer sets the pace.
After a Claim Is Opened
Once a claim is opened with counsel, that arrangement changes shape. Correspondence runs through the lawyer rather than through you. The evidence that speaks to the § 33.001 fault question — the report, the scene, the witnesses — gets collected as a deliberate exercise rather than reactively. And the medical expenses are documented against what was actually paid or incurred, which is the figure § 41.0105 makes recoverable. None of that predicts a result in any particular case; it describes what work looks like once someone is doing it on your side.
Credentials matter here for a specific reason: fault disputes are decided by people who assess how a case would hold up in front of a jury. Sam Almasri earned both his J.D. and his LL.M. at Southern Methodist University, which is in University Park. He has been licensed in the federal courts since 2006 — a fixed credential, not a rolling count — and his practice includes personal injury and trial practice. Hazim Mandavia, a partner at the firm, is a personal injury attorney with trial experience who graduated with honors from Texas A&M School of Law in 2016 — the background that matters where liability is contested.
Our published case results are motor vehicle accident and truck accident results, including one of our $15 million motor vehicle accident results. You can read our results in full, and we make no claim of a published track record outside those crash categories. On fees, we work on a contingency fee basis. You don’t pay anything upfront to hire us. We cover the costs of investigating and building your case.
Frequently Asked Questions About University Park Injury Claims
How long do I have to file a personal injury lawsuit in Texas?
Texas gives you two years from the day your claim accrues to file a personal injury lawsuit, under § 16.003(a). Other sections of the same chapter set their own deadlines for particular claims, and some run longer. Treat two years as the working deadline, and ask a lawyer about the dates in your case.
Can I still recover damages if I was partly at fault?
Often, yes. In a claim where the proportionate responsibility rules apply, you are barred only if your own share of responsibility is greater than 50 percent. Because responsibility is assigned in whole numbers, 51 percent or more bars the claim, and a claimant found exactly 50 percent responsible can still recover.
Which court would hear my University Park injury case?
Dallas County, because University Park sits inside the county and no Dallas County court sits in the city. The county’s civil district courts sit at the George L. Allen, Sr. Courts Building in downtown Dallas. Justice courts handle civil actions of not more than $20,000, so larger claims go elsewhere in the county system.
My citation is in University Park Municipal Court — is that where my injury claim goes?
No. The city describes its municipal court as responsible for Class C misdemeanors and violations of state laws and city ordinances punishable by fine only. That is where a traffic citation is resolved. An injury claim for money damages is a civil matter and belongs in the Dallas County court system.
How do I get a copy of the crash report?
Two routes. TxDOT’s CRIS portal sells an uncertified copy for $6 and a certified copy for $8, and certified copies are usually required for legal proceedings. University Park Police Records sells its own copy for $2, requested by emailing the Accident Report Request Form, with copies emailed back within 10 business days.
Can I recover the full amount the hospital billed me?
Not necessarily. § 41.0105 limits recovery of medical or health care expenses to the amount actually paid or incurred by you or on your behalf, rather than the amount first billed. Where an insurer or a negotiated rate reduced the bill, the lower figure is the recoverable one. The limit reaches medical expenses only.
How much does it cost to hire a lawyer for an injury claim?
We work on a contingency fee basis. You don’t pay anything upfront to hire us, and we cover the costs of investigating and building your case. The consultation itself is free, with no obligations and no risks, so you can find out where a claim stands before deciding anything.
What kinds of injury crashes does AMS Law Group have published results for?
Our published results are motor vehicle accident and truck accident results, and they include one of our $15 million motor vehicle accident results. We do not claim a published track record in any other case category. You can review the published results directly on our results page.
Talk to a University Park Personal Injury Lawyer
If you were hurt in a crash in University Park, a free consultation is the place to start. A University Park personal injury lawyer can walk through the filing deadline, the fault rule, and the medical bill limit as they apply to your own situation — none of which are self-explanatory from a hospital bill or an adjuster’s phone call. Call (888) 960-8363 or contact us to ask about the deadlines and the fault rules that apply to your own situation. The consultation is free, with no obligation, and it is the fastest way to find out where your claim stands under Texas law. You can also see the other cities we serve across Dallas–Fort Worth for the same kind of representation.