Deadly Texas Auto Accidents Involving Unlicensed Drivers and Lack of Financial Proof
We also explored the number of people who either died or sustained suspected serious injuries in crashes involving unlicensed drivers.
This speaks to the tragedy of such accidents in that these people should not have been on the road — these crashes, like so many on our roads, could have been avoided.
But it’s particularly interesting for our Texas law firm because crashes involving unlicensed drivers pose challenges for those who may be entitled to compensation after such an accident.
In 2023, 501 people died in crashes involving unlicensed drivers, down from 513 in 2022.
However, the number of people who sustained suspected serious injuries increased year on year, with 2,881 injuries recorded versus 2,770.
When the attending officer at an accident scene gathers the information that will form their crash report, they note whether the parties involved have proof of financial security or, in other words, a Certificate of Motor Insurance. This record proves a vehicle owner has insurance coverage, allowing injured parties to recover compensation when they are hurt in an accident caused by the vehicle owner’s negligence or recklessness.
When a motorist does not have insurance, it can make recovering compensation difficult. Those who drive without insurance rarely do so maliciously — often, they cannot afford it, so it’s also unlikely they do not have the means to pay significant compensation.
When a person is injured because of the actions of another individual who does not have insurance, they can explore other options for recovery, such as putting liens on owned property or receiving compensation over time from the responsible party’s wages. But this isn’t an ideal scenario for someone who likely has medical bills to pay and cannot work.
Another option is to explore other avenues, such as pursuing compensation from another party that may be liable for the crash. However, this can be challenging, especially if there is little proof another party — such as an employer if the driver was working when they caused the accident — was at fault.
Just how many people potentially found themselves in this scenario in Texas?
In 2023, 1,265 people were killed in accidents where at least one party either did not have proof of financial security or where the financial proof had expired. This figure increased from 2022 when 1,229 people suffered fatal injuries.
Likewise, the number of people who sustained suspected serious injuries in this type of crash increased year on year, with 5,664 people seriously injured in 2023 accidents where at least one party had expired or insufficient proof of financial security (versus 5,443 the previous year).
But what is a “serious” injury?
Since 2010, the Texas Department of Transportation has referred to “incapacitating” injuries as “suspected serious” injuries, but that raises another question: “How do we define an incapacitating injury?”.
This vocabulary comes from the KABCO injury scale — created by the Federal Highway Administration to measure the severity of an auto accident. The scale comprises five codes, each corresponding to an injury severity, although there is a sixth code when the injury severity is unknown, such as if a potentially injured party fled the scene.
- Killed (K)
- Incapacitating injury (A)
- Non-incapacitating injury (B)
- Possible injury (C)
- Not injured (O)
- Unknown (99)
This is a federal scale and the definitions across jurisdictions are mostly consistent, but each state may impose additional criteria on injury classification, leading to some variations for different injury types.
The general guidance for incapacitating injuries is as follows:
“An incapacitating injury is a severe injury that prevents an accident victim from continuing normal activities. Examples include broken or distorted limbs, internal injuries, and a crushed chest.”
However, the TxDOT helpfully defines incapacitating injuries specifically for Texas as:
“Any injury, other than a fatal injury, which prevents the injured person from walking, driving or normally continuing the activities he was capable of performing before the injury occurred.”
Examples of incapacitating or serious injuries include broken bones, burns, head trauma, and spinal cord damage. These injuries can have a life-changing impact, so the effects of not being able to recover compensation because the party responsible lacks financial security are often more keenly felt by victims.
Even a fracture that heals without complication can leave an injured person out of work for several months. But some may never recover full function and be left with permanent weakness that limits what they can do.
Other incapacitating injuries can prove even more devastating — somebody with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) might never work again. A person with a spinal cord injury may be left permanently paralyzed.
But these injuries don’t just have a physical impact. A TBI might affect relationships because an injury victim struggles to regulate their emotions. A person with burns might have permanent, visible scars that cause them to lose self-esteem, affecting their ability to form relationships and making them withdrawn and depressed.
These are all damages a person wrongfully injured in an accident is entitled to recover, so it can seem a massive injustice when they cannot recover the compensation they rightfully deserve because an individual has consciously decided to drive without insurance.
