Crashes on I-20, I-30 and Highway 360: What Makes Highway Claims Different

Why a Highway Crash Is Not Just a Bigger Fender Bender

Speed is the first difference. A collision at 65 or 70 miles per hour carries several times the energy of the same impact at 35. That shows up in the injuries — spinal fractures, head trauma, internal bleeding — and it shows up in what the claim has to account for: surgery, months out of work, and care that continues long after the file would otherwise close.

The second difference is who shows up on the other side. Freight moves through Arlington on I-20 and I-30, and a tractor-trailer brings a commercial insurer with in-house adjusters and rapid-response investigators who can be at the scene the same day. They are gathering evidence while you are still in an emergency room.

The third is that highway wrecks are rarely two cars and one clear story. They are four vehicles, a lane change nobody admits to, and a debris field that is swept away before dark. Fault on a highway is usually argued in percentages, not assigned to one driver.

What the Corridor Numbers Actually Show

An analysis of City of Arlington crash data covering 43,368 crashes from 2018 through 2024 makes I-20 the deadliest corridor in the city, with 5,166 crashes and 44 deaths across that period. SH 360 recorded 5,508 crashes and 22 deaths. I-30 recorded 3,107 crashes and 16 deaths.

Truck traffic is not spread evenly across those three roads. On I-20, roughly 6.4% of vehicles are tractor-trailers — about one in every fifteen. On I-30 the share is about 4.3%, and on SH 360 about 2.3%. That single number explains a lot about why I-20 crashes tend to produce the most severe injuries.

The pattern carried into last year. Of Arlington’s roughly 30 traffic deaths in 2025, 12 occurred on I-30, I-20, SH 360 or US 287 — a small share of the city’s road miles producing a large share of its fatalities. The City’s own Safe Streets Arlington plan, adopted in December 2024, makes the same point: 70% of fatal and severe crashes happen on 6% of the road network.

Corridor

Crashes 2018-2024

Deaths

Tractor-trailer share of traffic

I-20

5,166

44 (highest of any Arlington corridor)

~6.4%

SH 360

5,508

22

~2.3%

I-30

3,107

16

~4.3%

Source: an analysis of City of Arlington crash data, 2018-2024.

A Commercial Truck Changes the Legal Rules, Not Just the Damage

When a tractor-trailer is involved, your claim runs under Chapter 72 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. On the defendant’s motion, the trial is split into two phases. The first phase decides liability for the crash itself and your compensatory damages. Claims about how the carrier hired, trained, supervised or entrusted the vehicle to that driver are generally held back.

If the employer stipulates that the driver was acting in the course and scope of employment, those negligent hiring, training, supervision and entrustment theories are generally kept out of phase one entirely. Evidence of a safety-regulation violation comes in during phase one only if the violation proximately caused the injury and the rule specifically governs that defendant.

The practical effect: on an I-20 case, the story a jury hears first may be a narrow one about seconds and lane position. Building the record that survives that framing starts in the first weeks, not the first year.

Multi-Vehicle Pileups and the Fight Over Percentages

Texas uses a 51% bar. You can recover if you are 50% or less at fault, and your award is reduced by your share. At 51%, you recover nothing. In a chain-reaction highway crash, every defendant has an incentive to move a few percentage points onto you or onto someone who is not in the courtroom.

Two rules shape that fight. A defendant pays the whole judgment only if that defendant’s share exceeds 50% — otherwise each pays its own percentage. And a defendant can ask the court to name a responsible third party, typically no later than 60 days before trial, putting a percentage on someone you never sued.

This is why an early, independent reconstruction matters more on a freeway than anywhere else. The police narrative is a starting point, not a verdict.

• Recover if you are 50% or less at fault; barred at 51% (CPRC §33.001, §33.012).
• Joint liability only where a defendant’s share exceeds 50% (CPRC §33.013).
• Responsible-third-party designations generally due 60 days before trial (CPRC §33.004).

Highway Evidence Disappears Faster Than Street Evidence

Lanes on I-30 get reopened in under an hour. Vehicles are towed to three different yards. Skid marks and fluid trails are gone by the next rain, dashcam loops record over themselves in days, and commercial vehicle data has retention limits measured in weeks. The scene of a highway crash has a shorter shelf life than almost any other kind of evidence in an injury case.

Construction adds another moving target. About 6.1% of Arlington crashes occurred in a construction zone, and a zone’s cones, barrels and temporary striping can change from one week to the next. Photographs taken the same day capture a layout that will not exist when the case is worked up.

The paperwork moves on its own schedule. An officer must file the crash report with TxDOT within 10 days when there is injury, death or $1,000 or more in property damage. Reports are then pulled from the TxDOT C.R.I.S. system — $6 regular, $8 certified, and it can take up to 14 days to appear. The unredacted version goes only to people ‘directly concerned,’ and the old CR-2 self-report form no longer exists.

• Photograph vehicle positions, debris, barriers and signage before anything is moved.
• Write down the towing company and yard for every vehicle, including the truck.
• Note nearby businesses, DOT cameras and any commercial vehicle with a forward-facing camera.
• Get names and phone numbers of witnesses at the scene — highway witnesses rarely stay.

Deadlines, and What to Do Next

Texas gives you two years from the date of injury to file suit, and two years from the date of death in a wrongful death case. A minor’s claim is generally tolled during minority. Two years sounds long; it is not, when the evidence you need has a two-week life span.

If you were hurt on I-20, I-30 or SH 360, the useful step in week one is preservation — vehicles, data, witnesses — not negotiation. Jim Ross Law Group offers a free consultation at 817-275-4100, and there is no fee unless we win.

This page is for general information only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different and past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case. Jim Ross Law Group, P.C., 2201 E Lamar Blvd #110, Arlington, TX 76006.