Two bills from the 2025 regular session that touch crash cases took effect September 1, 2025: SB 305, which added vehicles to the move over law, and SB 1598, which changed how crash report information can be released. A bill on health care damages, SB 30, did not become law.
The Texas Legislature's 2025 regular session produced hundreds of new laws, most effective September 1, 2025. Two of them matter directly to people involved in crashes, and one widely discussed bill on injury damages did not pass.
SB 305: more vehicles covered by the move over law. Senate Bill 305, signed by the governor on May 20, 2025, and effective September 1, 2025, amends Transportation Code section 545.157. The law already required drivers approaching stopped emergency vehicles, tow trucks, TxDOT and highway maintenance or construction vehicles, utility service vehicles, solid waste vehicles, and toll project vehicles using lights to vacate the closest lane or slow to 20 miles per hour below the posted limit (or to 5 miles per hour when the limit is under 25). SB 305 adds vehicles operated by animal control officers and vehicles operated by local government employees issuing parking citations, when they display the required lights.
Why it matters after a crash: a driver who violates the move over law and hits a stopped vehicle, or a person standing next to one, can be cited, and that citation and the statute itself can be evidence of negligence in an injury claim. Tow operators, road crews, and now animal control and parking enforcement workers are among the people the law protects.
SB 1598: crash report information. Senate Bill 1598, signed June 20, 2025, and effective September 1, 2025, amends Transportation Code section 550.065, the law that controls who can get a Texas crash report (Form CR-3). The bill adds criminal investigation as a purpose for which government agencies may use reports and lets a governmental entity release a vehicle identification number and specific collision information to law enforcement agencies and their contractors, with personal information such as names, addresses, phone numbers, license plates, and insurance details withheld. It does not change the categories of people who may obtain a full report, which include the people involved in the crash and their insurers.
Why it matters: for an injured person, getting the crash report works the same way it did before. You, your lawyer, and the insurers involved can still request it, and TxDOT's online purchase system remains the usual route. If the report contains mistakes, the officer can be asked to correct or supplement it.
SB 30: did not become law. Senate Bill 30 in the 2025 regular session, relating to recovery of health care-related damages in certain civil actions, would have changed how medical expenses are proven in injury cases. The bill's history shows conferees appointed in late May 2025, with no final passage or governor's signature, so it did not become law. Texas's existing paid-or-incurred rule for medical expenses still applies.
If you need the report, the TxDOT Crash Report Online Purchase System is the usual way to buy a copy, usually available within about 10 days of the crash. Your lawyer can request it for you.
Laws change, but the basics of a Texas injury claim did not: the two-year filing deadline under Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 16.003, proportionate responsibility under Chapter 33, and the right to talk to a lawyer before talking to the other driver's insurer. Owsley Law Firm answers calls 24/7, and there is no fee unless we win.
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