Hays County, TX · Free Consultation
San Marcos Car Accident Lawyer
What Our Clients Say
Written and reviewed by Shane M. Boasberg, founder of SMB Law, PC · Licensed in Texas since 2003 · Updated September 2026
San Marcos carries interstate traffic between two big cities, a university, and an outlet mall that draws drivers who have never seen these roads before. That combination produces wrecks. A San Marcos car accident lawyer who understands how Hays County claims get valued is the difference between a fair number and a fast one. Shane M. Boasberg has been licensed in Texas since 2003 and works every case personally.
San Marcos wrecks concentrate on the I-35 run past the outlet malls, around Wonder World Drive, and in the university district where traffic is dense and unpredictable. We know those roads and how Hays County adjusters and juries tend to view claims from the San Marcos area.
Where a San Marcos car accident claim is filed
San Marcos is the Hays County seat, so a lawsuit stays in town at the Hays County Government Center on South Stagecoach Trail. If your case ever needs a hearing, it is a short drive rather than a day lost to the interstate.
Most claims settle with the adjuster and never reach a courtroom. Venue still matters to the number, because the insurer is pricing what a Hays County jury might do with the file if talks break down.
Two years to file, and the exception for minors
You have two years from the date of the crash to file suit. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003. The practical deadline is much shorter, because the dash-cam footage and outlet-mall camera coverage a busy I-35 case depends on are gone in weeks.
Children get more room. Section 16.001 holds the clock for a minor until the child turns eighteen, so a child hurt in a San Marcos wreck can bring a claim until twenty. Parents settle their own claims and assume the same date applied to their child. It did not.
Find your date with our Texas injury statute of limitations calculator.
How Texas divides the blame
Texas applies proportionate responsibility. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.001 ends your claim entirely once you pass 50% responsibility. Below it, § 33.012 reduces the award by your percentage: twenty percent at fault on a $90,000 case leaves $72,000.
That is the arithmetic driving the adjuster’s questions. Campus-area wrecks on Aquarena Springs and pedestrian collisions near Texas State are exactly the fact patterns where insurers argue shared fault hardest, and a few percentage points move real money.
When 30/60/25 will not cover it
Texas requires drivers to carry only $30,000 per injured person, $60,000 per crash, and $25,000 for property. Tex. Transp. Code § 601.072. A serious interstate wreck exhausts that before the first specialist is consulted.
Your own underinsured motorist coverage is what fills the difference. Texas carriers must offer UM/UIM in writing, and it is on your policy unless you rejected it in writing. Tex. Ins. Code § 1952.101. Check your declarations page before concluding the money is not there, particularly if the driver who hit you was passing through.
What a San Marcos claim is worth
Nobody can quote a figure on the first call, and you should not trust one who does. Value comes from the severity and permanence of the injury, the medical costs behind and ahead of you, the income lost, and how clearly the evidence assigns fault. A documented rear-end collision at a Wonder World Drive signal is a different case from a contested merge at the outlet exits, even when the injuries match.
Opening offers are deliberately low. They are priced against how often certain money now beats better money later.
Get a range before the adjuster names one
Our settlement calculator works through medical bills, lost wages, and injury severity and returns a working estimate in about two minutes.
Try the Car Accident Settlement CalculatorWorking with us from San Marcos
Our office is about 30 miles north in downtown Austin, a 35-to-45-minute drive up I-35. Because that is a real commute, we handle San Marcos consultations and check-ins by phone and video.
At SMB Law, PC you work with Shane M. Boasberg directly. He has been licensed in Texas since 2003 and has spent those years across from adjusters and defense counsel. You get his assessment of the case in plain English, not a summary relayed by someone else.
Why clients choose SMB Law, PC
- Direct attorney access — you talk to Shane, not a call center or a rotating case manager.
- No fee unless we recover — car accident cases run on a contingency fee, so nothing comes out of pocket to start.
- Straight answers — if the fight will cost more than it returns, we say so in the first meeting.
- Fees in writing — explained before you sign anything.
What working with us looks like
- Confidential consultation to understand your goals and the law that applies.
- Strategy and records tailored to your situation.
- Negotiation or court — we settle when we can and litigate when we must.
- Resolution implemented correctly so you can move on.
The I-35 midpoint
San Marcos sits at the pressure point between Austin and San Antonio traffic, with the outlet-mall exits compressing lanes at the worst possible times. In town, the “major crash” that partially closed Aquarena Springs Drive marks the campus artery’s risk, with Hopkins Street and SH-80 carrying the rest of the local load.
What to do in the first week
- Get examined the same day. CHRISTUS Santa Rosa San Marcos handles same-day exams. Go even if nothing hurts yet, because adrenaline masks soft-tissue and head injuries for a day or two and any gap in treatment is the first thing an adjuster reaches for.
- Request the crash report. A Texas peace officer must file a CR-3 report on any crash involving injury, death, or roughly $1,000 in damage. Tex. Transp. Code § 550.026. San Marcos PD works city streets; the Department of Public Safety works the interstate.
- Photograph while the evidence exists. Vehicles, the intersection, skid marks, and your injuries as they develop. The outlet centers and campus-area businesses have cameras, and that footage is routinely overwritten inside two or three weeks.
- Notify your own insurer only. Your policy requires prompt notice to your carrier. It does not require you to give the other driver’s insurer a recorded statement, and early statements rarely help you.
If your San Marcos case involves more than one vehicle or victim, we also handle an 18-wheeler crash, a motorcycle crash, and a pedestrian accident claim — see how we handle car accident cases for how we work.
Frequently asked questions
Should I give the other driver’s insurer a recorded statement?
Not before you have spoken with a lawyer, and you are not required to. That adjuster is paid by the company that would pay your claim, and the interview exists to pin down your account of the injuries and the fault while both are still unclear to you. Your own carrier is a separate matter: your policy requires prompt notice.
What does a San Marcos car accident lawyer cost?
Nothing up front. These cases run on a contingency fee, so the fee comes out of the recovery and there is no fee if there is no recovery. The percentage and the treatment of case expenses are put in writing and explained before you sign.
The crash report puts the wreck on me. Is that the end of it?
No. A CR-3 report is one officer’s reconstruction of a scene that had already been cleared, and it binds no insurer, judge, or jury. Camera footage, physical evidence, or a witness nobody interviewed frequently reframes it. Texas allows recovery so long as you were not more than 50 percent responsible.
The driver who hit me was from out of state. Does that change anything?
It changes the logistics more than the law. The crash happened in Texas, so Texas law and a Hays County venue still govern. What it often changes is the insurer: an out-of-state carrier with no Texas presence tends to move slower and to underestimate what a Hays County jury would do.
Do I need to come to Austin from San Marcos?
No. The I-35 drive is a real commute, so we handle San Marcos consultations and case updates by phone and video whenever that is easier for you.
A San Marcos crash puts you into a negotiation you did not choose, against people who do this every day, with a two-year clock running behind it. You do not have to face that alone, and nothing has to be decided today. Call SMB Law, PC at (512) 561-5003 for a free and confidential consultation, and we will tell you honestly whether you need a lawyer at all.