6.5 Crash Investigation, Evidence, Interviews, and CR-3

Chapter 550 Duties and the Reporting Threshold

Once the scene is stable, Transportation Code Chapter 550 controls. BPOC objective 22.30 anchors collision duties here: applicability, duties after crashes involving injury or death, duties for damage to vehicles or to unattended vehicles, fixtures or highway landscaping, the duty to give information and render aid, the immediate-report duty, the peace-officer investigation duty, and the officer's collision report on the appropriate form.

Key statutory duties drivers owe (and that officers verify):

• Stop at or near the scene (Sec. 550.021–.023).
• Give information — name, address, registration, and insurance — and show a license on request.
• Render aid — reasonable assistance, including arranging transport for the injured.

Failure to stop or render aid escalates to a felony when injury or death results. Leaving the scene of a damage-only crash is a misdemeanor.

The CR-3 Reporting Threshold

Texas requires the officer to complete the Texas Peace Officer's Crash Report (CR-3) when a crash on a public road results in injury, death, or apparent damage of $1,000 or more. TxDOT supporting resources include the CR-80 vehicle-damage rating guide and the CR-100 instruction manual. Memorize the $1,000 / injury / death trigger—it is a classic exam fact.

Evidence, Interviews, and the Proof Chain

BPOC's investigation procedure gathers four categories, then tests statements against physical evidence.

Interview discipline. BPOC says to identify operators, injured persons, witnesses, and property owners; separate the parties so statements are not contaminated; ask where each witness was located; ask who operated each vehicle; and locate licenses for injured operators. Observe speech, balance, injuries, odor, and attitude for intoxication indicators that may pivot the case toward a DWI investigation.

Measurements are deliberate, not random: roadway widths, grade, vehicle positions, skid-mark length, area of impact, final resting positions, and a scaled scene sketch. Photographs are warranted when the crash is serious, statements conflict, or physical evidence contradicts a statement.

Worked Scenario

Two drivers blame each other at an intersection with a malfunctioning signal and conflicting witnesses. Separate the drivers; identify and locate witnesses; document the status and location of the traffic-control device; record roadway, sight lines, and weather; photograph; measure final rest and impact; then compare each story to the physical evidence (gouges, debris field, paint transfer) before any charging decision.

Criminal Screening and Traps

Serious facts may screen into Penal Code charges—criminally negligent homicide, manslaughter, intoxication assault, intoxication manslaughter—which trigger evidence preservation and specialist or supervisor involvement. Traps: deciding fault from the loudest or first speaker; skipping the CR-3 after collecting facts; and treating every crash as criminal. Final cue: a clean CR-3 begins with clean identification, measurements, statements, and evidence notes.

Reading Physical Evidence and Driver Duties

Physical evidence often outweighs testimony, and the exam expects an officer to read it. Skid marks show pre-impact braking and can indicate speed and direction; yaw or scuff marks indicate a vehicle sliding sideways or rotating; gouges and scrapes in the pavement usually mark the area of impact; debris fields (broken glass, dislodged parts, dirt knocked from undercarriages) tend to fan out in the direction of travel after impact; and fluid trails can trace a vehicle's path away from the collision—valuable in a hit-and-run.

Direction-of-Travel and Hit-and-Run Clues

Paint transfer is especially useful when one vehicle leaves the scene: a smear of foreign paint identifies the color and sometimes the make of the suspect vehicle, supporting a be-on-the-lookout broadcast.

Driver Duties Officers Verify

Chapter 550 imposes affirmative duties the officer confirms were met: the duty to stop at the scene, the duty to give information (name, address, registration, and insurance, and to show a license on request), and the duty to render aid, including arranging transport for anyone injured. A driver who leaves before fulfilling these duties commits an offense that escalates with the harm caused—a felony when there is injury or death, a misdemeanor for a damage-only departure.

Charging Discipline

After facts and evidence are documented, the charging decision follows the law and agency policy, not emotion. Serious facts—a fatality, signs of intoxication, evidence of recklessness—screen the case for Penal Code offenses and trigger evidence preservation and supervisor or specialist involvement. The disciplined sequence is identical every time: secure the scene, collect people-vehicle-roadway-physical evidence, measure, compare statements against evidence, complete the CR-3 when the injury/death/$1,000 threshold is met, and only then resolve citation, custody, or criminal referral.