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When ice hits Houston's ramps and bridges, here is which coverage pays if your car slides, why fault still counts on ice, and what to do before and after you drive.
The short answer
Yes, if you carry collision coverage, but ice doesn't take fault off the table. Collision pays to fix your car after a slide into a rail, a curb, or another car, minus your deductible. If the slide is your fault, your liability coverage pays the other driver, and Texas law asks every driver to slow down for ice. Comprehensive pays when a limb falls on your parked car. Uninsured motorist coverage answers when the other driver has no insurance. If you can wait out the ice, wait.
When Houston's ramps ice
On January 27, 2026, Houston TranStar reported three roadways closed and being treated for ice, ABC13 reported. Ice was also reported on the Beltway 8 ramps at the Eastex Freeway near Humble. A year earlier, snow closed Houston-area highways and both Houston airports, the Associated Press reported.
- 4 inchesthe most snow the National Weather Service reported in the Houston area on January 21, 2025
- 20+state snowplows for nearly 12,000 lane miles, since the Houston area has no city or county plows of its own
- 3roadways closed and treated for ice on January 27, 2026, by Houston TranStar's count
Texas learned what ice on an elevated road can do in Fort Worth on February 11, 2021. Ice on an elevated stretch of the Interstate 35W toll lanes led to a crash involving 130 vehicles, and six people died, the National Transportation Safety Board found. Houston drives on ramps, bridges, and overpasses, and the Texas Department of Insurance, or TDI, says that if a route lets you avoid them, take it.
Which coverage pays for a slide
An auto policy is a set of separate coverages, and each one answers a different moment on the ice. TDI's auto insurance guide defines them, and the table matches each one to the moment it answers.
| What happened | What pays |
|---|---|
| Your car slides into a rail, a curb, a pole, or a ditch | Collision coverage, if you carry it, pays to fix your car, minus your deductible |
| Your car slides into another car | Your liability coverage pays for their car and injuries, up to your limits. Collision pays for yours |
| Another driver slides into you | Their liability coverage. If they have none, or not enough, your uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage |
| A limb or ice falls on your parked car | Comprehensive coverage, if you carry it, pays to fix your car, minus your deductible |
| Your car can't be driven | Towing and labor, if you carry it, pays for the tow, up to its dollar limit |
| Your car is in the shop after an accident | Rental reimbursement, if you carry it, pays a set amount each day, up to its limit |
Collision and comprehensive are the two that fix your own car. Texas law requires liability coverage, which pays the other driver when a crash is your fault. TDI says a lender will require collision and comprehensive if you still owe money on the car. If you carry only the state's minimum limits, a slide into a rail is yours to pay.
The minimums, often written 30/60/25, are the floor Texas sets. Your declarations page shows how far above it you carry, with each deductible in dollars.
Ice doesn't take fault off the table
Texas Transportation Code Section 545.351 asks every driver to keep to a reasonable speed for the conditions and to slow down when weather or road conditions create a hazard. When a car slides into another car, fault comes from the facts, the police report, the witnesses, and the damage. The at-fault driver's liability coverage pays the other driver.
An at-fault crash can cost you at renewal. TDI says insurance companies will charge you more if you've had accidents or gotten tickets.
What can't cost you your policy
A TDI rule says a company can't refuse to renew your auto policy only because of a claim for weather damage with no collision, a falling object such as a limb, hitting an animal, or towing and labor. The same goes for a claim you can't reasonably be blamed for, unless you have two or more of those in 12 months. After three falling object losses in 36 months, a company may raise that deductible, and after four towing claims, it may drop towing coverage.
28 Texas Administrative Code Section 5.7016, and TDI's auto insurance guide.
Insurance is for the sudden, the accidental, and the catastrophic. When another car or a person is involved, tell your company about the crash as soon as possible, as TDI advises. When it's your car alone and the damage is small, call your agent first. Ask how the claim would be handled and whether it would count as at fault, and don't open one until you're sure.
Ice in the forecast? Your policy decides what a slide costs. Send us your declarations page, and we'll show you what a slide would cost you, in dollars.
See What a Slide Costs MeWhen the other driver has no insurance
The Insurance Research Council estimates that in 2023 more than one in seven drivers nationwide was uninsured, and one in three was uninsured or underinsured. Texas law makes every auto insurer include two coverages that answer for that, and both stay on your policy unless a named insured rejects them in writing.
Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage pays if you're hit by someone who didn't have insurance, or didn't have enough to pay your medical and car repair bills, TDI says. It also pays in a hit-and-run. Insurance Code Section 1952.101 requires it on every policy unless it's rejected in writing. A deductible applies, and TDI says it's usually lower than your collision deductible.
Personal injury protection, or PIP, pays medical bills and lost income for you and your passengers, whoever caused the crash. Insurance Code Section 1952.152 requires it unless it's rejected in writing. Section 1952.153 sets the required amount at 2,500 dollars for each person, and Section 1952.155 says it pays without regard to fault.
The rejection that follows your policy
If anyone named on your policy ever signed a rejection of uninsured motorist coverage or PIP, the company doesn't have to add it back at renewal until a named insured asks in writing. A rejection signed when the policy began can still apply years later.
Texas Insurance Code Sections 1952.101 and 1952.152.
After a hit-and-run, call the police. TDI says your uninsured motorist coverage won't pay for a hit-and-run you didn't report to police.
The 25 is where underinsured lives
Texas law requires at least 30/60/25, TDI says. That's 30,000 dollars for injuries to each person, up to 60,000 for each accident, and 25,000 for property damage. Transportation Code Section 601.072 has set those amounts since 2011.
The Insurance Research Council counted its one in three in 2023. Since then, the average new vehicle passed 50,000 dollars for the first time, in September 2025, Kelley Blue Book reported. By April 2026, only about 13 percent of new vehicles listed for less than 30,000 dollars, CarGurus found. The average used vehicle sold for about 25,000 dollars in February 2026, the Associated Press reported. That's the whole minimum, on one ordinary car.
The 25,000 dollar minimum, against what new vehicles sell for
When a driver with the minimum hits you
Their 25,000 may not cover your car. For the rest, you turn to your own collision, minus its deductible, or your underinsured motorist coverage.
Insurance Code Section 1952.106 says underinsured pays up to your own limit, less what their policy pays. So if your limit is no higher than theirs, there's nothing to collect.
When you carry the minimum
Hit the right truck, and it's easily 85,000 to 100,000 dollars in property damage.
TDI says the minimum might be too low if the other driver's car is totaled, and you might have to pay the rest out of your own pocket. The other driver could sue you.
Higher limits cost more, and the right number depends on what you'd stand to lose. We weigh both sides with you, your liability limits against the vehicles you could hit, and your underinsured limits against the drivers who could hit you.
Before the cold, and on the ice
TDI's winter driving tips start before the weather turns.
Before you leave
- Test the battery, antifreeze, wipers and fluid, headlights and hazards, heater and defroster, brakes, tire pressure, and tread.
- Check the roads on TxDOT's DriveTexas.org and Houston TranStar's road closures.
- If you can wait for better weather, wait.
- If a route lets you avoid bridges, ramps, and overpasses, take it.
On the ice
- Slow down, and don't tailgate.
- Leave three times the space to stop.
- If you start to skid, steer in the direction of the skid.
- If you get stuck, stay in your car.
Sources, TDI's five tips for winter driving, updated December 11, 2025, and Houston TranStar's road closures page, opened November 9, 2026.
If my people need me, I find a route to work that skips the bridges. If they don't, I stay home. When a few of us play it safe, the road gets safer for everyone who has to be out there.
Keep a kit in the car. TDI's list is a charged phone and a charger, a hand-crank or battery radio, jumper cables, a spare tire, flares, blankets, a flashlight and batteries, cat litter or sand for traction, food and water, a first-aid kit, and matches.
After a slide, in order
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Get safe
If anyone is hurt, call 911. On a Houston freeway, when each car can be driven normally and safely, Texas law says to move it to the frontage road, the nearest cross street, or another safe spot. If the cars can't move, TxDOT says to set out flares or raise the hood.
-
Trade information
Give your name, address, registration number, and insurance company, and show your license if asked, as Texas law requires. Get the same from the other driver, and ask witnesses for their names and phone numbers.
-
Take pictures
TDI says to photograph the other cars, their license plates, and the damage.
-
Get the report
Call the police if someone is hurt or the other driver leaves. An officer files a report with TxDOT for a crash with an injury or 1,000 dollars or more in damage. You can buy a copy online for 6 dollars.
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Make the call
When another car or a person is involved, tell your company as soon as possible. When it's your car alone and the damage is small, call your agent first. TDI says you can take your car to any body shop you choose.
Towing, rental, and help on the road
Towing and labor pays to tow your car if it can't be driven, TDI says. It also pays for labor to change a flat tire or jump-start your battery. Rental reimbursement pays a set amount each day while your car is repaired after an accident, up to its limit.
Both carry dollar limits, and your declarations page shows them only if you carry them. Under the same TDI rule, a towing claim alone can't cost you your policy, though a company can drop towing and labor after four towing claims in 36 months.
If you get stuck on the ice, TDI says to stay in your car. That's why the kit lives in it.
Questions drivers ask next
Does car insurance cover sliding on ice?
Yes, if you carry the right coverage. Collision pays to fix your car after a slide into a rail, a curb, a ditch, or another car, minus your deductible. If you slide into another car and the crash is your fault, your liability coverage pays for their car and injuries, up to your limits. A policy with only Texas's minimum liability never pays to fix your own car.
Is a slide on ice an at-fault accident in Texas?
It often is. Texas Transportation Code Section 545.351 asks drivers to slow down when weather or road conditions create a hazard, so ice doesn't excuse driving too fast for it. Fault comes from the facts, the police report, the witnesses, and the damage. TDI says insurance companies charge more after accidents, so an at-fault slide can show up at renewal.
Does insurance cover a limb that falls on my car?
Comprehensive coverage does, if you carry it, minus your deductible. It pays for damage from things other than a crash, such as hail, theft, flooding, and falling objects. A TDI rule says a company can't refuse to renew your auto policy only because of a falling object claim, though after three such losses in 36 months it may raise that deductible.
What if the driver who hits me has no insurance?
Your uninsured motorist coverage pays, if you carry it. TDI says it pays when the other driver has no insurance or not enough to pay your medical and car repair bills, and in a hit-and-run you report to police. Texas insurers must include it unless it's rejected in writing. PIP also pays your medical bills, whoever caused the crash.
Does roadside assistance help in a freeze?
It can, if you carry towing and labor. TDI says it pays to tow your car if it can't be driven, and pays for labor to change a flat tire or jump-start your battery, up to a dollar limit. If you get stuck on the ice, TDI says to stay in your car, so keep blankets, water, a charger, and a flashlight in it.
Is the Texas minimum enough if I slide into another car?
Not if you total a car worth more than 25,000 dollars. The minimum pays up to that much for the property you damage in one accident, and the average new vehicle sold for 50,562 dollars in September 2026, by Kelley Blue Book's count. TDI says you might have to pay the rest out of your own pocket. Higher limits cost more, so weigh them against what you'd stand to lose.
Sources worth opening
- The Texas Department of Insurance, its auto insurance guide (updated December 11, 2025) for the coverages, the minimum limits and when they might be too low, paying the rest out of your own pocket, the lender rule, rates after accidents, deductibles, uninsured motorist coverage, towing and labor, and rental, and its page on what to do after a wreck (updated September 24, 2025) for the scene, the pictures, the witnesses, the body shop, and the uninsured motorist deductible
- TDI's five tips for winter driving (updated December 11, 2025), for the car check, the roads, waiting, the bridges and ramps, stopping distance, skids, staying in the car, and the kit
- The Texas Insurance Code, Sections 1952.101, 1952.106, 1952.152, 1952.153, and 1952.155, for uninsured motorist coverage, what underinsured pays, PIP, the written rejection, the 2,500 dollar amount, and payment without regard to fault, read through texas.public.law because the official statutes site did not render
- The Texas Transportation Code, Sections 545.351, 550.022, 550.023, and 601.072, for speed in hazardous conditions, moving cars off a metro freeway, the information drivers trade, and the minimum amounts in effect since January 1, 2011
- 28 Texas Administrative Code Section 5.7016, through Cornell's Legal Information Institute, for the claims that can't be the only reason to refuse renewal
- TxDOT, its page on crash reports and records for the officer's report and buying a copy, its page on what to do when a collision occurs, and DriveTexas.org, with Houston TranStar's road closures, for checking the roads
- ABC13, January 27, 2026, for TranStar's closures and the iced Beltway 8 ramps, and the Associated Press, January 21, 2025, for the snow, the closed highways and airports, and the snowplows
- The National Transportation Safety Board, its investigation of the February 11, 2021 crash on Interstate 35W in Fort Worth
- The Insurance Research Council, its 2025 release on uninsured and underinsured motorists in 2023
- Kelley Blue Book, its average transaction price tables for September 2026, through Cox Automotive, for the chart, and its report of October 13, 2025, on September 2025, the first month the average passed 50,000 dollars, with the Associated Press, April 11, 2026, through Fortune, for CarGurus's count of new vehicles listing for less than 30,000 dollars and the average used vehicle price in February 2026
The purpose is to help the reader ask better questions before claim time.
General insurance education. For legal questions after a crash, ask a licensed attorney, and on the road, follow police and local officials. Carrier rules, eligibility, underwriting, policy language, and the final contract control. Figures carry the dates shown.
Know your policy before the next ice
Your car has a plan for the ice. Give your policy the same minute.
- Send your declarations page. Use the button below, or email it to contact@mcdadeins.com.
- We read it with you. A licensed Texas agent reads your collision and comprehensive deductibles in dollars, your liability and underinsured limits against the state minimum, any uninsured motorist or PIP rejection on file, and your towing and rental.
- You get a straight answer. Stay, adjust, or switch, with the reason in writing.
About 40 percent of the renewals we audit end with us telling the homeowner or driver to stay exactly where they are, including with their current agent if that is the right fit for the family.
We work with 50+ top Texas carriers we know well. Local broker. National infrastructure. Carrier availability and underwriting vary by risk and location. Prefer to talk it through? Talk to a Broker, or call 281.378.5002. We translate the insurance contract before claim time.
The review is free. The decision is yours. No broker fees for personal lines clients.
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