TexasCHLforum.com

Many departments have decided to save money by not investigating accidents where there is no injury. It is one of many responses in the past ten years or so to restrained budgets and citizens being upset over taxes. Accidents were seen as being more of a customer service to insurance companies than to the citizens, so some departments now have official policies not to investigate them.

State law provides that no one need call police to any accident. It also does not require you to cooperate and stay around if one driver wants the police and you do not. Note that it requires the drivers involved to stop and exchange information, and provide aid if some one is injured. You can legally leave after that. The law also no longer requires officers to investigate accidents. It does require a written report on a state approved form IF an officer investigates, but has been changed to not require the investigation to begin with.

Other changes to save money include taking reports over the phone instead of sending an officer to the scene, and not sending officers to calls concerning "quality of life" that do not involve crimes that would be prosecuted (say a noisy neighbor or barking dog). I suggest that you check with your local department and decide if you are willing to pay for a "full service" agency or not. If you insist on full service, be prepared to pay for it with higher taxes.