Diamantina Uribe says she braked to keep her SUV from hitting an 18-wheeler as the vehicle behind her continued pushing her forward.

“I thank God that I was able to brake on time before I hit that 18-wheeler in front of me,” she said. “If not, I would not be telling this story.”

The driver who hit her Sept. 18 was Harris County Treasurer Carla Wyatt. More than a month later, Uribe says she is facing medical bills, back and shoulder pain, and more than $6,000 in debt that will remain on her totaled SUV after her own insurance pays.

A second driver, Amanda Byford, has provided Katy Christian Magazine with insurance denial letters and a certified crash report. Both women said AAA adjusters told them Wyatt’s policy had been inactive since July.

An Oct. 2 letter from Auto Club County Mutual Insurance Co., an AAA-affiliated insurer, identifies Uribe as the claimant and Wyatt as the insured. Addressed to Uribe’s attorneys, it states: “This policy was not in force on the date of the accident.”

“Based on this information, we must deny this claim,” the letter continues.

Katy Christian Magazine wrote to Wyatt asking about the incident. She had not responded by publication.

The certified crash report records the collision at 12:01 p.m. in the 6500 block of the North Freeway, north of Tidwell Road. The officer’s narrative says Wyatt’s black Nissan Xterra struck three vehicles in succession as she changed lanes. She was cited for failure to control speed.

Uribe, a real estate agent and mother of three, had finished a video shoot at a house and was heading home for lunch with her family. Her children were out of school, and she had just told her family she was nearby.

Byford was traveling north with two neighbors in her Toyota Tundra when she felt the impact from behind.

“The back tires were lifted up off the ground,” Byford said. “I had to, you know, really plant down on that steering wheel.”

She then watched the Xterra go around her pickup and continue toward Uribe’s white Dodge Durango.

“Then we saw where the vehicle crashed into that white Dodge Durango,” Byford said.

She could see the 18-wheeler in front of Uribe. Byford said she pulled alongside the Xterra to prevent its driver from continuing down the freeway.

“I didn’t want this person to keep going,” she said.

Before stepping out, Byford told her passengers, “I’m gonna get out. And I’m gonna check on this person.”

She knocked on the window and asked whether the woman inside was OK.

“Yeah, what happened?” she recalled Wyatt responding.

Byford described Wyatt as “dazed and confused.”

“She’s trying to put her airbag back into the steering wheel,” Byford said, recalling what she watched through the window.

“She’s like, ‘No, I’m gonna go. I need to go,’” Byford recalled.

“Ma’am, you’re not going anywhere. We just called the cops,” Byford said she told her.

Byford said she urged Wyatt to get out after seeing smoke coming from the vehicle. Wyatt eventually gathered her belongings and got out, she said.

First photo: Wyatt beside her car at scene of accident. Second photo: Urbine’s car following collision. Photos courtesy of Diamantina Urbine.

Uribe said a woman who had captured the collision on a dashcam approached her, checked on her and sent her the recording. Uribe said she was grateful someone had stopped to help and preserved evidence of what happened.

Uribe also approached Wyatt to ask whether she was hurt or needed medical help. Neither Uribe nor Byford initially knew she was the county treasurer.

Uribe described Wyatt as appearing “out of it” and noted her speech sounded slurred. She said Wyatt was trying to cover her deployed airbag with a sweater.

“What happened? I’m late to a meeting. You need to move,” Uribe recalled Wyatt telling her.

“You just caused an accident. You hit three people and you’re trying to leave?” Uribe had responded.

Photo: crash diagram from Texas Department of Transportation Crash Data & Analysis Section, provided to Katy Christian Magazine by Amanda Byford.

After officers arrived, those involved moved to a Chevron gas station down the road.

Byford said that while they were still on the freeway, she struggled to retrieve her electronic insurance card because she could not remember her password. The officer asked for her license and checked her coverage, she said.

“You’re insured with Allstate,” she quoted him telling her.

Uribe said her husband asked the officer to verify Wyatt’s insurance and was told there was no way to do so.

Byford said she did not see whether the officer checked Wyatt’s coverage. The crash report lists AAA as Wyatt’s insurer and marks that proof of liability insurance was provided.

Both women also disputed Wyatt’s account of the collision. Byford said the officer told the other drivers Wyatt had blamed them for being stopped on the freeway. They directed him to the dashcam recording.

Uribe said Wyatt repeated that explanation at the gas station.

“She did not take responsibility,” Uribe said.

Byford said she saw Wyatt sitting in the front passenger seat of the police car at the gas station and questioned the handling of the incident.

“If it was me, I wouldn’t be sitting in the front seat,” Byford said.

She said she did not observe a sobriety test. Asked whether she believed Wyatt was impaired, Byford said, “She had been on something. I don’t know what it was.” She added, “I didn’t smell alcohol.”

The investigating officer wrote that Wyatt “did not display any signs of intoxication or a medical emergency.” The report’s alcohol and drug specimen fields both list “none.”

The report classifies all six people involved as uninjured. Uribe and Byford said they went to emergency rooms after leaving the scene.

Uribe said her head was pounding by the time her husband took her to the ER, where she was diagnosed with a concussion and other injuries. Byford said she is also seeking medical care following the crash. She said her attorney had advised her to limit what she discussed publicly about her injuries and case.

“I can’t say anything beyond that, you know, because I do have a lawyer,” Byford said.

Byford said she opened her insurance claim the night of the collision. The following Thursday, an AAA adjuster called with bad news.

“That policy is no longer active. It hasn’t been active since July,” she recalled the adjuster telling her.

“Are you kidding me right now?” Byford recalled responding. She then asked the adjuster, “What do I do now?”

She said the adjuster suggested pursuing a claim through her own uninsured motorist coverage. When her insurer asked for documentation, she called AAA again.

“I need a denial letter. My insurance is asking for all of this,” Byford recalled telling the adjuster.

The Sept. 24 letter addressed to Byford names Wyatt as the insured and identifies the Sept. 18 crash as the loss. It states that the company was unable to provide coverage and was declining the claim.

Uribe said she contacted AAA the day after the crash and was subsequently told the policy had been canceled in July. She sought help from an attorney, who searched for other coverage and withdrew after being unable to find another policy, she said.

Her own insurance would pay the value of her SUV, which was declared a total loss. Uribe said she owed about $16,000 on the vehicle and would still have more than $6,000 in loan debt after the payment.

“So here I am upside down with no vehicle,” she said.

The SUV had carried the signs and supplies she used for her real estate work. She works two jobs and is now weighing how much medical treatment she can afford.

“I don’t know if I should even go and get treatment for my back, my shoulder, or any of it,” Uribe said. “We’re a normal family with three kids,” she continued, adding that the crash was “putting a financial strain on me and my husband.”

Both women said Wyatt and her representatives had not contacted them with offers of payment or assistance.

“Oh, no. No,” Byford said when asked whether Wyatt or anyone acting on her behalf had offered payment.

“No one has contacted me, unfortunately, since my attorney withdrew from the case,” Uribe said.

Uribe said she initially hesitated to speak publicly because she did not want attention drawn to herself or Wyatt. She was mindful of Wyatt’s position, she said, but her family still needed help.

Photo: Diamantina Urbine. 

She wants Wyatt to acknowledge responsibility and contact her, even to ask whether she is OK, as Uribe said she had done for Wyatt at the scene.

“I just want her to accept responsibility,” Uribe said.

In a Sept. 25 interview with the Houston Chronicle’s editorial board, Wyatt said, “Car accidents happen every day,” and maintained that her personal life did not affect her ability to do her job, the Chronicle reported.

Uribe said she understands that accidents happen. She questioned the handling of this crash and said Wyatt’s position should not entitle her to special treatment.

Wyatt, a Democrat elected in 2022, faces Republican Marc Cowart in the Nov. 3 election. KCM previously reported on Wyatt’s three arrests since taking office and the questions surrounding her stewardship of the Treasurer’s Office.

Her December 2023 DWI charge was dismissed after she completed a pretrial diversion program. A grand jury declined to indict her in a separate vehicle burglary case arising from a December 2025 arrest. A DWI case stemming from her May 2026 arrest in Galveston County remains pending.

KCM’s coverage of Harris County officials and local elections has also examined spending at Judge Dolores Lozano’s office, operations at the Clay Road justice court and Mark Fury’s campaign to return to the justice of the peace bench.

For Uribe, the immediate concerns are getting treatment, addressing the debt on her SUV and finding an attorney who can help her pursue compensation without upfront fees. She also hopes to connect with medical providers willing to help with her care.

A GoFundMe campaign has been organized to assist her family. Readers who would like to contribute can find it at this link.

“I’m just grateful that I’m here,” Uribe said.

Early voting is underway and continues through Oct. 30. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Readers can consult Katy Christian Magazine’s 2026 general-election voter guides for Harris and Fort Bend counties before heading to the polls.