If you were struck as a pedestrian or cyclist in Texas, you can claim against the driver’s liability insurance, and you can often recover under your own auto policy’s uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage even though you were not in a car. Texas bars recovery only if you were more than 50 percent at fault.
Right of Way: What Texas Law Actually Requires
Drivers must yield to a pedestrian lawfully within a marked crosswalk. At an intersection, an unmarked crosswalk exists across each leg even where no lines are painted, and the same duty applies there. A pedestrian crossing outside a crosswalk must yield to vehicles, but a driver still has a duty to keep a proper lookout and to avoid a person who is visible in the roadway.
A bicycle is treated as a vehicle in Texas, and a rider generally has the same rights and duties as a driver: ride in the direction of traffic, obey signals and signs, and signal turns. Local ordinances can add requirements, such as lighting after dark.
None of these rules decides the case by itself. A driver who had the right-of-way can still be negligent for speeding, running a light, turning without looking, or driving distracted. And, a pedestrian who crossed mid-block can still recover, so long as their share of responsibility stays at 50 percent or below.
Why These Cases Are Different: Severity and Limits
There is no crumple zone, airbag, or seat belt between a person and a vehicle. Pedestrian and bicycle collisions produce a recognizable injury pattern: lower-leg and knee fractures from bumper contact, pelvic and torso injuries from the hood, then head and shoulder injuries from the windshield or from striking the pavement.
That severity creates the coverage problem. Texas minimum liability limits are 30/60/25 (Transportation Code §601.072). A single night in a trauma unit plus surgery can exceed $30,000 before rehabilitation begins, so the at-fault driver’s policy is frequently not the end of the analysis.
The damages themselves are not capped. Texas places no cap on non-economic damages in an ordinary negligence or auto case. Physical pain, mental anguish, disfigurement, and physical impairment are recoverable without a statutory ceiling, and in these cases, impairment and disfigurement are often the largest components.
Your Own Auto Policy Can Pay Even Though You Were Walking
This surprises almost everyone who calls. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage follows the person, not the car. If a driver hits you while you were walking or riding a bicycle, your own auto policy’s UM/UIM coverage can still apply, and so can a policy held by a relative you live with. Your car being parked at home changes nothing.
That matters in the two situations that come up most in these cases: the driver fled, or the driver carried minimum limits that do not begin to cover the injuries. PIP on your auto policy can also pay medical bills and part of your lost wages regardless of who was at fault, which is often the fastest money available.
Texas insurers must offer UM/UIM, and a rejection is valid only in writing (Insurance Code §1952.101). Check the declarations page of every auto policy in the household before concluding there is nothing there.
Your own carrier can still contest the claim. Under *Brainard v. Trinity Universal* (Tex. 2006), a UM/UIM insurer owes nothing until the insured establishes the other driver’s liability and the amount of damages.
Comparative Fault: the Fight You Should Expect
Fault is contested harder in pedestrian and bicycle cases than in car-to-car collisions, because the driver is usually the only surviving eyewitness with a clear memory and because the insurer’s fastest route to paying nothing is to push your percentage over the line.
Texas uses proportionate responsibility. You recover if your share is 50 percent or less, and your award drops by your percentage of responsibility. At 51 percent you recover nothing (CPRC §33.001 and §33.012).
Your share of responsibility
What you recover from a $100,000 award
0%
$100,000
20%
$80,000
50%
$50,000
51% or more
Nothing
Illustration of CPRC §33.001 and §33.012. The award figure is hypothetical and is not a firm result.
The Arguments Insurers Use
Expect to hear that you stepped out from between parked cars, that you wore dark clothing, that you crossed against the signal, that you were looking at your phone, or that your bicycle had no lights. Some of those arguments are legitimate. Many are reflexive, and they are made before anyone has looked at the physical evidence.
Evidence is what moves the percentage: signal timing at the intersection, skid marks, the point of impact on the vehicle, the height of the damage, footage from nearby businesses and doorbells, and witness accounts collected while memories are fresh. Where liability is genuinely disputed, a reconstruction that fixes speed and sight lines is often what resolves it, althughnthta may not be economically feasible.
Evidence to Preserve Immediately
The physical record in these cases is short-lived, and much of it belongs to someone else.
- The crash report. Where there is injury, death, or at least $1,000 in property damage, the officer must file with TxDOT within 10 days (Transportation Code §550.062). Copies come from C.R.I.S may take up to 14 days to be available.
- The bicycle itself. Frame, wheel, and pedal damage shows the direction and force of impact. Do not repair it, and do not throw it away.
- Clothing and gear. Torn or marked clothing, a damaged helmet, and reflective items all speak to visibility and impact.
- Camera footage. Business, doorbell, and dash cameras along the route commonly overwrite within one to four weeks. Requests have to go out in days, not months.
- Scene photographs. Photograph the location from the driver’s approach, as well as, from your own path, including sight lines, lighting, and signage.
- Witnesses. Names and phone numbers, collected the same day. In a disputed-fault case, a neutral witness is worth more than any other single piece of evidence.
Deadlines and What Happens Next
The deadline to file suit is two years from the date of injury (CPRC §16.003). For a child injured on a bicycle, limitations are tolled during minority and generally run to age 20 (CPRC §16.001). The extra time is real, but the evidence does not wait for it.
If the vehicle belonged to a governmental unit, a much shorter written notice deadline applies. Texas law sets six months statewide (CPRC §101.101 et seq.), and some city charters require notice sooner. Damages against governmental units are capped by statute at $250,000 per person and $500,000 per occurrence for municipalities, and $100,000 / $300,000 for counties and other local units (CPRC §101.023). These deadlines apply to every governmental unit in Texas and are worth checking early in any case involving a marked or government-owned vehicle.
A free consultation with the Jim Ross Law Group is available in person or by phone at 817-275-4100, and there is no fee unless we win.
Frequently Asked Questions
A car hit me while I was walking. Can I really use my own car insurance?
Yes, in most cases. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage follows you as a person rather than a vehicle, so it can pay when you are struck on foot or on a bicycle. It matters most when the driver fled or carried minimum limits. PIP on the same policy can also pay medical bills and part of your lost wages regardless of fault.
I was crossing outside a crosswalk. Do I still have a case?
Often yes. Crossing outside a crosswalk means you had a duty to yield, and it will be used to assign you a percentage of responsibility. It does not end the claim. Texas lets you recover as long as your share stays at 50 percent or less, and a driver who was speeding, distracted, or not keeping a proper lookout still carries fault.
The driver says I came out of nowhere. How do I prove otherwise?
With physical evidence rather than argument. The point of impact on the vehicle, the height and shape of the damage, where you and the bicycle came to rest, skid marks, signal timing, and street lighting all constrain what could actually have happened. Nearby business and doorbell cameras are frequently decisive, and they overwrite quickly, so they have to be requested within days.
I was not wearing a bicycle helmet. Does that hurt my claim?
It may be raised. There is no Texas statute making helmet non-use inadmissible in a damages case, and by analogy to Nabors Well Services v. Romero, which made seat belt non-use admissible to apportion responsibility, a defendant may argue that helmet non-use should reduce recovery. It is an argument about percentage, not a bar to bringing the claim.
The driver who hit me drove off. What now?
Report it to police immediately so a crash report is generated, then look to uninsured motorist coverage on your own policy or on a resident relative’s policy. Texas UM policies typically require physical contact with the fleeing vehicle or independent corroboration. In a pedestrian or bicycle case there is usually contact, and the physical evidence on your body, bicycle, and clothing supports it.
How much is a broken leg worth in a pedestrian case?
There is no formula and no table, and any lawyer who gives you a number on a first call is guessing. Value depends on the medical treatment required, whether hardware or surgery is involved, impairment, lost earning capacity, and disfigurement. Texas places no cap on non-economic damages in an ordinary auto or negligence case, which matters most in severe injuries.
My child was hit while riding a bicycle. How long do we have to file?
Limitations are tolled during minority under CPRC §16.001, so the two-year clock generally does not expire until around age 20. Do not treat that as a reason to wait. Camera footage, the bicycle, the clothing, scene conditions, and witness memory all disappear within weeks, and those are what establish how the collision happened.
The driver got a ticket. Does that mean the insurance has to pay?
A citation helps, but it does not settle the claim. It is evidence of how the officer viewed the scene, not a binding finding of civil liability, and an insurer can still argue you carried part of the responsibility. What ultimately decides fault is the physical evidence, the witnesses, and how the percentages are apportioned under Texas proportionate responsibility rules.
This page is for general information only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different and past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case. Jim Ross Law Group, P.C., 2201 E Lamar Blvd #110, Arlington, TX 76006.