Austin Pedestrian Accident Lawyer: What Texas Crosswalk Law Actually Says
If a driver hit you while you were walking in Austin, the insurer has already started building a story about where you were standing. Most of that story falls apart against the actual text of the Texas Transportation Code, but only if somebody reads it to them. If you have been searching for a pedestrian accident lawyer near me, that reading is the work. Our Austin pedestrian accident attorneys do it on contingency, across Travis, Williamson, and Hays counties. Call (512) 561-5003.
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Being Hit on Foot Is Not Like a Car Wreck
A pedestrian accident is not a car wreck with a smaller vehicle. There is no crumple zone and no seat belt, the injuries run to brain and spinal damage and multiple fractures, and the bills arrive long before any settlement.
The legal problem differs too. In a two-car collision the fight is about who had the light. In a pedestrian case it is almost always about where you were standing, because Texas comparative fault lets the defense take a percentage off your recovery for every foot they move you from a crosswalk. An experienced Austin pedestrian accident attorney starts there, not with your medical records.
Key Takeaways
- Hiring an experienced Austin pedestrian injury lawyer is essential for navigating legal complexities and securing fair compensation after an accident.
- Common pedestrian injuries include traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, fractures, and severe lacerations, each potentially leading to significant medical and financial burdens.
- Understanding Texas’s modified comparative fault rule and the statute of limitations for claims is crucial, as it impacts compensation and the timeframe for filing a lawsuit.
Why You Need an Austin Pedestrian Injury Lawyer
Three things make pedestrian accident cases harder than they look.
You are the only witness who was not in a vehicle. The driver gives a statement at the scene. You are usually in an ambulance, and by the time you can say what happened, their version has been in the file for days.
The defense theory is written into the statute. Section 33.001 lets a jury assign you a share of fault, and every point comes off your recovery. Section 552.005 gives them the hook: a pedestrian crossing outside a crosswalk must yield. So the defense works to place you outside one.
The answer is usually a different statute. Section 552.008 says that notwithstanding another provision of this chapter, a driver must exercise due care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian, must sound the horn when necessary, and must exercise proper precaution on observing a child or an obviously confused or incapacitated person. That section does not care where the pedestrian was standing, and it is the first thing our pedestrian accident lawyers cite.
Common Pedestrian Accident Injuries in Austin
Pedestrian accidents in Austin can cause serious, life-altering injuries. Common ones include traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, fractures, and severe lacerations, all from the sheer force of a car striking a person and leaving them with lasting physical and emotional harm. The statistics tell the story: Texas saw more than 5,700 pedestrian crashes in 2022, with hundreds of deaths and thousands of serious injuries.
Common pedestrian accident injuries include:
Traumatic brain injuries
Spinal cord injuries
Fractures
Severe lacerations
Many of these need extensive physical therapy as part of recovery.
Because a pedestrian has no protection, they usually take the full brunt of a collision and end up with the worst injuries in a crash. That lack of any barrier between them and the vehicle is what makes these wrecks so devastating.
A traumatic brain injury can run from a concussion to a skull fracture, and it can leave someone with long-term cognitive problems. A spinal cord injury can mean paralysis and years of medical care and rehab.
Fractures often take multiple surgeries, and lacerations can lead to infections and permanent scarring. The toll isn’t only physical, either, with heavy medical bills and long-term care often in the picture. For many people, a pedestrian accident takes away the ability to enjoy life the way they did before.
Proving the Driver Was Negligent
Liability in an Austin pedestrian accident usually turns on a short list: a driver turning left across a crosswalk, a right on red without looking left, speed, a phone, or impairment.
Two Texas provisions do most of the work in a pedestrian accident claim. Section 552.003 requires a driver to yield the right-of-way, slowing or stopping if need be, to a pedestrian crossing the roadway in a crosswalk — though by its own terms it does not apply where a traffic control signal is in place and operating, in which case Sections 552.002 and 544.007 govern. Section 552.008 then applies regardless, and it is the provision that survives an argument about exactly where your feet were.
A criminal statute most people miss: Section 545.428 makes criminally negligent injury to a person in a crosswalk an offense, graded a Class A misdemeanor or state jail felony. A citation is not civil liability, but it is evidence, and it changes how an insurer values a pedestrian accident claim.
Evidence disappears fast. Signal timing data, nearby business camera footage, and the vehicle's own event data recorder are all recoverable in the first weeks and often gone by month three. Location matters too: several of Austin's most dangerous intersections turn up in pedestrian accident cases repeatedly.
What to Do After a Pedestrian Accident in Austin
Knowing what to do right after a pedestrian accident matters, because those first moves can shape your health, your legal standing, and your compensation.
Filing a police report is a big one, and it becomes key evidence down the line.
The steps below walk you through how to protect yourself and strengthen your case.
Seek Medical Attention
The first step after a pedestrian accident is to get medical attention. Even if you feel okay, something like a traumatic brain injury or internal bleeding may not show up right away. A full evaluation catches the hidden injuries and gets them treated before they turn into something worse.
Documenting your injuries also matters for your claim. Medical records are key evidence, and they help you get fair compensation for your medical costs and the emotional toll. Getting care early protects your health and lays the groundwork for any lawsuit.
Document the Accident Scene
Documenting the scene is a big part of building a strong personal injury claim. Take detailed notes and photos, including where the vehicles ended up, the road conditions, and any visible injuries. Get contact info from witnesses, since their accounts can really back up your case.
Photos from the scene add visual proof of what happened and can make your claim much stronger. That kind of documentation helps establish the driver’s negligence and can be critical when you’re negotiating with insurers or presenting your case in court.
Contact an Experienced Pedestrian Accident Lawyer
Once you’re safe and have gathered some initial evidence, reach out to an experienced Austin pedestrian accident lawyer like the team at SMB Law, PC. We’ll walk you through the claims process, protect your rights, and make sure you get fair compensation for your injuries.
An experienced pedestrian accident attorney, like Shane M. Boasberg, handles the negotiations with insurance companies. Call now for a free consultation to talk through your case and your options.
Texas Comparative Fault: It Is a 51 Percent Bar, Not 50
Texas uses modified comparative fault in every pedestrian accident case, and the exact number matters more than most pages admit.
Under Section 33.001 you are barred only if your responsibility is greater than 50 percent. 51 percent bars you; exactly 50 percent does not — at 50 you still recover half. Section 33.011(4) makes the jury answer in whole numbers, so one point separates half a recovery from nothing. That is why the fight over where you were standing is the whole case.
Below the bar, Section 33.012(a) reduces your damages by your percentage: 20 percent responsible on a 100,000 dollar verdict, you take 80,000.
This is where an Austin pedestrian accident lawyer earns the fee, keeping the number the jury writes next to your name as low as the evidence allows.
The Pedestrian Accident Deadlines That Fire Long Before Two Years
Two years from the date of the crash is the general rule for a pedestrian accident lawsuit, set by Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.003. It is rarely the deadline that kills a pedestrian accident claim.
Forty-five days if the City of Austin may be responsible. The Texas Tort Claims Act allows a city charter to shorten the six-month statutory notice period, and Austin's charter does exactly that. A city vehicle, a signal failure, a defect the City controlled. A family that waits five months has likely already lost that claim.
Six months for TxDOT and other governmental units — and this matters more than it sounds, because the City of Austin reports that roughly 65 to 75 percent of Austin traffic fatalities happen on state-owned roads. The roadway defendant in an Austin pedestrian case is frequently the State, not the City, and the two deadlines are different.
Tolling exists for a minor and for a defendant who leaves Texas, but neither is something to rely on. Call before the shortest clock runs, not after.
Types of Compensation Available to Injured Pedestrians
A pedestrian accident claim recovers medical expenses already incurred and reasonably expected in the future, lost earnings and lost earning capacity, physical pain and mental anguish, physical impairment, and disfigurement. Where the driver's conduct rises to gross negligence, exemplary damages come into play, and in a case involving intoxication manslaughter the statutory cap on exemplary damages comes off entirely.
The realistic ceiling is usually not the law. It is the available insurance, which is why the coverage question below is often worth more to your case than any argument about liability.
How Our Austin Pedestrian Accident Lawyers Work a Case
Our Austin pedestrian accident attorneys work on contingency: no fee unless we recover, and we advance investigation and expert costs. Shane M. Boasberg has practiced Texas law for more than two decades, through private practice, the Texas Legislature, and the Office of the Texas Attorney General, and is recognized by Texas Monthly as a Rising Star and as an Elite Lawyer for 2025. Our office is at 1204 San Antonio Street, two blocks from the Travis County courthouse.
Texas Crosswalk Law, and the Unmarked Crosswalk Most Drivers Do Not Know About
Here is the correction the insurer is counting on you not knowing: a crosswalk in Texas does not have to be painted.
Section 541.302(2) defines a crosswalk two ways. One is marked by surface markings. The other needs no paint at all: the portion of a roadway at an intersection within the connections of the lateral lines of the sidewalks on opposite sides. That is an unmarked crosswalk, it is statutory rather than judge-made, and Section 552.003's driver duty applies there exactly as on a painted one.
Two honest limits, because overstating this is its own mistake. An unmarked crosswalk exists only at an intersection, never mid-block. And the definition turns on the sidewalks on either side, so at an intersection with no sidewalks the question is genuinely unsettled in Texas. We will tell you which side of that line your case falls on.
One more myth: crossing outside a crosswalk is generally not illegal in Texas. Section 552.005 imposes a duty to yield, not a prohibition. The actual prohibition is narrow, applying between adjacent signalized intersections, and Austin has enacted no general jaywalking ordinance. Being outside a crosswalk can reduce what you recover. It does not end your claim.
Austin adds a layer: Austin City Code Section 12-1-35 defines a vulnerable road user to expressly include pedestrians. A local ordinance that names you is worth a great deal when liability is disputed.
Austin and Texas Pedestrian Crash Numbers
These figures are sourced, because most pedestrian accident pages quote numbers years out of date.
Statewide, TxDOT recorded 768 pedestrian deaths across 6,077 pedestrian crashes in 2024, the most recent year TxDOT has published. Roughly 1,450 people suffered suspected serious injuries.
In Austin the trend has improved. The City reports 30 pedestrian fatalities in 2025, down from 39 in 2024, and serious pedestrian injuries down from 59 to 50. These are preliminary City figures. Where a crash is fatal, the claim becomes a wrongful death case with its own rules.
That improvement does not help the person it happened to. Thirty deaths is still thirty families.
Safety Tips for Pedestrians in Austin
If you can do anything at the scene, do these. Insist police make a report: Texas repealed the driver self-report form in 2017, so if no officer comes, no report will ever exist. Photograph the intersection from where you were standing, including the paint and the sidewalk positions. Get names, not plate numbers. Say nothing about fault.
Your Own Auto Policy May Cover You While You Are on Foot
Most pedestrian accident victims assume the driver's policy is the only money available. Frequently it is not.
Your own auto policy can cover you on foot. Section 1952.101 of the Insurance Code defines uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage around the driver's use of a vehicle, not yours, and the standard Texas policy extends UM/UIM to you or any family member with no requirement that you be in a car. Struck by a driver with minimum limits, your own UIM can sit behind that coverage. Resident relatives too.
Personal injury protection is a separate pocket. PIP must be offered on every Texas policy, can be rejected only in writing, and pays regardless of fault — including when you are struck as a pedestrian. Many people carry it without knowing.
One hard limit on a hit and run. Texas requires actual physical contact for an uninsured motorist claim. A driver who forces you off the road without touching you does not trigger UM coverage, however clearly it was their fault.
Finding every applicable policy is ordinary work for a pedestrian accident attorney, and it is the difference between a policy-limits result and a real recovery.
The Legal Process for Pedestrian Accident Cases in Austin
A pedestrian accident case runs a predictable course. We investigate and preserve evidence first, notify every carrier including your own, work the medical picture until the treatment plan is clear, then demand. If the number is not serious we file, and in Travis County that means a docket and a jury pool we know. Most cases settle. The ones that settle well are the ones the other side believes will actually be tried.
Free Consultation with Top Austin Pedestrian Injury Lawyers
Our firm offers a free consultation for anyone dealing with a pedestrian accident in Austin. It’s available 24/7, so you can talk through your case and your options and get real advice on your rights and the paths to compensation. Call SMB Law, PC at (512) 561-5003 if you need an Austin pedestrian accident lawyer. When you are choosing an Austin pedestrian accident lawyer, experience and track record matter. Attorney Shane M. Boasberg brings more than two decades of Texas legal experience, with a background spanning private practice, the Texas Legislature, and the Office of the Texas Attorney General, recognition by Texas Monthly as a Rising Star, and membership in the State Bar of Texas, the Austin Bar Association, and the Capital Area Trial Lawyers Association. We handle pedestrian accident cases on a contingency fee, so you owe nothing unless we win, and from our office at 1204 San Antonio Street in downtown Austin, near the Travis County courthouse, we represent injured clients across Travis, Williamson, and Hays counties.
Summary
Navigating the aftermath of a pedestrian accident in Austin can be daunting, but understanding the steps to take and seeking legal assistance can make a significant difference. From seeking immediate medical attention and documenting the accident scene to contacting an experienced pedestrian accident lawyer, each step is crucial for protecting your rights and securing fair compensation. Pedestrians in Texas are often injured due to factors such as inadequate pedestrian infrastructure and increased traffic congestion, which contribute to the frequency of these accidents.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do immediately after a pedestrian accident in Austin?
Call police and insist on a report, get medical attention the same day, photograph the scene from where you were standing, and get witness names. Do not discuss fault with anyone, including the reflexive apology. Then call an Austin pedestrian accident lawyer before you speak to an adjuster.
How can I prove driver negligence in a pedestrian accident?
Through the statutes and the physical evidence. Section 552.003 requires drivers to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, marked or unmarked, and Section 552.008 imposes a due-care duty regardless of where you were. Signal timing data, business camera footage, and the vehicle event data recorder are recoverable early and usually gone within months.
What types of compensation can I claim after a pedestrian accident?
You can claim compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and emotional distress after a pedestrian accident. Those pieces all matter for addressing how the crash has affected your life.
What is the modified comparative fault rule in Texas?
Under Section 33.001 you are barred only if your share of responsibility is greater than 50 percent. At exactly 50 percent you still recover half; at 51 percent you recover nothing. Below that, Section 33.012(a) reduces your damages by your percentage.
How long do I have to file a pedestrian accident claim in Texas?
Two years from the crash under Section 16.003. But if the City of Austin may be responsible the notice deadline is 45 days under its charter, and six months for TxDOT and other governmental units. Those are the deadlines that actually catch pedestrian cases.
Pedestrian Accident Lawyers Serving Nearby Communities
SMB Law, PC represents clients across Central Texas. Choose your city for local court, filing, and case details: