Yes, In Texas, as long as you are not more than 50% to blame for causing an accident, you are able to collect damages for personal injury.
How Fault Impacts a Texas Personal Injury Case
Texas has a unique method of apportioning fault between participants to an accident. The statutory method, “comparative responsibility, ” is a relatively fair way of distributing fault after an accident.
Usually, it is up to the jury to decide whether or not someone caused the accident. Typically, a jury question lists all participants and asks the jury to apportion the fault between them – with a total of 100%.
If you were in an accident and partly at fault, you can still make a claim for injuries and damages. However, if your percentage of fault is more than one-half, you cannot get compensation.
Types of Personal Injury Cases Where Fault is Apportioned in Texas
- Car Wrecks
- Truck accidents
- Uber crashes
- Wrongful death lawsuits
- Construction accidents
- Other personal injury claims
In effect, the jury usually determines fault based on a percentage of each person’s responsibility for causing the accident. When both parties may have some responsibility for the accident, the jury usually apportions the blame by determining a percentage of fault for each person or entity designated.
The comparative responsibility scheme will not bar them from collecting damages as long as the personal injury victim is 50% or less at fault for an accident. Notably, an injury victim’s damages will be reduced by their percentage of fault.
Examples of Comparative Fault in Texas
By way of example, if an injury victim were found to have suffered damages of $1 million yet also found to be 10% responsible for the accident, the damages would be reduced by 10% to account for the victim’s fault. Thus, the compensation is reduced by law to $900,000.
However, if the personal injury victim is found to have been 51% or more responsible for the accident, the victim may be precluded from recovering damages under the Texas statutory scheme.
You May Still Recover Damages if You Are Less At Fault.
In short, personal injury victims who are partly responsible in Texas can still recover damages as long as they are not a majority of the cause of the accident.
If you have questions regarding whether or not you can maintain a case or whether a case is worth pursuing on your behalf, contact an experienced and reputable Houston personal injury attorney as early as possible, as certain time limits apply to all claims that can bar a case that is not timely brought.
Contact The Houston Personal Injury Lawyers at Baumgartner Law Firm for Help
If you have been injured in an accident in Houston, TX, and need help, contact our Houston car accident lawyers at Baumgartner Law Firm by calling (281) 587-1111.
6711 Cypress Creek Pkwy
Houston, TX 77069 (
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About Our Law Firm
Baumgartner Law Firm is a Houston personal injury law firm headed by Greg Baumgartner.
Our firm was established in 1985 and has helped thousands of injury victims get maximum compensation for their cases. If you have been injured in an accident in Houston, TX, contact us for a free, no-obligation consultation. (281) 587-1111.
Helping these areas around Houston
Houston, Sugar Land, Conroe, The Woodlands, Cypress, Spring, Atascocita, Kingwood, Tomball and across Texas.