How Texas Right-of-Way Rules Affect Your Texas City Accident Claim

The Texas Transportation Code gives Texas City pedestrians right-of way over vehicles in several situations. Vehicles must yield to Texas City pedestrians in the following circumstances.

• When a pedestrian crosses in an intersection crosswalk area (marked or unmarked) with a green or “walk” signal, he holds the legal right-of-way.
• When a pedestrian crosses in an intersection crosswalk area where no traffic signal exists, he has the right-of-way.
• When the pedestrian is already in the crosswalk area and in danger of being struck by the vehicle if it doesn’t yield, a vehicle must yield.
• When the pedestrian is approaching on a sidewalk that crosses an alley, building, private driveway, or private road entrance – exit point, the vehicle must yield.

But Texas City pedestrians can lose their right-of-way if they disobey the traffic laws. Some of these laws are fairly obscure, and Texas City pedestrians may not be aware of them. The pedestrians will lose their right-of-way under these circumstances.

• When a pedestrian crosses an intersection diagonally, or against a yellow “wait” or red “stop” signal.
• When a pedestrian crosses the road at areas other than intersection crosswalk areas, pedestrian tunnels or pedestrian overpasses.
• When a pedestrian suddenly steps out into nearby traffic making it impossible for drivers to yield in time to prevent injury or accident.
• When a pedestrian walks in the road instead of on an available sidewalk.
• When a pedestrian walks in the same direction as vehicular traffic where there’s no sidewalk.

If you are an able-bodied, rational adult pedestrian and you violate pedestrian traffic rules and get hit by an SUV, chances are that you won’t be able to obtain financial compensation from the driver of the vehicle that hit you. Under the Texas Transportation Code, you did not have the legal right-of-way when you suffered injury from the vehicle accident.

BUT if you are a child pedestrian, or you are a mentally or physically incapacitated pedestrian, the Texas Transportation Code in Section 552.008 includes a caveat to provide for your safety:

Sec. 552.008. DRIVERS TO EXERCISE DUE CARE. Notwithstanding another provision of [Section 552], the operator of a vehicle shall:(1) exercise due care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian on a roadway;(2) give warning by sounding the horn when necessary; and (3) exercise proper precaution on observing a child or an obviously confused or incapacitated person on a roadway.

This basically means that even if your child was not in full compliance with the Texas Transportation Code regarding pedestrians when he was hit by an SUV, the other driver still bears some fault for the accident. Section 552.008 clearly makes allowances for a lesser ability among children and incapacitated persons to comply with pedestrian laws. Even if your child did not hold the legal right-of-way when he was struck by an SUV, under Section 552.008, the driver that hit him held a greater obligation to exercise due care on the roadways because the pedestrian was a child pedestrian.