Motorcycle Crash Lawyer in San Antonio: Crash Types, Fault and the 51 Percent Rule

How Texas divides fault

Chapter 33 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code governs. Under Section 33.003, the jury decides a percentage of responsibility, in whole numbers, for each claimant, each defendant, each settling person and each designated responsible third party, for causing or contributing to cause the harm. Section 33.012 then reduces the claimant’s damages by the claimant’s own percentage. Section 33.001 bars recovery entirely when that percentage is greater than 50.

There is one more rule that matters when more than one party is to blame. Under Section 33.013, a defendant found more than 50 percent responsible is jointly and severally liable, which means that defendant can be made to pay all of the damages the claimant recovers, not just its own share. In a crash involving a driver and, for example, the company the driver was working for, that can decide where the money comes from.

Rider’s share of responsibility	Effect on the rider’s damages
0 percent	No reduction
10 percent	Reduced by 10 percent
30 percent	Reduced by 30 percent
50 percent	Reduced by half
51 percent or more	No recovery

Left-turn crashes

The crash we see most is the left turn. A driver waiting to turn across traffic looks, sees a gap, and turns into the path of an oncoming motorcycle. Transportation Code Section 545.152 says a driver turning left at an intersection, or into an alley, private road or driveway, must yield the right-of-way to a vehicle approaching from the opposite direction that is in the intersection or close enough to be an immediate hazard. A motorcycle is a vehicle like any other under that rule.

TxDOT’s motorcycle safety campaign says 37 percent of motorcycle fatalities happen at a roadway intersection, and its advice to drivers is to let the motorcycle pass rather than turn in front of the rider. The usual defence is that the driver looked and did not see the motorcycle. That is not a defence to the duty to yield: the question is whether a careful driver would have seen what was there to be seen. On busy San Antonio arterials such as Bandera Road, Culebra Road and Fredericksburg Road, with turning traffic at every shopping centre, we look at sight lines, signal phases and the time the driver had.

Lane changes and merges

On Loop 410, Loop 1604, I-10 and I-35, the second common crash is a driver moving into the lane a motorcycle already occupies. Section 545.060 says a driver on a road with marked lanes must drive as nearly as practical entirely within a single lane and may not move from the lane unless that movement can be made safely. Section 545.104 requires a signal to change lanes. A motorcycle in a car’s blind spot is still there.

Texas added a rule written for riders on September 1, 2023. Section 545.0605 says the operator of a motorcycle is entitled to the full use of a lane, and that a motor vehicle may not be driven in a manner that deprives a motorcycle of the full use of a lane. A driver who drifts into a rider’s lane, or squeezes a rider toward the lane line to get past, is breaking a rule made for exactly that situation.

Rear-end crashes

A rider stopped at a light or in a freeway backup has nowhere to go when a distracted driver comes up behind. Section 545.062 says a driver following another vehicle must keep an assured clear distance, so that, considering the speed, traffic and conditions, the driver can stop safely without colliding. A rear-end collision with a stopped motorcycle is one of the clearest cases of fault there is, but it is often one of the worst for the rider, who is thrown forward or pinned.

Texas also bans reading, writing or sending an electronic message on a portable wireless communication device while driving unless the vehicle is stopped, under Section 545.4251. When a driver’s phone use is in question, the phone records are among the first things we ask the other side to preserve.

Drivers pulling out

A driver leaving a parking lot, a gas station or a side street must yield too. Section 545.155 says a driver about to enter or cross a highway from an alley, building, private road or driveway shall yield the right-of-way to a vehicle approaching on the highway. Section 545.153 says a driver who has stopped at a stop sign must yield to a vehicle approaching so closely as to be an immediate hazard. These crashes happen all along the commercial strips in Leon Valley, Live Oak and Universal City.

Road hazards, debris and construction zones

Gravel on a curve, a load that fell off a truck, a pothole, a raised seam between lanes in a construction zone: a car rolls over these, a motorcycle may not. The responsible party may be the driver whose load came loose, a contractor working on the road, or a government body. A claim against the city, the county or the state runs under the Texas Tort Claims Act, and Section 101.101 says the government is entitled to written notice within six months of the incident, which a city charter can shorten. Those claims have their own limits, so they need to be looked at quickly.

Drunk and reckless drivers

TxDOT counts 906 people killed in Texas in 2025 in crashes where a driver was under the influence of alcohol. When the driver who hit you was drunk or acted with conscious indifference to the risk, a claim may include exemplary damages. Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 41.003 allows them only on clear and convincing evidence of fraud, malice or gross negligence, and only on a unanimous jury.

Bias against riders, and how we answer it

Insurers rely on a picture of riders that has little to do with the riders we represent. The arguments repeat from case to case, and each has an answer in the evidence:

What the insurer says	What we look at
The rider was speeding	Witness accounts, the bike’s damage pattern, the other vehicle’s stored crash data, video and a reconstruction. A claim of speed needs proof.
The rider came out of nowhere	Sight lines at the scene. A motorcycle in plain view was there to be seen; TxDOT itself says drivers misjudge a motorcycle’s distance and speed.
The rider was weaving	Section 545.0605 gives a rider the full use of the lane, and moving within it is not a violation.
Riders take risks	That is not evidence of anything this rider did. Section 33.003(b) does not allow a question about a person’s conduct to reach the jury without sufficient evidence.
No helmet, so it is the rider’s fault	A helmet does not cause a crash. At most the insurer can argue about a head injury, and it needs evidence for that.

Lane splitting, riding two abreast and passing

Section 545.0605 sets the lane rules for riders too. Two motorcycles may ride two abreast in a single lane. A rider may not ride more than two abreast, may not operate between lanes of traffic moving in the same direction, and may not pass a vehicle while in the same lane as that vehicle. So lane splitting and lane filtering are not legal in Texas, and an insurer will raise them if they were part of the crash.

Breaking one of those rules does not end a claim on its own. The jury still asks how much each person’s conduct contributed to the harm. A rider who was filtering at a light and was hit by a driver who changed lanes without looking may still recover, reduced by the rider’s share. Our article on lane splitting in Texas goes into the rule in more detail.

Helmets and fault

Transportation Code Section 661.003 requires a helmet for riders and passengers on public roads, except for a person 21 or older who completed a motorcycle operator training and safety course or is covered by health insurance for motorcycle crash injuries. It is a traffic rule with a fine of $10 to $50. It says nothing about injury claims. When an insurer argues that a rider without a helmet is responsible for part of a head injury, the argument is about the harm, not about who caused the crash, and it has to be proved. Our page on Texas motorcycle laws sets out the helmet rule in full.

An illustration of a fault split

This is an illustration, not a past case. A driver turns left across a rider’s lane on Culebra Road. The insurer says the rider was going a few miles over the limit. The jury hears the witnesses and the reconstruction, decides the driver should have yielded and the rider had little time to react, and finds the driver 85 percent responsible and the rider 15 percent. The rider’s damages are reduced by 15 percent. If the insurer had convinced the jury the rider was 51 percent responsible, the rider would recover nothing. The difference between those two outcomes is the evidence gathered in the first weeks.

To see how a claim moves from here, read how a motorcycle accident lawyer San Antonio riders hire handles the claim. For what to do in the first days, see what to do after a motorcycle wreck.

Questions people ask