Call 911 from the scene, even if you think you can ride home. Officers file a Texas Peace Officer's Crash Report (CR-3), and that report is often the only neutral record of where you and the driver were. Photograph the car's position before it moves, the damage to your bike and helmet, the lane markings, and the driver's license and insurance card. Get names and numbers from witnesses, because they leave fast. Then see a doctor the same day. Riders who wave off EMS and go home are the ones insurers later accuse of not really being hurt.

Fault turns on evidence, not on who was riding a bike. To recover, you show that the driver owed you a duty of care, broke it, and caused your injuries. Most Austin bike crashes come down to a handful of driver errors: turning left across an oncoming rider, right-hooking a cyclist going straight, pulling out of a driveway or parking lot without looking, passing too close, or opening a door into the bike lane. Each of those is a traffic-law violation before it is anything else, which is why the crash report and any nearby camera footage matter so much.

Austin City Code § 12-1-35 requires a passenger car or light truck to pass a cyclist by at least three feet, and a commercial truck by at least six feet. When there is a second lane going the same direction, the driver is supposed to move over into it. The ordinance also makes it illegal to threaten, harass, or intimidate a cyclist. Texas has no statewide three-foot rule, since state law requires only a "safe distance," so the Austin ordinance does real work in a city case, and a violation of it is powerful evidence of negligence.

Usually not. No Texas law requires you to use a bike lane. Texas Transportation Code § 551.103 asks a cyclist moving slower than traffic to ride as near the right curb as practicable, and it then lists four situations where you do not have to: passing, preparing to turn left, avoiding a hazard such as a parked car, debris, or a pothole, and riding in a lane too narrow to share, which the statute defines as an outside lane under 14 feet wide with no bike lane. Most Austin traffic lanes are under 14 feet. Taking the lane is often the legal choice, not a mistake.

Yes, as long as your share of the fault is 51% or less. Texas uses proportionate responsibility under Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 33.001: a jury assigns each party a percentage, and your recovery drops by yours. A rider found 20% responsible for a $200,000 verdict collects $160,000. At 51% or more, you collect nothing. That rule is exactly why insurers push blame onto cyclists early and hard, and why what you say in the first phone call matters.

Texas has no helmet law for adult cyclists, so riding without one breaks no rule. Austin City Code § 12-2-31 does require a helmet for riders under 18. Insurers still raise the helmet question in every claim, including ones where the rider's injuries were to the shoulder, hip, or knee and a helmet was irrelevant. A missing helmet also does not change who ran the red light. Expect the argument; it is answerable.

The person who opened the door. Texas Transportation Code § 545.418 prohibits opening a door on the traffic side unless it is reasonably safe to do so, and that duty falls on whoever opened it, which is often a passenger or a rideshare customer rather than the driver. Their liability is usually covered by the vehicle's auto policy, and a rideshare passenger's exit may bring other coverage into play. You also have a claim if the door never touched you and you were hurt swerving to miss it.

Often yes, through your own auto policy. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage follows you, not your car, so it typically applies when you are hit while riding a bicycle, and it usually extends to family members in your household. Personal injury protection (PIP) pays medical bills and part of lost wages regardless of who caused the crash. Both depend on your policy language, so send it over. One warning on hit-and-runs: UM claims generally require a prompt police report, so call it in from the scene.

The at-fault driver's property damage coverage, and this part moves separately from your injury claim, so you do not have to wait for the injury case to finish to get riding again. Push for the cost of a comparable replacement rather than a depreciated figure, and itemize what is actually damaged: frame, wheels, drivetrain, power meter, computer, shoes, kit, glasses. Replace the helmet after any impact even if it looks fine, since the foam is single-use. Do not repair or throw out the bike before it is photographed and, in a serious case, inspected.

You may have a claim against the City of Austin, TxDOT, or a private contractor, but the deadlines are brutally short. The Texas Tort Claims Act limits when a governmental unit can be sued at all, and the City of Austin's charter requires written notice of a claim within 45 days of the incident. Miss that and the case can be dead long before the two-year statute runs. Claims against a construction contractor are ordinary negligence claims with no notice requirement, which makes identifying the right defendant the first job.

Yes. Texas Transportation Code § 551.107 defines Class 1, 2, and 3 electric bicycles and gives their riders the same rights and duties as any other cyclist, including access to roads and bike lanes where bicycles are allowed. Being on an e-bike does not make you a motorist, does not require a license or insurance, and does not weaken your claim, though expect an adjuster to ask about your speed. Rented scooters and dockless devices are a different situation, because the rental agreement you tapped through may contain an arbitration clause.

Texas recognizes past and future medical expenses, lost earnings, lost earning capacity, physical pain, mental anguish, physical impairment, disfigurement, and property damage. Two matter more for cyclists than the categories suggest. Physical impairment covers what the injury took away outside of work, including the ability to ride at all, which for many riders is the real loss. Disfigurement covers the scarring that road rash and surgical hardware leave behind. Where a rider is killed, the family's claim is a wrongful death claim with its own rules.

Two years from the date of the crash, under Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003. Two exceptions come up often in bike cases: a rider who was under 18 when hit generally has until two years after turning 18, and any claim against a city, county, or state agency carries a far shorter written-notice deadline, 45 days in Austin. The practical clock is shorter than the legal one anyway, because business and traffic camera footage of the intersection is usually overwritten within days or weeks.

You are not required to, and there is rarely a reason to do it before you have advice. The questions are built to create fault: how fast you were going, how far from the curb you were riding, whether you had a helmet, whether the driver "just didn't see you." Your obligations to your own insurer are different, because a UM or PIP claim usually requires you to cooperate. Knowing which company you are talking to, and what you owe them, is worth one phone call first.

Personal injury cases are handled on a contingency fee: no money up front, and a fee only if there is a recovery. The consultation is free and carries no obligation. Your fee agreement is put in writing and explained before you sign anything, so you know exactly what the arrangement is at the start.

El bufete tiene su sede en Austin y representa a clientes en todo Texas, principalmente en los condados de Travis, Williamson y Bastrop.

La certificación de especialidad otorgada por el Colegio de Especialización Legal de Texas reconoce a los abogados que demuestran una experiencia sustancial en un área específica del derecho, aprueban un examen riguroso y se someten a la evaluación de sus pares.Brent A. Devere está certificado en Derecho del Consumidor y Comercial, Derecho de Quiebras del Consumidor, Derecho Inmobiliario Residencial y Derecho Inmobiliario Comercial por el Colegio de Especialización Legal de Texas.Trabajar con un abogado certificado en su especialidad significa que su caso está a cargo de un abogado con conocimiento, experiencia y compromiso comprobados en su campo.

La consulta inicial es gratuita. Puede llamar a la oficina de Austin o utilizar el formulario de contacto para programarla, y no tiene ningún costo ni obligación conversar sobre su situación.

Sí. El bufete maneja la mayoría de los tipos de litigios. Si su asunto no aparece entre las áreas de práctica, comuníquese con la oficina para conversar sobre si el bufete puede ayudarle.