Yes, and it is a meaningful difference rather than a technicality. Texas holds a common carrier to the degree of care a very cautious and prudent person would use under the same circumstances, a standard the Texas Supreme Court applied in Speed Boat Leasing v. Elmer. Ordinary drivers owe reasonable care. A carrier owes more, and conduct that would be defensible for a private motorist may not be defensible for a cab.

Potentially both, and the company's answer will be that it is neither. Many cab drivers lease their vehicle and are treated as independent contractors, which the company uses to distance itself from the driver's conduct. That argument limits one theory of liability without touching the others: the company can still be responsible for negligent hiring, inadequate driver vetting, poor maintenance of a vehicle it owns, or unsafe dispatch practices.

The insurance structure. Rideshare coverage is set by Texas statute in fixed tiers that apply identically to every company and change based on what the app was doing. A taxi carries commercial vehicle-for-hire coverage tied to local permitting requirements, and the limits vary from operator to operator. There is no statute to look it up in, so the policy has to be identified and read.

You still have a full claim against whoever was. Beyond that, the taxi's own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage may apply if the at-fault driver's limits fall short of your injuries, which is common given Texas requires only $30,000 per person. Passengers frequently assume that a crash caused by another car means the taxi's insurance is irrelevant. It often is not.

No. A passenger carries no share of the fault, so you can pursue either driver or both and leave the percentage dispute to them. That is true whether the taxi driver caused it, the other driver caused it, or a jury eventually splits it between them.

That is a claim, and it is one the higher standard of care speaks to directly. Pulling away before a passenger is fully seated, stopping in a live traffic lane, discharging a rider on the driver's side into moving traffic, or leaving a passenger to step into a hazard are all failures of the duty a carrier owes. No collision is required.

Many do, along with dispatch logs, GPS breadcrumb data, and meter records that establish where the vehicle was, how fast it was moving, and when the trip started and ended. All of it sits on retention schedules and is routinely purged. A preservation demand sent in the first weeks is the difference between having that record and arguing about memory.

The same framework applies. A vehicle carrying passengers for hire is generally a common carrier in Texas, whatever it is called, and the operator typically holds commercial coverage well above a personal auto policy. Larger operators may also be subject to federal motor carrier rules on driver qualification and hours of service.

That is a serious problem for the operator and a useful piece of evidence for you, because operating outside the permitting rules is a departure from a standard the city set. Practically, your own uninsured motorist coverage may be where recovery actually comes from, and it typically covers you as a passenger in someone else's vehicle.

No. It limits one route to the company and leaves the others intact, and it does nothing at all to the commercial policy covering the vehicle itself. Treat it as an opening position rather than an answer.

Two years from the crash under Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003. Dispatch records, GPS data, and in-vehicle camera footage are usually gone long before that, so the evidence deadline is the one that matters.

The firm is based in Austin and represents clients throughout Texas, primarily in Travis County, Williamson County, and Bastrop County.

Board certification by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization recognizes attorneys who demonstrate substantial experience in a specific area of law, pass a rigorous examination, and receive peer review.Brent A. Devere is Board Certified in Consumer and Commercial Law, Consumer Bankruptcy Law, Residential Real Estate Law, and Commercial Real Estate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.Working with a board-certified attorney means your case is handled by a lawyer with proven knowledge, experience, and commitment in their field.

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