Getting struck by a car changes everything — the hospital visits, the missed work, the stacks of bills. One of the first things many of my clients ask is whether their own actions that day will cost them the case. Maybe they crossed mid-block. Maybe they looked at their phone for a second. Maybe the driver is already telling police that the pedestrian “came out of nowhere.” If that describes your situation, read on.

I’m Travis S. Kelley, and I handle pedestrian accident cases at Kelley Wolff Injury Attorneys | Austin Accident Lawyers out of Austin, Texas. This post addresses the questions I hear most often from pedestrians who were hurt — and who worry that their own fault will shut the door on recovery. It won’t. But the details matter.

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Can I Still Recover Compensation If I Was Partly at Fault as a Pedestrian in Texas in Austin?

Yes, you can — as long as your share of the fault does not exceed 50 percent. Texas follows a modified comparative fault rule, codified in Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 33.001. Under that statute, a plaintiff who is 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing. A plaintiff who is 50 percent or less at fault can still recover, but the damages award is reduced by their percentage of responsibility.

Here is what that means in practice. Say a jury finds that a driver ran a red light but also determines you were 30 percent at fault for crossing outside a crosswalk while distracted. If your total damages come to $200,000, you would receive $140,000 — the full amount minus the 30 percent reduction. The driver’s insurer will almost certainly argue that your fault percentage should be as high as possible. That is precisely where legal representation makes a concrete financial difference.

In my experience, insurers in Texas routinely inflate the pedestrian’s fault percentage during early settlement talks. They know most people don’t fully understand the 51 percent bar. They also know that if they can push your assigned fault above that threshold, they pay nothing. A pedestrian accident attorney can counter that by building a complete liability picture — witness statements, traffic camera footage, 911 call logs, and, where applicable, data from the driver’s vehicle event recorder.

Austin has seen a meaningful increase in pedestrian traffic around the Domain, South Congress, and East Sixth Street corridors. More foot traffic means more accidents, and more accidents mean more disputes over who bears how much blame. If you were hit in any of those areas — or anywhere else in Travis County — do not assume your own fault bars your claim before speaking with an Austin pedestrian accident attorney.

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How Does Texas Comparative Fault Law Affect Your Pedestrian Accident Claim?

Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 33 sets up a proportionate responsibility system. Every party to an accident — drivers, pedestrians, even third parties like municipalities that maintain traffic signals — can be assigned a percentage of fault. The jury (or an adjustor in a pre-trial settlement) weighs the evidence and assigns those percentages.

What matters most for pedestrians is understanding that comparative fault is not a simple on/off switch. It is a sliding scale. A pedestrian who jaywalked is not automatically at fault, and a driver who had the right of way is not automatically absolved if they were speeding or distracted. Texas law requires drivers to exercise reasonable care regardless of circumstances, including keeping a proper lookout for pedestrians. That duty exists even when a pedestrian is technically in the wrong place.

FindLaw’s overview of Texas negligence law explains proportionate liability well if you want a plain-language primer. For case-specific analysis, though, you need someone who knows how Travis County juries actually weigh pedestrian fault in practice — and that requires local experience, not a general legal database.

One scenario I see repeatedly: a pedestrian crosses at a marked crosswalk but against the “Don’t Walk” signal. The driver was also going 15 mph over the speed limit. In that situation, both parties share fault. A skilled Austin car accident attorney working a pedestrian case will focus on what the driver could have done differently — and will document every contributing factor on the driver’s side to keep the pedestrian’s fault assignment as low as possible.

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What If the Driver Who Hit Me Fled the Scene?

Hit-and-run pedestrian accidents are more common than most people realize. If the driver left before police arrived, your claim does not simply disappear — but it does take a different path.

The first option is your own uninsured motorist (UM) coverage. Under Texas Insurance Code § 1952.101, insurers are required to offer UM/UIM coverage with every auto policy. If you were in a vehicle before the accident, or if a household member has auto insurance, that policy may cover your injuries even though you were on foot at the time of impact. Texas courts have generally held that a pedestrian struck by an uninsured or unidentified driver can collect under a UM policy tied to a vehicle they have a meaningful relationship to. The exact outcome depends on how the policy is written, so read the language carefully or have an attorney review it.

Second, traffic and security camera footage often captures more than people expect. In Austin, city-operated traffic cameras, private business cameras along major commercial corridors, and doorbell cameras in residential neighborhoods can all capture a fleeing vehicle’s plate or make and model. Acting fast is critical here — many systems overwrite footage within 24 to 72 hours.

Third, if the accident occurred because of poor road design, a missing crosswalk signal, or inadequate lighting, the City of Austin or TxDOT may share liability. Claims against government entities in Texas have strict notice requirements and shorter timelines than standard personal injury claims, so if you think road conditions played any role, contact an attorney as soon as possible.

One thing I always tell clients in hit-and-run situations: file a police report immediately, even if you don’t have the driver’s plate number. The report creates an official record, which your UM insurer will require before processing the claim. Do not skip that step.

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What Compensation Can You Recover After Being Hit by a Car in Austin?

Texas law does not cap compensatory damages in most pedestrian accident cases. What you can recover falls into two broad categories: economic damages and non-economic damages.

Economic damages are the concrete financial losses — emergency room bills, surgeries, physical therapy, prescription costs, lost wages during recovery, and projected future lost earnings if your injuries affect your ability to work. These amounts are documented with bills, pay stubs, and expert testimony from medical and vocational professionals.

Non-economic damages cover pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium for a spouse. These are harder to quantify, but they are real and recoverable. Texas does cap non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases, but that cap does not apply to pedestrian accidents involving a negligent driver.

In cases involving severe or permanent injuries, damages can include future medical care modeled out over a lifetime. A pedestrian who sustains a spinal cord injury at 35 may need several hundred thousand dollars or more in ongoing medical costs over the next several decades. That future cost needs to be accurately captured in the claim — actuarial tables, life care planners, and medical economists are often retained as expert witnesses to make that case.

The CDC’s data on pedestrian fatalities and injuries consistently shows pedestrian accidents generate among the highest average injury severity scores of any roadway collision type. That directly corresponds to higher medical costs and longer recovery windows, which means your potential damages may be larger than you assume.

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Can You Recover Compensation for a Traumatic Brain Injury?

Yes. A traumatic brain injury, or TBI, is compensable in a Texas pedestrian accident claim in the same way any other physical injury is. The challenge is that TBIs are frequently underdiagnosed in the days immediately following the accident, and symptoms often emerge or worsen weeks later.

The Mayo Clinic’s resource on traumatic brain injury lists symptoms that include persistent headaches, cognitive difficulties, mood changes, and sleep disruption. Many of my clients initially dismiss these symptoms or are told by an ER physician to “watch and wait.” By the time a neurologist confirms a TBI, weeks or months have passed. Insurance companies then argue the injury couldn’t have been serious because the victim didn’t seek specialist care right away.

That argument can be defeated, but it requires building a clear medical timeline. If you were hit by a car in Austin and experienced any head impact — even if you didn’t lose consciousness — get evaluated by a neurologist, not just an ER physician. Document every symptom, no matter how minor it seems. Those records become the backbone of your TBI claim.

Johns Hopkins Medicine’s neurology resources note that even “mild” TBIs can cause lasting cognitive and functional impairment. Courts and juries are increasingly aware of this, and a well-documented TBI claim can support substantial non-economic damages for cognitive loss, personality changes, and diminished quality of life — in addition to the direct medical costs.

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Can You Recover for a Permanent Disability?

If your pedestrian accident left you with a permanent disability — a spinal injury, an amputated limb, permanent cognitive impairment, or chronic pain that prevents you from returning to your prior work — Texas law allows you to recover damages that reflect the full scope of that lifetime impact.

That includes future medical expenses, future lost earnings calculated across your expected working years, home modification costs, and the long-term cost of in-home care or assistive devices. Non-economic damages for a permanently disabled plaintiff encompass not just past suffering but projected future pain, emotional harm, and loss of the activities that made up your daily life.

The key word in all of this is documentation. I have seen cases where a client had clearly permanent injuries but an inadequate damages model that left enormous compensation on the table. Proving permanent disability requires more than a physician’s note. It requires a life care plan built by a certified specialist, vocational expert testimony about future earning capacity, and often testimony from a forensic economist. Our team at Kelley Wolff Injury Attorneys | Austin Accident Lawyers coordinates those experts from the early stages of a case — not as an afterthought before trial.

The NIH’s research on long-term disability outcomes following traumatic injury reinforces what practitioners see clinically: pedestrian accident survivors with permanent injuries often face cascading health complications over time, driving costs well beyond the immediate post-accident period. Any damages model that ignores long-term complication rates is almost certainly undervaluing the claim.

If you or a family member suffered a fatal pedestrian accident, Texas law also provides a path to recovery through a wrongful death claim. Our Austin wrongful death attorneys handle those cases as well.

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Common Mistakes That Hurt Pedestrian Accident Claims

A few patterns come up again and again, and each one costs clients real money.

Giving a recorded statement to the driver’s insurer without legal counsel is probably the most damaging. Adjustors are trained interviewers. A single sentence — “I wasn’t really paying attention” — can be replayed at mediation to inflate your fault percentage. You are not required to give a recorded statement to the other party’s insurer. Decline politely and call an attorney first.

Waiting too long is the second mistake. Texas has a two-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims under Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003. Two years sounds like a lot of time until you factor in the months it takes to gather complete medical records, locate witnesses, and prepare a demand package. Evidence disappears — cameras get overwritten, witnesses move, memories fade. Earlier is always better.

Settling before you understand the full extent of your injuries is the third. Insurers move fast on soft settlements when they sense a claimant is desperate. Once you sign a release, you cannot reopen the claim even if a TBI diagnosis comes in six months later. Do not accept a settlement before your treating physicians have established a clear prognosis, preferably including a statement on maximum medical improvement.

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What to Do Right After a Pedestrian Accident in Austin?

Call 911 and stay at the scene. Get medical attention even if you feel fine — adrenaline masks pain effectively in the first hours. Document everything you can: photos of the vehicle, the road conditions, any visible injuries, and the surrounding area. Get the names and contact information of every witness. If the driver stays, note their plate number, insurance information, and license.

Then contact a pedestrian accident attorney before speaking to any insurance company. An Austin motor vehicle accident attorney who regularly handles pedestrian cases will know exactly what evidence preserves your claim and what missteps will erode it.

The American Bar Association’s guidance on accident claims and Justia’s Texas personal injury resources are useful starting points for general research, but neither replaces case-specific legal counsel from someone who knows Texas courts.

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Talk to Our Team Before You Decide Anything

If you were hit by a car in Austin — whether you were partly at fault, the driver fled, or your injuries are severe — you deserve an honest assessment of what your claim is actually worth. Our Austin personal injury attorneys handle cases throughout Travis County and across Texas, and we take pedestrian accident cases on contingency, which means no fees unless we recover for you.

You can learn more about our team’s background and experience before reaching out. When you’re ready, contact us to schedule a free consultation, or call us directly at (512)-470-6068.

Visit our Austin office at 17800 Hamilton Pool Rd Ste. 203, Austin, TX 78738, United States. We’re here to give you a straight answer — not a sales pitch.

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Written by Travis S. Kelley. Read more about the author.