Getting hit by a car changes everything in an instant. Whether it happened on South Congress, near UT campus, or on a side street in East Austin, the injuries are real, the bills pile up fast, and the question of fault gets complicated quickly — especially if you weren’t in a marked crosswalk when the crash happened.

I’m Travis S. Kelley, and I’ve spent years handling pedestrian accident cases across Texas. The question I get most often from people who were hurt while crossing mid-block or at an unsignalized intersection is some version of: does it even matter where I was crossing? The short answer is yes, it matters — but it doesn’t automatically end your case.

At Kelley Wolff Injury Attorneys | Austin Accident Lawyers, we work with injured pedestrians across Austin and throughout Texas. What I want to do in this post is give you an honest look at how these cases actually work under Texas law in 2026 — including the specific situations that come up all the time: jaywalking, unmarked crosswalks, distracted drivers, impaired pedestrians, and the question of what your case might be worth.

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Do I Have a Pedestrian Accident Case if I Was Crossing Outside a Crosswalk When Hit in Austin?

Yes, you may still have a valid pedestrian accident claim even if you were crossing outside a designated crosswalk. Texas follows a modified comparative fault rule under Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 33.001. That means your compensation gets reduced by whatever percentage of fault a jury assigns to you — but you can still recover as long as you were not more than 50% responsible for the crash.

Crossing outside a crosswalk — commonly called jaywalking — does not automatically assign you 50% or more of the fault. What matters is the full picture of the driver’s behavior. If the driver was speeding, distracted, intoxicated, or simply not paying attention to the road, those factors carry significant weight.

Here’s how I think about it in practice: if a driver is going 50 mph in a 30-mph zone and hits a pedestrian who is mid-block, the pedestrian’s jaywalking might draw 20-30% of the fault. The pedestrian can still recover 70-80% of their damages. But if a pedestrian darts out from between parked cars with no warning and the driver had no realistic chance to stop, the fault allocation shifts dramatically.

Texas Transportation Code § 552.005 does require pedestrians who cross at a point other than a marked crosswalk or intersection to yield to vehicles. That’s a real legal factor the defense will raise. But yielding to vehicles and being struck by a negligent driver are two separate issues. Drivers in Texas are always required to exercise reasonable care to avoid striking pedestrians, regardless of where the pedestrian is crossing. Cornell Law School’s overview of comparative negligence explains the basic framework well if you want a plain-language breakdown.

The practical takeaway: get the case evaluated by an attorney before assuming you can’t recover anything. I’ve seen cases where clients assumed they were at full fault — because a police officer mentioned jaywalking at the scene — and those same clients ended up recovering substantial compensation once we built the full record.

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What if the Driver Who Hit Me Was Texting — Does That Help My Pedestrian Accident Case?

Absolutely. A texting driver is a negligent driver, and in many situations, a driver who was texting faces a strong claim of gross negligence if the evidence supports it.

Under Texas Transportation Code § 545.4251, it’s illegal to read, write, or send an electronic message while operating a motor vehicle. If the driver was texting at the moment of impact, that statute violation is what lawyers call negligence per se — meaning the act of breaking the law is itself evidence of negligence. You don’t have to separately argue that they should have been watching the road.

Here’s the part that matters most to your case: a texting driver who hits a pedestrian outside a crosswalk significantly shifts the comparative fault analysis. If the driver was looking at a phone and not the road, their ability to argue that you “should have yielded” becomes much weaker. Their own conduct was the dominant cause of the crash.

In my experience, cell phone records are one of the most powerful pieces of evidence in these cases — and one of the most underutilized. Carriers keep text and data logs that show activity timestamps. Subpoenaing those records early in litigation has made the difference in more than one case I’ve handled. The window to preserve this evidence matters. Carriers don’t keep granular usage logs indefinitely.

The CDC’s distracted driving data consistently shows that distraction-related crashes cause thousands of serious injuries and deaths each year. When we can show a driver was actively on a phone, juries respond to that. It’s concrete. It’s provable. And it directly undercuts the defense narrative that the pedestrian was at fault.

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Can I File a Pedestrian Accident Claim if I Was Crossing in an Unmarked Crosswalk?

Yes — and this is a distinction many people don’t know about. Texas law recognizes unmarked crosswalks as legally valid crossing points.

Under Texas Transportation Code § 552.001, a “crosswalk” includes not just painted crosswalk markings but also the portion of a roadway at an intersection within the connections of the lateral lines of the sidewalks on opposite sides of the highway. In plain terms: if you’re crossing at an intersection — even one with no painted stripes — you’re likely in a legal crosswalk.

This matters enormously. Drivers are required by law to yield to pedestrians in both marked and unmarked crosswalks. A pedestrian crossing at an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection is not jaywalking. They are exercising a legal right.

I’ve had clients who assumed they were at fault because there was no paint on the ground. In several of those cases, the crossing point was legally an unmarked crosswalk, and the driver who failed to yield bore the primary fault. The FindLaw overview of pedestrian laws is a good starting point for understanding how states treat crosswalk rights, though Texas-specific statutes always control.

The practical issue in unmarked crosswalk cases is often proving where exactly the crash happened. Surveillance footage, eyewitness accounts, and accident reconstruction can all establish that the pedestrian was at an intersection — and therefore in a legal crosswalk — at the time of impact. That documentation is worth gathering immediately after the crash.

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How Much Is a Pedestrian Accident Case Worth in Texas?

There’s no fixed number, and any lawyer who gives you a firm dollar figure before reviewing your full medical records and the driver’s insurance coverage is doing you a disservice.

That said, pedestrian accident cases in Texas tend to produce higher settlements and verdicts than most car-on-car collisions. The physics are simple: a person weighs 150-200 pounds, and a car weighs 3,000-5,000 pounds or more. The injuries are correspondingly severe — traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, multiple fractures, internal organ damage. The Mayo Clinic’s trauma resources and Johns Hopkins Medicine both document how pedestrian impact injuries frequently require extended hospitalization, surgery, and long-term rehabilitation.

Texas law allows injured pedestrians to recover several categories of damages:

Economic damages cover everything with a dollar amount: medical bills (current and future), lost wages, reduced earning capacity, and any other out-of-pocket costs tied to the injury.

Non-economic damages include pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and disfigurement. Texas does not cap non-economic damages in personal injury cases — only in medical malpractice cases.

Punitive (exemplary) damages are available in Texas when the defendant’s conduct was grossly negligent or intentional. A drunk driver or a driver who was recklessly speeding through a pedestrian area can face punitive damages. Under Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 41.008, punitive damages are capped at the greater of $200,000 or twice the economic damages plus up to $750,000 in non-economic damages.

In 2026, policy limits remain a real constraint. Texas requires only $30,000 per person in bodily injury liability coverage as a minimum. Many drivers carry only minimum coverage, which can create a gap between what your case is worth and what’s actually collectible. We always check for underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage on the victim’s own auto policy — it often fills that gap.

The severity of injury, the clarity of fault, and available insurance coverage are the three biggest variables. Cases involving permanent disability, significant lost income, or a defendant with high policy limits can settle well above six figures. Cases with disputed liability and limited insurance coverage may settle for less even when the injuries are real.

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Can I Recover if I Was Hit While Crossing at a Crosswalk Without a Walk Signal in Austin?

Generally, yes. Crossing during a “don’t walk” or red hand signal does introduce a comparative fault issue, but it does not eliminate your right to recover under Texas law.

Texas Transportation Code § 552.002 prohibits pedestrians from starting to cross when a “don’t walk” or waiting pedestrian symbol is displayed. If you stepped off the curb after that signal appeared, a jury could assign you some percentage of fault. But “some fault” is not “all fault.”

Here’s the critical distinction I tell clients: there’s a big difference between stepping into the intersection on a fresh “don’t walk” signal and being mid-crossing when a driver runs a red light and hits you. In the first scenario, your fault percentage is likely higher. In the second, the driver who ran the light bears the overwhelming majority of fault regardless of what the pedestrian signal showed.

Austin has several intersections — particularly downtown on 6th Street and along South Lamar — where pedestrian signals are short and traffic patterns are aggressive. I’ve handled cases where pedestrians began crossing on a walk signal, the light changed, and they were hit by a driver who didn’t stop. Those cases are not complicated. The driver who failed to yield to a pedestrian already in the crosswalk is at fault.

The question of whether you had a walk signal becomes one factor in the overall fault analysis. If the driver was also speeding, distracted, or impaired, those factors weigh heavily in your favor regardless of what the signal showed when you started crossing.

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Can I File a Pedestrian Accident Claim if I Was Intoxicated When I Was Hit by a Car in Texas?

Yes. Being intoxicated does not forfeit your right to file a claim.

Under Texas’s modified comparative fault system, your intoxication is one factor — not a disqualifier. The driver still had a legal duty to exercise reasonable care. If the driver was negligent regardless of your condition, you have a claim.

That said, I want to be direct about how intoxication plays out in real cases. Defense attorneys will use it. They will present evidence of your blood alcohol content to the jury and argue that your intoxication was the primary cause of the crash — that you stumbled into traffic, failed to look, or made erratic movements. A jury might assign you 30%, 40%, or even more of the fault depending on the specific facts.

The question is always: would a sober pedestrian have been safe in the same location? If the driver was going the wrong way, ran a red light, or was themselves drunk, your intoxication becomes far less relevant to the causation analysis. If you were lying in the road — a situation we see in some cases — the fault analysis shifts significantly toward you, though the driver still has duties under Texas law.

Justia’s Texas case law resources have detailed summaries of how Texas courts have handled comparative fault cases involving impaired pedestrians. The outcomes vary widely based on facts.

Practically speaking, cases involving intoxicated pedestrians are harder and typically settle for less than cases where the pedestrian was sober. But harder is not impossible. I’ve recovered compensation for clients who were intoxicated at the time of impact when the driver’s negligence was clear and well-documented.

One additional consideration: if the crash happened near a bar, restaurant, or venue that over-served you, there may be a Texas Dram Shop claim against that establishment under Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code § 2.02. That’s a separate theory of liability worth discussing with an attorney.

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Steps to Take After a Pedestrian Accident in Texas

The actions you take in the hours and days after a crash directly affect what evidence is available and how strong your case is.

Call 911 and get a police report. Even if you feel okay, get checked out medically. Adrenaline masks pain, and some serious injuries — particularly traumatic brain injuries and internal bleeding — don’t present obvious symptoms immediately. The NIH’s guidance on traumatic injury is worth reading if you’re uncertain whether to seek care.

Photograph the scene before you leave if you’re physically able. Capture the crosswalk markings (or lack thereof), any traffic signals, skid marks, the vehicle damage, and your injuries. Get names and numbers of any witnesses. Ask if nearby businesses have security cameras — request that footage within 24 hours, because many systems overwrite automatically.

Avoid making detailed statements to the driver’s insurance company before speaking with an attorney. Adjusters are trained to identify statements they can use to reduce your payout. A quick factual statement is fine; a recorded narrative of the events is not something you need to provide without counsel.

Our Austin personal injury attorneys handle pedestrian cases on contingency — meaning you pay nothing unless we recover for you. That structure exists specifically so that cost is not a barrier to getting qualified legal help early.

If the crash involved a commercial vehicle, the investigation process is more involved, and evidence preservation becomes even more urgent. Our Austin motor vehicle accident attorneys have handled cases involving both private drivers and commercial operators. The legal framework differs, but the immediate steps are similar.

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Talk to a Pedestrian Accident Lawyer Before You Decide Anything

The statute of limitations in Texas for personal injury claims is two years from the date of injury under Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 16.003. That sounds like plenty of time, but critical evidence disappears fast — surveillance footage, phone records, witness memories. Waiting hurts cases.

If you’ve been hit by a car in Austin — whether in a crosswalk, outside one, at an intersection, or mid-block — get a case evaluation before assuming you have no claim. The comparative fault system in Texas is designed to allocate responsibility proportionally, not to bar injured people from recovery because they weren’t in a perfect position when they were struck.

Kelley Wolff Injury Attorneys | Austin Accident Lawyers represents injured pedestrians throughout Texas. We’ve handled these cases from initial investigation through trial, and we understand the specific dynamics of Austin’s streets, traffic patterns, and local courts. You can learn more about our team and experience on our website.

Contact us to schedule a free consultation. Call us at (512)-470-6068 or visit our Austin office at 17800 Hamilton Pool Rd Ste. 203, Austin, TX 78738, United States. There’s no fee unless we win.

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Written by Travis S. Kelley, pedestrian accident attorney at Kelley Wolff Injury Attorneys | Austin Accident Lawyers.