87R16601 SCL-F
By: Leach H.B. No. 19
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 19:
By: Smith C.S.H.B. No. 19
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to civil liability of a commercial motor vehicle owner or
operator.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Chapter 72, Civil Practice and
Remedies Code, is amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER 72. LIABILITY OF MOTOR VEHICLE OWNER OR OPERATOR [TO GUEST]
SECTION 2. Chapter 72, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is
amended by adding Subchapter A, and a heading is added to that
subchapter to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER A. LIABILITY TO GUEST
SECTION 3. Sections 72.001, 72.002, 72.003, and 72.004,
Civil Practice and Remedies Code, are transferred to Subchapter A,
Chapter 72, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 4. Sections 72.002 and 72.003, Civil Practice and
Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
Sec. 72.002. LIMITATION NOT APPLICABLE. There is no
limitation under this subchapter [chapter] on the liability of an
owner or operator who is not related to the guest within the second
degree by consanguinity or affinity.
Sec. 72.003. EFFECT ON OTHER LIABILITY. (a) This
subchapter [chapter] does not affect judicially developed or
developing rules under which a person is or is not totally or
partially immune from tort liability by virtue of family
relationship.
(b) This subchapter [chapter] does not relieve the owner or
operator of a motor vehicle being demonstrated to a prospective
purchaser or relieve a public carrier of responsibility for
injuries sustained by a passenger being transported.
SECTION 5. Chapter 72, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is
amended by adding Subchapter B to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER B. ACTIONS REGARDING COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLES
Sec. 72.051. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Accident" means an event in which operating a
commercial motor vehicle causes bodily injury or death.
(2) "Civil action" means an action in which:
(A) a claimant seeks recovery of damages for
bodily injury or death caused in an accident; and
(B) a defendant:
(i) operated a commercial motor vehicle
involved in an accident; or
(ii) owned, leased, or otherwise held or
exercised legal control over a commercial motor vehicle or operator
of a commercial motor vehicle involved in an accident.
(3) "Claimant" means a person, including a decedent's
estate, seeking or who has sought recovery of damages in a civil
action. The term does not include:
(A) a passenger who, in a commercial transaction,
paid to ride in a commercial motor vehicle; or
(B) a passenger in a motor vehicle transporting
children to or from a school or school-sponsored event.
(4) "Commercial motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle
being used for commercial purposes in interstate or intrastate
commerce to transport property or passengers, deliver or transport
goods, or provide services. The term does not include a motor
vehicle used at the time of the accident primarily for personal,
family, or household purposes.
(5) "Compensatory damages" has the meaning assigned by
Section 41.001.
(6) "Employee" means a person who works for another
person for compensation. The term includes an "employee" as defined
by 49 C.F.R. Section 390.5 and any other agent or person for whom an
employer may be liable under respondeat superior.
(7) "Exemplary damages" has the meaning assigned by
Section 41.001.
(8) "Motor vehicle" means a self-propelled device in
which a person or property can be transported on a public highway.
The term includes a trailer when in use with a self-propelled device
described by this subdivision. The term does not include a device
used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.
(9) "Operated," "operating," and "operation," when
used with respect to a commercial motor vehicle, means to cause the
vehicle to move or function in any respect, including driving,
stopping, or parking the vehicle or otherwise putting the vehicle
into use or operation. These terms include a commercial motor
vehicle that has become disabled.
(10) "Video" means an electronic representation of a
sequence of images, with or without accompanying audio, depicting
either stationary or moving scenes, regardless of the manner in
which the sequence of images is captured, recorded, or stored.
Sec. 72.052. BIFURCATED TRIAL IN CERTAIN COMMERCIAL MOTOR
VEHICLE ACCIDENT ACTIONS. (a) In a civil action under this
subchapter, on motion by any defendant, the court shall provide for
a bifurcated trial under this section.
(b) A motion under this section shall be made not later than
the 120th day after the date the defendant bringing the motion files
the defendant's original answer.
(c) The trier of fact shall determine liability for and the
amount of compensatory damages in the first phase of a bifurcated
trial under this section.
(d) The trier of fact shall determine liability for and the
amount of exemplary damages in the second phase of a bifurcated
trial under this section.
(e) For purposes of this section, a finding by the trier of
fact in the first phase of a bifurcated trial that an employee
defendant was negligent in operating an employer defendant's
commercial motor vehicle may serve as a basis for the claimant to
proceed in the second phase of the trial on a claim against the
employer defendant that requires a finding by the trier of fact that
the employee was negligent in operating the vehicle as a
prerequisite to the employer defendant being found negligent in
relation to the employee defendant's operation of the vehicle.
Sec. 72.053. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH REGULATIONS OR
STANDARDS. (a) In this section, "regulation or standard" includes
a statute, regulation, rule, or order regulating equipment or
conduct adopted or promulgated by the federal government, a state
government, a local government, or a governmental agency or
authority.
(b) In a civil action under this subchapter, evidence of a
defendant's failure to comply with a regulation or standard is
admissible in the first phase of a trial bifurcated under Section
72.052 only if, in addition to complying with other requirements of
law:
(1) the evidence tends to prove that failure to comply
with the regulation or standard was a proximate cause of the bodily
injury or death for which damages are sought in the action; and
(2) the regulation or standard is specific and
governs, or is an element of a duty of care applicable to, the
defendant, the defendant's employee, or the defendant's property or
equipment when any of those is at issue in the action.
(c) Nothing in this section prevents a claimant from
pursuing a claim for exemplary damages relating to the defendant's
failure to comply with other applicable regulations or standards as
provided by Chapter 41, or from presenting evidence on that claim in
the second phase of a bifurcated trial.
Sec. 72.054. LIABILITY FOR EMPLOYEE NEGLIGENCE IN OPERATING
COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE. (a) In a civil action under this
subchapter, an employer defendant's liability for damages caused by
the ordinary negligence of a person operating the defendant's
commercial motor vehicle shall be based only on respondeat superior
if the defendant stipulates that, at the time of the accident, the
person operating the vehicle was:
(1) the defendant's employee; and
(2) acting within the scope of employment.
(b) If an employer defendant stipulates in accordance with
Subsection (a) and the trial is bifurcated under Section 72.052, a
claimant may not, in the first phase of the trial, present evidence
on an ordinary negligence claim against the employer defendant that
requires a finding by the trier of fact that the employer
defendant's employee was negligent in operating a vehicle as a
prerequisite to the employer defendant being found negligent in
relation to the employee defendant's operation of the vehicle.
(c) Nothing in this section prevents a claimant from
pursuing:
(1) an ordinary negligence claim against an employer
defendant for negligence in maintaining the commercial motor
vehicle involved in an accident;
(2) an ordinary negligence claim against an employer
defendant for another claim that does not require a finding of
negligence by an employee as a prerequisite to an employer
defendant being found negligent for its conduct or omission, or
from presenting evidence on that claim in the first phase of a
bifurcated trial; or
(3) a claim for exemplary damages arising from an
employer defendant's conduct or omissions in relation to the
accident that is the subject of the action as provided by Chapter
41, or from presenting evidence on that claim in the second phase of
a bifurcated trial.
Sec. 72.055. ADMISSIBILITY OF VISUAL DEPICTIONS OF
ACCIDENT. (a) In a civil action under this subchapter, a court may
not require expert testimony for admission into evidence of a
photograph or video of a vehicle or object involved in an accident.
(b) If properly authenticated under the Texas Rules of
Evidence, a photograph or video of a vehicle or object involved in
an accident is presumed admissible, even if the photograph or video
tends to support or refute an assertion regarding the severity of
damages or injury to an object or person involved in the accident
that is the subject of a civil action under this subchapter.
SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an action commenced on or after the effective date of this Act. An
action commenced before the effective date of this Act is governed
by the law applicable to the action immediately before the
effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2021.