89R13828 SCL-F
By: Morgan H.B. No. 3095
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to damage liability for a collision with a motorist who
failed to establish financial responsibility.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 72, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is
amended by adding Subchapter C to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER C. LIABILITY FOR COLLISION WITH CERTAIN MOTOR VEHICLE
OWNERS AND OPERATORS
Sec. 72.101. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Financial responsibility" has the meaning
assigned by Section 601.002, Transportation Code.
(2) "Noneconomic damages" means costs for physical and
emotional pain and suffering, physical impairment, emotional
distress, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment, loss of companionship,
services, and consortium, and any other nonpecuniary loss
proximately caused by a motor vehicle collision. The term does not
include:
(A) treatment and rehabilitation;
(B) medical expenses;
(C) loss of economic or educational potential;
(D) loss of productivity;
(E) absenteeism;
(F) support expenses;
(G) accidents or injury; and
(H) any other pecuniary loss proximately caused
by a motor vehicle collision.
Sec. 72.102. PROHIBITED RECOVERY OF CERTAIN DAMAGES. (a)
Except as provided by Section 72.103, an individual may not recover
damages for bodily injury, death, or property damage or noneconomic
damages sustained as a result of a motor vehicle collision for which
the individual failed to establish financial responsibility in
accordance with Chapter 601, Transportation Code.
(b) Except as provided by Section 72.103, the personal
representative of an individual described by Subsection (a) who
died as a result of a motor vehicle collision may not recover
damages described by Subsection (a) in a wrongful death action
brought under Subchapter A, Chapter 71, for the individual's death.
Sec. 72.103. EXCEPTIONS. Section 72.102 does not apply to:
(1) an individual who:
(A) at the time of the collision on which the
action is based had failed to establish financial responsibility in
accordance with Chapter 601, Transportation Code, for a period of
not more than 45 days; and
(B) before the period described by Paragraph (A),
had continuously established financial responsibility in
accordance with Chapter 601, Transportation Code, for at least one
year;
(2) an individual who, at the time of the collision on
which the action is based:
(A) was a passenger in a vehicle and was not the
owner or operator of the vehicle for which financial responsibility
was not established;
(B) was a minor under the age of 18; or
(C) was an active-duty member of the armed forces
of the United States who had returned from a deployment not more
than six months earlier; or
(3) damages caused by an individual who at the time of
the collision on which the action is based:
(A) was driving while under the influence of
alcohol or a controlled substance;
(B) caused the collision intentionally,
recklessly, or with gross negligence;
(C) improperly fled from the scene of the
collision; or
(D) was acting in furtherance of an offense or in
immediate flight from an offense that constitutes a felony.
SECTION 2. The limitation of liability for noneconomic
damages provided by Subchapter C, Chapter 72, Civil Practice and
Remedies Code, as added by this Act, is an exercise of authority
under Section 66(c), Article III, Texas Constitution, and takes
effect only if this Act receives a vote of three-fifths of all the
members elected to each house, as provided by Subsection (e) of that
section.
SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 72, Civil Practice and
Remedies Code, as added by this Act, applies only to a cause of
action that accrues on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.