Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4688 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R3699 SCL-F
2	2	By: Leach H.B. No. 4688
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to civil liability of a commercial motor vehicle owner or
10	10	operator.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Sections 72.053(a) and (b), Civil Practice and
13	13	Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
14	14	(a) In this section, "regulation or standard" includes a
15	15	statute, regulation, rule, policy, procedure, or order regulating
16	16	equipment or conduct, including one adopted or promulgated by the
17	17	owner or operator of the motor vehicle, the federal government, a
18	18	state government, a local government, or a governmental agency or
19	19	authority.
20	20	(b) In a civil action under this subchapter, evidence of a
21	21	defendant's failure to comply with a regulation or standard is
22	22	admissible in the first phase of a trial bifurcated under Section
23	23	72.052 only if admissible under other law and, in addition to
24	24	complying with other requirements of law:
25	25	(1) the evidence tends to prove that failure to comply
26	26	with the regulation or standard was a proximate cause of the bodily
27	27	injury or death for which damages are sought in the action; and
28	28	(2) the regulation or standard is specific and
29	29	governs, or is an element of a duty of care applicable to, the
30	30	defendant, the defendant's employee, or the defendant's property or
31	31	equipment when any of those is at issue in the action.
32	32	SECTION 2. Sections 72.054(a) and (b), Civil Practice and
33	33	Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
34	34	(a) In [Except as provided by Subsection (d), in] a civil
35	35	action under this subchapter, an employer defendant's liability for
36	36	damages caused by the ordinary negligence of a person operating the
37	37	defendant's commercial motor vehicle shall be based only on
38	38	respondeat superior if the defendant stipulates, within the time
39	39	provided by Section 72.052 for filing a motion to bifurcate, that,
40	40	at the time of the collision, the person operating the vehicle was:
41	41	(1) the defendant's employee; and
42	42	(2) acting within the scope of employment.
43	43	(b) If [Except as provided by Subsection (c), if] an
44	44	employer defendant stipulates in accordance with Subsection (a) and
45	45	the trial is bifurcated under Section 72.052, a claimant may not, in
46	46	the first phase of the trial, present evidence on an ordinary
47	47	negligence claim against the employer defendant, such as negligent
48	48	entrustment, that requires a finding by the trier of fact that the
49	49	employer defendant's employee was negligent in operating a vehicle
50	50	as a prerequisite to the employer defendant being found negligent
51	51	in relation to the employee defendant's operation of the vehicle.
52	52	This subsection does not prevent a claimant from presenting
53	53	evidence allowed by Section 72.053(b).
54	54	SECTION 3. Sections 72.054(c), (d), and (e), Civil Practice
55	55	and Remedies Code, are repealed.
56	56	SECTION 4. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
57	57	only to an action:
58	58	(1) commenced on or after the effective date of this
59	59	Act; or
60	60	(2) pending on the effective date of this Act and in
61	61	which the trial, or any new trial or retrial following motion,
62	62	appeal, or otherwise, begins on or after the effective date of this
63	63	Act.
64	64	(b) In an action commenced before the effective date of this
65	65	Act, a trial, new trial, or retrial that is in progress on the
66	66	effective date of this Act is governed by the law applicable to the
67	67	trial, new trial, or retrial immediately before the effective date
68	68	of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
69	69	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.