If you were hit by a car while walking in Austin, the driver is responsible when they failed to yield in a crosswalk or failed to use due care, and your own auto policy may add coverage. Austin’s downtown, the University of Texas area, and the I-35 frontage roads see heavy foot traffic. Owsley Law Firm handles Austin pedestrian cases and charges no fee unless it wins.
Where are pedestrians hit most in Austin?
Austin pedestrians are at greatest risk where foot traffic meets fast roads. The I-35 frontage roads through central Austin carry high-speed traffic beside neighborhoods, bus stops, and businesses, with long distances between signals. Downtown streets around Sixth Street, Congress Avenue, and Rainey Street fill with people at night, and the streets around the University of Texas campus carry students on foot all day.
The City of Austin runs a Vision Zero program aimed at ending traffic deaths and serious injuries, and it has studied the corridors where pedestrian crashes concentrate. Those public reports can help show that a road and its drivers posed a known risk.
- Frontage-road crashes along I-35 through central Austin
- Nightlife crashes downtown around Sixth Street and Rainey Street
- Campus-area crashes near the University of Texas
- Crashes at bus stops along major corridors such as Lamar, Riverside, and North Lamar
Did the driver have to yield to me?
In a crosswalk, usually yes. Transportation Code section 552.003 requires drivers to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk when no signal is in operation and the pedestrian is close enough to be in danger. At signals, pedestrians follow the walk signals. Outside a crosswalk, a pedestrian generally yields, but section 552.008 still requires every driver to use due care to avoid hitting a pedestrian.
Drivers must also yield to pedestrians on sidewalks when entering or leaving driveways and parking lots, which is a common cause of downtown and campus crashes.
What if the insurer says I was crossing mid-block?
Insurers often argue that a pedestrian was outside a crosswalk, distracted, or dressed in dark clothing. Under Chapter 33 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, a share of fault reduces your recovery and bars it only if it is more than 50 percent. A driver who was speeding, distracted, or failed to keep a lookout usually carries most of the responsibility, even if the pedestrian was not in a crosswalk.
Evidence decides it: video from nearby businesses, the crash report, witness accounts, the vehicle’s damage, and the lighting at the scene.
Who pays a pedestrian’s medical bills in Austin?
The at-fault driver’s liability insurance is the main source, but Texas minimum coverage is only $30,000 per person, which a serious pedestrian injury exceeds quickly. Your own auto policy may help even though you were on foot: personal injury protection and uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage often protect you as a pedestrian.
If the driver was working, for example for a delivery company or a rideshare platform, commercial or rideshare coverage may apply as well.
How serious are pedestrian injuries in Austin crashes?
A person on foot has no protection, so even a crash at city-street speed can cause broken legs and pelvis, head injuries, spinal injuries, and internal injuries. On the I-35 frontage roads and the major arterials, where speeds are higher, the injuries are often life-changing.
Those injuries often mean surgery, a long hospital stay, rehabilitation, and time away from work or school. A claim should account for all of it: past and future medical care, lost income and earning capacity, physical impairment, disfigurement, and pain and mental anguish. Documenting the future care with your doctors, rather than settling early on the first bills, is what protects the value of the claim.
What should you do after being hit by a car in Austin?
Get to emergency care. Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas is Austin’s Level I trauma center. Then:
- Get the driver’s name, plate, and insurance, or the plate number if they left
- Ask for the Austin Police report number
- Ask nearby businesses about video before it is overwritten
- Keep every medical record and bill
What if the driver was a CapMetro bus or city vehicle?
Claims against government vehicles fall under the Texas Tort Claims Act, which caps damages and requires written notice within six months under state law. A city charter can require notice even sooner, so acting early is essential.
How does the firm handle Austin pedestrian cases?
Owsley Law Firm handles Travis County cases from its Houston offices and meets Austin clients by appointment at 301 Congress Avenue, 12th Floor, or at home or in the hospital. The team gathers the video and records, identifies every policy, including your own, and deals with the insurers. Cases are filed in the Travis County civil district courts at the Civil and Family Courts Facility when suit is needed, generally within two years under section 16.003. There is no fee unless the firm recovers money for you.
Go deeper
More on pedestrian accidents in Austin and Texas.
Common questions
Austin pedestrian accidents questions
What if a hit-and-run driver struck me in Austin?
Your own uninsured motorist coverage may pay, and Texas law requires actual physical contact for an unknown hit-and-run driver claim, which a pedestrian strike satisfies. Report the crash and ask businesses for video quickly.
Can I recover if I was crossing against the signal?
Possibly. Your share of fault reduces the recovery, and only fault above 50 percent bars it. A driver who could have avoided you may still be mostly responsible.
What if I was hit on a scooter rather than on foot?
Scooter riders have different road rules than pedestrians, but a driver who failed to use due care is still responsible. The firm handles both.
Does Austin’s Vision Zero data help my case?
Public data showing that a corridor had a known history of pedestrian crashes can support a case, especially when a government road design is at issue, though such claims face Tort Claims Act limits.
How long do I have to file an Austin pedestrian claim?
Generally two years from the crash, and much shorter notice deadlines if a government vehicle or road is involved.