Pedestrian and Cyclist Fatality Lawyer in Austin, TX Crosswalk Duties and Lane Rules

What Austin's numbers actually show

The city's 2025 severe crash review reports pedestrian deaths falling from 39 in 2024 to 30 in 2025, with pedestrian serious injuries down from 59 to 50 and bicyclist serious injuries from 27 to 21. Deaths among motorists, motorcyclists, bicyclists and e-scooter riders rose over the same period, and e-scooter serious injuries went from 5 to 7. Citywide, 2025 closed with 99 traffic deaths and 301 serious injuries. Across Travis County, TxDOT counted 139 fatal crashes and 155 fatalities in 2024. The city also estimates that most of its traffic deaths happen on state-owned roadway rather than city streets, which decides which agency's records and which notice period matter.

The crosswalk duty, and the passing prohibition beside it

Section 552.003 of the Transportation Code requires an operator to stop and yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing in a crosswalk where no signal is in place or in operation, and it applies where the pedestrian is on the operator's half of the roadway or approaching so closely as to be in danger. Subsection (c) then prohibits passing a vehicle that has stopped at a crosswalk to permit a pedestrian to cross. That second rule is the one behind many multi-lane deaths, where the first driver stops and the driver in the adjacent lane does not.

The general duty applies even outside a crosswalk

Section 552.008 requires an operator to exercise due care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian, to sound the horn when necessary, and to exercise proper precaution on observing a child or an obviously confused or incapacitated person. A pedestrian outside a marked crossing is therefore not outside the law's protection. Section 552.003(d) adds an enhanced penalty where the offense causes serious bodily injury or death to a pedestrian who is blind or has a disability, including a fine and 30 hours of community service.

A cyclist is a driver, with lane rules of their own

Section 551.101 gives a person operating a bicycle the rights and duties applicable to a driver of a vehicle. Section 551.103 directs a cyclist moving slower than other traffic to ride as near as practicable to the right curb, then lists the exceptions that matter in a claim: passing, preparing to turn left, avoiding an unsafe condition, and riding on a roadway where the outside lane is less than 14 feet wide with no designated bike lane. Persons may also ride two abreast where they do not impede traffic. Those exceptions are frequently the answer to a defense that the cyclist should have been further right.

Which government owns that intersection

Ownership drives the deadline. Where the city is implicated, its claim process sets a 45-day written notice, and section 101.101(b) ratifies that shorter charter period against the statute's six-month default. Where the roadway belongs to the state, a different unit and a different file are in play. Section 101.056 also removes discretionary policy and design decisions from the chapter, so a signal timing choice and a broken signal head are not treated alike.

Comparative responsibility, applied to a person on foot

Because section 33.003 requires percentages assigned in whole numbers to every claimant and defendant, a defense in these cases is usually built around the decedent's own share. Section 33.001 bars recovery only where that share exceeds 50 percent, and section 33.013 then holds each defendant to its own percentage. Lighting, sight lines, crossing distance, signal phase and vehicle speed all feed those numbers, which is why the physical scene is worth documenting before it is altered.

Records to secure while they exist

The officer's crash report is filed electronically under section 550.062 not later than the tenth day, and section 550.065 allows a person who may sue because of a death to obtain it for a $6 fee. Nearby business and transit video usually overwrites within days. Where the Travis County Medical Examiner took the case, the autopsy report is requested separately from that office. Nothing here is legal advice about any crossing or any crash, and a question about one belongs with the attorney advertising on this site.