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Austin Pedestrian Accident Attorneys · 30+ Years in Texas

Austin Pedestrian Accident Lawyers

Struck by a driver while walking, riding a Bird or Lime scooter, or biking in Austin? Many pedestrians don't realize their own auto policy's PIP and UM/UIM coverage can apply. Patterson Law Group identifies every layer. We serve Austin from our San Antonio office.

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How we serve Austin clients

Patterson Law Group does not maintain a brick-and-mortar office in Austin. We serve our Austin-area clients from our physical offices in Fort Worth, Arlington, and San Antonio (about 80 miles south on I-35). The initial case review is by phone or Zoom — at no cost — and our attorneys travel to Austin for depositions, mediations, court hearings, and trial. We know that PIP and UM/UIM on your own auto policy generally apply to a pedestrian or e-scooter rider struck by an at-fault driver — a coverage path many pedestrians and their families never realize they have. We handle Texas Tort Claims Act notice windows when a City of Austin, Travis County, CapMetro, or UT Austin vehicle was involved, and we know Austin's Vision Zero initiative and the §552.001 et seq. right-of-way framework that decides comparative fault in Texas pedestrian cases.

Greater Austin cities we serve

We represent pedestrian and e-scooter clients across the entire Central Texas / Austin metro — Travis, Williamson, Hays, Comal, Bastrop, and Caldwell counties.

Austin Round Rock Cedar Park Pflugerville Leander Bee Cave Lakeway San Marcos

Additional cities served: West Lake Hills, Buda, Kyle, New Braunfels, Georgetown, Hutto, Manor, Dripping Springs, and Wimberley. Counties covered: Travis, Williamson, Hays, Comal, Bastrop, and Caldwell.

What to do after an Austin pedestrian or e-scooter crash

  1. Get medical care immediately. Austin has Dell Seton Medical Center at UT Austin (Level I trauma, the only Level I in Central Texas), St. David's South Austin, St. David's Round Rock, and Ascension Seton.
  2. Capture the driver's information. Full name, license plate, insurance card photo, vehicle description. For e-scooter/e-bike crashes, also document the scooter unit number, app screenshots, and the trip record.
  3. Report the crash. Austin PD handles inside-city; Travis County Sheriff handles unincorporated; DPS handles state highways. Get the case number.
  4. Photograph the scene. Crash location, vehicle damage, road conditions, traffic controls, sight obstructions, scooter/bike condition, and visible injuries.
  5. Find witnesses. Pedestrian and e-scooter cases turn on independent-witness testimony.
  6. Do not give a recorded statement to the at-fault driver's insurer. Refer them to us. We send preservation-of-evidence letters within hours for surrounding business surveillance, traffic-camera footage, and (for e-scooter/e-bike cases) the share-fleet operator's telemetry records.

Texas pedestrian law — what Austin pedestrians should know

Two-year statute of limitations (§16.003)

Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code §16.003 sets a two-year SOL. Government-defendant claims against the City of Austin, Travis County, CapMetro, UT Austin, or the State of Texas may have Texas Tort Claims Act notice deadlines as short as six months under §101.101.

Driver's duty toward pedestrians (§552.005)

Texas Transportation Code §552.005 imposes a duty on every driver to exercise due care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian, give warning by sounding the horn when necessary, and exercise proper precaution upon observing a child or any obviously confused or incapacitated person.

Pedestrian right of way (§552.001 et seq.)

Texas Transportation Code Chapter 552 governs pedestrian right of way. §552.001 requires drivers to yield to pedestrians in unmarked crosswalks at intersections. §552.003 requires pedestrians to obey traffic-control signals. §552.006 requires pedestrians to use sidewalks where available.

Hit-and-run duties (§550.021, §550.023)

§550.021 makes leaving the scene of an injury crash a felony. §550.023 imposes a driver's duty to give information and render aid. Hit-and-run convictions support exemplary-damages claims under §41.003.

Modified comparative fault (§33.001)

You can recover damages as long as you are 50% or less at fault. Your recovery is reduced by your share of fault.

Paid or incurred medicals (§41.0105)

Limits medical-bill recovery to amounts actually paid or incurred. With Level I trauma stays at Dell Seton easily running into six figures, careful documentation matters.

PIP and UM/UIM cover pedestrians

Texas Personal Injury Protection coverage on your auto policy applies whether you were in a car, on a bike or scooter, or struck as a pedestrian. UM and UIM coverage under Tex. Ins. Code §1952.0511 on your auto policy also generally applies. A resident relative's policy may also apply.

Electric personal mobility devices (§552.0071)

Texas Transportation Code §552.0071 covers electric personal assistive mobility devices. Riders of e-scooters and similar devices have similar duties and protections in pedestrian-style crashes — particularly relevant in Austin's downtown and South Congress districts.

E-scooter and e-bike framework

Texas does not have a comprehensive statewide e-scooter statute. Austin city ordinances regulate where e-scooters can be ridden and parked. Product-liability claims against the scooter manufacturer or share-fleet operator may also be available — telemetry records from the fleet operator must be preserved within 30 days.

Driving on improved shoulder (§545.058)

Texas Transportation Code §545.058 generally prohibits driving on an improved shoulder. Drivers who hit pedestrians while illegally on the shoulder face per-se liability arguments.

Wrongful Death Act (Chapter 71)

If the pedestrian was killed, Chapter 71 gives the surviving spouse, children, and parents the right to recover for loss of love, companionship, financial support, and mental anguish. The survival statute (§71.021) preserves the pedestrian's pre-death pain-and-suffering claim for the estate.

Exemplary damages (§41.003)

Available on clear and convincing evidence of fraud, malice, or gross negligence. DWI by the at-fault driver, criminal hit-and-run under §550.021, knowing distraction, and racing all support gross-negligence claims.

Austin pedestrian-crash hot spots

  • 6th Street, Rainey Street, and Red River entertainment districts. Late-night DWI driver crashes at the entertainment-district perimeter. Pedestrians crossing E 6th, Red River, and the Rainey Street side streets. Austin's Vision Zero initiative has identified the downtown grid as a priority pedestrian-safety corridor.
  • SXSW, ACL, F1, and Convention Center corridor. Surge pedestrian volume during festival weeks — Cesar Chavez, 4th Street, Trinity, Brazos, and the Lady Bird Lake trailheads.
  • UT Austin campus perimeter. University foot traffic crossing Guadalupe Street ("The Drag"), Dean Keeton, MLK Boulevard, 21st Street, Speedway, San Jacinto, and Dean Keeton at I-35. Class-change times concentrate pedestrian volume.
  • South Congress (SoCo). Pedestrian, e-scooter, and bicycle traffic mixed with high vehicle volume between Lady Bird Lake and Oltorf. Mid-block crossings between restaurants and shops are a recurring pattern.
  • South Lamar and South 1st Street. Pedestrian crashes at signalized intersections and bus stops along the South Lamar entertainment corridor and South 1st bar district.
  • The Domain and Domain Northside. Pedestrian-and-shopper district crossings at Burnet Road, Braker Lane, and the Domain Drive perimeter.
  • East Austin and East 6th Street extension. Restaurant and bar district pedestrian volume east of I-35. Late-night crashes at signalized intersections.
  • Mueller mixed-use district. Family pedestrian volume in the master-planned Mueller community crossing Manor Road and Airport Boulevard.
  • Burnet Road and Anderson Lane. North Austin commercial corridor with high pedestrian volume at retail and restaurant centers.
  • William Cannon, Slaughter Lane, and Ben White Boulevard. South Austin arterial corridors with limited sidewalk continuity — pedestrian fatality patterns concentrate here.
  • CapMetro bus stops and METRORapid stations. Boarding and alighting pedestrian crashes on Lamar, Guadalupe/North Lamar, South Congress, Riverside, and Manor Road.
  • MetroRail Red Line at-grade crossings. Pedestrian-vs-train and pedestrian-vs-vehicle crashes at rail crossings between downtown and Leander.
  • I-35 frontage roads through downtown and East Austin. Highway-frontage pedestrian crashes — both intentional crossings and "stranded pedestrian" incidents.

Where greater-Austin pedestrian cases are heard

Travis County

Heman Marion Sweatt Travis County Courthouse, 1000 Guadalupe Street, Austin. The 53rd, 98th, 126th, 200th, 201st, 250th, 261st, 299th, 345th, 353rd, 419th, and 459th District Courts handle the civil docket.

Williamson & Hays

Williamson County cases (Round Rock, Cedar Park, Pflugerville, Leander, Georgetown) go to the Williamson County Justice Center, 405 Martin Luther King Jr Street, Georgetown — the 26th, 277th, 368th, 395th, and 425th District Courts. Hays County cases (Buda, Kyle, San Marcos) go to the Hays County Government Center, 712 S Stagecoach Trail, San Marcos — the 22nd, 207th, 274th, 428th, and 453rd District Courts.

Federal court (W.D. Tex.)

Cases with diversity of citizenship or substantial federal-law issues can be filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division, at 501 W 5th Street.

Comal County cases (New Braunfels) go to the Comal County Courthouse at 150 N Seguin Avenue, New Braunfels. Bastrop County cases go to the Bastrop County Courthouse at 803 Pine Street, Bastrop.

Other Austin injury cases we handle

Common questions from Austin pedestrian clients

What is the deadline to file an Austin pedestrian accident lawsuit?
Two years from the date of the crash under Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code §16.003. If the pedestrian was killed, the wrongful-death statute of limitations is also two years from the date of death under §16.003(b). Claims involving the City of Austin, Travis County, CapMetro, UT Austin, or the State of Texas can trigger Texas Tort Claims Act notice deadlines as short as six months under §101.101. CapMetro and UT Austin in particular are governmental units with strict short-fuse notice requirements that need to be addressed immediately.
Can I recover if I was crossing outside a crosswalk in Austin?
Yes, in many cases. Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code §33.001 applies a modified comparative-fault rule: you can recover as long as you are 50% or less at fault. Texas Transportation Code §552.005 imposes a duty on every driver to exercise due care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian — including those crossing mid-block. §552.005 also requires drivers to give warning by sounding the horn when necessary and to exercise proper precaution upon observing a child or any obviously confused or incapacitated person. The carrier will argue otherwise; we push back with sight-line photographs, lighting analysis, and vehicle speed reconstruction.
Does my own auto insurance cover me as a pedestrian struck by a driver?
Often yes — and many pedestrians and their families never realize they have this coverage. Texas Personal Injury Protection (PIP) on your auto policy applies whether you were driving, riding as a passenger, on a bike or scooter, or struck as a pedestrian. PIP defaults to $2,500 per person under Tex. Ins. Code §1952.151 unless you rejected it in writing. Uninsured Motorist (UM) and Underinsured Motorist (UIM) coverage under Tex. Ins. Code §1952.0511 on your auto policy generally also applies to a pedestrian struck by an at-fault driver who is uninsured or under-insured. A resident relative's policy may also apply. We map every available policy in the household.
What about e-scooter and e-bike injuries in Austin?
Austin was one of the earliest major U.S. cities to adopt shared e-scooter and e-bike fleets (Bird, Lime, Spin, Lyft, and others). When an e-scooter or e-bike rider is struck by a motor vehicle, the same Texas comparative-fault and PIP/UM/UIM framework applies. Texas Transportation Code §552.0071 covers electric personal assistive mobility devices. When the rider is injured by a defective scooter or e-bike, product-liability claims under Texas common law also become available. We pursue every available defendant — the at-fault driver, the share-fleet operator, the device manufacturer, and any negligent road-maintenance authority. The fleet operator's telemetry records need to be preserved within the first 30 days via spoliation letter.
What if the driver who hit me ran from the scene?
Texas treats a hit-and-run with an unidentified driver as an Uninsured Motorist claim when there is corroborating evidence — independent witness testimony, surveillance video, or physical contact with the phantom vehicle. We pursue surveillance footage from nearby businesses, traffic-camera video, doorbell-camera footage, and witness IDs in the first 72 hours, before footage is overwritten. Texas Transportation Code §550.021 makes leaving the scene of an injury crash a felony, §550.023 imposes a driver's duty to render aid and exchange information, and a criminal hit-and-run conviction can support exemplary damages under §41.003 in the civil case.
Where will my Austin pedestrian case be filed?
Most Travis County civil cases are heard at the Heman Marion Sweatt Travis County Courthouse, 1000 Guadalupe Street, Austin. The 53rd, 98th, 126th, 200th, 201st, 250th, 261st, 299th, 345th, 353rd, 419th, and 459th District Courts handle the civil docket. Williamson County cases (Round Rock, Cedar Park, Pflugerville, Leander, Georgetown) go to the Williamson County Justice Center, 405 Martin Luther King Jr Street, Georgetown — the 26th, 277th, 368th, 395th, and 425th District Courts. Hays County cases (Buda, Kyle, San Marcos) go to the Hays County Government Center, 712 S Stagecoach Trail, San Marcos. Cases involving CapMetro buses, MetroRail, or City of Austin vehicles implicate the Texas Tort Claims Act with notice deadlines as short as six months under §101.101.
What hospitals handle the most severe pedestrian injuries in Austin?
Dell Seton Medical Center at UT Austin (1500 Red River Street) is the only Level I trauma center in Central Texas and is where most life-threatening pedestrian and e-scooter injuries in the Austin metro are stabilized. St. David's Medical Center, Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin, and St. David's South Austin Medical Center handle high-acuity orthopedic and surgical care. St. David's Round Rock, Baylor Scott & White Round Rock, and Ascension Seton Williamson handle Williamson County trauma. Pedestrian-vs-vehicle crashes routinely produce traumatic brain injuries, spinal fractures, and complex orthopedic trauma; Dell Seton trauma stays easily reach six figures and careful §41.0105 documentation is critical.
Does Patterson Law Group have an office in Austin?
We do not have a brick-and-mortar office in Austin. We serve our Austin-area clients from our physical offices in Fort Worth, Arlington, and San Antonio (about 80 miles south on I-35). The initial case review is by phone or Zoom — at no cost — and our attorneys travel to Austin for depositions, mediations, court hearings, and trial.
How much does it cost to hire Patterson Law Group for an Austin pedestrian case?
Nothing up front. We take pedestrian-injury cases on contingency — you pay no attorney fees unless we recover for you. The consultation is free and confidential, and we advance investigation, expert, and litigation costs out of pocket until the case resolves. Se habla español.

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