§ 18.032.Traffic Control Device Presumed to Be Lawful

An evidentiary shortcut that removes a formality from nearly every traffic collision case.

Proof of the existence of a traffic control device on or alongside a public thoroughfare is prima facie proof of all facts necessary to prove the proper and lawful installation of the device at that place — including proof of competent authority and an ordinance by a municipality or an order by the commissioners court of a county.

Without it, a party relying on a defendant running a stop sign would have to produce the ordinance or commissioners court order authorising that sign at that intersection. The section makes the sign's presence prove its own authority.

Subsection (b) does the same for one-way streets. Proof of a one-way street sign is prima facie proof that the thoroughfare was designated by proper and competent authority to be one-way in the direction the sign indicates.

"Traffic control device" includes a control light, stop sign, and one-way street sign — an inclusive definition, so other devices may qualify.

Subsection (d) preserves rebuttal: any party may rebut the prima facie proof. A sign installed without authority, or after the collision, can still be shown to be what it was.