§ 86.005.Certain Traffic Law Violations Excluded

An exclusion that removes the chapter's most obvious over-reach.

The chapter does not apply to a claim arising from an offense defined by Subtitle C, Title 7, Transportation Code — the rules of the road.

Without it, the chapter would swallow ordinary collision litigation. Most traffic offences are misdemeanors, most collisions involve someone violating a rule of the road, and a driver who was speeding or ran a light and received a fine would be a person convicted of a misdemeanor injured during its commission.

Because the convicted-person definition includes receiving a fine, a paid traffic ticket would qualify — and the injury would frequently not have been sustained but for the violation.

The result would be that a large share of injured motorists lost their claims entirely, and paid the other side's fees for bringing them. Comparative responsibility, not this chapter, is how Texas allocates fault in collisions.

The exclusion is limited to Subtitle C of Title 7 — the rules of the road. Other Transportation Code offences, and offences elsewhere in the law committed while driving, are not excluded by this section.