Comparative Fault When an Uninsured Driver Is Sued

Attorney Answer

Yes — Texas divides responsibility by percentage, and a share of the blame on the other driver reduces what you can be made to pay. But that only happens if you defend the case. Papers that are ignored turn into a default judgment for the whole amount, and having no assets today does not make a judgment go away.

Texas uses modified comparative responsibility. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.003 has the trier of fact assign a percentage of responsibility to each claimant, each defendant, each settling person, and each designated responsible third party. Section 33.012(a) then directs the court to reduce the claimant's damages by a percentage equal to the claimant's own percentage of responsibility. And § 33.001 provides that a claimant may not recover damages if his percentage of responsibility is greater than 50 percent. So if the person suing you is found more than half responsible for the crash, he recovers nothing at all; if he is found forty percent responsible, his recovery drops by that much. Section 33.013(a) adds that a liable defendant owes only its own percentage, with the exceptions in § 33.013(b) for a defendant more than 50 percent responsible or one who acted in concert with another in certain intentional Penal Code offenses.

The citation is not the same thing as civil fault. It is the State's accusation in a separate proceeding, decided under different rules. Whether you were negligent, and by what percentage, is decided in the civil case on the evidence there. That is a real point in your favor if you believe the crash was not your fault — and a point a lawyer has to make for you, inside the lawsuit.

Being uninsured has its own consequences, separate from the suit. Tex. Transp. Code § 601.051 provides that a person may not operate a motor vehicle in this state unless financial responsibility is established for that vehicle. Under § 601.191(b) a first offense is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $175 or more than $350, and § 601.191(c) raises that to between $350 and $1,000 for someone previously convicted. Section 601.191(d) matters to you directly: if the court determines that a person who has not been previously convicted is economically unable to pay the fine, the court may reduce the fine to less than $175. Chapter 601 also carries a license and registration suspension track; § 601.153 shows how it is avoided, by depositing sufficient security with the department and filing evidence of financial responsibility.

Having nothing to your name changes collection, not liability. Texas law exempts certain property from being seized to satisfy a judgment, and a judgment against someone with no attachable property may collect nothing for years. It also does not simply expire on its own. What is exempt, and how long a judgment can be enforced, are questions for a Texas lawyer with your facts in front of them.

What you can do

1. Do not ignore the lawsuit papers. There is a short deadline to file a written answer, set by court rule and printed on what you were served, and missing it is how a default judgment for the full $20,000 happens.

2. Take the papers, including the envelope and the date you received them, to a lawyer immediately. Say on the first call how many days have passed.

3. Ask about free help. Texas legal aid organizations and law school clinics take civil cases for people who cannot pay.

4. Do not write out your account of the crash for the other driver, an insurer, or anyone else, and do not give a statement while a citation is pending.

5. Keep what already exists — the citation, photographs already on your phone, repair paperwork, and the served papers. Do not create anything new.

6. Ask a lawyer about the chapter 601 license consequences and about which of your property is exempt from collection.

*Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts — starting with the answer deadline on those papers — is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.*

⏱ Time limits apply. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a) generally gives two years from the day the claim accrues to sue for personal injury or property damage, which is the clock the other side had to file. Your deadline to answer the suit is a different and much shorter one set by court rules, and the citation runs on its own criminal schedule. Have a Texas attorney check every one of those dates against your papers now.