Relating to civil liability of a commercial motor vehicle owner or operator.

89(R) SB 39 - Engrossed version - Bill Text

By: Birdwell, Hagenbuch

S.B. No. 39

Hinojosa of Nueces

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to civil liability of a commercial motor vehicle owner or

operator.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Sections 72.054(a), (b), and (f), Civil Practice

and Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a)
In
[
Except as provided by Subsection (d), in
] a civil

action under this subchapter, an employer defendant's liability for

damages caused by the ordinary negligence of a person operating the

defendant's commercial motor vehicle shall be based only on

respondeat superior if the defendant stipulates, within the time

provided by Section 72.052 for filing a motion to bifurcate, that,

at the time of the collision, the person operating the vehicle was:

(1) the defendant's employee; and

(2) acting within the scope of employment.

(b)
If
[
Except as provided by Subsection (c), if
] an

employer defendant stipulates in accordance with Subsection (a) and

the trial is bifurcated under Section 72.052, a claimant may not, in

the first phase of the trial, present evidence on an ordinary

negligence claim against the employer defendant, such as negligent

entrustment, that requires a finding by the trier of fact that the

employer defendant's employee was negligent in operating a vehicle

as a prerequisite to the employer defendant being found negligent

in relation to the employee defendant's operation of the vehicle.

This subsection does not prevent a claimant from presenting

evidence allowed by Section 72.053(b).

(f) Nothing in this section prevents a claimant from

pursuing:

(1) an ordinary negligence claim against
a
[
an

employer
] defendant [
for a claim
], such as negligent maintenance,

negligent repair, negligent loading, or another similar claim,
that

is based on the defendant's independent act of negligence that
does

not require a finding of negligence by
the
[
an
] employee
who was

operating the defendant's commercial motor vehicle
as a

prerequisite to
the
[
an employer
] defendant being found negligent

for its conduct or omission, or from presenting evidence on that

claim in the first phase of a bifurcated trial; or

(2) a claim for exemplary damages under Chapter 41 for

an employer defendant's conduct or omissions in relation to the

collision that is the subject of the action, or from presenting

evidence on that claim in the second phase of a bifurcated trial.

SECTION 2. Sections 72.054(c), (d), and (e), Civil Practice

and Remedies Code, are repealed.

SECTION 3. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies

only to an action:

(1) commenced on or after the effective date of this

Act; or

(2) pending on the effective date of this Act and in

which the trial, or any new trial or retrial following motion,

appeal, or otherwise, begins on or after the effective date of this

Act.

(b) In an action commenced before the effective date of this

Act, a trial, new trial, or retrial that is in progress on the

effective date of this Act is governed by the law applicable to the

trial, new trial, or retrial immediately before the effective date

of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.