Source: http://www.jdsupra.com/post/documentViewer.aspx?fid=fe33bdd3-fd43-446d-8fd3-6a4d75b9e98b
Timestamp: 2017-09-21 19:54:41
Document Index: 272275969

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 545', '§ 545', '§ 545', '§ 545', '§ 545', '§ 545', '§ 545', '§ 545', '§ 545', '§ 545', '§ 545', '§ 545']

Legal Forms | Driving; Negligence Pe Se Research Memorandum | Patricia L Brown & Associates - JDSupra
Negligence per se is the legal theory that a person may be negligent due to the violation of a public duty under a law that defines the failure of care required to constitute negligence. In other words if a law states that a driver is supposed to stop or yield at a specific point and the driver fails to do so the driver is negligent, no matter what other actions the driver might have taken. Negligence per se can occur when a person takes a certain action such as exceeding the posted speed limit or fails to take a certain action, such as turning their headlights on at night. The following is a list of code sections that are potentially negligence per se.
§ 545.151. Vehicle Approaching or Entering Intersection (a) An operator approaching an intersection: (1) shall stop, yield, and grant immediate use of the intersection: (A) in obedience to an official traffic-control device, including a stop sign or yield right-of-way sign; or (B) if a traffic-control signal is present but does not display an indication in any of the signal heads; and (2) after stopping, may proceed when the intersection can be safely entered without interference or collision with traffic using a different street or roadway. (b) An operator on a single-lane or two-lane street or roadway who approaches an intersection that is not controlled by an official traffic-control device and that is located on a divided highway or on a street or roadway divided into three or more marked traffic lanes: (1) shall stop, yield, and grant immediate use of the intersection to a vehicle on the other street or roadway that is within the intersection or approaching the intersection in such proximity as to be a hazard; and (2) after stopping, may proceed when the intersection can be safely entered without interference or collision with traffic using a different street or roadway. (c) An operator on an unpaved street or roadway approaching an intersection of a paved street or roadway: (1) shall stop, yield, and grant immediate use of the intersection to a vehicle on the paved street or roadway that is within the intersection or approaching the intersection in such proximity as to be a hazard; and (2) after stopping, may proceed when the intersection can be safely entered without interference or collision with traffic using the paved street or roadway. (d) Except as provided in Subsection (e), an operator approaching an intersection of a street or roadway that is not controlled by an official traffic-control device: (1) shall stop, yield, and grant immediate use of the intersection to a vehicle that has entered the intersection from the operator's right or is approaching the intersection from the operator's right in a proximity that is a hazard; and (2) after stopping, may proceed when the intersection can be safely entered without interference or collision with traffic using a different street or roadway. (e) An operator approaching an intersection of a street or roadway from a street or roadway that terminates at the intersection and that is not controlled by an official traffic-control device or controlled as provided by Subsection (b) or (c): (1) shall stop, yield, and grant immediate use of the intersection to another vehicle that has entered the intersection from the other street or roadway or is approaching the intersection on the other street or roadway in a proximity that is a hazard; and (2) after stopping, may proceed when the intersection can be safely entered without interference or collision with the traffic using the other street or roadway. (f) An operator who is required by this section to stop and yield the right-of-way at an intersection to another vehicle and who is involved in a collision or interferes with other traffic at the intersection to whom right-of-way is to be given is presumed not to have yielded the right-of-way. § 545.152. Vehicle Turning Left To turn left at an intersection or into an alley or private road or driveway, an operator shall yield the right-of-way to a vehicle that is approaching from the opposite direction and that is in the intersection or in such proximity to the intersection as to be an immediate hazard. § 545.153. Vehicle Entering Stop or Yield Intersection (a) Preferential right-of-way at an intersection may be indicated by a stop sign or yield sign as authorized in Section 544.003. (b) Unless directed to proceed by a police officer or official traffic-control device, an operator approaching an intersection on a roadway controlled by a stop sign, after stopping as required by Section 544.010, shall yield the right-of-way to a vehicle that has entered the intersection from another highway or that is approaching so closely as to be an immediate hazard to the operator's movement in or across the intersection. (c) An operator approaching an intersection on a roadway controlled by a yield sign shall: (1) slow to a speed that is reasonable under the existing conditions; and (2) yield the right-of-way to a vehicle in the intersection or approaching on another highway so closely as to be an immediate hazard to the operator's movement in or across the intersection. (d) If an operator is required by Subsection (c) to yield and is involved in a collision with a vehicle in an intersection after the operator drove past a yield sign without stopping, the collision is prima facie evidence that the operator failed to yield the right-of-way. § 545.154. Vehicle Entering or Leaving Limited-Access or Controlled-Access Highway An operator on an access or feeder road of a limited-access or controlled-access highway shall yield the right-of-way to a vehicle entering or about to enter the access or feeder road from the highway or leaving or about to leave the access or feeder road to enter the highway. § 545.155. Vehicle Entering Highway From Private Road or Driveway An operator about to enter or cross a highway from an alley, building, or private road or driveway shall yield the right-of-way to a vehicle approaching on the highway to be entered. § 545.256. Emerging From an Alley, Driveway, or Building An operator emerging from an alley, driveway, or building in a business or residence district shall: (1) stop the vehicle before moving on a sidewalk or the sidewalk area extending across an alley or driveway; (2) yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian to avoid collision; and (3) on entering the roadway, yield the right-of-way to an approaching vehicle. § 545.301. Stopping, Standing, or Parking Outside a Business or Residence District (a) An operator may not stop, park, or leave standing an attended or unattended vehicle on the main traveled part of a highway outside a business or residence district unless: (1) stopping, parking, or leaving the vehicle off the main traveled part of the highway is not practicable; (2) a width of highway beside the vehicle is unobstructed and open for the passage of other vehicles; and (3) the vehicle is in clear view for at least 200 feet in each direction on the highway. (b) This section does not apply to an operator of a vehicle that is disabled while on the paved or main traveled part of a highway if it is impossible to avoid stopping and temporarily leaving the vehicle on the highway. § 545.302. Stopping, Standing, or Parking Prohibited in Certain Places (a) An operator may not stop, stand, or park a vehicle: (1) on the roadway side of a vehicle stopped or parked at the edge or curb of a street; (2) on a sidewalk; (3) in an intersection; (4) on a crosswalk; (5) between a safety zone and the adjacent curb or within 30 feet of a place on the curb immediately opposite the ends of a safety zone, unless the governing body of a municipality designates a different length by signs or markings; (6) alongside or opposite a street excavation or obstruction if stopping, standing, or parking the vehicle would obstruct traffic; (7) on a bridge or other elevated structure on a highway or in a highway tunnel; (8) on a railroad track; or (9) where an official sign prohibits stopping. (b) An operator may not, except momentarily to pick up or discharge a passenger, stand or park an occupied or unoccupied vehicle: (1) in front of a public or private driveway; (2) within 15 feet of a fire hydrant; (3) within 20 feet of a crosswalk at an intersection; (4) within 30 feet on the approach to a flashing signal, stop sign, yield sign, or traffic-control signal located at the side of a roadway; (5) within 20 feet of the driveway entrance to a fire station and on the side of a street opposite the entrance to a fire station within 75 feet of the entrance, if the entrance is properly marked with a sign; or (6) where an official sign prohibits standing. (c) An operator may not, except temporarily to load or unload merchandise or passengers, park an occupied or unoccupied vehicle: (1) within 50 feet of the nearest rail of a railroad crossing; or (2) where an official sign prohibits parking. (d) A person may stop, stand, or park a bicycle on a sidewalk if the bicycle does not impede the normal and reasonable movement of pedestrian or other traffic on the sidewalk. (e) A municipality may adopt an ordinance exempting a private vehicle operated by an elevator constructor responding to an elevator emergency from Subsections (a)(1), (a)(5), (a)(6), (a)(9), (b), and (c). (f) Subsections (a), (b), and (c) do not apply if the avoidance of conflict with other traffic is necessary or if the operator is complying with the law or the directions of a police officer or official traffic-control device. (g) If the governing body of a municipality determines that it is necessary to improve the economic development of the municipality's central business district and that it will not adversely affect public safety, the governing body may adopt an ordinance regulating the standing, stopping, or parking of a vehicle at a place described by Subsection (a)(1), other than a road or highway in the state highway system, in the central business district of the municipality as defined in the ordinance. To the extent of any conflict between the ordinance and Subsection (a)(1), the ordinance controls. § 545.308. Presumption The governing body of a local authority, by ordinance, order, or other official action, may provide that in a prosecution for an offense under this subchapter involving the stopping, standing, or parking of an unattended motor vehicle it is presumed that the registered owner of the vehicle is the person who stopped, stood, or parked the vehicle at the time and place the offense occurred. § 545.351. Maximum Speed Requirement (a) An operator may not drive at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the circumstances then existing. (b) An operator: (1) may not drive a vehicle at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions and having regard for actual and potential hazards then existing; and (2) shall control the speed of the vehicle as necessary to avoid colliding with another person or vehicle that is on or entering the highway in compliance with law and the duty of each person to use due care. (c) An operator shall, consistent with Subsections (a) and (b), drive at an appropriate reduced speed if: (1) the operator is approaching and crossing an intersection or railroad grade crossing; (2) the operator is approaching and going around a curve; (3) the operator is approaching a hill crest; (4) the operator is traveling on a narrow or winding roadway; and (5) a special hazard exists with regard to traffic, including pedestrians, or weather or highway conditions. § 545.352. Prima Facie Speed Limits (a) A speed in excess of the limits established by Subsection (b) or under another provision of this subchapter is prima facie evidence that the speed is not reasonable and prudent and that the speed is unlawful. § 545.423. Crossing Property (a) An operator may not cross a sidewalk or drive through a driveway, parking lot, or business or residential entrance without stopping the vehicle. (b) An operator may not cross or drive in or on a sidewalk, driveway, parking lot, or business or residential entrance at an intersection to turn right or left from one highway to another highway.