Not all accident cases are straightforward, and there are times when more than one party could be at fault for the incident. In Texas, this situation is handled by a “modified comparative negligence” standard. This means that a person can recover compensation even if they are partially at fault for an accident, but Texas operates under the 51% bar. Anyone more than 50% responsible for the incident (51% and up) will be unable to recover any compensation.
However, any person 50% or less responsible for the incident can still recover compensation, though the total amount will be reduced based on their percentage of fault. For example, suppose a person is involved in a truck accident and sustains $100,000 worth of medical bills and property damage expenses. Now, let us imagine that a jury finds that they were 20% responsible because of equipment failure on their own vehicle. In this scenario, the individual would receive $80,000 instead of the total $100,000 to account for their percentage of fault.