89R3699 SCL-F     By: Birdwell S.B. No. 39       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 72.053(a) and (b), Civil Practice and   Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:          (a)  In this section, "regulation or standard" includes a   statute, regulation, rule, policy, procedure, or order regulating   equipment or conduct, including one adopted or promulgated by the   owner or operator of the motor vehicle, the federal government, a   state government, a local government, or a governmental agency or   authority.          (b)  In a civil action under this subchapter, evidence of a   defendant's failure to comply with a regulation or standard is   admissible in the first phase of a trial bifurcated under Section   72.052 only if admissible under other law and, in addition to   complying with other requirements of law:                (1)  the evidence tends to prove that failure to comply   with the regulation or standard was a proximate cause of the bodily   injury or death for which damages are sought in the action; and                (2)  the regulation or standard is specific and   governs, or is an element of a duty of care applicable to, the   defendant, the defendant's employee, or the defendant's property or   equipment when any of those is at issue in the action.          SECTION 2.  Sections 72.054(a) and (b), 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).          SECTION 3.  Sections 72.054(c), (d), and (e), Civil Practice   and Remedies Code, are repealed.          SECTION 4.  (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 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.