Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code - CIV PRAC & REM § 72.051. Definitions

(1) Repealed by Acts 2023, 88th Leg., ch. 709 (H.B. 2190), § 141.

(2) “Civil action” means an action in which:

(3) “Claimant” means a person, including a decedent's estate, seeking or who has sought recovery of damages in a civil action.  The term includes a plaintiff, counterclaimant, cross-claimant, third-party plaintiff, and an intervenor.  The term does not include a passenger in a commercial motor vehicle unless the person is an employee of the owner, lessor, lessee, or operator of the vehicle.

(3-a) “Collision” means an event in which operating a commercial motor vehicle causes bodily injury or death.

(4) “Commercial motor vehicle” means a motor vehicle being used for commercial purposes in interstate or intrastate commerce to transport property or passengers, deliver or transport goods, or provide services.  The term does not include a motor vehicle being used at the time of the collision for personal, family, or household purposes.

(5) “Compensatory damages” has the meaning assigned by Section 41.001.

(6) “Employee” means a person who works for another person for compensation.  The term includes a person deemed an employee under state or federal law and any other agent or person for whom an employer may be liable under respondeat superior.

(7) “Exemplary damages” has the meaning assigned by Section 41.001.

(8) “Motor vehicle” means a self-propelled device in which a person or property can be transported on a public highway.  The term includes a trailer when in use with a self-propelled device described by this subdivision.  The term does not include a device used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.

(9) “Operated,” “operating,” and “operation,” when used with respect to a commercial motor vehicle, means to cause the vehicle to move or function in any respect, including driving, stopping, or parking the vehicle or otherwise putting the vehicle into use or operation.  These terms include a commercial motor vehicle that has become disabled.

(10) “Video” means an electronic representation of a sequence of images, with or without accompanying audio, depicting either stationary or moving scenes, regardless of the manner in which the sequence of images is captured, recorded, or stored.