ICD-10 Code V13.4XXA: Bicycle Hit by Car in Texas Settlement Value

ICD-10-CM external-cause codes (the V chapter, V00 through V99) describe how a person was injured during transport. They are not diagnoses; they are circumstance codes attached to the actual injury codes. Reading V13.4XXA character by character:

• V13: Pedal cyclist injured in collision with car, pickup truck, or van (the category).
• .4: Driver of pedal cycle (the rider), injured in a traffic accident.
• XX: Two placeholders so the 7th character lands in position 7.
• A: Initial encounter (first visit for active treatment). Follow-up becomes V13.4XXD; long-term sequelae become V13.4XXS.

Related codes you may see on the same Texas chart: V13.0XXA (cyclist injured in non-traffic collision with car/pickup/van, e.g., parking lot or driveway), V13.5XXA (cyclist passenger), V10-V12 and V14-V19 (cyclist injured in collision with pedestrians, other pedal cyclists, two- or three-wheeled motor vehicles, heavy transport, or other vehicle types). For e-bikes in Texas, coding practice varies by hospital system; Class 1 and 2 e-bikes are usually coded under V13, while some Class 3 e-bikes have been coded under V20-V29.

Four patterns account for the bulk of Texas cyclist-versus-car crashes. Each has a characteristic injury profile and a characteristic comparative-fault argument under the 51% bar.

Texas cyclist injury profiles span multiple body regions. Multi-region S-code pairing raises Colossus severity scoring more than the V-code itself. Most common pairings:

• Road rash (T14, S00): abrasions from sliding on pavement. Scarring claims matter especially for young plaintiffs and visible-area injury.
• Distal radius fracture (S52.5): the classic FOOSH (fall on outstretched hand) injury when the cyclist breaks the fall with an outstretched hand. ORIF standard for displaced fractures.
• Clavicle and AC joint (S42 / S43): high incidence in cyclist over-the-bars ejections; common pairing with right-hook and left-cross patterns.
• TBI (S06.0X through S06.9X): possible even with helmet use, more frequent without. See the TBI settlement guide.
• Tibia / fibula (S82) and femur (S72): lateral bumper-strike fractures in higher-speed crashes; pickup-truck height makes S72 femur more common in Texas than in California.
• Spine (S12 / S22 / S32): cervical, thoracic, lumbar injury from secondary ground impact or high-energy crashes.
• Facial and dental (S00, S02): face-first impact with handlebars, vehicle, or pavement.

Texas cyclist law is thinner at the state level than California cyclist law and relies heavily on local city ordinances. The main legal anchors:

• TTC Section 551.301: cyclists have the same rights and duties as drivers of vehicles, subject to specific cyclist provisions.
• TTC Section 551.302: cyclists riding slower than other traffic must ride as near as practicable to the right curb, with broad exceptions for hazards, left turns, narrow lanes, and right-turn lanes. Defense will use Section 551.302 to argue comparative fault on lane position.
• TTC Section 551.103: cyclists must ride on permanent regular seats (no foot pegs, no top tube without modification).
• TTC Section 551.104: nighttime lighting requirements (front white lamp visible at least 500 feet; rear red reflector or red light). Conspicuity-related comparative-fault arguments hook into this section.
• Local 3-foot passing ordinances: Austin (City Code Section 12-1-35), Houston (passed 2013), San Antonio (passed 2014), Fort Worth, Plano, and several other Texas cities require drivers to give cyclists at least 3 feet of clearance when passing (some require 6 feet for commercial vehicles). A violation can support negligence-per-se in V13.4XXA cases in those jurisdictions.
• No statewide dooring statute: unlike California Vehicle Code 22517, Texas has no specific dooring statute. Dooring liability runs on common-law negligence (failure to exercise reasonable care when opening a door into traffic). Harder to win without a per-se hook but Texas juries have awarded favorable verdicts on these facts.
• Helmet: no statewide cyclist helmet law. A handful of Texas cities have local minor-only helmet ordinances. Adult cyclists may ride without; defense may still argue partial fault on head-injury non-economic damages.

V13 (pedal cyclist) places the case in a higher severity baseline than V43 (car-vs-car) because the kinematic mismatch is similar to motorcycle-vs-car. But Texas plaintiff-side practitioners report systematic Colossus undervaluation of cyclist cases for several reasons:

• Lifestyle-risk modifier: when the medical narrative includes references to riding without lights, riding without a helmet, or riding in traffic without protective gear, some Colossus profile configurations apply a downward severity adjustment. Texas profiles are not publicly available, but initial-offer ratios on V13.4XXA cases run 20 to 35 percent of eventual settlement, the lowest band of any Texas auto-claim category aside from motorcycle.
• Multi-region pairing read as “diffuse but mild”: V13.4XXA cases routinely log three or four S-codes (road rash, FOOSH fracture, clavicle, possible TBI). Adjusters sometimes treat the breadth as evidence of low severity rather than multi-trauma. Granular documentation (each S-code with its own ICD-10 character precision, its own follow-up D-code, its own impairment rating) is the corrective.
• Conspicuity narrative: CR-3 narratives or ER notes describing the cyclist as “riding in roadway,” “dark clothing,” or “no front light” feed comparative-fault modeling. Counter-evidence (front and rear lights, reflective gear, daytime high-visibility clothing) should be in the demand package early.
• Jury-attitude undercurrent: Texas juries outside the largest metros sometimes implicitly discount cyclist plaintiffs' damages, perceiving urban cycling as risky. This is not a legal standard but affects adjuster valuations.

Read more in the Colossus settlement-software guide.

Source: SetCalc analysis of Texas court records and confirmed settlements, 2024 to 2026. Texas-published recoveries include $1.5M spinal-cord cyclist settlement (Travis County) and $450K Austin pickup-vs-cyclist case. See the verdict and settlement database for case-by-case comparables.

• Statute of limitations: two years (CPRC Section 16.003). Six-month TTCA notice if a Texas governmental entity is involved (Gov Code Section 101.101); TTCA caps $250,000 per person, $500,000 per occurrence (Section 101.023). For dangerous-condition-of-property claims (pothole, missing bike-lane signage, defective infrastructure), the same TTCA notice and caps apply.
• Comparative fault (51% bar): modified comparative under CPRC Chapter 33. Recovery is reduced by your fault percentage if you are 50% or less at fault; recovery is zero if you are 51% or more at fault. Cyclist cases are particularly vulnerable because defense routinely argues fault tied to lane position, conspicuity, lights, and helmet use.
• Lane position and rights: TTC Sections 551.301-551.304 grant cyclists vehicle rights and duties, with the right-curb provision in Section 551.302 subject to broad exceptions. TTC Section 551.104 governs lights and reflectors.
• Local 3-foot passing ordinances: Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Plano, and others. Negligence-per-se hook in those cities; ordinary negligence elsewhere in Texas.
• No statewide dooring statute: dooring runs on common-law negligence. Harder than CA cases but viable.
• No statewide helmet law: adult cyclists not required to wear helmets anywhere in Texas. Some cities have minor-only ordinances.
• No cap on pain and suffering: standard auto-PI cases have no statutory limit on non-economic damages. Caps apply only to medical malpractice (CPRC Section 74.301), exemplary damages (CPRC Section 41.008), and governmental defendants.

Texas police use the TxDOT CR-3 crash report to record crash circumstances, unit types, and manner of collision. Medical coders separately apply ICD-10-CM V-codes from the patient record. Two parallel code systems describing the same crash.

• CR-3 unit-type code for “bicycle” aligns with the ICD-10 V13 category. CR-3 does not record helmet use separately, so helmet evidence has to come from EMS narrative, ER documentation, or photographs.
• CR-3 fields for cyclist action (proceeding straight, turning, crossing) and cyclist location (on roadway, in bike lane, on sidewalk) feed comparative-fault modeling under the 51% bar.
• CR-3 narratives for cyclist crashes often include unfavorable language about lane position, lights, or visibility. Counter-evidence (photographs of lights, gear, lane markings) should be developed quickly because Texas CR-3 reports are filed within 10 days and the narrative shapes the carrier's initial valuation.

Source: TxDOT crash reports and records, CR-3 form and instructions.