Street Racing With Bodily Injury Lawyer In Conroe, TX
Racing on a highway is a misdemeanor until someone is hurt. Under Transportation Code § 545.420, an injury makes it a felony with no prior record required, third degree for bodily injury and second degree, with up to 20 years, for serious bodily injury or death. This page covers the elements, the levels, the defenses and the felony process in the county.
What Is Street Racing With Bodily Injury In Texas?
Under Texas Transportation Code § 545.420, racing on a highway becomes a felony when someone is hurt as a result of the offense. Bodily injury makes it a third degree felony with 2 to 10 years. Serious bodily injury or death makes it a second degree felony with 2 to 20 years. The state must prove both the race and its link to the injury.
Source: Texas Transportation Code Chapter 545, Operation and Movement of Vehicles
Understanding Texas Law
How Does An Injury Change A Street Racing Charge?
Most of the penalty ladder in § 545.420 depends on the driver's history: a first offense, one prior, two priors. The injury levels ignore history entirely. A driver who has never had a speeding ticket faces a third degree felony if someone suffered bodily injury as a result of the race, and a second degree felony if someone suffered serious bodily injury or died.
The person hurt can be anyone: a driver or passenger in another car, a pedestrian, or a spectator at the edge of the road.
The felony levels sit on top of the racing offense. If the state cannot prove a race, contest or exhibition of speed or acceleration in the first place, the injury enhancement has nothing to attach to.
To reach the felony levels, the state must establish three things:
- A race, speed contest, drag race or exhibition of speed or acceleration on a highway or road
- An injury to a person, at the level charged
- A causal link between the racing and that injury
The third element is where many cases are fought. Under Penal Code § 6.04, a person is responsible for a result that would not have happened but for their conduct, alone or with another cause. A concurrent cause defeats that only if it was clearly enough on its own and the person's conduct was clearly not.
Penalties And Consequences
What Are The Penalties For Street Racing With Bodily Injury In Texas?
With an injury alleged, the case is a felony from the arrest forward. The figures below are limits set by statute and do not forecast any single result.
Prison of 2 to 10 years and a fine of up to $10,000.
Prison of 2 to 20 years and a fine of up to $10,000.
The rule is in § 521.350.
- Bodily injury
- Third degree felony. 2 to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
- Serious bodily injury or death
- Second degree felony. 2 to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
- Deadly weapon finding
- The state can seek a finding that the vehicle was a deadly weapon. If entered, it restricts judge-ordered community supervision and delays parole eligibility.
- License
- A racing conviction carries an automatic one year suspension under Transportation Code § 521.350.
- Vehicle
- Impounded under § 545.420 at the owner's expense, or held as evidence in the crash investigation.
- Record
- A felony conviction is a permanent public record and can affect firearm rights, work and licensing.
A deadly weapon finding brings the probation and parole limits tied to the 3g offenses. It is a separate finding from guilt, and the state must support it with evidence of how the vehicle was used.
Real Questions
What Do People Ask About Racing With Bodily Injury In Texas?
What counts as bodily injury?
Can I be charged if I was not the driver who crashed?
What if the other driver ran a red light?
What if alcohol was involved?
Can the injury level be challenged?
Possible Defenses
How Can Street Racing With Bodily Injury Be Defended?
A racing injury case has three parts, and each must hold up on its own: the race, the cause and the injury. A weakness in any one changes the level of the charge or removes the felony.
An attorney reviews all three. No result can be promised.
Vehicle data can support or contradict the story.
Event data recorders store speed, throttle and braking for the seconds before a crash. That data can back the state's account of a race, or show a vehicle was braking and not accelerating at impact.
Reconstruction, scene photos, video and witness accounts are tested against the state's version. Constitutional questions include the stop, any data download without a warrant, and any statement.
Was It A Race
Was there a contest or exhibition, or two vehicles that happened to be speeding near each other?
Cause Of The Injury
Did the racing cause the injury, or did another driver, a mechanical failure or the road design?
Injury Level
Does the medical evidence show serious bodily injury, or only bodily injury?
Participation
Can the state prove each person's part in the race?
Deadly Weapon Allegation
Is the finding backed by how the vehicle was actually used?
Data And Searches
Was vehicle and phone data gathered under a valid warrant or consent?
Local Process
What Happens After A Racing Injury Arrest In Montgomery County?
The DA's Office runs a dedicated Vehicular Crimes Unit of prosecutors and investigators that responds directly to crash scenes and handles intoxication manslaughter, intoxication assault and fatal hit and run cases. Whichever agency takes the call, a crash serious enough to support a felony racing charge can be documented with scene measurements, vehicle data and witness interviews before the road reopens.
Scene And Vehicle Data
Investigators gather reconstruction measurements, event data downloads, surveillance and phone video, and statements from drivers and bystanders.
Medical Proof
The injury level is proven through treatment records and testimony. The line between bodily injury and serious bodily injury is a full degree of felony.
Indictment
The District Attorney's Office presents the case to a grand jury, which decides whether to return an indictment.
District Court
After indictment the case moves through discovery under art. 39.14 and hearings toward a plea, a dismissal or a trial.
- Grand jury
- Presented to a Montgomery County grand jury by the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office.
- Where it is heard
- After indictment, in the district courts at the Montgomery County Criminal Justice Center on 207 W Phillips St, at 207 W Phillips St.
- Who makes the arrest
- Conroe Police Department, Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, Texas DPS Highway Patrol, Montgomery County Constables, Precincts 1 through 5, Willis Police Department, Shenandoah Police Department, Oak Ridge North Police Department, Magnolia Police Department, Splendora Police Department, or Roman Forest Police Department.
- Where you are booked
- The Montgomery County Jail at 1 Criminal Justice Drive, run by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.
- If the case is appealed
- the Ninth Court of Appeals in Beaumont.
The racing statute is only one way to charge the same crash. With alcohol, the state can file intoxication assault or intoxication manslaughter. Without it, a death can be charged as manslaughter and an injury under the vehicular assault statutes. See street racing for the base offense.
Next Steps
What Should You Do After A Racing Injury Charge?
Crash data and video can be lost within days, so the first steps matter. These steps are general information, not advice for any one person.
Do Not Give A Statement
Ask for a lawyer before answering questions about the crash.
Preserve The Vehicle
Do not repair or sell it, because its data may matter.
Keep Your Phone
Do not delete messages, videos or posts.
Write Down What You Recall
Record details for your attorney only.
Save The Paperwork
Keep bond, tow and storage papers and every notice.
Do Not Contact The Injured
Stay away from the injured person and witnesses.
Reach out to an attorney early. A call to Mitchell Law Firm about a racing injury charge in Montgomery County is confidential, and preserving the data quickly leaves more of it to test.
Official Texas Sources
Read The Law Behind This Page
- Texas Transportation Code Chapter 545: Racing on a highway, § 545.420
- Texas Transportation Code Chapter 521: License suspension, § 521.350
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 1: Definitions of bodily injury and serious bodily injury
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 6: Causation, § 6.04
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 12: Felony punishment
- Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 42A: Community supervision
- Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 39: Discovery of the state's evidence
- Texas Government Code Chapter 508: Parole eligibility
Who Handles Your Case
The Texas Lawyer Who Speaks Science
Attorney Brennon Mitchell isn't just a seasoned Conroe trial lawyer. He's one of the few in Texas, and the entire country, to earn the prestigious title of an ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist. That means he's gone beyond the courtroom and into the laboratory, receiving in-depth, hands-on training in forensic chromatography, the same kind of testing used by crime labs to try and convict Texans every day.
What does that mean for you?
It means when the state uses blood alcohol or drug testing to try to prove its case, Mr. Mitchell knows how to challenge it. He's trained to:
- Analyze lab results and spot faulty science
- Cross-examine forensic experts with precision
- Break down complex chemical evidence in plain language for juries
This is not the kind of background you find in most criminal defense attorneys, and it could make the difference between a conviction and a clean slate.
Brennon graduated from Texas A&M University School of Law and practices from offices in Orange and Conroe.
Client Reviews
What Clients Say About Brennon Mitchell
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different and is decided on its own facts.
Related Traffic Charges
Other Criminal Traffic Charges In Conroe, TX
A crash during a race can be charged under several statutes at once, and the racing enhancement is one of them. See the full Traffic Violations defense overview for Conroe.
Evading Arrest
Texas grades evading by how the person left. On foot it is a misdemeanor. In a vehicle it is a felony, with no prior record needed.
Failure To Stop And Give Information
Driving away from a collision that damaged a vehicle without leaving the required information. A jailable misdemeanor at $200 in damage.
Failure To Stop And Render Aid
Leaving a crash where someone was hurt or killed. Charged under § 550.021, from a five year offense up to second degree.
Reckless Driving
Driving with wilful or wanton disregard for safety under § 545.401. A jailable misdemeanor, filed as a criminal case.
Street Racing
Charged as racing on a highway under § 545.420. A misdemeanor at first, with an impound at arrest and a one year suspension on conviction.
Common Questions
Racing Injury Questions People In Conroe Ask
Is a street racing crash with injuries a felony in Conroe, TX?
Transportation Code § 545.420 raises racing on a highway to a third degree felony when another person suffers bodily injury as a result, with 2 to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Serious bodily injury or death makes it a second degree felony, carrying 2 to 20 years and the same maximum fine.
How is serious bodily injury defined in a Montgomery County racing case?
Texas Penal Code § 1.07 defines bodily injury as physical pain, illness or any impairment of physical condition. Serious bodily injury is injury that creates a substantial risk of death, or causes death, serious permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of a bodily member or organ. That difference decides whether a racing case is third or second degree.
Who handles a serious racing crash investigation in Montgomery County?
The first response comes from the agency that covers the location, such as a city police department, the Sheriff's Office, a constable precinct or DPS. The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office also has a Vehicular Crimes Unit that responds to crash scenes. A felony racing case is prosecuted by the District Attorney's Office in district court.
Does the racing have to cause the injury in a Conroe, TX case?
The injury levels in § 545.420 apply when the person was hurt as a result of the racing offense. Penal Code § 6.04 governs causation: the result must not have occurred but for the conduct, alone or with another cause, unless the other cause was clearly enough on its own and the conduct clearly was not. The state must prove that link.
What other charges can follow a racing crash in Montgomery County?
The same crash can support manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide or a Penal Code assault charge, intoxication assault or intoxication manslaughter when alcohol or drugs are alleged, and failure to stop and render aid if a driver left. Each has its own elements and range, and more than one can be filed from one event.
Can a passenger or bystander be the injured person in a Conroe, TX racing case?
The statute refers to an individual who suffered injury as a result of the offense. It does not limit that to other drivers. A passenger, a pedestrian or a driver in a third car can qualify. Who was hurt, how badly and whether the racing caused it are questions the state must prove.
Mitchell Law Firm, PLLC
Your Freedom Is Our Fight
A racing injury case is a felony from the day of arrest. The sooner the crash evidence is preserved and reviewed, the more options remain open.
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