🔴Relating to the liability of a motorized off-road vehicle entity for injuries arising from certain activities.
HB 5624
🔴 HB 5624: Liability shield for off-road vehicle parks and events
What it says it does:
HB 5624 is presented as a way to protect off-road parks and motocross tracks from lawsuits by limiting liability for injuries or deaths that occur during motorized off-road activities. The bill requires posting a warning sign at the entrance and provides broad immunity to operators, sponsors, and volunteers.
What it actually changes:
The bill raises the legal standard from ordinary negligence to gross negligence for area safety. Families and participants now have a harder time holding operators accountable for careless management. The attractive nuisance doctrine is removed, so children who enter dangerous areas cannot rely on that legal protection. Liability protection extends beyond owners to sponsors, sanctioning bodies, employees, and volunteers.
Who is pushing for it:
Texans for Lawsuit Reform and the Texas Motorcycle Dealers Association supported the bill. Track owners also testified in favor. Not in files: other consumer or public safety organizations.
Who benefits:
Off-road business owners, sponsors, sanctioning bodies, and volunteers gain protection from most lawsuits, lowering insurance and legal costs. Corporate sponsors and event organizers gain immunity that allows them to operate without the same risk of accountability.
Who gets left out or exposed:
Families and riders, especially children, are exposed to higher financial and medical risk after injuries. Injured participants lose ordinary negligence protections. Public safety advocates and community voices were largely absent from support.
Why this matters long term:
The bill shifts legal power away from participants and families toward businesses. It reduces transparency since fewer lawsuits will uncover unsafe practices. It sets a precedent for expanding immunity to other industries without enforceable safety standards.
What to watch next:
Monitor how operators implement safety measures under this new immunity. Watch for future bills that use this framework to extend liability shields to other recreational or high-risk industries.
Bottom line:
HB 5624 was sold as protecting recreation. It effectively transfers the cost and risk of injury from businesses to families and sets a structural precedent for reduced oversight and accountability in high-risk activities.