FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH REGULATIONS OR STANDARDS

(a) In this section, "regulation or standard" includes a statute, regulation, rule, or order regulating equipment or conduct adopted or promulgated by 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, 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. (c) Nothing in this section prevents a claimant from pursuing a claim for exemplary damages under Chapter 41 relating to the defendant's failure to comply with other applicable regulations or standards, or from presenting evidence on that claim in the second phase of a bifurcated trial.