Four systems, and Texas uses the more common threshold
American fault law splits into four real categories: pure comparative negligence, modified comparative negligence with a 50% bar, modified comparative negligence with a 51% bar, and pure contributory negligence. Texas uses the 51% bar under CPRC § 33.001, officially called the Proportionate Responsibility Act — the more typical of the two modified thresholds nationally.
The 50/51 distinction, precisely
A claimant found exactly 50% responsible still recovers half of their damages under Texas's rule, because the bar applies only once responsibility exceeds 50%. A claimant found 51% responsible recovers nothing at all.
A genuinely distinctive second use for the same 50% line
Texas's Proportionate Responsibility Act, last substantially amended in 1995, uses this same 50% threshold for an entirely separate purpose: deciding whether a defendant is protected from joint and several liability. A defendant under 50% responsibility pays only their own share; a defendant found more than 50% responsible can be held jointly and severally liable for the whole judgment. See our full guide to how fault and liability work together in Texas for the details.
The other three systems, for context
A smaller group of about 11 states uses the stricter 50% bar, where recovery is barred at fault merely equal to the other side's. At the more forgiving end, pure comparative negligence states like California never bar recovery for ordinary fault at all. See our guide to the other states using a 51% bar for Texas's closest peer group nationally.