Recent Blog Posts
Bicyclist Hospitalized After Hit-and-Run
On the night of July 21-22, a bicyclist was struck by a driver at the intersection of Brady Blvd and Driftwood Street, causing a lacerated spleen and other significant injury. The driver did not stop to render aid, but the bicyclist was taken to University Hospital, where he is in stable condition as of this writing. If the driver is located, they may face serious legal issues in both the criminal and civil arenas. If you have been injured in a hit-and-run crash, know that you may be able to seek compensation from the person who struck you.
Hit-And-Run Crashes Are Common
Unfortunately, hit-and-run crashes occur with regularity in Texas. It is not unusual for a driver to make a mistake, get spooked, and try to flee the scene. However, if they do this, the victim of their negligence may have no way to get their medical bills paid. Texas law is on the side of the victim, and allows them to bring suit under a theory of negligence in addition to any criminal penalties that might be assessed.
Two Hospitalized in Rollover Crash on East Side
In the early morning hours of July 25, two men were hospitalized with serious injuries after the driver of their vehicle lost control on East Houston Street, near North Hackberry Street. The driver and the passenger both sustained significant injury after the vehicle rolled, with the driver walking a block or so before collapsing. Both men were taken to Brooke Army Medical Center, with the driver in critical condition and the passenger stable. This is sadly not uncommon with regard to rollover crashes, and if you are injured in one, you may wind up building up significant medical expenses as you recover.
Deadlier Than Most
Rollover accidents involve quite a lot of metal, glass, and plastic moving around at extremely high rates of speed, which leads to their being significantly overrepresented in lists of traffic fatalities. Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimate that while only 2.1 percent of automobile accidents are rollovers, nearly 35 percent of all passenger vehicle fatalities occurred in rollover crashes. This is only made worse by other common causes seen in rollovers, such as alcohol (or other substance) usage and excessive speed.
Truck Driver Fatigue Kills on Texas Roads
Truck drivers have difficult jobs, and they work hard. However, there are far too many instances where truck driver fatigue has played a role in causing auto accidents, and too many injuries sustained in situations where they could have been avoided. If you have been in an auto accident involving a large truck, and you suspect that the driver was fatigued, it may be an important fact to help build a negligence case around.
Proving Negligence
Most of the time, auto accidents involving large trucks are brought under a theory of negligence, and establishing negligence requires four criteria to be shown. You must establish that a duty to exercise reasonable care exists on the part of the defendant (in Texas, this is often stipulated; each motorist on the road is presumed to have a duty of care toward every other motorist) and that the duty has been breached. More specifically, the defendant’s conduct (or lack thereof) must be shown to have been the direct cause of the breach – no other intervening cause can have played a role – and you must also be able to show that you have suffered actual harm.
Church Bus Carrying 40 Children Catches Fire
The morning of July 18 was a terrifying one for some San Antonio-area parents, as the bus carrying their children back from church camp caught fire on Highway 281, near Johnson City in Bianco County. While everyone got off the bus safely, the entire vehicle eventually wound up in flames, totaling the vehicle. The cause was later determined to be a fault in the bus’ engine, which began to smoke and then caught fire. While thankfully, there were no injuries, the engine’s total failure raises legal questions of liability, both between the manufacturer and the church and between the church and the children.
Bus Accident Cases Are Complex
Accidents involving buses can lead to very high casualty counts – between 2009 and 2017, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) estimates approximately a 40 percent increase in the number of fatal crashes involving buses – and sometimes it can be quite difficult to determine how the accident occurred. There are so many potential factors in any road accident – inclement weather, malfunctioning parts, driver error – that anyone can be the tipping point; the Bianco County accident is an exception, rather than a rule. If there had been any casualties, parents would have had to either determine who bore the most liability or choose to bring suit against multiple defendants.
Pedestrian Struck and Killed on I-35 Was “Crossing The Street”
Austin police have recently released more information on a July 14 crash that killed a pedestrian on I-35, in the 300 block of the interstate. A 43-year old man was crossing the street when he was struck by an SUV. He was pronounced dead at the scene, though the driver of the SUV did stop to render aid. If you are unfortunate enough to be struck by a vehicle while crossing a street, be aware that you may be able to seek compensation for your medical bills and for lost wages.
Texas Metro Areas Are Hazardous To Pedestrians
Statistics show that metropolitan areas are disproportionately hazardous to pedestrians, especially those over the age of 65 – the Centers for Disease Control estimate that 15 percent of all pedestrians injured in 2015 were elderly, as were approximately 20 percent of 2016’s pedestrian fatalities. The think tank Smart Growth America ranks metropolitan areas, giving each a Pedestrian Danger Index (PDI), and San Antonio-New Braunfels ranks at #21 on the list (second in Texas; the first was McAllen-Edinburg-Mission).
Broken Botts’ Dots Make Hays County Road a Hazard
Hilliard Road in Hays County is a fairly commonly used thoroughfare, hitting Lime Kiln Road just a few miles north of Bexar County. To help with the increasing traffic level on Hilliard, the county installed approximately 150 Botts’ dots, which are small ceramic button-like discs ostensibly intended to slow speeds. However, residents have found that the dots are coming loose, causing damage to cars and nearby homes. What many do not realize is that in situations like this, you may be able to sue either the city or the contractor who installed the dots, and try to recover for any medical expenses or property damages you might have incurred after being struck by a flying disc.
Poorly Maintained Roads Cause Damage
Texas is a very large state, and its roads require constant upkeep. Average wear and tear is something that every driver accepts as part of using Texas roads, but when something out of the ordinary happens, drivers should know that they have options to seek redress. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics estimates that almost 40 percent of Texas roads are in poor or mediocre condition. If a road is in poor repair, in theory, it means that the governmental entity in charge of its maintenance is not doing its job.
One Dead in Loop 1604 Rollover Crash
On the morning of Independence Day, a rollover crash on Loop 1604 claimed the life of one person, when the sedan he was riding in flipped over, ejecting all four occupants. A man in his 20s was killed, and the other three passengers in the car sustained serious injuries, though as of this writing their conditions are not known. Rollover accidents are some of the most dangerous one can experience, and if you are unfortunate enough to be involved in a rollover that is the result of someone else’s negligence, you may be able to recover compensation.
Higher Percentage of Fatalities
Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that rollover accidents are very serious. In the relevant data, rollovers comprised approximately 1.5 percent of all crashes but were responsible for roughly eight percent of the fatalities. There are many different reasons for this, not least of all because of the sheer weight of a vehicle flipping around can cause serious damage to a human body.
Woman Killed in Rear-End Crash on Ben White Boulevard
The day before her 28th birthday, Leslie Valderrama was killed when the driver of the car she was in rear-ended an SUV on Ben White Boulevard, near Montopolis Drive. She was airlifted to St. David’s South Austin Medical Center, but was pronounced deceased at approximately 3.30 AM on the morning of July 7. In this particular type of case, it can be difficult to determine who should be responsible for the family’s loss and suffering, but it is very possible that if the family of Ms. Valderrama brought suit for wrongful death, they would have a case that might prevail in court.
What Is Wrongful Death in Texas?
Texas law holds that someone can be found liable for wrongful death if the deceased’s passing was caused by their, or their agent’s, “wrongful act, neglect, carelessness, unskillfulness, or default.” While no amount of money can obviously eliminate the pain and loss you have suffered from your loved one’s passing, seeking monetary compensation can cushion the blow of losing their income and dealing with medical bills and funeral expenses. Prevailing at trial is difficult, but very far from impossible.
Truck and SUV Driver Collide on Castroville Road
In the early hours of July 10, a delivery truck was struck head-on as an SUV suddenly veered into his lane on Castroville Road, on the west side of San Antonio. While the truck driver suffered no injuries, the driver of the SUV had to be cut out of his vehicle and was later transported to the nearest hospital. Both drivers are lucky that their injuries were not severe, as head-on collisions are notorious for causing severe injury, especially when one of the drivers is operating their vehicle in a negligent or reckless manner. If you have been involved in a head-on crash, you need an experienced car accident attorney who can fight for you.
Fatalities Are Disproportionately High
Despite the presence of airbags and other safety devices installed in the front end of most automobiles, head-on collisions account for a disproportionately high number of traffic fatalities. Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) show that while front-end crashes made up approximately 2 percent of all the auto accidents in 2015 (the most recent available data), they caused 10 percent of the fatalities and approximately 4 percent of the injuries.
Driver Had Medical Episode Before Crashing into House
An unusual accident took place on a recent night, where a driver experienced a medical episode and crashed his car into the side of a house. The crash occurred in the 3200 block of East Southcross Street, causing relatively minor damage to the house. No one was hurt, but it is very easy for accidents of this type to cause major injury or death, as well as extensive damage to whatever building is struck. However, proving liability can be difficult, and enlisting an attorney to help with your case is highly recommended.
Negligence 101
Normally, when a driver crashes into a home, and there is damage or injury, the homeowner can bring a civil suit against the driver under a theory of negligence. Negligence is a legal theory in Texas under which a plaintiff is trying to establish three things in court. They are (1) that a defendant acted in a way that did not show reasonable care for other people; (2) that the defendant’s conduct directly caused the harm to the plaintiff; and (3) the plaintiff did actually suffer tangible harm, as opposed to just a fright or mere cuts and bruises.
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