Recent Blog Posts
Bastrop County Hydroplaning Wreck Kills Four
On October 8, tragedy struck in Bastrop County, when a speeding pickup truck hydroplaned on Texas 95 and struck a sedan with children in the backseat. Three of the sedan’s passengers and the driver were killed, pronounced dead at the scene, two of them juveniles. Another child in the sedan was critically injured, with their fate unknown as of this writing. The pickup driver was in stable condition at an area hospital. While sometimes these types of accidents are unavoidable, many times they are not, and an avoidable tragedy may wind up resulting in significant civil liability for the responsible party. If you are in an auto accident that can be chalked up to another person’s recklessness or negligence, you may be able to recover compensation for your injuries.
Texas Negligence Law
In every negligence case, one has to prove certain things occurred in order to establish that the defendant was actually negligent. One must establish that a duty to exercise reasonable care existed between the plaintiff and the defendant – this is generally stipulated, as past cases have postulated the existence of this duty. It must also be established that the defendant breached that duty of care by their conduct, or lack of conduct (for example, failing to brake in the appropriate amount of time would be considered conduct). That conduct, that breach, must also be shown to have caused actual harm to the plaintiff. Actual harm generally means anything worse than cuts and bruises – broken bones, head injuries, or emotional problems like post-traumatic stress are some common examples.
Drag Racers Stopped on I-10 in San Antonio
A man was arrested on October 7 after being observed going over 100 mph on I-10 on an earlier date, ostensibly while racing another car. He was taken into custody after he admitted racing in his Chevy Camaro. While some see street racing as a harmless pastime, it is against the law in Texas, and if you are caught engaging in the practice, you may wind up with heavy fines and a possible license suspension. If you are injured by a street racer, by comparison, you may have a surprisingly easy case for negligence under Texas law.
Proving Negligence
In order to prove negligence under Texas law, a plaintiff must establish four points. They are:
- That a duty to exercise reasonable care existed between plaintiff and defendant – this is generally stipulated in auto accident cases since it has been established by past precedent that drivers on the same road always owe each other a duty of care;
VIA Bus Accident Snarls Traffic On Hwy 281
The morning of October 1 saw traffic slowing noticeably on Highway 281 near Bitters Road, due to an accident involving a VIA bus, a pickup, and an automobile. While the accident was characterized as ‘major,’ what immediately occurred was not disclosed by law enforcement. Still, the relative scarcity of bus accidents still means that the event is worth marking because when bus accidents do occur, they can be devastating. Yet so few people understand how best to seek compensation for any injuries they sustain.
Buses Are Not Cars
Buses, especially those owned or operated by government agencies, occupy their own special place in Texas law. Certain requirements, such as insurance coverage (generally, those buses that carry 15 passengers or fewer have to carry less insurance than those who carry more) and duty of care toward their passengers, hinge upon how many a bus can carry and in what context. For example, the regulations covering chartered buses, such as those for casinos or churches, are very different than those surrounding city buses or school buses owned by cities and counties. Understanding the difference matters in an accident situation.
Man Dies in Crash with 18-Wheeler
On October 3, a man was killed after he tried to pass an 18-wheeler on I-35, winding up going under the vehicle on the right side. The car wound up coming to a stop just off the Manor Road exit, after sustaining severe damage. The driver was found deceased in the car. While there are no charges pending against the truck driver, this type of accident does illustrate how easy it is to misjudge distances and speeds when dealing with large trucks, and how it can be very easy for either you or the trucker to make a mistake. If you are involved in an accident with a big rig, understanding your options is a good idea going forward.
Numerous Causes of Accidents
If one examines statistics from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), one can see that in approximately 5,430 fatal crashes in 2017, 433 (approximately 8 percent) involved semi-trucks or trucks with trailers. For injury crashes, the number lowers – of approximately 135,934 crashes involving injury, 3,325 involved big rigs (approximately 2 percent). It may not sound like much, but only passenger cars (including pickup trucks and SUVs) and motorcycles were responsible for more. Across these categories, one can infer numerous causes – for example, a lower percentage of injury crashes involve large trucks because the accidents involving large trucks tend to be more serious (thus, causing more fatalities than injuries).
Hit-And-Run Driver on the Run After Fatal Leander Accident
During the last weekend of September, a hit-and-run accident on Ronald W. Reagan Boulevard in Leander left one motorcyclist dead, and the driver missing. According to law enforcement, the truck turned into the path of the motorcyclist, who was headed southbound, and the cycle hit the rear part of the truck, which caused the rider to be thrown. The truck did not stop to assist the injured man, instead choosing to drive on. There are multiple things that might breed a cause of action in this story, especially for the family of the deceased motorcyclist, as they seek compensation that could somehow even partially mitigate the loss of their loved one.
Failure to Stop and Render Aid Is a Crime
Motorcyclists are in some danger while on the roads, even if they operate their vehicle perfectly, simply because they lack the protection and the weight that automobiles have, and this, unfortunately, translates to injury and fatality statistics – on average, around 500 motorcyclists per year are killed in auto accidents on Texas roads, according to data from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). While this obviously does not excuse reckless or negligent driving or other actions, it is worth remarking on how an action that can be lethal against a motorcyclist might cause an automobile’s driver mere irritation. If an accident occurs, it is the responsibility of both vehicles involved to stop and render aid to anyone hurt.
Who to Sue After a Truck Accident
When a person is involved in a truck accident, there are multiple potential reasons why it might have happened. Many of them can be attributable to driver error, meaning that the driver is the one who should, in theory, be liable. However, a truck driver may not always have the funds to be able to meet the amount of a jury award. It begs the question of whether it is worth the time to sue the driver or to seek compensation elsewhere.
Causes of Truck Accidents Are Disparate
Recent available data shows that approximately 4,400 large trucks and buses were involved in fatal accidents nationwide in 2016, with as many as 73 percent of those crashes being at least partially initiated by encroachment into the truck’s path. However, if one breaks down those stats, one will see a host of different events that may play a role in truck crashes – distraction, substance abuse, reckless driving, lack of sleep or otherwise poor reaction times, and so on. In addition, there are multiple other potential causes that can be attributed to other actors besides driver error, such as poor road maintenance.
Bee Caves Road Closed After Power Line Break
On the night of September 17, a truck crash pulled power lines down all across Bee Caves Road, closing the road and causing a power outage up and down Loop 360. While there were complaints about traffic blockages, the road remained closed until the middle of the day on Tuesday, the 18th, with Austin Energy and law enforcement wanting to ensure a thorough job was done on both the accident investigation and the repairs. It is to their credit that this was done because any failure could have opened both the company and the City of Austin to liability for injuries if any had resulted from the downed power lines.
Hard to Sue Governmental Entities
Normally, if someone is injured in an accident where the cause is traceable to another person’s (or company’s) negligence, the injured person would sue the other in civil court. However, governmental entities are a different matter, because they enjoy protection – and sometimes, complete immunity – from civil suits by residents of the state, under a principle called sovereign immunity. Both Austin Energy and the Texas Department of Transportation are publicly owned entities, which means that they are part of local and state governments, and would thus be covered by Texas’ sovereign immunity laws. Sovereign immunity law is based on the idea that if every citizen wronged by the state were permitted to sue, the state would have neither time nor money enough to govern.
Air Force Trainer Plane Crashes Near Rolling Oaks Mall
A trainer plane flying out of Randolph Air Force Base crashed near Rolling Oaks Mall in northeast San Antonio on Wednesday, September 19, due to what was referred to as ‘engine failure at low altitude.’ The crash injured two crew members, though both were treated and released from a clinic on the base. The plane came down in a field on Circle Dot Ranch, causing no other damage or injury, but mere feet either way could have made the accident much worse. Airplane crashes are surprisingly common in Texas, and they can cause severe injury.
Statistics and Causes Vary
While many think that plane crashes are isolated events, private plane ownership has made them more common, especially in states like Texas with a lot of space and open air. Recent statistics show over 12,000 private planes owned in the United States; one can imagine that a significant portion of them are housed in Texas. Between private jets, the state’s many busy commercial airports, and the six Air Force bases, planes are popular and common. Mere numbers do not cause crashes, however; there are multiple possible causes of aviation accidents, and the causes of some incidents may never be discovered.
High School Students Struck By Cars in 2 Separate Incidents
Statistically, young drivers are among the most reckless, being involved in the most accidents of any age group. However, at Akins High School in South Austin, young people have been the victims lately. The student body has experienced multiple pedestrian accidents in recent weeks, with both occurring on the same road, in the same general area. While one pedestrian accident is a tragic accident, two or more occurring in the same place at roughly the same time may imply that a duty of care is not being met.
Texas Has Poor Record on Pedestrian Safety
Texas’ record in pedestrian safety is decidedly subpar, or at least it has been in recent years, though changes are being implemented slowly. In 2017, there were 614 pedestrian fatalities in the state, which is a drop of approximately 10 percent. However, the national total remained roughly the same, according to the Governor’s Highway Safety Association (GHSA)’s preliminary data. Only California and Florida reported more pedestrian fatalities in 2018 than Texas, which is a trend that has existed for a number of years now.
Hit-And-Run Driver Caught After Injuring Teenager
The night of September 17 proved unlucky for a teenager trying to cross the intersection of Blanco Road and Parliament Street in San Antonio, as he was struck by a driver who ran the red light and then fled. The driver was later apprehended and charged, but the damage has still been done to the teenager, who was taken to University Hospital. As of this writing, no lasting damage appears to have been done, but hit-and-run accidents are still taken extremely seriously by San Antonio police, as they should be by every driver. If you have been the victim of a similar incident, you may be able to seek compensation for your injuries.
Leaving an Accident Scene Is Illegal
One of the most important things anyone can take away from this type of accident is that it is a crime to leave the scene of any accident that causes property damage or injury in Texas. Failure to stop after an accident that results in, or is likely to result in, injury or death is a felony in most cases, though if the injury is more minor, a misdemeanor may be assessed. Despite these stringent penalties, though, people, of course, do leave accident scenes, especially if they believe there is a possibility they will be able to escape without being stopped. The driver on Blanco Road fled the scene and was apprehended later, which added an additional count of failing to stop and render aid to the charges against her.
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