Posted on November 23, 2017 in Uncategorized

On the morning of October 31, a rare ejection accident occurred on U.S. 90 when the driver of a white sedan swerved into another car, then bounced off the median into the path of an 18 wheeler. He was ejected from his vehicle and died at the scene, while the drivers of the other car and the big rig were unharmed. While this is obviously a tragic event for all involved, it is important to note that the driver was almost certainly not wearing a seat belt. If that precaution had been taken, it is reasonable to assume he might still be alive.

Seat Belt Use Is Mixed

While Texas law is stringent with regard to seat belts and the fines levied if belts are not warned, this does not prevent many from going without. Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) show that since 2003, motor vehicle deaths have consistently been above the national average in Texas, by as many as 3.8 per 100,000 drivers in some age groups. Seat belt use in Texas is generally above the national average, but this does not necessarily correlate to lower deaths and injury counts.

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 Posted on November 21, 2017 in Uncategorized

Last month, an elderly motorist was killed when her car struck the trailer of a big rig near Round Rock. The truck’s driver was attempting to turn around in a private drive, but the motorist could not stop her car in time and struck the trailer. She was killed at the scene. While the driver in this unfortunate event affirmatively attempted to stop the accident from occurring, it is still worth noting that car drivers should be especially wary when driving near large semi-trucks, and if you are in an accident with one, it may keep you safe.

Disproportionate Fatalities

As one might imagine, fatalities occur more often in accidents where trucks are involved than in accidents between two automobiles. U.S. law classifies any truck over 100,000 pounds as “large,” and as such, one can view the statistics on accidents involving such trucks separately from the others. In Texas alone, the most recent available data shows 22 fatal crashes in 2016 in Bexar County that involved commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) – but 26 fatalities resulting. Similar disparities are evident regarding incapacitating injuries, with 42 crashes recorded but 49 victims tabulated.

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 Posted on November 16, 2017 in Uncategorized

Auto accidents happen, as one might expect, every hour of every day. The majority of them are two-car or single-vehicle accidents, involving individuals or families out and about, but sometimes they can have added wrinkles – namely, accidents can involve those acting within the scope of their own employment. If someone on the clock in Texas experiences an auto accident due to the negligence of another driver, they may obtain workers’ compensation from their employer in most cases. However, they may also bring suit against the driver who caused the accident.

Who and When to Sue

Most of the time, if an employee is injured on the job, they would file for workers’ compensation and seek payment of their medical bills in that manner. However, if someone else who is not affiliated with your employer causes the accident – for example, a private citizen losing control of their car – it would be against the public policy of the state of Texas to not permit the injured party to sue just because their employer might pay their relevant medical bills. An injured person may file for workers’ compensation and also pursue a third-party negligence lawsuit against the other driver in the crash.

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 Posted on November 15, 2017 in Uncategorized

On Tuesday, October 24, a young driver lost control of his car and ran a red light near Loop 1604 and FM 1346. He was killed at the scene, after being t-boned by an SUV. T-bone accidents are sadly common and can be among the most destructive to experience, but they are also very likely to result in fatalities. However, due to their lightning-quick time length, it can sometimes be difficult to show that such an accident was foreseeable to the car doing the T-boning.

Injuries Are Most Severe in T-Bone Accidents

Statistics published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) show that this accident follows patterns established by examining data in that males under the age of 64 tend to suffer the worst injuries in both left and right-side impact accidents, and the figure rises noticeably when one factors in seat belt use (or lack thereof). The upper body is the most affected area, but anywhere from the abdomen and lower limbs up to the top of the head can sustain injury in a non-rollover accident.

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 Posted on November 09, 2017 in Uncategorized

A 21-year-old woman was skateboarding with her boyfriend on De Zavala Road near the Interstate 10 access road when she was run over and dragged by a car. The motorist reportedly stopped as the young woman appeared out from under the car. Did the driver check on the health of the woman and call the police or an ambulance? No. He decided to speed off and leave the young woman to fend for herself.

Fortunately, another motorist caught the entire collision on their dash cam. The young woman’s boyfriend also saw the collision and chased after the negligent driver. The boyfriend was able to discern that there were two people in the vehicle that ran over his girlfriend.

The young woman suffered serious, debilitating injuries including over a dozen bone fractures, lacerations, and road rash. Her injuries were so bad that she will have to undergo skin graft surgery on her hip since it was skinned off entirely while she was being dragged by the car.

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 Posted on November 07, 2017 in Uncategorized

When a large commercial vehicle like a bus collides with a smaller vehicle, the consequences can be severe. For example, a VIA bus collided with a parked pickup truck on the 2400 block of Ruiz Street in San Antonio. A woman was in the pickup truck when it was hit by the bus. Then the bus pushed the pickup truck into three other parked vehicles. The woman had to be removed from the mangled pickup truck and transported to University Hospital with serious injuries, according to My San Antonio.

Unfortunately, serious accidents involving large buses and other commercial vehicles are quite common. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, there were approximately 4,311 fatal accidents involving large trucks and buses. That represents an eight percent increase in deadly accidents when compared to 2014. If that was not bad enough, the number of fatal wrecks involving large trucks and buses has jumped by 26 percent since in 2009.

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 Posted on October 31, 2017 in Uncategorized

On October 19, 2017, two people were critically injured when a car going the wrong way on Loop 1604 slammed into another motorist. While neither was killed, both drivers sustained significant harm and the road was closed down for hours. This is somewhat standard for wrong-way crashes; they do not happen very often, but when they do, it is often on busy roadways, and it often causes severe injury.

Statistics Are Revealing

The Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) has made a study of such accidents, and their findings are in some ways unsurprising, but one might wonder about certain patterns. For example, statistics show that significantly more male drivers cause wrong-way accidents than female drivers, especially in situations where there were few other cars on the road. This is the case with the accident on Loop 1604, which involved only the wrong-way driver and the victim’s cars, taking place late at night.

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 Posted on October 26, 2017 in Uncategorized

A 17-year-old driver was killed in an automobile accident in Manor this month. His car skidded, striking that of a couple with a young girl, though none of those in that car were killed. While the victims of the man’s misfortune escaped relatively lightly, this does not mean that all those who encounter teenage drivers are so lucky. If you, by comparison, have a teenage son or daughter who has been in an accident, it is important to understand what they likely face.

Teen Drivers Are Generally Less Careful

While obviously, many teen drivers are cautious and prudent on the road, a higher share of their age group is not, proportionally speaking. The Texas Department of Transportation shows that statistically, the highest percentage of drivers in fatal crashes are between the ages of 19 and 23, and the number of drivers killed in fatal accidents is by far the highest at ages 22-24. Many teenagers feel as if the average risks of driving do not apply to them, or simply do not contemplate them – they are more likely than older people to take chances behind the wheel, such as rushing to make a light or taking a “shortcut” over a curb.

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 Posted on October 24, 2017 in Uncategorized

Every day we encounter situations in which we may be compelled to drive above the posted speed limit. We often speed when we are late for work, running behind for an appointment, or even in the case of an emergency. But in all cases, speeding endangers the lives of your passengers, yourself, others on the road, and pedestrians.

Speeding can result in traffic violations and even criminal penalties. In addition, when unsafe speed leads to an accident, there are even more legal consequences–including potential civil lawsuits and significant liability. There are certain situations in which speeding is particularly prone to causing serious collisions, such as construction zones. Construction zone accidents are frequently serious because they can involve a mass of cars and many exposed workers on or near the road itself.

In civil lawsuits stemming from construction zone accidents, statutory laws may come into play, meaning that civil lawsuits involve one party claiming that the other party’s negligence led to an injury. The specific rules of the road in construction zones are critical in establishing whether or not a party acted negligently.

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 Posted on October 19, 2017 in Uncategorized

There are very few months in Texas in which an individual would choose not to ride a bicycle if they so desired and the weather permitted. Texas is actually one of the better states to offer the opportunity to exercise and see the “great outdoors” on a bicycle. Unfortunately, the current society functions on the mechanical engine and the automobile, and bicycle injuries occur because of the fact that bicyclists are often difficult to see among a sea of moving cars.

The Law

In Texas, bicycling is very popular because of the constant temperate weather, yet injuries are often rampant. Personal injury lawyers can help assist you, a loved one, or someone you know in recovering damages for an injury suffered from a bicycle accident. The question often turns to the potential to recover damages, including pain and suffering, from your insurance carrier or the insurance carrier of the individual who caused the injury. If you are covered by an auto insurance policy, you may be able to recover for either personal injury protection (PIP) or uninsured (UM) benefits depending on your auto insurance and, in addition, you may be able to recover for your medical bills, lost wages, and other injuries.

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