Recent Blog Posts
Austin Woman Follows Hit-and-Run Driver on Moped
One Austin woman witnessed a hit-and-run accident on October 8, 2017, and instead of ignoring it, she acted – she followed the car for miles on her moped, eventually getting close enough to write down a plate number. The driver was arrested and charged with intoxication assault with a vehicle, and is awaiting trial as of this writing. While it is rare to see Good Samaritans like this woman, it is sadly less uncommon to see hit-and-run accidents, especially if substances like drugs or alcohol are involved.
Criminal Charges in Texas
In Texas, hit-and-run is referred to in law as the charge of leaving the scene of an accident, and it is either a second or third degree felony if injury or death has occurred, depending on the specific nature of events. It can be a difficult cause of action to bring, if only because many times, witnesses or surveillance footage does not exist – many hit and runs occur at night – or because hit-and-run victims are commonly painted as being complicit in their own injuries. However, the same rules apply as would apply for any felony, meaning that evidence proving the requisite intent (or failure to comply) is still what matters.
Single-Vehicle Crash Shuts Down US 90 for Hours
On October 3, 2017, US 90 in San Antonio was closed for hours as crews cleared debris from a single-vehicle accident that killed one person when she drifted and hit the guardrail. Other drivers struck the car as it flipped, but no other vehicle played a role in the accident itself. The woman was taken to University Hospital with critical injuries, but no one else was harmed. This type of accident is depressingly common in Texas and indeed in the U.S., for a myriad of reasons, and while no other drivers were harmed in this recent example, it is also depressingly common for injuries and fatalities to other drivers to be caused by these single-vehicle accidents.
Causes of Single-Vehicle Accidents
As one might imagine, there are many reasons single-vehicle accidents happen, though some are more foreseeable than others. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published a series of statistics and fact sheets on this topic and found a variety of factors that can contribute to single-vehicle crashes. The most common issue was substance abuse, especially alcohol, but many other issues such as poor road maintenance, speeding, weather conditions, or driver fatigue were also found to help cause these accidents.
Teenage Girl Killed in Collision on Loop 1604
Losing a loved one is a gut-wrenching, traumatic event. Losing a loved one in a sudden and completely unexpected accident makes the pain that much worse. For example, a 13-year-old girl lost her life when the 2005 Lexus in which she was a passenger was rear-ended by a 2011 Jeep Wrangler. The tragic collision occurred on Loop 1604 on the North Side of San Antonio.
Reports indicate that the Lexus was stopped in traffic when the driver of the Wrangler crashed into the back of the Lexus. The young girl suffered a severe head injury and was taken to University Hospital, where she later died, according to mySA.com. The driver of the Lexus also suffered serious injuries in the collision.
Deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends of the young girl. It is heartbreaking to learn that someone so young, with a bright future in front of them, had their life taken due to the careless actions of another driver.
Child Injury Cases
Learning that someone was injured in a preventable automobile accident is bad. Learning that a helpless child was injured in a preventable auto accident only exacerbates the feelings of agony and frustration. Take, for example, a car crash that occurred at the Primrose School of Frisco, which is in a suburb of Dallas. The driver of a vehicle reportedly hopped a curb and crashed into a fence at the daycare center which feel on the children.
Reports indicate that five children and one adult were harmed. In fact, one child is listed in critical condition. Two children were transported to a Dallas hospital by helicopter.
Recoverable Damages in a Child Injury Case
When adults are involved in a car accident, trucking accident, boat accident, etc. the main forms of recoverable monetary compensation in a personal injury claim includes medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. However, when a minor child is injured, the recoverable damages change somewhat. For example, lost wages generally do not apply since minor children do not work and earn income. However, if your child suffers a catastrophic injury to the point that they are totally disabled, it may be possible to obtain compensation for wages your child would have earned, were it not for the severe injuries they suffered in the collision. Though, supplying sufficient evidence that your child was destined for a particular career path can be challenging, so this option depends on the specific facts of your case.
Trial Starts in Fatal Motorcycle Crash
On September 28, a trial began in Round Rock, where the defendant faces charges related to the unintentional death of a man whose motorcycle he hit while driving under the influence of alcohol in late 2015. While driving while intoxicated is never something that a person should do, it is worth noting that had the victim been in an automobile instead of on a motorcycle, he might have survived the impact. Many motorcyclists in Texas are unaware of just how significant the risks of motorcycling can be, and this case can show some of them.
Stats Show High Motorcyclist Death Rate in Accidents
If one examines Texas Department of Transportation data, one can see there were approximately 495 motorcyclist and passenger fatalities in 2016 on Texas roads. Approximately 53 percent of those killed were not wearing helmets, but even those who were sustained significant injury – in other words, the helmet was sadly not relevant to the accidents in which these lives were lost. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data from the past five years show that per vehicle mile traveled, motorcyclists are 26 times more likely to die in any given crash than an automobile driver or passenger. There are numerous reasons for this.
Pedestrian Struck in San Antonio
In late September 2017, a pedestrian was struck as he crossed 36th Street in San Antonio, sustaining injuries that put him in critical condition. The driver did stop to provide assistance, and no charges were filed in the accident, but it is worth noting, if only because such stories are depressingly common in San Antonio. Besides the obvious precautions a pedestrian would normally take, though, it can be difficult to avoid accidents, and it can be difficult to obtain compensation if you are injured.
Statistics Show Increases
The most recent available statistical data for Texas pedestrian fatalities show increases over time, and quite significant ones – from 2014 to 2015, the number jumped approximately 14 percent, up to 558 deaths in one year. This is among the highest in the nation for that time frame, and while some of the high numbers may necessarily be explained by just how many people live in Texas, some can only be explained by less care being taken on both drivers’ and pedestrians’ part.
Highway Hypnosis Accidents
Anyone who has ever passed through rural Texas is well aware of the phenomenon colloquially called highway hypnosis. It occurs most often on two-lane highways with very little present to distract the eye, allowing a driver to sink into a mild trance or stupor. This can, as one might imagine, cause severe accidents, and in some cases, the driver of a truck or car who succumbs to highway hypnosis can be held liable for negligence.
Often Discounted as a Cause
With the common occurrence of DUIs and distracted driving, it can seem strange or premature to ascribe an accident to highway hypnosis. Too often it gets folded into drowsy driving, which is not quite accurate; a driver is not often drowsy when this phenomenon occurs. They are in essence lulled into a trance by the relatively unchanging landscape through which they may be driving. Despite this, it is worth considering, especially if you or the other driver or drivers cannot remember the events of your accident very well, that highway hypnosis might have played a role. This is especially true if no substance abuse is indicated, no foul weather was present and investigators are otherwise at a loss.
Austin Man Killed in Rollover Accident
On September 12, a 60-year old Austin man was killed when his pickup rolled into the center barrier on I-35 while en route to Waco. Witnesses reported the truck had been drifting and the driver over-corrected. The driver died at the scene, though no other injuries were reported, which is quite unusual for a rollover accident. It is sadly common for rollover accidents to result in severe injuries and death to more than just the driver of the rolled car.
One of the Most Severe Types of Accidents
Rollovers are more likely to be deadly to those inside the car than any other type of auto accident. Consumer Reports cites statistics that only approximately 3 percent of all car accidents are rollovers, but as many as 30 percent of passenger deaths are attributable to them. One can simply examine the physics – the most likely vehicles to roll over are tall and narrow, which gives them a higher center of gravity. The average car is built quite low to the ground, but a pickup truck, sport utility vehicle (SUV) or transit van, for example, will be taller and thinner.
What Are the Most Common Texas Car Accident Injuries?
The sheer size of the state of Texas means that the automobile accident rate will always be quite high – in 2016, approximately 3700 fatalities were registered as a direct result of car accidents, a rise of approximately 5.5 percent from the previous year. With a variety of accidents and accident types come a variety of injuries, largely based on the type of accident (rear-end, head-on, and so on). Some traumas are more common than others and are more likely to be taken seriously by a judge or jury if you decide to bring suit against the other driver.
Brain Injuries – Especially in head-on and rear-end collisions, the potential for a traumatic brain injury (TBI) is very real. TBIs can run the proverbial gamut, from concussions to permanent brain damage. Generally, if your car is struck from behind or head-on, it can make the neck snap backward or forward, causing soft tissue trauma, but also allowing a passenger or driver to strike their head on the windshield or dashboard. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) named car accident injuries as the third most common cause of traumatic brain injury in its most recent available data.
Common Causes of Texas Truck Accidents
In mid-August, two trucks collided on I-35, headed toward Austin, clogging up the frontage road. A dump truck and an 18-wheeler had parts of I-35 blocked off for some time, though no one was injured. While no civil or criminal charges have been brought in this specific incident, it does raise interesting questions, not least of all that the unique nature of trucking as a profession lends itself to negligence cases that are not particularly open and shut. Truckers may participate in behaviors that car drivers can engage in with little consequence, because of the size and the stability (or lack thereof) of their vehicles.
Overwork Is a Factor in Negligence
One very common cause of trucking accidents is driver fatigue, and fatigue is caused almost exclusively by overwork in the industry. There has been a long-standing shortage of drivers, going back some years, with no indication that the trend will reverse itself. In addition, new federal regulations have been passed in the last five years which impose new burdens on truckers and trucking companies – for example, the implementation of an electronic logging device requirement, and changes to limits for hours permitted per driver.
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