Posted on July 26, 2019 in Uncategorized

Navigating a Texas roadway by motor vehicle can definitely be a stressful experience. Whether you're behind the wheel or riding as a passenger, if there's a distracted driver nearby or an intoxicated or reckless motorist, your immediate risk for injury skyrockets. It's not uncommon for people to go into shock after sudden collisions occur.

If you were to suffer life-threatening injuries in a motor vehicle accident, what happens directly thereafter would be largely out of your control. In fact, you might not even be conscious when rescuers transport you to the nearest trauma center. If you are coherent at the accident scene, there are several things to keep in mind regarding post-accident decisions.

Avoid legal complications

While your first instinct may be to get as far away from the scene of the accident as possible, the last thing you want to do is leave. Legal problems can definitely arise if you leave the site where you've been involved in a collision before responding police officers give you the okay to go.

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 Posted on June 27, 2019 in Uncategorized

After a car accident, especially one that leaves you seriously injured, it can feel like a whirlwind. You may have questions you wanted to ask, information you wanted to gather or provide, and just want to know what happened in general. Though you may not have immediately been able to obtain this information due to going to the hospital, obtaining it as soon as possible may be in your best interests.

Typically, after a serious crash, police officers come to the scene. Their presence can be immensely useful for various reasons, among which is gathering information for a police report. A police report can contain facts about the accident that may prove useful to you if you choose to pursue a personal injury claim against the driver considered at fault for the incident, even if the report itself cannot be evidence.

What goes into a police report?

If you do not remain on the scene due to needing medical attention, officers may come question you when you are able to answer their questions. Though they have likely already obtained information from witnesses and the other driver involved, providing your recollection of the incident is important. The police will likely try to obtain the following information:

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 Posted on May 30, 2019 in Uncategorized

Most people, on at least one occasion, have gotten behind the wheel while in a hurry. When a person is running late, rushing to get somewhere or simply being inattentive, it can result in that person driving at dangerously high speeds. If you have ever done this yourself, you may be wondering what could be so bad about driving a little fast.

Speeding is a common type of reckless driving. Speed limits are there for a reason, and driving over these limits is not only against the law, it can increase the chance of an accident. Many people underestimate the significant danger associated with speeding. However, if you are a victim of an accident caused by a speeding Texas driver, you know firsthand how dangerous this type of behavior can be.

A greater danger than you may think

Speed-related accidents kill thousands of people every year. A report from the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration indicates that, in 2017, over 9,000 people died in accidents involving speed. Consider the dangers of operating a vehicle too fast:

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 Posted on April 29, 2019 in Truck Accidents

As a Texas driver, you are aware that large trucks are everywhere on the road. Semitrailers are a critical part of the economy, and they are responsible for transporting goods and products from one place to another. Due to their heavy weight and the sheer size of these vehicles, you also know they can cause significant damage when involved in an accident.

In order to make the roads safer and decrease the chance of an accident, there are both state and federal laws in place that determine how these vehicles operate. There are strict guidelines for the number of consecutive hours truckers can drive and how frequently they must rest. There is some question regarding the efficacy of these regulations and whether they actually make the roads safer for motorists.

Do current regulations hurt or help?

Current federal regulations state that truckers cannot drive more than eight hours without stopping for a rest break. There are some, however who think these rules actually make drivers sleepier and more prone to drive faster. Truckers seeking to cover more ground before their mandated break may speed, which increases the chance of a serious car accident.

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 Posted on March 26, 2019 in Uncategorized

Workplace injuries are a sad fact of life. Even in industries or positions that carry no inherent danger, you never know when an accident will occur or if conditions will place you at risk of a work-related illness. In most states in the U.S., business owners carry workers' compensation insurance to cover medical bills and other expenses related to workplace accidents.

Texas is a rare exception in that it is the only state that does not require its employers to offer workers' compensation coverage. When you accepted the position at your job, your employer should have informed you whether he or she carries workers' compensation insurance. If your employer is a non-subscriber, you may wonder about your options when you get hurt on the job.

What should I do if I get hurt?

The purpose of workers' compensation is to provide injured workers with the funds they need to recover and get back on their feet as quickly as possible. This coverage applies no matter who is at fault for the accident. In exchange for this insurance coverage, employees waive their right to sue their employers in most cases.

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 Posted on March 01, 2019 in Uncategorized

Most newer vehicles have the ability to connect to people's phones so that they can use them hands-free while driving without having to take eyes off the road and hand's off the wheel. It is supposed to help reduce distracted driving accidents specifically related to cellphone use. The truth is, hands-free devices are not a distracted driving cure-all. In fact, this technology comes with its own issues that also cause distracted driving.

Hands-on cellphone use for texting and talking while driving or stopped in traffic is illegal in the state of Texas. However, several cities have hands-free device laws in place to allow that you to use this feature within city limits.

Allowing drivers to use hands-free technology may have had some effect on the number of cellphone-related auto accidents, but not as strong as an effect as lawmakers would have hoped. Why? Cognitive distractions still affect people utilizing their phones even in a hands-free way.

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 Posted on January 29, 2019 in Uncategorized

When a driver is doing anything other than keeping his or her eyes on the road, it is distracted driving. When you think about distracted driving, you may think about someone texting or reading an email, but those are not the only things that can take a driver's attention. One of the most common and most dangerous types of distracted driving in Texas does not involve using a phone at all.

Eating while driving may not seem dangerous. In fact, most people have probably gone through a drive-thru to grab coffee and a pastry before work or picked up a burger to eat on the way home. Eating on-the-go is part of the American culture, yet the convenience may not be worth the risk. Eating while driving is a type of distracted driving, and it is quite dangerous.

Understanding the dangers

Texting while driving is dangerous because it can take a person's eyes off the road, cause his or her attention to wander, and make a person remove one or both hands from the wheel. However, consider the following things about distracted driving and why it can be dangerous as well:

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 Posted on January 03, 2019 in Uncategorized

Let's be honest. Teenagers lack the experience to safely multitask while driving. For this reason, their parents often warn them not to use their cell phones, eat or do anything other than drive and pay attention to the road when they drive.

The question is whether Texas parents warn their teens about the dangers of having passengers their age in the vehicle. Did you know that with one peer passenger in the vehicle, the risk of an accident doubles? If a teenager has two or more peers along for the ride, the risk triples — and this is without adding any additional distractions.

Teens may not always follow the rules

If you have a teenager or two at home, then you know that they don't always do what you would prefer them to do. They may use their phones while driving and may even have several passengers in the vehicle with them. If your child can get them to follow the rules below, the chances of them making it to their destination safely could increase:

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 Posted on November 27, 2018 in Uncategorized

You may have a number of concerns while on the road or while your loved ones are on the road. You certainly want to stay safe and never want to learn that a loved one has suffered injuries in an accident. Of course, you likely also know that a choice made by another person could easily result in a crash that has life-altering consequences.

In particular, a person making the decision to drink and drive could result in you or a loved one suffering serious or even fatal injuries. These dangerous drivers plague Texas roadways, and unfortunately, the odds are high that you or a family member will share the road with a drunk driver at some point.

Signs of a drunk driver

In some cases, you may notice a vehicle swerving or otherwise seeming suspicious, and you may wonder whether that vehicle has an impaired driver behind the wheel. Any time you have an inkling of impairment, it may suit your best interests to stay far away from that vehicle. Some other signs that may raise your suspicions include the following:

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 Posted on November 01, 2018 in Uncategorized

As you pass vehicles on the road, do you ever wonder what the lives of those inside them are like? Are they happy or sad, rich or poor or single or married? Maybe you have wondered these things, or maybe you focus on more practical questions like did that driver got enough sleep last night? Is he or she on a cell phone? Is he or she too busy looking at a GPS system to notice you?

You have probably heard that there are more and more drowsy and distracted drivers on the roadways, so you wonder these things. However, you can't forget about the impaired drivers. Whether it's 7a.m. or 7 p.m., some drivers continue to feed their addictions — and some of them drive vehicles that weigh up to 80,000 pounds and dwarf your car in size. Yes, we are talking about big rigs, and the fact that many of their drivers suffer from addictions make them a danger on the roadways.

The problem could be worse than you think

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