Posted on March 29, 2021 in Uncategorized

Injuries from car crashes and other accidents often have a major impact on all areas of a person’s life, including their finances, their physical and mental health, their work, and their personal relationships. Texas law recognizes the many hardships that injuries can bring, and when those injuries are caused by another person’s negligence, victims can pursue compensation for a range of damages. While money cannot reverse all of the effects of injuries, it is often the best way for an injury victim to obtain the relief they need to move forward with their life.

What Damages Can an Injury Victim Pursue in Texas?

In Texas, damages available through a personal injury claim generally fall into three categories. Two of those, economic and noneconomic damages, are often referred to together as compensatory damages, and they are quite commonly awarded. The third category, known as exemplary damages, is less common, as it requires a higher standard of proof. As you prepare to file an injury claim, here is what you should know about each category:

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on March 24, 2021 in Uncategorized

Each year in Texas, around 15,000 people suffer serious, incapacitating injuries in car accidents, leaving them temporarily or permanently unable to walk or perform other activities as they did before the crash. Some of the most severe incapacitating injuries involve damage to the victim’s spinal cord. If you have suffered a spinal cord injury due to another driver’s negligence, you may be entitled to substantial compensation.

Physical Limitations From Spinal Cord Injuries

In a car crash, spinal cord injuries are most likely to happen due to the crushing force of the collision between vehicles, or subsequent impacts when a vehicle enters a rollover or a driver or passenger is ejected from the vehicle. Because the spinal cord contains nerves that control a wide range of bodily functions, damage to the spinal cord can have far-reaching physical effects. These include:

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on March 22, 2021 in Uncategorized

Properly wearing a seat belt is one of the most important things that drivers and passengers can do to protect themselves from serious injuries in the event of a car crash. Vehicle occupants who are not securely restrained are more likely to suffer injuries in a secondary collision, meaning an impact that occurs after the initial collision with another vehicle. This includes injuries from colliding with parts of the vehicle in which the person is traveling, as well as objects outside of the vehicle after being ejected.

You may be aware of the increased injury risks associated with not wearing a seatbelt, but it may not be as clear that it can also result in legal consequences, including an impact on the compensation you can recover if you are injured in a crash with another driver. It is important to understand Texas law regarding seat belt use and to work with an attorney who can advise you regarding its impact on your case.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on March 17, 2021 in Uncategorized

In most cases, the driver of a vehicle bears full responsibility for operating the vehicle safely and upholding their duty of care to other people on the road, and in the event of an accident, a negligent driver is often liable for any resulting injuries. However, sometimes a driver is influenced by the behavior of a passenger to the extent that there is a question of whether the passenger may be partially or even fully liable. In San Antonio, a recent accident, in which a fighting driver and passenger collided with a police car, illustrates the possible complexities of driver and passenger contributions to a crash. If you have been injured in a car wreck and you believe a passenger may have contributed, it can affect your options for recovering compensation.

Passengers and Distracted Driving

According to a 2018 report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), passengers are a significant source of distracted driving, which may result in the driver causing an accident. Passenger distractions could be as simple as a conversation that removes the driver’s focus from the road, or the behavior of children in the back seat that requires the driver’s attention.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on March 10, 2021 in Uncategorized

It can be difficult to understand what would lead a driver to travel the wrong way on a divided highway, but unfortunately, it does happen on a regular basis. Just recently, law enforcement reported a suspected wrong-way driving crash resulting in at least one fatality on I-35 in Austin, and hundreds of people die in wrong-way car crashes each year throughout the U.S. Understanding the causes of wrong-way driving accidents may help you avoid them or know how best to pursue compensation if you or a loved one is injured in such a crash.

Common Factors in Wrong-Way Collisions

In recent years, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) published a special report on wrong-way driving crashes in the U.S. after conducting several investigations and extensive data analysis. Through their research, they identified a few common factors that contribute to fatal accidents involving wrong-way drivers on the highway, including:

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on March 08, 2021 in Uncategorized

In early February, a driver fled the scene after a series of collisions near I-35 and New Braunfels Avenue in San Antonio, leaving his vehicle behind. The first crash involved two other moving vehicles, and the driver then collided with multiple parked cars before removing his car keys and leaving on foot. This chain of events raises questions regarding what victims can do when they suffer injuries and property damage in a hit-and-run accident, especially one involving more than one victim.

Police Can Often Locate Hit-and-Run Drivers

While it is certainly more difficult to identify and locate a driver who flees the scene after a car accident, it is by no means impossible. Law enforcement officers responding to the accident are often able to use evidence from the scene of the crash to establish a trail that leads to the suspect. For example, if the driver’s vehicle is left behind as in the aforementioned case, officers can check the license plate and vehicle registration information to determine to whom the vehicle belongs. Even if the driver leaves with the vehicle, the police may be able to obtain footage from local security or traffic cameras, as well as testimony from witnesses who saw the driver leave. If the police are able to locate the driver, injury victims may have a more clear course of action for recovering compensation.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on March 08, 2021 in Uncategorized

UPDATE: This blog was originally published on June 22, 2020. Since then, subsequent executive orders have definitively extended the tolling of the statute of limitations for civil cases to September 15, 2020, and granted judges the discretion to extend the deadline for filing through April 1, 2021. As the people of Texas cope with the unusual nature of court cases during the COVID-19 pandemic, The Bettersworth Law Firm will help you determine whether a personal injury lawsuit is possible for injuries you have sustained either recently or in the past few years.

On March 13, 2020, on the heels of Gov. Abbott’s declaration of disaster for the state of Texas, the state Supreme Court authored an emergency order tolling (pausing) all “service and filing deadlines” in civil cases until June 1. This means that any deadline for filing a lawsuit or serving process on a party to a lawsuit is extended until June 1 – usually a good thing for those contemplating filing suit – but there has been some confusion about just how far the order extends. If you are in a position to file a civil lawsuit, you need to be aware of what your position will likely be now that the statute of limitations is no longer being paused.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on February 26, 2021 in Uncategorized

In a recent Texas car accident, the driver of a passenger vehicle collided with an ambulance operated by the San Antonio Fire Department, resulting in injuries to the patient who was being transported. Accidents involving ambulances and other emergency vehicles are somewhat frequent, and they can result in serious injuries to both occupants of the emergency vehicle and the other vehicles involved. It is often possible for injury victims to recover compensation for damages, but these cases can be especially complicated.

The Complexities of Liability in an Emergency Vehicle Accident

The process of obtaining compensation for injuries in an emergency vehicle crash can vary substantially depending on who is responsible for the accident. If the occupant of an ambulance is injured and the driver of another vehicle is found to be at fault, the personal injury claim may proceed similarly to how it would in an accident between passenger vehicles. It will be important for the victim to have evidence of the other driver’s negligence, perhaps due to a failure to yield to the emergency vehicle, or other unsafe behavior such as speeding, drunk driving, or distracted driving.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on February 24, 2021 in Uncategorized

Drivers in South Central Texas rarely have to contend with severe winter weather conditions, but this can mean that when such conditions do arrive, they can be all the more dangerous. In recent days, as a rare winter storm has brought about the accumulation of ice and snow, police departments in New Braunfels, San Antonio, and the surrounding areas have received more than 100 reports of car accidents related to the weather, and several of them have been fatal. During this difficult time, it is important for Texas residents to be aware that they can pursue compensation for car accident injuries through a personal injury claim, even when the weather is a contributing factor in the accident.

How Can Texas Drivers Stay Safe in Winter Weather?

Generally, the best way to avoid an accident in winter weather is to avoid driving entirely while conditions are dangerous, as many Texas officials are currently recommending. You should consider delaying any unnecessary trips outside of your home until the severe weather abates and the roads are cleared. However, if it is absolutely necessary to drive, you should take special care to drive safely.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on February 19, 2021 in Uncategorized

The trucking industry is responsible for transporting all manner of cargo throughout the U.S., and in some cases, the type of cargo a truck is carrying can have unique implications if the truck is in an accident. In recent weeks, San Antonio has seen multiple truck accidents involving unusual cargo, including a fatal crash in which molasses was spilled onto the road on Loop 1604, and another accident on I-35 involving a truck carrying beehives in which a swarm of bees was released and had to be contained by pest control.

However, some truck accidents stand out because the truck is carrying particularly hazardous cargo, which can contribute directly to the severity of the crash and the resulting injuries. If you have been injured in a crash with a truck carrying hazardous materials, it is important to work with an attorney who understands trucking regulations and can help you achieve the most possible compensation.

Continue Reading ››