Posted on February 17, 2021 in Uncategorized

On February 11, 2021, Texas experienced one of the largest vehicle pileups on record in the United States, with more than 130 total vehicles involved in the accident on I-35W in Fort Worth. The pileup, which occurred during the morning hours when many drivers were on their way to work, has resulted in at least six fatalities and over 60 people requiring treatment for injuries. The initial cause of the accident is still under investigation, but icy road conditions are suspected to be a contributing factor.

While collisions of this magnitude are fairly rare, multi-vehicle pileups are not an uncommon occurrence, especially on busy interstate highways and during times of low visibility and dangerous weather conditions. If you are injured in such a crash, it can be complicated to determine who is at fault and how you might be able to recover compensation. Fortunately, an experienced personal injury attorney can help.

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 Posted on February 12, 2021 in Uncategorized

Earlier this month, a driver was killed on Highway 71 in South Austin after colliding at a high speed with a semi-truck that was parked on the side of the road. In the crash, which happened at around 2 a.m., the driver’s vehicle ignited on impact and slid underneath the truck’s trailer. The accident is still under investigation, but the unusual combination of circumstances is a reminder of the many dangers that can lead to serious injuries and fatalities in South Central Texas car crashes, especially those involving collisions between passenger vehicles and large trucks.

Severe Injuries Are Common in Texas Truck Wrecks

Among the many factors that may contribute to the severity and outcome of a crash such as this include:

• Weight and size disparities between commercial trucks and passenger vehicles. A fully loaded semi-truck can weigh up to 80,000 pounds, compared to an average weight of 4,000 pounds for a passenger vehicle. As such, the occupants of passenger vehicles often suffer the most severe injuries in a collision. The large size of a semi-truck also presents the risk of another vehicle sliding underneath. While most trucks are equipped with a rear underride bar to reduce this risk, and federal regulations may soon require annual inspections of underride bars to ensure they are functional, they are not always fully effective.

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 Posted on February 10, 2021 in Uncategorized

Already this year, the San Antonio area has seen multiple car accidents resulting from police chases. These events can encourage fleeing drivers to travel at high speeds, make unsafe maneuvers, and otherwise violate traffic laws that aim to promote safety on the roads. Unfortunately, when a crash does happen, it is often innocent bystanders who are injured. If you or a loved one has been injured in a car crash related to a police chase, an attorney can help you pursue compensation.

National Statistics for Police Chase Accidents

The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics has closely examined police vehicle pursuits and their effects in recent years, most recently publishing a special report in 2017. Over the 20-year time period covered by the report, researchers found an average of 355 annual fatalities due to police chases. While occupants of the vehicle being pursued accounted for the majority of these fatalities, 33 percent of those who lost their lives were uninvolved bystanders. The report also found a similar percentage for bystander injuries.

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 Posted on February 05, 2021 in Uncategorized

A tragic car accident on I-37 near Mathis claimed the lives of six people, two of whom were from the San Antonio area, all between the ages of 18 and 24. The crash was a head-on collision between two vehicles carrying multiple passengers, and one of the vehicles was traveling in the wrong direction on the highway. In addition to those who lost their lives, three more people involved in the crash were hospitalized with injuries.

This accident is especially severe in its impact on the victims and their families, and it is a reminder that life can be fragile for anyone on the road, and that unsafe driving needs to be addressed. Personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits cannot erase death, but they can provide compensation to help ease the victims’ suffering.

Head-On Collisions Are Often Fatal

Head-on crashes represent a relatively small portion of all car accidents—less than 10 percent according to most recent estimates. However, the National Safety Council estimates that head-on collisions were responsible for almost 30 percent of fatalities resulting from multi-vehicle accidents in 2018. These crashes tend to happen at high speed, and the force of the direct, head-to-head impact often causes severe injuries to the brain, spinal cord, extremities, and internal organs.

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 Posted on February 03, 2021 in Uncategorized

Within the past week, two rollover car accidents stalled traffic on major highways in the San Antonio area. The first happened on I-35 northeast of San Antonio when a car carrying four passengers lost control and impacted two separate semi-trucks. The second happened north of San Antonio on Loop 1604 and involved two vehicles. These two crashes are part of a larger pattern of dangerous rollover accidents, which often result in serious and fatal injuries.

Common Injuries From Rollover Accidents

In a rollover accident involving multiple vehicles, some injuries may be caused by the initial impact. However, the most severe injuries tend to result from the vehicle overturning. In some cases, drivers or passengers are ejected from the vehicle and suffer injuries from their impact with the road, ground, or other objects in the vicinity. In other cases, drivers or passengers are trapped inside the overturned vehicle and may suffer serious injuries as the vehicle is crushed. Some common injuries resulting from these accidents include:

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 Posted on January 29, 2021 in Uncategorized

In December, a 12-year-old San Antonio girl spoke for the first time since a car accident that happened in May 2019. The crash had left her with a traumatic brain injury that affected her speech and ability to walk, and this recent development has been a source of hope and inspiration for the girl, her family, and her community.

This story can provide hope for recovery to other car accident victims, but it also serves as a reminder that the road to recovery can be long, and that car accident injuries can have a major impact on your daily life. Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) can have especially severe effects on both physical and mental health and abilities.

The Effects of Traumatic Brain Injuries

TBIs include concussions and other injuries that result from a forceful impact or jolt to the head, such as the impact of a vehicle collision. They can affect speech and language in different ways. For example, the injury may affect the area of the brain that controls the muscles involved in speech, resulting in speech that is slurred or slower than usual. Alternatively, the injury could affect the mental processes involved in speech, making it difficult to pronounce words consistently, find the correct words to use, or understand the speech of other people.

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 Posted on January 27, 2021 in Uncategorized

Last week, a 30-year-old motorcyclist was killed in an accident on Loop 410 after two motorcycles made contact with each other. The accident also led to a semi-truck rollover, road closure, and significant injuries to the other motorcyclist involved. Law enforcement states that at the time of the crash, the two motorcyclists were racing and that the surviving motorcyclist will be charged with the criminal offense of racing on the highway leading to death. An accident such as this highlights the potentially severe consequences of a motorcycle crash.

Factors that Contribute to Motorcycle Accidents and Injuries

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that excessive speed is an especially common factor in fatal motorcycle accidents when compared to accidents involving other types of motor vehicles. Certainly, not every speeding motorcyclist is explicitly engaged in street racing, but traveling above the posted speed limit or operating at a speed that is unsafe for the current road conditions can be plenty dangerous on their own.

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 Posted on January 22, 2021 in Uncategorized

One person was injured in a recent car accident in north San Antonio’s Stone Oak neighborhood after another driver crashed into their vehicle and pushed it off the road. The car slid down an embankment and collided head-on with a boulder, after which the injured person had to be extricated. Since the accident, the driver who allegedly caused the crash is facing intoxication assault charges, but this crash also serves as a reminder that stationary objects near the road can be a major contributing factor in the severity of resulting injuries.

Car Accident Injuries From Stationary Objects

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), fixed or stationary objects are a factor in about 20 percent of fatal car accidents. These crashes include a variety of objects, including trees, rocks, ditches, phones and light poles, medians, barricades, guardrails, and more. While most of these crashes involve just one vehicle, 5 percent of them involve multiple vehicles, like in the recent case in San Antonio.

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 Posted on January 20, 2021 in Uncategorized

In late December, an eight-car pile-up on Loop 410 in San Antonio left several people injured, with law enforcement reporting that street racing may have been responsible for the collision. Fortunately, none of the injuries were serious in this case, but racing is an extremely dangerous activity that puts everyone on the road at risk of severe injury and even death. Texas law makes street racing a crime, but if you are injured in a car wreck caused by racing drivers, you need an attorney who can help you recover compensation.

Texas Laws Regarding Street Racing

The Texas Transportation Code includes several statutes that may apply when a driver is racing on the road. Street racing often involves driving in excess of the speed limit, for which a driver can be charged with fines up to $300 depending on the miles per hour above the limit. It may also be considered reckless driving, which is defined as operating a vehicle with “wilful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property” and may result in penalties including a $200 fine and up to 30 days in jail.

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 Posted on January 15, 2021 in Uncategorized

Last week in New Braunfels, an accident on I-35 involving a bus and multiple passenger vehicles injured at least two people and blocked highway traffic for several hours. The cause of the accident is unclear, and fault has not been determined, but the crash raises important questions regarding what may happen in personal injury cases involving buses and other forms of public transportation.

Texas Bus Accidents and Personal Injury Claims

The way that a personal injury claim plays out after a bus crash depends on which party was injured and which party’s negligence was responsible for the accident. Here are three possible scenarios:

• The driver or passenger of another vehicle is injured in a collision with a bus. In this case, the injured party may have a case for compensation for damages if they have evidence to demonstrate the bus driver’s negligence. Multiple Texas appellate court rulings have affirmed that buses are considered common carriers, meaning that bus drivers have a higher standard of care than drivers of personal vehicles, which may make it easier for the injured party to establish negligence. In some cases, the organization that employs the bus driver could also be partially liable. This may be a private company or a government agency.

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