Recent Blog Posts
Pedestrian Dead After Crash In North Austin
In the early morning hours of September 11, a man was struck by a vehicle in the 1000 block of Parmer Lane, later dying in a Round Rock hospital. While the man was found in the road by police upon arrival, the driver who struck him did remain on the scene and cooperated with law enforcement. Nonetheless, a wrongful death suit may be pending by the victim’s family against the driver, which is a common result after such tragic accidents.
Wrongful Death in Texas
Any death in Texas that occurs due to the “wrongful act, neglect, [or] carelessness” of another person has the potential to be classified as wrongful. Of course, to do that, one must define neglect or carelessness, which is not always straightforward. Wrongful death cases are tried under a theory of negligence law, meaning that one must establish that the defendant was negligent in their actions in order for the plaintiff to recover.
Heroes Rescue Truck Driver From Fiery Wreck
On September 13, a potentially explosive crash occurred on Highway 281, with an 18-wheeler skidding into the guardrail. Upon impact, the truck burst into flame. Three men traveling in a nearby plumbers’ truck pulled over and extricated the driver from the cab, dragging him clear. The driver sustained only cuts and bruises, but the truck was totaled. This type of accident opens up multiple types of potential liability and questions, for both the trucking company and – in certain situations – the driver’s rescuer.
Trucking Company Liability
Normally, if an accident occurs involving an 18-wheeler, the discussion centers around the potential liability to a car struck by the truck. While no other driver was involved in the accident on Highway 281, this is more due to luck than anything, as the driver described losing control of the vehicle. Four hundred and thirty-three fatal crashes involving semi-trucks and large trucks occurred in 2017, and of these accidents, a significant portion involved automobiles. Sheer size and velocity mean that many of the fatalities in such accidents were passengers and drivers of smaller cars.
Argument In Crash Leads to Passenger Death
On the night of August 22, the passenger in a black sedan was attempting to leave the car when it was T-boned in the intersection of the I-35 S service road and Koenig Lane in Austin. The passenger was killed, and the driver sustained minor injuries, along with the driver of the vehicle that hit the sedan. This type of accident is among the most difficult to experience or witness, because it can come completely out of nowhere, and create tragic consequences. If this happens to you, it is imperative that you understand your potential liability.
T-Bone Accidents
T-bone accidents are common and can cause real problems. Unlike front and rear collisions, side impact crashes can be particularly dangerous because there is very little between passengers and the crash. Recent data states that approximately one-quarter of all crash deaths in 2016 were due to side-impact collisions. In most situations, it can be difficult to determine who is at fault in a side-impact collision, just because so many scenarios are possible, though in a situation such as the Koenig Lane accident, the record shows fault, and this may be true in your accident as well.
Deadly Accident Kills 1 In New Braunfels
A 28-year old woman was killed after a single-vehicle accident in New Braunfels on August 20, having struck a traffic light pole head-on. She was pronounced dead at the scene, but the crash is listed as still being investigated. Single-vehicle accidents, as this one appears to have been, are difficult to investigate fully, because so often there are factors that do not necessarily appear in a crime scene record. If you have been involved in a single-vehicle accident, it is important to understand that it is not necessarily as easy to hold someone liable for your injuries as it would be with a two or three-car crash.
Single-Vehicle Accidents Can Be Deadly
Statistics from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) show that as many as 55 percent of nationwide deaths in auto accidents occurred in single-vehicle crashes. Almost exactly half of Texas’ recorded crash fatalities fall into this category, with roughly 1900 deaths recorded in crashes like the one in New Braunfels. One might wonder why this would be the case, but there are multiple reasons why single-vehicle crashes can be so deadly. Perhaps the most common reason is that a higher proportion of single-vehicle accidents tend to be rollovers, where the vehicle winds up flipping, and rollover accidents are the single most deadly type of vehicle crash because of the lack of protection in most autos to guard against these crashes. In other words, rollover accidents damage vehicles in ways other types usually do not – for example, damage to the roof of the automobile – and as such, little protection is available.
Serious Crash on Loop 1604 Kills 1, Injures 4
On the night of August 10, a serious vehicle crash on San Antonio’s far west side killed one and sent four to the hospital with life-threatening and critical injuries. A young woman was arrested and later charged with intoxication manslaughter and assault, but there have also been unsubstantiated rumors that the family of the deceased may file a wrongful death suit against her. If you are unfortunate enough to lose a loved one in a car crash, it is important to understand your options in terms of seeking compensation for your loss.
Two Types of Wrongful Death
Under Texas law, there are two types of wrongful death lawsuits, though only one type may generally be brought in any one case. A standard wrongful death action, alleging negligence and seeking compensation for a defendant’s conduct in causing the death, can be brought only by certain specific family members of the deceased person – in all but the rarest exceptions, the spouse, parents, and children are the only ones who can bring suit. This does exclude siblings and other family members, which can be unfair, but the state’s rationale is that restricting the ability to bring suit to immediate family can help minimize opportunism (that is, bringing suit on behalf of a relative who played no role in that person’s life and whose passing did not truly injure the person).
I-35 Shut Down Temporarily as 18-Wheeler Catches Fire
The morning of August 14 saw I-35 near New Braunfels closed, as the brakes of an 18-wheeler caught fire. The truck became stuck, spilling cargo on the road that required several hours to clean up. While as of this writing, no injuries have been reported, it is worth noting that this particular type of crash, which can seem innocuous, can cause severe injury both to the truck driver and to others on the road.
Trucks Can Be Dangerous to All
It is well established that trucking accidents can cause severe injury and death for all involved, and generally do, given the higher weights and potentially dangerous substances that may play a part. The most recent available data reports approximately 4,000 deaths from truck accidents in 2016, but the most important note is that of these fatalities, an astonishing 97 percent of the deaths in two-vehicle accidents of this type (where one was a truck and the other an automobile) were automobile occupants. Trucks simply have the proverbial edge.
Crash Involving Two Semi-Trucks Closes I-35
On August 9, I-35 near Georgetown saw a severe crash between two 18-wheelers, causing damage but luckily no injuries. The first appeared to sideswipe the second, getting pinned in between it and the concrete guardrail. While it is unusual for two trucks to wind up pinned together, trucking accidents are sadly too common on Texas freeways, especially near major cities such as Austin.
Truck Wrecks Cause More Deaths
While deaths can occur in any kind of auto accident, truck crashes consistently cause more fatalities than car crashes, simply because there is so much more weight being spread around. Data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) for 2016 shows 4,564 fatalities in 2015 resulting from crashes that involved large trucks or buses – which is approximately 5 percent up from the previous year. If an automobile is involved in an accident with a vehicle the size of the average 18 wheeler, it will get the proverbial short end of the stick, even if the trailer is not loaded – but if it is, it may be even more dangerous.
Intoxicated Woman Struck By Pickup Truck on Bandera Road
On the night of August 8, a visibly intoxicated woman in her 30s or 40s staggered into traffic on Bandera Road, being struck by a driver in a pickup truck who had been passing. He stopped to render aid, but she was taken to University Hospital with injuries that were described as ‘life-threatening.’ While in many situations, a driver who strikes a pedestrian will almost always be liable, it is cases like this where possible extenuating circumstances do exist.
The Basics
The average layperson tends to think that pedestrian accidents are usually the fault of the driver, as pedestrians are smaller, have less protection in case of an accident, and move at a far slower rate of speed. Indeed, sometimes such accidents are caused by drivers, especially in states like Texas that have the highest speed limits in the country (which in turn breed higher potential for distracted driving, reckless behavior and the like – all common causes of traffic accidents).
Driver Arrested After Austin Hit-and-Run
After a crash involving a pedestrian on the afternoon of August 1, a driver has been apprehended on charges of failure to stop and render aid. A man died at the scene after another man’s car hit him while walking on the sidewalk near the corner of South First Street and West Ben White Boulevard. While the second man will face criminal charges, it is also likely that should the family of the deceased choose, he will also face a civil lawsuit for wrongful death.
Wrongful Death in Texas
Texas’ wrongful death statute holds that liability exists if someone’s death is caused by another person’s (or their agent’s) “wrongful act, neglect … or default.” In short, if Person A’s conduct rises to the level of negligence under the law, and that negligence causes Person B to die, Person A may be liable for wrongful death. To prove liability, one must show that (1) a duty of care existed between plaintiff and defendant; (2) that duty was breached; (3) the breach caused tangible harm to the plaintiff; and (4) that harm was done directly because of the defendant’s actions.
SAPD Officer Injured in Chain Reaction Crash
A San Antonio police officer suffered non-life-threatening injuries when a car crashed into the vehicle he had pulled over on August 1. A driver coming up to I-10 W, between Huebner and Zavala, failed to slow down for the backup that inevitably results from a traffic stop and crashed into a car. The eventual chain reaction made it to the police cruiser, causing moderate injury to the policeman. While these types of collisions are rare, they do bring up interesting questions about who can be held liable for injuries suffered.
Each Situation Is Different
Chain reaction car accidents generally involve at least three vehicles, though, in theory, any number may be possible, especially on slick roads. Very often, the first car in the chain will be ruled at least partly responsible, because if they had been able to avoid the crash, it is argued that others might have been able to follow their example. However, this is not always the case. Sometimes another driver will be held to have been following too closely, or sometimes, the public agency that maintains the road (in this case, the Texas Department of Transportation) may not have adequately posted signage, or in some cases, the weather will be ruled to have caused the accident itself.
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