For many reasons, accidents may cause personal injuries that do not arise directly after the time of the incident. Increased energy or shock may mask pain, mental anguish may take time to understand, and physical injuries like back pain or reduced range of motion may develop and worsen over many months.[1]
Continue reading “Can You Sue for Future Personal Injuries After an Accident?”
Distracted Driving continues to threaten the safety of every driver and passenger on Texas roadways. Inattention behind the wheel accounts for 18% of all accidents in the state of Texas, causing nearly 100,000 crashes annually[1]. Momentarily taking your eyes off the road to adjust the radio, reply to a text message, or browse through social media compromises your ability to safely operate a motor vehicle. Drivers who partake in these types of negligent behaviors put themselves and everyone else on the road in danger. So, what is distracted driving and how can it be prevented?
Many personal injury cases arise from criminal conduct. For example, if you are hit by a drunk driver, you have a negligence claim against the drunk driver, and the driver can be arrested for drunk driving. If the drunk driver is arrested, the criminal charges against him will likely be resolved before the civil trial. While the jury is still out on what the average time of civil and criminal cases are post-COVID, [1] Texas law requires courts to prioritize criminal cases over civil ones to protect a defendant’s right to a speedy trial.[2] Since the criminal charge and the personal injury lawsuit arose out of the exact same accident, much of the evidence useful in one lawsuit will be useful in the other, too. Criminal cases produce a number of documents and evidence that can help a personal injury plaintiff win her case: police reports, police investigatory documents, evidence seized from the defendant, witness statements, material disclosed voluntarily by third parties, and even information shared by overseas authorities.
Continue reading “Using Criminal Proceedings in Personal Injury Cases”
Every year, consumers file a multitude of complaints against companies that have caused either physical or economic harm to them. The most common claims made by consumers involve defective medications, medical devices, or other products.
Automobile accidents are a hassle for all parties involved. Over half a million occur in Texas alone each year1. Accident rates continue to increase with the advancement of technology and the relatively new development of cell phones. Whether instigated by a phone, or a plethora of other variants, distracted driving accounts for roughly one in five of all automobile accidents in Texas1 which is nearly four times the rate of accidents caused by an under the influence driver1. Some of the most dangerous things you can engage in while driving is drinking, eating, and smoking which increases the risk of a crash by an astounding eighty percent1. In addition, it has been estimated that every two minutes an individual is injured in a car accident in Texas2.
