Texas Watch Urges Lawmakers to Adopt Safe Texas Agenda
The start of the New Year brings with it a new state legislative session, where bills will be introduced and new laws passed. Many of those bills will possibly involve proposals to enact laws which are aimed at reducing the number of traffic accidents with the goal of keeping drivers and passengers safer on the roads.
One Texas citizen advocacy group recently announced the issues they are asking lawmakers to make a priority this year. Texas Watch is a non-profit, non-partisan organization which keeps watch over the actions of insurance companies and corporations act responsibly for their customers. The organization has been advocating for Texas citizens since 1998.
The group has put together the Safe Texas Agenda, which its director says, outlines the “common sense steps to put the safety of Texas families and small business owners first” that lawmakers should make a number one priority to follow.
The issues on the agenda include:
- Texas allows “named driver” auto policies and Texas Watch says these policies should be prohibited. A named policy only provides insurance coverage to a specifically named person and will not typically cover if anyone else in the household is driving the vehicle and gets into an accident. There are over one million of these policies in Texas.
- The group says it is long overdue for the state of Texas to ban texting and driving. There were over 500 people killed and another 1,800 seriously injured in car accidents caused by distracted driving, in 2013.
- The agenda urges lawmakers to require drivers who contract for ride-share companies, such as Uber and Lyft, have commercial auto insurance. Currently, these drivers only need personal auto insurance to operate; however, these policies do not provide coverage in the event an accident takes place when they have a passenger with them.
If you have been injured in an auto accident caused by a negligent driver, contact a New Braunfels personal injury attorney to find out what legal recourse you may have to collect damages for your pain and loss.
