Posted on September 21, 2017 in Uncategorized

Anyone who has ever passed through rural Texas is well aware of the phenomenon colloquially called highway hypnosis. It occurs most often on two-lane highways with very little present to distract the eye, allowing a driver to sink into a mild trance or stupor. This can, as one might imagine, cause severe accidents, and in some cases, the driver of a truck or car who succumbs to highway hypnosis can be held liable for negligence.

Often Discounted as a Cause

With the common occurrence of DUIs and distracted driving, it can seem strange or premature to ascribe an accident to highway hypnosis. Too often it gets folded into drowsy driving, which is not quite accurate; a driver is not often drowsy when this phenomenon occurs. They are in essence lulled into a trance by the relatively unchanging landscape through which they may be driving. Despite this, it is worth considering, especially if you or the other driver or drivers cannot remember the events of your accident very well, that highway hypnosis might have played a role. This is especially true if no substance abuse is indicated, no foul weather was present and investigators are otherwise at a loss.

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 Posted on September 19, 2017 in Uncategorized

On September 12, a 60-year old Austin man was killed when his pickup rolled into the center barrier on I-35 while en route to Waco. Witnesses reported the truck had been drifting and the driver over-corrected. The driver died at the scene, though no other injuries were reported, which is quite unusual for a rollover accident. It is sadly common for rollover accidents to result in severe injuries and death to more than just the driver of the rolled car.

One of the Most Severe Types of Accidents

Rollovers are more likely to be deadly to those inside the car than any other type of auto accident. Consumer Reports cites statistics that only approximately 3 percent of all car accidents are rollovers, but as many as 30 percent of passenger deaths are attributable to them. One can simply examine the physics – the most likely vehicles to roll over are tall and narrow, which gives them a higher center of gravity. The average car is built quite low to the ground, but a pickup truck, sport utility vehicle (SUV) or transit van, for example, will be taller and thinner.

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 Posted on September 14, 2017 in Uncategorized

The sheer size of the state of Texas means that the automobile accident rate will always be quite high – in 2016, approximately 3700 fatalities were registered as a direct result of car accidents, a rise of approximately 5.5 percent from the previous year. With a variety of accidents and accident types come a variety of injuries, largely based on the type of accident (rear-end, head-on, and so on). Some traumas are more common than others and are more likely to be taken seriously by a judge or jury if you decide to bring suit against the other driver.

Brain Injuries – Especially in head-on and rear-end collisions, the potential for a traumatic brain injury (TBI) is very real. TBIs can run the proverbial gamut, from concussions to permanent brain damage. Generally, if your car is struck from behind or head-on, it can make the neck snap backward or forward, causing soft tissue trauma, but also allowing a passenger or driver to strike their head on the windshield or dashboard. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) named car accident injuries as the third most common cause of traumatic brain injury in its most recent available data.

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 Posted on September 12, 2017 in Uncategorized

In mid-August, two trucks collided on I-35, headed toward Austin, clogging up the frontage road. A dump truck and an 18-wheeler had parts of I-35 blocked off for some time, though no one was injured. While no civil or criminal charges have been brought in this specific incident, it does raise interesting questions, not least of all that the unique nature of trucking as a profession lends itself to negligence cases that are not particularly open and shut. Truckers may participate in behaviors that car drivers can engage in with little consequence, because of the size and the stability (or lack thereof) of their vehicles.

Overwork Is a Factor in Negligence

One very common cause of trucking accidents is driver fatigue, and fatigue is caused almost exclusively by overwork in the industry. There has been a long-standing shortage of drivers, going back some years, with no indication that the trend will reverse itself. In addition, new federal regulations have been passed in the last five years which impose new burdens on truckers and trucking companies – for example, the implementation of an electronic logging device requirement, and changes to limits for hours permitted per driver.

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 Posted on September 07, 2017 in Uncategorized

On September 1, a long-awaited texting and driving ban became law in Texas, after being proposed three times before and being vetoed or dying in committee each time. Texas had been one of only four states without a texting and driving ban of any kind, but after several high-profile accidents, including a March collision between a texting driver and a bus full of elderly people, lawmakers pushed it through. While most people are pleased due to the decreased likelihood of dangerous accidents, others are confused and want to ensure they do not accidentally fall foul of the new law.

Statistics and Caveats

This bill is seen as a win, albeit a partial win, for ban advocates. The most recent available data shows approximately 110,000 automobile crashes in Texas during 2016 that involved distracted driving, with texting & driving being arguably the most common root cause of that distraction. Over 3,500 serious injuries and fatalities resulted from those crashes, of which the highest percentage was aged 16-34. Groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and StopDistractions.org were active in the fight to get the bill passed, arguing that such a rate was simply too high, especially for young people.

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 Posted on September 05, 2017 in Uncategorized

In early September, two people were injured when a private helicopter lost power while trying to land at Burnet Municipal Airport, just north of Austin. While no one in the craft was seriously injured, motorists on US 281 were understandably shocked and alarmed, as the helicopter crash-landed onto the lanes of the highway. While aircraft crashes are thankfully rare, it does beg the question of how foreseeable either might be, and whether it would affect a passenger’s ability to bring suit.

Accidents and Negligence

Whatever conveyance you may be riding in, there are certain obligations that both passengers and drivers must abide by while out on public roads or in public airspace. There is an implied duty of care owed to drivers by other drivers on the road; the breach of that duty can give rise to a negligence claim. This would also apply to aircraft or watercraft; for example, two boats sharing a waterway must exercise due care, lest something go wrong. These duties originate in common law, which means that they are not necessarily in any statute, but rather are passed down via past judicial precedent.

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 Posted on August 31, 2017 in Uncategorized

In most accidents involving 18-wheeler trucks, a rear end collision can easily prove fatal to any passenger, simply because many commercial cars and trucks lack any substantial trunk or back end that can absorb a fearsome impact. However, an accident on I-35 near Pearsall, south of San Antonio, shows that multiple trucks colliding can be just as bad if not worse. On August 3, 2017, three or four semi trucks (accounts vary) came together in a chain rear-end collision as debris on the road required a sudden traffic slowdown. One driver was killed, and the others were transported to the nearest hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Even Truckers Must Be Careful

What accidents like this show us is that even truckers must exercise due care at all time, despite the stereotype that nothing can injure the driver of a semi-truck. Rear-end collisions, in particular, do not discriminate; any impact from the rear that is strong enough to be felt (and strong enough to cause a semi truck to jackknife or drift out of its lane) will leave significant marks on drivers and passengers. The most common injury sustained in rear-end collisions is whiplash, which can cause significant soft tissue damage that lasts.

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 Posted on August 29, 2017 in Uncategorized

Given how much of southern Texas is located on a floodplain, it is not at all surprising that roads around New Braunfels and San Antonio flood with relative frequency. Recently, flooding was out of control to the point where it required the closure of I-10 into Louisiana, which raises several questions, especially if you were one of the motorists inconvenienced by I-10’s closure. Roads do flood – is anyone responsible? The driver of the car that hit yours? The municipality tasked with maintaining the roads? While it does depend on the situation, this can be a difficult question to answer.

The Driver

As one might imagine, more often than not it is the other driver involved in your accident who is likeliest to be held liable. However, in an accident involving hazardous road conditions, it can be difficult to pinpoint how much of your injuries are due to alleged negligence of the other driver, and how much is due to the road. It may be possible to get into issues of complex causation – in other words, to establish that the accident had more than one cause, and without both factors, it may not have occurred.

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 Posted on August 24, 2017 in Uncategorized

In late July, three men were killed on a frontage road of I-35 after being hit by a truck while stopping to assist a motorcyclist who had fallen off his vehicle. The motorcyclist and his nephew and one other person died at the scene, while another person was injured. The truck driver stopped to offer help, and while he is not currently facing criminal charges, it is not a leap to assume that a wrongful death civil suit may be filed by the motorcyclist’s family and/or next of kin. Wrongful death is one of the leading causes of action that comes from auto accidents, and Texas has very specific laws surrounding these suits.

Time and Plaintiffs Are Limited

One important thing to remember about wrongful death cases in Texas is that the statute of limitations is quite short. You only have two years from the date of the person’s passing to bring the appropriate wrongful death suit – while this may seem like a long time, it is definitely not, especially when one considers the time that will be spent obtaining records and taking care of the deceased person’s estate. This may seem unreasonable, but after too long, memories begin to fade. Statutes of limitations are meant to curb the tendency of human beings to devolve into he-said, she-said arguments – if a case must be tried when memories are fresh, it will likely be handled more quickly and appropriately.

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 Posted on August 22, 2017 in Uncategorized

In July 2017, a study was released on the deadliest highway in Texas, based on multiple factors, including fatality frequency and the type of highway. The findings were, to those familiar with Texas roads, not all that surprising; many of the most dangerous roads could be found in small-to-middling towns – the deadliest highway in the state according to the study was IH 69, specifically the stretch at mile point 170, in Edinburg, TX – but what was noteworthy to many was the concentration of deadly stretches of highway found in the San Antonio-to-Austin corridor. Almost 30 percent of the roads cited in the study can be found in one or both cities. While the odds of an accident are still comparatively low overall, it is worth noting that if you are a frequent driver on any of these roads, you may wish to be more careful.

Why Such High Body Counts?

If one looks at the demographics and makeup of both San Antonio and Austin, one can see similarities, at least in terms of traffic patterns. Both metro areas have a high fatality rate spread fairly evenly throughout the city limits (as opposed to occurring in isolated areas), as San Antonio has ten deadly stretches of highway and Austin has seven. Both metro areas are also noticeably congested – in studies of the busiest U.S. cities, San Antonio and Austin both showed similar congestion levels and amount of rush hours. It is plausible to draw the inference that cities laid out in the same way as these two, congestion almost certainly contributes to impatient and reckless driving, which boosts fatality counts.

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