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.

Liability in a Police Chase Accident

If you have been injured as a bystander because of a police chase, there is a good chance that your injuries are due to no fault of your own. However, it can be complicated to determine who is at fault and how or if you can pursue compensation through a personal injury claim. The answer to these questions may depend on whether you were injured due to the actions of the suspect, an officer in pursuit, or a combination of the two.

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.

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:

• Traumatic brain injuries - With the multiple points of impact that come with a rollover accident, there are many opportunities for concussions and other brain injuries as the head is shaken or impacted by the vehicle, the road, or the ground.
• Neck and spinal cord injuries - The force and compression of a rollover crash can damage the vertebrae and spinal discs and, in some cases, the spinal cord itself, which can cause paralysis.
• Broken bones - Bones throughout the body can also be fractured or crushed in a rollover, including the arms, legs, hips, and ribs.
• Internal organ injuries - The lungs, kidneys, intestines, and other organs can also suffer damage in a rollover crash. Some internal injuries are obvious, including those caused by puncture wounds, but others may not be immediately apparent.
• Cuts and lacerations - Broken glass and impacts with other sharp or hard surfaces can cause lacerations that in some cases result in permanent scarring or disfigurement.

Reacting to a Rollover Crash

One of the most important things to do if you are injured in a rollover accident is to get to safety and seek immediate medical attention. If you or a passenger is trapped in the vehicle, call 911 for professional assistance from first responders. As soon as you can, you should also consult with a personal injury attorney and start building your case for compensation from another driver who caused or contributed to the accident through their negligent actions.

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.

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.

While it is unclear if alcohol was involved in the recent Loop 410 accident, it is another common factor in motorcycle crashes throughout the U.S. According to the NHTSA, more than one-quarter of all motorcyclists involved in fatal accidents have a blood alcohol concentration above the typical legal limit of 0.08. Alcohol impairment is even more common in motorcycle crashes that occur at night.