Fort Worth Injury Attorney Blog

Yesterday the Texas Transportation Commisision raised the speed limit from 70 to 75 on nine of our interstates, day or night. However drivers must wait for new signs to be posted first.

About 1,500 miles of interstates will be a little faster to drive on, with the longest stretch of 310 miles on Interstate 20 starting west of Fort Worth and going out to far West Texas. Here is the map of the affectedhighways:

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Other long stretches of highways are I-30 in East Texas, I-10 between San Antonio and Houston, and I-45 between Dallas and Houston.

As an injury lawyer specializing in auto and truck collisions, forgive me for wondering if increasing these speed limits will increase the number of crashes , not to mention the extent of injuries.

After all, in 2010, the last year in which official figures exist, there were 104,000 car crashes causes by speeding or failing to control speed. There were also 78,000 caused by driver inattention. Often the two factors were listed on police reports as causing the same collision.

How many wrecks happened here? In 2010 there were 123 serious car crashes in Tarrant County, which led to 134 fatalities. And there were almost 1,000 accidents that led to injury codes on the police reports of either an A or B, the two most serious ones. The total number of crashes was about 23,000 traffic accidents in Tarrant county.

That's 63 a day - on our slower roads. Hmmmm.

The Cowtown Kids 5K was just named the best Youth Running Event of the Year in the U.S.!

My heartiest congratulations go out to Heidi Swartz, executive director of The Cowtown, and her staff for working so hard to put on this race, as well as providing training programs, nutritional education, and financial assistance our area students.

The Cowtown CALF (Children's Activities for Life and Fitness) Council helps coordinate these programs. Last year, CALF helped distribute more than 600 monetary grants and 550 pairs of shoes to the Kids 5K participants. This year, more than 1,600 financial grants will be given to our local school children.

"For some of these kids, this is their very first pair of new shoes," Ms. Swartz said in the announcement.

As a member of the CALF Council, I will be going to schools in the next few weeks to help fit children in their new running shoes and encourage them to run in the 5K - and to keep on running. Any child who is already out there running is bound to excel.

I am representing a young woman and her brother who were injured when a drunk driver, going the wrong-direction on Interstate 35 near Alvarado, crashed into their car head-on at over 70 miles per hour. The car was destroyed.

The young woman, a college student, required surgery to repair her broken ankle and sustained other injuries, including head trauma. Her brother was fortunately not hurt as badly.

The same day her family hired me, I sent my investigator to the hospital to meet with the young woman and photograph her injuries. I investigated the case and quickly submitted these photographs and her hospital bills and records to the Defendant's high risk insurance company. Even with these facts, the adjuster tried to delay paying on the claim, requesting unnecessary extra documentation. I got on the phone and screamed at him and his claims manager, then sent the company a copy of the lawsuit I was about to file. The claims manageer finally agreed to pay the full policy limits of the defendant's policy without further expense or delay to my client.

In more good news, I have also able to force my client's insurance company to pay policy limits because it could not prove that the family had officially rejected Underinsured Motorists coverage in writing.This gets $30,000.00 more to this wonderful family.

My clients were obviously very pleased with the results of their case.

Many of my clients with health insurance ask me if they will need to reimburse their health insurance carrier for medical bills it pays. The answer is, sometimes, and that the rules vary by plan. Each case is different.

One of the big factors in determining if and how much needs to be repaid is whether the plan is a so-called "ERISA" plan. As you can see, the rules and laws about ERISA plans are themselves very complicated. If you've been involved in a wreck, call my office to discuss your case. I will take the time to meet with you and explain the specifics of your case, including the effect health insurance will have.

What is an ERISA plan?

The terms employee welfare benefit plan and welfare plan mean any plan, fund, or program which was...established or maintained by an employer or by an employee organization...to the extent that such plan, fund, or program was established...for the purpose of providing for its participants or their beneficiaries, through the purchase of insurance or otherwise, (A) medical, surgical, or hospital care or benefits, or benefits in the event of sickness, accident, disability, death or unemployment, or vacation benefits, apprenticeship or other training programs, or day care centers, scholarship funds, or prepaid legal services, or (B) any benefit described in section 186(c) [holiday benefits, among others] of this title (other than pensions on retirement or death, and insurance to provide such pensions).

Continue reading "ERISA Plans and Subrogation: What Does This Mean and How Does It Affect Your Case?" »

Officer Daniel B. Gonzalez, 35, who was fortunately off duty, was arrested Monday at 4:30 a.m. at a restaurant on Loop 820 at North Beach on charges of DWI. Oh, and giving a gun to a felon.

Gonzalez has been on the force since 2002.

His friend, Bobby Joe Newton, 26, faces a charge of possession of a firearm by a felon and discharging a firearm within city limits.

The two were spotted shooting their guns at a street light by a constable who followed them to the restaurant.

This is hardly the first time that a Fort Worth police officer has been DWI. See Here and Here

It is frightening that those who "serve and protect" us -- from drunk drivers, among others -- choose to act like this. The FWPD must do a better job policing the police.

I wanted to wish you and your family joy and happiness during this wonderful holiday season and prosperity in the coming year.

This has been another great year for my firm. I am proud that we have successfully represented over 250 people injured in collisions.

And I am proud that every one of my clients was very pleased with our services and their results.

We have fought hard and have received many significant verdicts or settlements in a tough anti-lawsuit, tort reform climate in a conservative venue.

I am truly honored to have had such wonderful clients! Thank you for the opportunity to serve you during your difficult ordeals.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and Happy New Year.

A North Texas man is in critical condition after he was shot in the head Friday night in rural Collin County.

The incident started in McKinney when a Ford Taurus cut off a Ford pickup.

Bobby Schule, 47, of Flower Mound (see photo) chased the car for 10 miles into rural Collin County.

Schule caught up to the car, fired a gun, and hit the passenger in the head.

Schule sped off, but a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper in pursuit chased him down.

Police arrested Schule on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony. He is in the Collin County jail, and bail is set at $25,000.

The passenger is in critical condition at Parkland Hospital in Dallas.

Schule told officers that he fired the gun but did not intend to hit anyone,

Really?

Coming the day after the tragedy in Arlington where a driver who was high killed two people, one by firing his gun at a Good Samaritan coming to his aid (see earlier blog post), our roads seem like they are getting extremely dangerous.

I urge drivers to exercise extreme caution, obviously not to engage in horseplay or risky maneuvers, and call the police if you suspect you are the victim of road range.

A drunken driving suspect, 18 year old Joshua Reyes, crashed into a poor guy riding his motorcycle in University Park early Sunday morning.

Danny Ray Viola, 56, of Dallas was southbound on Preston Road at 12:40 a.m. when he collided with a speeding Honda Civic that ran the light at University Boulevard.

Viola was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Reyes (see photo) was taken into custody on a charge of intoxication manslaughter.

This story really makes me angry.

I hate drunk drivers. And don't drink much alcohol. And sympathize with law abiding motorcyclists and bicyclists. And my only child goes to SMU and lived in a dorm a block from the scene for two years. And I spent three years studying at SMU Law School a block in the other direction.

There has to be a way to crack down on the wide spread culture of drinking and driving, especially when it kills innocent drivers. I have had to handle far too many DWI cases over the last 31 years.

His 8th DWI conviction???

Michael Smth, a 54 year old resident of Arlington, was convicted Friday and sentenced to 55 years in jail on Friday.

Hopefully this will keep him off our streets. For the rest of his life.

Smith was pulled over in Arlington in January when he was spotted weaving in traffic. A beer can fell out of his car when he was asked to exit his car.

His blood alcohol content was a staggering .24% -- three times the legal limit.

Tarrant County jurors were told that Smith had 12 prior convinctions, including the 7 for drunken driving.

His longest jail sentence to date has been 3 years.

Think there's something wrong with our system of dealing with DWIs?

A Parker County jury sentenced Steven Knight to life in prison -- and more -- after convicting him of driving drunk for the sixth time.

Knight, 45, of Poolville, was already on parole on a 25 year drunken-driving conviction in Tarrant County for being a repeat drunken driver in 1999.

A restaurant owner in Springtown alerted police that Knight appeared to be intoxicated when he left her restaurant about noon on Mother's Day.

Police stopped him just a few minutes later and obtained a blood test, which determined that his blood-alcohol level was 0.32 -- four times the legal limit of 0.08.

Get this: Knight came into the restaurant for lunch, didn't drink anything intoxicating, then stumbled out to his vehicle.

He also had several misdemeanor arrests and an aggravated assault conviction in 1994 in Tarrant County, in addition to a drunken-driving conviction in Johnson County and two hot-check convictions in Parker County.

Knight will be required to serve his 25-year sentence, then at least 15 years of the life sentence before becoming eligible for parole again.

Let's hope he never gets out.

This story is just too hard to believe.

In Arlington at 1:40 yesterday afternoon, a 27 year old man, Thomas Harper, crashed his Tahoe into two cars on North Collins.

Harper then rear-ended a truck so hard he tragically killed the driver, Najee Nasir, who was 42 years old.

As if that weren't bad enough, Harper then peeled out and fled the scene at a speed estimated at 100 miles per hour. with his twin toddlers in the back seat.

Witnesses chased the Tahoe to get a license plate.

Harper then rammed his SUV into the rear of a Dodge pickup stopped at the intersection of Collins and Brown Boulevard so hard that he killed its driver too.

Witnesses rushed to the Tahoe to render aid and found Harper "ranting and raving, half laughing."

Harper started firing a gun out of his window and shot and killed Clarence "C.J." Robinson, 19, of Arlington, who was on his way to work at the nearby Potbelly's Restaurant. He did not own a car.

An eyewitness heard Harper say as he was being pulled out of his Tahoe by Arlington police that "I'll shoot somebody again."

Harper was obviously high.

He is being held in the Arlington jail on charges on murder and intoxication manslaughter. Bail is set at $550,000.00.

And just four days earlier, Robinson's older brother died the same way -- with a gunshot wound to the head -- in a New Orleans-area shooting.

Robinson had left New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina with his siblings and was trying to make money to help out his sister and his nephew.

As I often have to ask, what is going on out there?

The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services has just announced new rules that will help accelerate the cumbersome process for obtaining data necessary to conclude injury cases when Medicare or Medicaid has paid bills from medical providers.

Praise the Lord.

These guidelines -- which will initially be implemented in claims with a total settlement value of $25,000 or less.

The parties can self calculate how much they believe they owe CMS and provide CMS with that number. CMS will review this information and determine its accuracy.
CMS will then provide a final demand letter within 60 days of a request.

The final demand from CMS will be considered reliable and final if settlement occurs within 60 days of the date, the final demand letter is issued.

Full instructions on how to calculate the amount of Medicare's conditional payment will be available at www.msprc.info by January 15, 2012.

Continue reading "New Medicare Guidelines Will Speed Up Funding To Plaintiffs" »

A Fort Worth woman faces intoxication manslaughter charges in the death of an 18-year-old Fort Worth man.

Althea Voynn Wilson, 28, was arrested Thursday after the pickup she was driving late Wednesday ran a stop sign and struck another truck in the intersection of East 2nd Street and Pecan Street in downtown Fort Worth,

Sean Michael Satterfield was thrown from a 1996 Chevrolet truck when it was hit by a 1998 Dodge truck that was southbound on Pecan Street.

Satterfield died at the scene from blunt trauma of the chest.

The driver of the Chevrolet, Arnold Razon, 19, of Fort Worth, also was arrested and faces charges of driving while intoxicated and possession of marijuana

I've been writing about the dangers of using cell phones while driving -- and filing suit when people crash into my clients when they are not paying attention to the traffic around them -- for many years.

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) released a study showing that almost all drivers would do that.

And drivers don't think it's dangerous when they drive and dial/text - - only when other drivers do.

32,855 motorists were killed in 2010. Distracted driving killed at least 3,092 people of them, according to the study. (Of course, it is often difficult, if not impossible, to know exactly how wrecks happen, especially when a fatality is involved.)

The USDOT's research shows that a driver is 23 times more likely to be involved in a wreck if he or she is texting.

Why is this legal?

Why do 50%/25% of drivers polled said that making a cell phone call/texting made no difference in their driving performance?

Almost every one (90%) said that when they were passengers, they felt "very unsafe" when their driver was texting?

Pennsylvania became the 35th state to outlaw texting while driving.

Think our roads could be safer here? I sure do.

But Texas is one of the few states that doesn't ban texting/cell phoning while driving, thanks to Gov. Rick Perry 's veto of a bill that would have banned the practice. He was the first U.S. governor to do so. However, he said that texting from behind the wheel is "reckless and irresponsible."

I have had to represent an increasing number of injured drivers whose crashes were caused by other motorists driving while texting or talking on their cell phones, and I believe that this practice is clearly dangerous and should be banned.

If you have been injured in a motor vehicle collision, please contact my office and I will subpoena the other driver's cell phone records in court to see if he was on the phone or texting.

Honda Motor Co has just recalled 273,000 of its vehicles in the U. S. whose air bags inflate too fast and with too much pressur and cause serious injuries and even deaths.

This adds to several milliion Hondas previously recalled for this same problem.

This time, Honda says that it used the wrong material in the chemical inside the air bags.

You would hope that when you bought a car, the air bag wouldn't hurt -- or kill -- you.

I forced an insurance company just last week to pay a large settlement to a young 19 year old UTA student who was a passenger in his friend's Nissan and whose face was burned by the air bag hitting him when his driver crashed into a pole.