Fort Worth Injury Attorney Blog

Come Thursday, there will be some new laws in Texas.

State lawmakers earlier this year passed more than 1,400 new laws, and nearly half of which go into effect September 1st. Fortunately, only two affect your injury claim or lawsuit.

Loser pays

The goal of creating a "loser pays" system is cutting down on frivolous lawsuits in Texas, potentially making the court system more affordable for all Texans to use. The bill calls for some civil plaintiffs who sue and lose to pay not just the court costs, but also the legal fees, of those they are suing.

Speed limits

Texas motorists no longer have to worry about slowing down at sundown, now that the state won't have separate speed limits for day and night driving. The black nighttime speed limit signs that required motorists to drive 5 mph slower at night than during the day will start coming down Thursday. Officials say uniform speeds for vehicles during the day and night can cut down on problems such as tailgating and vehicles changing lanes to pass slower-moving vehicles - actions that play a role in some accidents. New Texas laws also let transportation officials raise limits to 85 mph in some remote areas, none of which are in Tarrant County.

Check points all over Dallas recently have caused drivers to be ticketed and even arrested for criminal violations, outstanding warrants, failure to have required insurance and vehicle information in their vehicles,and expired driver's licenses and inspection stickers, according to today's Dallas Morning News. Thirty tickets were issued in one hour in northeast Dallas alone.

These Traffic Enforcement Road Checks have been attacked by civil libertarians for their arbitrariness. Racial profliling has been alleged. However the ACLU stated that they are legal as long as they do not discriminate upon drivers based upon their ethnicity.

These road blocks have not been set up in Tarrant County yet.

I encourage all of my clients to make sure they have their driver's licenses, proofs of insurance and required inspection stickers when they are driving. Tickets can cost over $250.00 each.