Fort Worth Injury Attorney Blog

Today the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended that states lower the legal blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.05 percent from the 0.08 percent. I applaud this action.

More than 10,000 Americans are killed and 170,000 people are injured each year due to drunken driving crashes. Every hour one person is killed and 20 people are injured. Over 440,000 Americans have been killed by drunk drivers in the last three decades. That's shocking.

Continue reading "Are DWI Blood Alcohol Limits Too High In Texas?" »

Lawmakers in Austin have considered passing bills targeting drunk drivers but without any success. The session is almost over. I don't understand why it is so easy to drive drunk -- and maim and kill other drivers -- in Texas.

At least one bill sponsored by a Republican from Dallas, freshman representative Stefani Carter, passed the House almost unanimously on Friday and moves to the Senate. It would suspend the driver's of anyone convicted of his fifth DWI offense for 10 years.

Wait, his fifth DWI? We let people drive with four convictions?

Continue reading "Texas DWI Law To Be Tougher?" »

Sunday is St. Patrick's Day. It marks the anniversary of the death of the patron saint of Ireland and is a festive celebration of all things Irish. To those of you who have already started partying or plan to this weekend, the personal injury lawyer in me reminds you to drink responsibly and don't drink and drive.

So who was Saint Patrick, anyway? He was born in 387 A.D. into a wealthy family in England, was taken hostage when he was 16, and spent six years as a slave in Ireland. He escaped, returned to England, and became a priest after he received a revelation from God telling him to become a missionary and go back to Ireland. Stories of his clerical successes, like driving the snakes out of Ireland, are legendary.

Continue reading "Happy St. Patrick's Day -- And Drive Safely!" »

Texas legislators meeting in Austin are considering several bills that target unsafeTexas drivers. That's certainly good news. Our roads are extremely deadly and I support efforts to make them safer.

The first new state law would force drivers convicted due to dangerously high blood alcohol contents to have devices installed in their cars to test their breath. However state probation officers say they are already overworked and don't have time to enforce this law if it passes. But as someone who has had to represent far too many people injured in DWI crashes we need to keep these drivers off of our highways.

Continue reading "New Laws Proposed To Make Texas Roads Safer" »

I hate drunk and stoned drivers and pursue them vigorously when they injure my clients. For example, I am pleased that P____ is about to receive the full policy limits from a man who crashed into her in Fort Worth after his insurance company claimed he was not at fault because he was recovering from heart surgery and was driving to a doctor's appointment; I proved he was driving while under the influence of prescription medications. L___ is about to receive a large settlement for relatively minor injuries caused by a drunk truck driver in Arlington. T__ will soon receive a good recovery after she was hit by an intoxicated Mercedes driver in Hurst.

Impaired driving is far too commonplace. This is just in today's paper:

1. After a two week trial, a Dallas jury returned a verdict of $10.5 million, primarily against the strip club bar that overserved a drunk man, to the family of a young woman run over in its parking lot. The driver -- whose BAC was more than two times the legal limit and who was already on probation -- didn't even know he had hit the woman with this illegal "monster truck." Under the Texas Alcohol Beverage Code, bars, restaurants, and liquor stores can be held liable if they serve alcohol to clearly intoxicated customers.

Continue reading "Drunk Driving in Dallas/Fort Worth Is Out Of Control" »

Relatives of San Francisco 49ers tight end Delanie Walker, were killed in a fiery crash shortly after the Super Bowl Louisiana State Police said Wednesday.

The crash occurred around 5:30 a.m. Monday and Alice and Bryan Young Sr., Walker's aunt and uncle.

Walker posted on Twitter that his aunt and uncle were killed "by a drunk." The message's subject line was ''Horrible.''

The Youngs' vehicle was stopped on the shoulder of Interstate 10 in LaPlace, just west of New Orleans, when it was hit by a car driven by 26-year-old Houston resident Nechole Thomas.

Her 2002 Mercedes slammed the Youngs' 2012 Nissan Altima from behind at high speed. Both cars caught fire.

It took until Wednesday afternoon for the coroner to identify the Youngs.

Thomas suffered only minor injuries and was jailed on charges of reckless driving, drunken driving and two counts of vehicular homicide.

My heart goes out to Mr. Walker and the Youngs' other relatives.

On -30 in east Fort Worth, a fatal wrong-way collision killed two people early this morning and closed down Interstate 30 at Beach Street. A driver in a black sedan was speeding westbound in the eastbound lanes on the interstate at an estimated speed of 100 miles an hour before ramming into a white two-door coupe.The crash killed both drivers.

And there were many other serious crashes this weekend, including ones on these roads:

I-35 in Alvarado - a man standing outside of his pickup truck to secure his load was struck by another vehicle, seriously injuring both people.

3000 block North Main Street, Euless - major three vehicle accident Saturday night.

SH 183 at Westpark Way, Euless - two people were injured Saturday in an accident.

I-35 at 28th Street, North Fort Worth - three people were hurt Sunday in a three vehicle crash

There were many other auto and truck collisions in the Dallas Fort Worth area. If you were unfortunately injured, please contact my law office at 817-885-8000.

Four collisions in North Texas, all possibly caused by DWI's, left four people dead and 11 injured -- just over a 12 hour period this weekend:

1. Sunday morning, 6 a.m.- a customer service truck was on the shoulder to help a stranded driver on the George Bush Turnpike in Richardson when a possibly drunk driver was killed when he crashed his car into the truck.

2. Sunday morning, 6 a.m - two police officers were injured when they were arresting a drunk driver on the shoulder of I-35 in Carrolton and another drunk driver crashed his car into their SUV (see photo).

Continue reading " DFW Roads Deadly " »

Keller police stopped Nicolas Ramirez around 1 a.m. Wednesday in Westlake for driving on the shoulder multiple times. He was arrested on charges of driving while intoxicated, with a blood alcohol content of greater than .15.

Ramirez has been an officer with Fort Worth police for four years. In August, he began working in the traffic division as a DWI enforcement officer.

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

More on this appalling story: Josh Brent's blood alcohol content was a staggering .18 -- more than two times the legal limit of .08. He would have to have drunk 20 shots within four hours to reach that level.

And there were at least 12 Cowboys in the VIP lounge at that swanky private Dallas night club guzzling $1,000 bottles of champagne. All were presumably intoxicated as they drove home Friday night. So far this year, 16 NFL players have been arrested for DWIs - that's almost an entire team. And the NFL has done virtually nothing to stop this epidemic.

Continue reading "DWIs in NFL Out Of Control" »

Josh Brent went to a club, got drunk, crashed his Mercedes, and killed his best friend and teammate, Jerry Brown, early Saturday morning in Irving.

You would think Brent would have known better. Not just because DWI is wrong, because he had already served jail time in 2009 for DWI while he was playing football with Brown at the University of Illinois. Brent faces an intoxication manslaughter charge and a jail sentence of up to 20 years.

Continue reading "Dallas Cowboy Is DWI And Causes Death - Again" »

The head of internal affairs -- the man in charge of investigating wrongdoing by other Fort Worth cops -- was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated.

Major Paul Henderson, 45, chief of staff to police chief Jeff Halstead, was pulled over by a DPS officer near Aledo around 2:00 a.m. on Saturday morning.

As a Fort Worth personal injury attorney who has been representing the victims of DWI crashes for over 32 years , the fact that 18 Fort Worth police officers have been arrested for DWI since 2008 angers me -- and I'm sure you as well.

Why is Texas #1 in DWI deaths? Why do we have 25% more fatalities than California, with 40%

Continue reading "Top FWPD Cop DWI !" »

Distracted drivers have no business on Texas roadways. They are a major nuisance and danger. State regulations are necessary.

Several Texas cities including San Antonio have passed local laws banning texting while driving, and an effort is under way to make it illegal across the state.

The move to ban texting and driving in Texas is not a new campaign.In 2011, the Texas Legislature approved a measure banning texting and driving. The legislation had bipartisan support but was vetoed by Gov.

Continue reading "Texting While Driving: Texas Must Veto This Dangerous Practice " »

I wanted to wish every one a happy and safe Thanksgiving.

I will pause to thank God for my blessings, be with my wonderful family, see some movies and football games and exercise. And my birthday is Friday (how did I ever get to be 58?).
But unfortunately driving during the holidays can be dangerous.

Continue reading "Happy Thanksgiving And Safe Driving" »

The Dallas Morning News reported the following stories about how many people are being killed in auto and truck wrecks -- just in the last 24 hours -- that make you cringe:

1. Tim Parks was found guilty of intoxication manslaughter yesterday for running over Roy Salinas, 35, on his motor scooter last June. Roy worked in finance and marketing, was an avid motor scooter enthusiast, cyclist, and runner, and a nice man.

Parks, a wine taster, waiter and manager at several top restaurants, admitted to jurors that he has a drinking problem. Really? His blood alcohol content was a staggering .22, with the

Continue reading "Dallas Roads Deadly" »