Fort Worth Injury Attorney Blog

President Obama just announced this morning that he may require ALL vehicles to be sold iwith brake override systems that willl prevent these horrific sudden accelerations.

This safety feature -- that is already sold in many other countries but not here for some reason -- will prevent the throttle from sticking in an open position.

Yesterday, the U. S. government finally released records showing that 12,700 owners previously complained about defective Camrys that were built before the recalled 2007-2010 models but which were never recalled. The 2002 Camry, for example, had 175 speed-control defects which were never repaired, even though a shocking 50% of those resulted in collisions -- double the number in 2007 Camrys, where 25% of the sudden accelerations caused crashes.

Don't think this is a problem that affects us? Just this Sunday night in Southlake, a poor woman named Waynoka Ricord, age 77, who was driving home from her job at DFW Airport, died when her 2004 Corolla veered out of control and crashed into a tree.

Continue reading "Toyota Acceleration Nightmare to Lead to Change?" »

Shame on you, Toyota.

It was not until August of 2009, when an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer and three members of his family were killed did Toyota finally have to take notice - and only then due to the release of this horrifying video on the Internet:

So what did Toyota do? Did it immediately recall ALL of the defective cars it had sold and repair them? No, it blamed the floor mats! But when 4 people in Southlake were killed in a terrifying sudden acceleration collision the day after Christmas and the mats were found in the trunk, clearly the gas pedal or the engine were the problems. Click here to read the latest on this case

Continue reading "Toyota Lawsuits" »

Questions for Mr. Toyoda

In the weeks since Toyota's safety problems have become international news, Akio Toyoda, the company's president, has apologized repeatedly.

When he testifies on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, he is expected to apologize again and, according to a prepared statement, admit that his company's "priorities became confused" in its quest for growth over the last decade. It isn't enough.

Mr. Toyoda owes consumers a complete explanation of why his company failed -- for years -- to fully respond to complaints about its cars' sudden and uncontrolled acceleration, a problem that may have caused 34 deaths since 2001.

Continue reading "Toyota and Lexus Crashes" »

A 23 year old Fort Worth man was sadly killed early Sunday morning on East Rendon Crowley Road when he was thrown from his car after collided with a tractor-trailer

Police have not said whether speed, failure to yield right of way, alcohol or drug use, or seat belt use were contributing factors.

In cases where the injured party may possibly be at fault, an immediate and thorough investigation by an accident reconstruction expert is needed to determine liability.

If you have been hurt in a wreck with an 18-wheeler, you need an experienced and aggressive attorney who only handles collision cases. Trucking companies and their insurance carriers may repair the vehicles and dispose of incriminating driver logs, bills of lading, receipts, beer bottles and prescription bottles.

I spoke on the topic of "How to Obtain Critical Documents in Commercial Trucking Cases" to fellow members of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association and have handled many of these cases. Click here to read about the case I successfully handled on behalf of the family of poor Robert Walters who was tragically killed in a crash (see photo from the scene above) with a an 18-wheeler on I35 in Gainesville.

NBC News has released a video of the tanker truck that caught fire after it crashed into a barrier on the Dallas North Tollway early on December 18, 2009.

The Department of Public Safety has not publicly released a report with its findings about the crash. Sadly, we do know that the 18 wheeler driver died in the crash. Fortunately, no other vehicles were involved in this collision.

This plainly shows how the public's safety needs to be considered when dealing with the hazardous materials that so many 18 wheelers transport through the Metroplex and across the State of Texas every day.

Texas leads the nation in accidents involving 18 wheelers. According to a study by the National Transportation Safety Board study, 90% of the crashes involving 18 wheelers were attributed to driver error. In addition, a Texas Department of Transportation study showed that barring 18 wheelers from driving in the left lane resulted in a sharp reduction in the number of crashes involving 18 wheelers.

I have handled numerous cases involving 18 wheelers. I recently represented a man and his wife who were driving in a Ford Mustang when it was rear-ended by a fuel truck on I-35. Fortunately, the tank was empty, but the impact still nearly killed my both people. I negotiated a settlement of $5.5 Million dollars just before the case was set for trial in Johnson County.

Good news for those seriously injured in the Fort Worth area: John Peter Smith Hospital has just received official approval to be a Level 1 trauma center, the highest level possible.

Previously, since JPS was only a Level 2 center, critically injured victims, including people with severed digits, had to be transferred to other hospitals, including Harris Methodist or Parkland Hospital in Dallas (nationally known for its burns unit).

I have handled serious personal injury cases where urgent medical care was delayed when JPS was not able to treat my injured client.

On at least two ocasions, the patient died as a result One young man had been tragically struck by an 18 wheeler as he stood on the inside median of Interstate 35 helping his driver change a flat tire, but he died the next day at a different hospital, when JPS was only a few minutes from the scene.

Another problem I have heard about from my clients on numerous occasions is the lengthy wait times to see doctors in the ER. I have heard that people have to wait five or six hours in the waiting room, and even longer.

JPS has promised to work on this situation by increasing the hours available at its urgent care clinic in the neighborhood.

According to its Chief Operating Officer, the percentage of ER patients who left without being treated by a physician had decreased from 20 percent in 2008 to 2 percent last year.

Especially since Fort Worth's population is now 720,000, it is hard to believe that it took so long for our county hospital to become a Level 1 trauma center.

Nearly 30 million Americans travel the highways in this country. New analysis of government data was released showing more nearly 29,000 motor carrier companies with more than 200,000 trucks, operate in violation of federal safety laws. In an original analysis of data, it was revealed that drivers are sharing highways with trucks that have incurred thousands of safety violations. The violations include defective brakes, bad tires, loads that dangerously exceeded weight limits and drivers with little or no training or drug and alcohol addictions.

Data was obtained on the safety performance of U.S. trucking companies through the Motor Carrier Management Information System, which is maintained by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Over a million lines of data were analyzed in an effort to pinpoint just how many unsafe trucks might be on the road. West Virginia, North Dakota, Nebraska, Vermont and Iowa had the highest rate of companies in violation of federal safety requirements. The effects of these violations are deadly. While truck accidents occur for a variety of reasons, many are preventable, and often a direct result of trucking companies violating safety standards to cut corners and maximize profits.

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• "Keep up the good work, Bill! May God Bless You ....Thank you." Regina Y.
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• "Thanks for working so hard ... Thank you for your continued efforts!" Rita T.

In order to assess my clients' satisfaction with our services, last month we began mailing a brief questionaire at the conclusion of their cases. I am delighted with the results:

1. 100% satisfaction with the two items inquired about, results and treatment.


2. 100% agreement that the client would recommend this law office to other people.


3. 100% agreement that the client was "very pleased" with this office (top rating).

I will include client comments in a following blog.

Kathy P___ was sideswiped in her mini van on December 11, 2007 by a Mack truck which skidded into her on a rainy and dark morning. There was no damage to the truck and little to the van's front left quarter panel.

Kathy said that she was okay at the scene and declined an ambulance. A few hours later, she went to the ER complaining of chest pain. A CT showed that she might have damaged her right breast implant. Kathy had unfortunately had breast cancer and needed a double mastectomy and implants 20 years ago.

Kathys PCP referred her to a plastic surgeon, who decided to replace both her right and left implants. Although the right implant procedure was a success, the left one developed problems, and three more surgeries became necessary. Her PCP wrote that she had previous problems with the implant. She was salaried, and lost no wages. Kathy recovered from the surgeries.

The trucking company denied that it was liable, and I filed suit and forced the company to pay Kathy a total of $222,250.00 just before trial.