We usually meet the friendliest people in Texas — but that can change at the drop of a hat gas pedal. Texas has almost the second highest number of these terrifying crashes in the country. This is a huge problem that sadly take the lives of over 1,500 people each year.
These are some of the latest horrific road rage incidents in Texas:
If you have been in a car wreck, you naturally assume that the at-fault driver has liability insurance and will pay your damages. But a shocking 20% of Texas motorists — or about 3.5 million people — are not insured. And based on the number of times we see this happening, we think this number is higher. Almost everyone who has insurance carries the state-required minimum amount which only pays a maximum of $30,000 for the injuries to one person, $60,000 for the injuries to all people, and $25,000 for all vehicles damaged. This is often not enough, especially with the high cost of medical care. And that’s not to mention the multiple claims filed by drivers and passengers in chain-reaction car accidents. That is why you must purchase an uninsured/underinsured coverage policy to protect you and your family.
If you are injured in an all-too-common uninsured/minimally insured driver accidents, this post will answer your questions including
If you have been involved in a car or truck accident, you need answers to these important questions:
If you are like most people who have been in a vehicle crash, you have probably suffered a neck and back injury. We know how you must be feeling. You hurt 24/7. You have restricted movement and can’t sleep. You probably can’t go to work or take care of the kids.
Your stress is compounded because you are incurring medical bills which are sometimes enormous. You won’t have a car because it is being repaired or you might be underwater on the car note if it has to be totaled. And you are losing money if you can’t work.
The insurance company takes advantage of people’s predicaments so it can make a low offer of settlement and close the case cheaply.
You need to have an idea of what your case is worth and how to proceed so you can be repaid for your medical bills and other damages.
After the second rainiest year in the history of Dallas-Fort Worth which just ended a few months ago, we are all ready for some beautiful spring weather. But tomorrow more storms are expected and there is even a chance of hail and tornadoes in the region. Of course there is — this is Texas where if you don’t like the weather, just blink, right? It was only a few weeks ago that we were hit by 80 mph winds and large hail on another day. Yes, spring showers bring May flowers, but they also bring a lot of unexpected collisions on our roads. If you have been injured in one of our frequent weather-related auto accidents, you may not know how to proceed. This post offers tips about how you can succeed in your car accident case.
You will have questions including
Many drivers in Texas have opened their mail to find a surprise traffic ticket, photograph of their vehicle, and a stiff fine. Of course, the red light camera program has been extremely unpopular in Texas since the state legislature authorized it 2007. But there is hope for those who hate these automated tickets. There are two ways that the controversial red light cameras could be removed soon.
A local state representative has introduced a widely supported bill in Austin that would eliminate them in May, although past efforts have failed. In addition, the Texas Supreme Court will rule in June on their legality in a case brought by a North Texas lawyer.
But we can all agree that red light runners are extremely dangerous. In a recent year, close to 1,000 people were killed and 137,000 people were injured, according to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Photo courtesy of Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
After being a Texas car accident lawyer for almost 40 years, I know that one of the first questions my new clients will ask is how easy or hard it is going to be to get a good settlement. This can be a difficult process with any company but I never cease to be amazed at the tricks insurance adjusters and attorneys from the worst auto insurance companies play. While the insurance industry takes in a stunning one trillion dollars a year in premiums, adjusters often refuse to pay reasonable compensation. While this is a hard category to judge, here are three lists that name the most egregious offenders.
The American Association for Justice (the nation’s largest group of plaintiff’s attorneys) listed the following (health and disability insurance companies are omitted):
1. Allstate
The chances are very high that if you have been involved in a car accident in North Texas, it was caused by a driver who is insured with Allstate so I will focus on them. Don’t get your hopes up if you are hit by an Allstate insured though. You are not in good hands, despite what the company would have you believe in their advertising (that is only what it claims will happen if you are their policyholder). When their insured driver crashes into you, their claims representatives can be nitpicking. arrogant, and cheap. Offers are often only one-half of what I estimate I can get from a jury. In my experience, you will usually have to file a lawsuit if you expect to get paid a reasonable amount of money.
Our law firm battles Allstate on a regular basis, as it is the second largest auto liability insurer in Texas. Only State Farm is larger. Allstate has 16 million customers worldwide, owns other companies including Esurance and Encompass, and is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. In Texas, it has 13 different companies registered with the Department of Insurance and any one of eight can be involved in a car or truck crash case. One company alone has a value of $48 billion. With that economic weight, it is used to bullying claimants around and getting what it wants.
We have a good track record of getting good results against them. Today for example, we were able to get them to pay our client his entire underinsured motorist benefits from them after he had already received a driver’s entire insurance policy amount in a hotly disputed case involving an 18-wheeler. He was very happy with the settlement on the first part of his case and very generously wrote this review:
“These guys are great. They’re very transparent and very aggressive. I hope I never need a personal injury lawyer again, but if I did, I’d go back to Mr. Berenson.”
A chain reaction car accident is all too common here in North Texas. Late last night in Plano, an intoxicated driver of a Mustang crashed into a BMW which hit two other vehicles, causing four drivers to be rushed to hospitals. Last week in Dallas, Central Expressway was shut down all night after a four vehicle pile-up which took the life of a young man and injured three other drivers. And several weeks ago, Interstate 20 in Arlington was the site of interconnected accidents that claimed the life of a man and hurt others. This post explains what you should do if you are unfortunately injured in a multiple vehicle collision here.
These are some of the questions we hear our new clients asking us after they have been injured in a chain reaction:
Obviously no one ever plans to be in a car accident or have any kind of medical emergency. He certainly doesn’t think he will be rushed to an expensive hospital and charged enormous amounts by the ambulance, hospital, ER doctors, radiologists, and specialists.
Most people don’t have the ability to pay these bills and assume they will be paid quickly by the at-fault driver’s liability company and his own health insurance plan.
But the injured person won’t know until months later which charges, if any, were paid — assuming he was insured and met his annual deductible. Many are not paid by the health insurance company because a provider was out of the plan’s network or the hospital was is in but the doctor was out of network so the physician’s bill has to be paid in full.
Getting a good personal injury settlement means getting your vehicle repaired or totaled, healing as quickly as possible, and obtaining the financial compensation you are entitled to receive. This post explains the steps you should take to ensure these things after being in a car accident.
A Dallas woman who was paralyzed in a van-truck crash was awarded a $37.6 million jury verdict on Thursday. She sued Honda, claiming her horrific injuries were caused by its defective rear seat belt. Sarah Milburn, who is now 27, was a passenger in the third row in a Honda Odyssey minivan on a December night in 2015.
She and her friends were celebrating her upcoming college graduation. Her future was bright. The women called for an Uber to drive them home.
Unfortunately their Uber driver ran a red light on McKinney Avenue. The van was hit so hard by a pickup truck driven by a man who was DWI that it rolled over two times and landed upside down.
Sarah tragically suffered a fractured neck and is now a quadriplegic.
After months in a hospital and rehabilitation facility, she had to move home with her parents.
Fort Worth Injury Attorney Blog