Car Accident Lawyer
A car accident is a very frightening experience, from a small fender bender, to an extreme crash, totaling one, or both, vehicles involved in the crash. After 20 plus years of handling car accident cases, I have learned that the common theme is failure to follow the rules of the road. The rules of the road are the safety rules, put in place, to protect us, drivers on the road. When drivers do not follow the rules of the road, they are negligent (unsafe driver). This negligence often leads to car accidents, that result in damages.
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Fighting for the Rights of the Injured
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Some common causes of car accidents are listed below
(ordered from most common to least common):
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Failure to control speed
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Driver inattention
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Failure to drive in a single lane
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Failure to yield, while turning left
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Unsafe lane change
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Following too closely
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Improper evasive action
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Failure to yield at a stop sign
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Speeding, under limit
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Disregard stop sign or light
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Failure to yield in private drive
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Driving under the influence of alcohol.
Driver inattention
Distracted driving (also called driver inattention) has become a VERY dangerous issue on our roads. With the advancement of modern technology, drivers have access to almost everything, at their fingertips. Driving while texting is a VERY real danger. The driver should have 100% focus on the road, but if they are driving while texting, they actually are dealing with three types of distractions at once, visual, manual, and mental. While the driver should have their eyes on the road, hands on the wheel, and mind on the drive, if texting while driving, they are doing none of those required, safe driver activities. It is estimated that reading the average text could take up to 5 seconds. If driving 55 miles per hour (20 miles below most Texas highway speed limits), while reading a text, the driver’s eyes are off the road for a full 5 seconds and they have traveled close to 100 yards, the distance of an entire football field.
Driving under the influence of alcohol
Driving under the influence of alcohol (driving while intoxicated) is a serious offense. Juries do not like drunk drivers and for this reason, adjusters typically give drunk driver accident claims special attention. When officers investigate drunk driver accidents, they do a more detailed investigation and gather more evidence, than at a typical car accident scene, where alcohol is not involved. These special investigations produce special evidence; this evidence is VERY useful when negotiating a drunk driver car accident claim.
Common Injuries that might be caused in a car accident
A typical flow of treatment, following a car accident, depending on the severity of injuries, is as follows: ambulance, emergency room, primary care physician, and physical therapist or chiropractor. If the car accident causes significant injuries, like a traumatic brain injury, requiring cognitive retraining, or a broken bone, requiring surgery, as examples, the car accident victim would also most likely treat and follow up with surgeons, neurosurgeons, neuropsychologists, therapists, plastic surgeons, and potentially, a long list of other providers, fighting alongside the car accident victim, to help with recovery from the injuries caused by the negligent driver.
Traumatic brain injury
A traumatic brain injury occurs when, upon impact in the car accident, your brain slams into your skull. There are varying degrees of traumatic brain injuries, from a concussion (which is a bruise on your brain) all the way to total brain death.
Disc herniation
A herniated disc, sometimes called a slipped disc or ruptured disc, has suffered damage, causing a tear and allowing some of the fluid inside, to leak out. The impact from a car accident can cause a disc herniation.
Lacerations
If the impact from the car accident is significant enough, windows and windshields can be shattered, throwing glass into the skin of the car accident victims. These pieces of glass pierce the skin and leave lacerations. Lacerations can also lead to scarring.
Neck strain
A neck strain occurs when one or more fibers in a neck muscle or tendon stretches too far and tears. This is common in car accidents where the victim is hit from behind and their head is thrown forward, then backward, then forward, causing these torn fibers.
Back strain
A back strain occurs when muscles in the back are torn. The impact from a car accident throws the victim around in the car and tears the muscles in their back. It is very painful.
Broken bones
When you have a broken bone, caused by a car accident, you can have a closed fracture or an open fracture. A closed fracture means that your bone broke, but skin was not pierced, by the broken bone. An open fracture means that the bone broke and pierced the skin, causing a laceration.
Pinched nerves
Sometimes, herniated discs can extend out far enough to touch the nerves around them, causing pain, numbness, or weakness in your arms or legs.
Contusions
Contusions, also known as bruises or hematomas, are exploded blood vessels, under the skin. These occur in car accidents when the victims are thrown around inside the vehicle and their body parts slam against parts of the vehicle or the seatbelt or when the airbags explode into their chest or face.
Neck sprain
A neck sprain is a stretched ligament or muscle, in your neck. Neck sprains are more common in side impact car accidents, where the negligent driver slammed into the side of the victim’s car, throwing their head from side to side, stretching ligaments in the neck.
Back sprain
A back sprain occurs when ligaments in the back are torn. Back sprain is very painful and can take time to heal, since the back is part of the core of the body and it bears the body’s weights and holds it stable.
Below is a list of the damages that flow from a car accident:
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Past and future medical bills (this also includes prescriptions)
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Past and future pain and suffering
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Past and future mental anguish
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Lost wages (documentation of time missed by an employer and off-work order from a doctor)
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Loss of earnings in the future
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Physical impairment (videos of how you "did life", before and after the car accident, are great evidence of physical impairment)
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Scarring and disfigurement (photographs of these damages are a necessity).
Don't fight this battle alone!
As if the physical pain, mental anguish, emotional stress, loss of income, and follow up visits to doctors, do not cause enough stress, following a car accident, then, you must deal with the insurance adjusters. You are already fighting for your recovery and a whole new battle starts. I have been fighting for the rights of the injured for over 20 years now. If you are tired of fighting the insurance battle alone, call me, at 903-472-0100 and we can win this war together.
