Houston Car Accident Lawyer Blog

Almost every day in Houston a drunk driver is involved in a serious car accident in which someone is hurt or killed and often the drunk driver walks away unharmed. Over the years the penalties for drunk are have gotten much more strict and enforcement stepped up yet the numbers keep increasing.

Recently, the city of Houston combined with other officials implemented a policy called no refusal weekend in which they were able to obtain testing from those who refused testing by funding the program. The no refusal weekend was successful and increasing the number of arrests and I'm sure will prove to be successful in a much higher conviction rate. Yet none of this has seemed to dent the problem.

In Australia, the average motorist does not dare drive after drinking for fear of coming into contact with a roadblock or checkpoint which are testing points for any car on that stretch of the highway at the time of the roadblock. In other words if you are drinking and are behind the wheel and come up to a checkpoint-you're in big trouble.

This issue was addressed recently in the Texas Legislature, however the limitations on the bill as presented would have radically reduced the number of areas in which a checkpoint could be established-and some of those areas intentionally omitted are in most need of help.

Drunk driving accidents are everyone's problem and the solution is not a simple matter but an ongoing battle of education, enforcement and change in attitude of the general public. Generally, the civil penalties of a drunk driving accident are likewise significant in a Houston drunk driving accident lawsuit. But the best solution is to avoid the situation and the accompanying liabilities.

Continue reading "Combating Houston DWI Accidents" »

Recently, the Texas governor vetoed a bill that had reached his desk which would have banned or made illegal, texting while driving in Texas. Many people are particularly concerned about the failure of Texas leadership on this issue on a statewide basis.

Noteworthy is the fact that many cities and municipalities such as Galveston, Texas have on their own voted to make illegal texting while driving while within their jurisdiction. Galveston is joined by many other cities in banning texting while driving and the reason has been because of the increased danger to the public of a taxi driver.

In effect, Texas citizens and others driving across the state of Texas may be texting while driving and breaking the law or not, depending on where they are at the time. This hodgepodge approach has left much uncertainty and worse has not served to curtail the dangerous practice of texting while driving.

What is needed in the state of Texas is a comprehensive approach in outlawing texting while driving while coupling that with an education campaign that in public know that texting while driving is both dangerous and illegal.

Studies have shown that texting while driving can be everything that drunk driving is as far as danger to the public. Texting can actually take away 2 car lengths of distance or safety cushion for the driver and this makes a huge difference in the number of accidents that can be avoided. There are many cell phone apps that actually will turn off your texting while the car is in motion but they are not utilized very often and can be complex to use.

Good advice on the issue includes putting your phone on "silent" why you are driving to keep you from being distracted by the "beep" of the text or an e-mail.

There are many organizations that are fighting each an every day to outlaw cell phone use while driving and many of those organizations are founded by folks who have lost loved ones because of cell phone use on the roadway.

Continue reading "Texas Gov. Vetoes Texting Ban " »

Driving home recently I was watching other cars on the roadways in Houston and noting different models. What came as a surprise to me was the sheer number of cars on the Houston highways that were made in Korea.

Hyundai and Kia make some remarkably attractive cars that apparently are competing very well in the US market and also seem to be very fuel-efficient and economical.

With the rise of the Korean vehicles comes the question of reliability and resale value. It is noteworthy that many of the newer companies in the US market have been successful in obtaining both very good safety ratings and with ratings of value from some credible authorities.

Not only are these new Korean vehicles attractive they have increasingly been considered by American consumers and appear to be gaining a significant foothold into the US market.

One wonders what the impact of these new vehicles are to the US economy and to our current jobs problem. It is apparent that Korea is manufacturing pretty good product and Americans are buying it. It is very doubtful that Koreans would buy very many US-made vehicles to balance out the trade between countries.

You can check the safety rating of vehicles by going to www.safercar.gov.

Continue reading "New Korean Automobiles- a Value?" »

Recent studies have shown that safety and safety rating are among top priorities for consumers considering the purchase of a new car. As a side note it is the top priority followed by quality.

Many different rating organizations have systems where they rate the safety factors for each new model vehicle. Additionally the federal government also provides crash test ratings that tend to be very accurate.

According to Forbes magazine, the safest three vehicles on the road today are the BMW 5 series, the Cadillac CTS and the Subaru Legacy.

The pics from Forbes were based upon a pretty elaborate evaluation included information from the Institute of Highway safety and also testing criteria from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

Generally larger vehicles are picked to be safer for occupants than smaller ones due to the physics of a 3000 pound vehicle running into a 6000 pound vehicle. Consumers are balancing safety factors with the MPG of various models to look for a combination of gas mileage and safety. With gas approaching four dollars per gallon miles per gallon must be consideration on almost any purchase.

In Europe, the trend is toward smaller vehicles and has been that way for a long time. When everyone drives smaller vehicles the safety factor of the smaller vehicle does not get compounded by the risk of running into a larger vehicle.

In other words in Europe everyone buys smaller vehicles and the odds of being struck by a larger car are relatively small. Of course, we in America have gotten used to our larger cars and in Texas, big pickups.

Safety ratings can be obtained by numerous organizations including Consumer Reports, NHTSA and others.

Continue reading "The Safest Cars on the Road" »

So your car needs to be inspected what will they check?

Some of the items on the list include-
1. Horn
2. Windshield wipers
3. Mirrors
4. Steering
5. Seatbelts
6. Tires
7. Brakes
8. Exhaust system
9. Reflectors and lamps
10. Vehicle identification number

In addition to other items routinely checked for a passing grade on a Texas vehicle inspection the consumer must also present evidence of auto insurance that is in force at the time of the inspection.

The inspection requirements are covered by transportation code chapter 548 which provides different criteria for each type of vehicle to be inspected. While inspection license fees have increased it is not expected to have any impact on the cost to consumers of inspections.

Continue reading "Texas Motor Vehicle Inspection Requirements" »

A motorcycle accident resulted in the death of two people on Thursday when apparently a SUV pullout from a gas station and the motorcycle crashed into the side of the SUV.

The driver of the motorcycle died at the scene and this past juror was life flighted to Memorial Hermann Hospital but could not be saved.

Reports indicate that the SUV occupants were not injured in the accident and that the SUV driver was ticketed.

Each week in Houston we have motorcycle accidents reported that usually involve very serious injury or wrongful death. One of the biggest factors in most of these motorcycle accidents is that the motoring public do not see the motorcycle rider and that results in an accident. Study after study has shown that even attentive drivers sometimes have very difficult times seeing motorcycles.

The inability to see a motorcycle coupled with the lack of protection for the motorcycle riders and bad things happen.

My heart goes out to the family of the two motorcycle riders who were killed in this terrible accident.

Report by Khou Houston.

Continue reading "Fatal Motorcycle Accident on Highway 6" »

At least 2 people were killed in a commercial truck accident in Walker County, Texas today. The fatal truck accident occurred on Interstate 45 in the south direction around Huntsville late this afternoon.

The Texas Department of Public safety is investigating the truck accident and can be expected to conduct a full accident reconstruction of the fatal wreck. Accident reconstruction includes surveying the accident site and locating important landmarks such as skidmarks, debris, resting positions of the vehicles and determining through objective evidence and eyewitness accounts the point of impact, the speed of the vehicles and why the accident occurred.

The Texas Department of Public safety routinely conducts the formal accident reconstruction when there is a fatality involving more than one vehicle. Often, defense or insurance interests as well as the victim's families also retained expert witnesses to reenact the accident to determine causation. It is important that families who have lost a loved one contact a knowledgeable truck accident attorney as soon as possible after an accident.

There are many computer aided programs that are used by expert witnesses and also by the DPS to assist them in their reconstruction of the crash. Additionally, today the surveys are done by virtue of a laser that shortens the time necessary to survey the accident scene and also is much more accurate than hand measurements.

There's not much known about this fatal crash at this time. We do know that there are roughly 5000 fatal truck accidents each year and a significant percentage of them are in Texas. One study indicated that 8.9% of the fatal traffic accidents in the nation happened in Texas between 1996 and the year 2000.

One reason for the large number of fatal truck accidents in Texas is the number of miles of highway across Texas. Not only is Interstate 45 a heavily traveled roadway for trucks but also Interstate 10 I-35, I-20 and other highways are heavily traveled by 18 wheelers.

About one half of all tractor-trailer fatal crashes happen on non-divided two-lane highways. The non-divided two-way highway is probably the most dangerous for the public in general. Most of the divided highway accidents either involve rear end crashes, loss of control or jackknife situations.

Continue reading "Semi Truck Accident Kills 2 North of Houston" »