Dallas Fort Worth Car Accident Lawyer Blog

If you text while driving, you may be DOA (dead on arrival) instead of BRB or LOL. Texting or talking on a cell phone while driving killed about 16,000 people in the U.S. from 2001 to 2007, according to a report published last week by a pair of Fort Worth researchers. It is no surprise that cell phone use is now the most common distraction among drivers involved in fatal accidents. Fatalities as a whole have decreased, but the bigger share of deaths is caused by distracted driving.

The number of text messages sent in the U.S. increased from about 1 million per month in 2002 to about 110 million a month in 2008. Since cell phone companies are producing better phones and unlimited text messaging plans, the number of texts per month is projected to keep increasing. Overall 33,963 people died on American roads in 2009, the lowest level since the 1950’s. But despite crackdowns on alcohol abuse and better safety features on cars, motorists don’t feel safer. More than half of drivers feel less safe today than five years ago and distracted driving is the main reason. Drivers who text are considered a very serious threat! The AAA is currently promoting Heads Up Driving Week now through Saturday, to encourage distraction-free driving.

Mark Anderson believes in educating people and is a true advocate of distracted driving. He is currently supporting a campaign to eliminate texting and driving in high schools, it’s called Teens Against Distracted Driving (TADD). In exchange for signing a pledge to not text and drive, local high school students will be given an orange bracelet with I PLDG 2 NT TXT N DRV on it and the high school with the highest percentage of petitions signed wins $500.

Information and commentary are provided by Tarrant County Personal Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900. If you have questions about a Personal Injury Claim, please fill out our contact form online for a free consultation. Mark Anderson has also written a book 15 Mistakes That Will Wreck Your Texas Accident Case that is free of charge and will help your claim.

A Fort Worth man was killed this morning when his motorcycle collided with a drunken driving suspect, police said. Luis Ruiz, 34, died at the scene of the accident in the 1300 block of North Main Street, south of the Fort Worth Stockyards. The crash happened shortly before 2:30 a.m. when a driver headed south on main street turned in front of the biker at Northside Drive. The driver has not been identified yet but cowardly fled the scene. He was caught across the Trinity River in the 1100 block of Locust Street. He was arrested on a charge of intoxication manslaughter.

This weekend if you are going out to drink, please be smart about it. Call a taxi, have a designated driver, or don’t plan on driving. Most of the time when one mixes drinking, driving, and 2:30 a.m. they are not going to like the outcome. It is sad to read another story about one’s life being taken from a careless drunk driver. My condolences go out the innocent victim and his family.

Information and commentary is provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000. If you have questions about drunk driving accidents, please fill out our contact form online for a free consultation.

Zachary Presgrove, 38, was speeding north near Walnut Hill Lane about 3:45 a.m on his motorcycle when he struck the back of a car that had just changed lanes to avoid another vehicle parked in the right-hand lane. The impact threw Presgrove from his motorcycle and through the back window of the car into its passenger compartment, police said. He was declared dead 15 minutes later. A witness told police that Presgrove was traveling at 115 mph just before the crash.

I have a great deal of sympathy for Presgrove’s family and friends, but the main factor in this accident was that he was driving too fast. I’m sure this accident could have been avoided if he was following the law and driving the speed limit. An estimated 4,810 people die every year from motorcycle related deaths and over 88,000 motorcycle injuries are reported. I am an advocate for motorcycle riders, but also a huge advocate of safe driving.

Information and commentary is provided by Dallas and Ft. Worth Motorcycle Accident Attorney Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Ft. Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000. If you have questions about a motorcycle accident, please fill out our contact form online for a free consultation.

As a father and Child Injury Attorney at Anderson Law Firm one of the toughest things I deal with on an almost daily basis is child injury accidents. As parents we are always concerned about the safety of our children when they are not in our care. With the recent beginning of a new school year, thousands of kids all over the country are embarking on the old tradition of walking to school.

I wanted to share with you some information I found recently in an article titled, “Back to School in Kansas City: Child Pedestrian Safety Tips for a Safe and Happy School Year”. It’s written by James Roswold, a Personal Injury Attorney at Roswold Law Group in Kansas City, Missouri.

Before you let your kids go walking to school by themselves, sit down with them and go over these helpful tips that will make them more aware of what to do when making that trek every morning and afternoon.

Make sure they know the number one rule, which is to always look both ways before they cross. Teach them to look left-right-left and to always be aware of any traffic on the road. Next, make sure they always walk on the sidewalk. If there isn’t a sidewalk on their route, teach them to walk on the left hand side of the road facing oncoming traffic.

Everyone should always cross streets at designated crosswalks and pedestrian crossings. This goes especially for our children. See to it that they know to follow the rules of traffic signals and signs and always pay attention to their neighborhood crossing guard.
The best way to cement these rules into your school aged child is to walk to school with them the first few times and set a good example of pedestrian safety.

If you have a child who has suffered a serious injury in an accident in the Dallas or Fort Worth Area, call my office immediately. Anderson Law Firm has over 19 years of experience in Child Injury Accident cases.

A man died early Wednesday morning on Airport Freeway in Hurst after apparently losing control of his motorcycle, according to police. The man, who police say was in his 40s, has not yet been identified and was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to news reports, police officers responded to a 911 call around 12:30 am, and found the motorcycle rider lying in the freeway near his damaged bike. Witnesses say the man was traveling at a high speed before the crash. It is unclear what exactly caused the accident, but police say no other vehicles were involved.

This is a tragic story, and my heart goes out to this man’s family and friends. Riding a motorcycle can pose much greater dangers to the rider than those riding in closed vehicles, and traveling at unsafe speeds only increases this risk. There are many motorcycle safety classes available for riders, and I highly recommend anyone who rides a motorcycle to take one of these classes.

Information provided by Texas Board Certified Personal Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached in Dallas at 214-327-8000, in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900, and across Texas at 877-294-1115.

A wrong-way driver drove eight miles down northbound Stemmons Freeway in Dallas and crashed head-on into another motorist. He was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving earlier this morning. Jose Chavez, 38, faces a charge of driving while intoxicated after he drove his Nissan south onto the northbound lanes of Stemmons at Northwest Highway.

It's a miracle that both these drivers survived this accident. An onlooker reported the incident shortly before 2:45 a.m. after watching Chavez hit a 26-year-old woman driver near Market Center Boulevard. Both drivers were taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital for treatment. The woman has already been released. Police officers talked with Chavez at the hospital and then delivered him to the Dallas County Jail.

Drunken driving continues to be a major problem in today’s world. There are approximately 12,000 fatalities annually due to drunk driving, and many more accidents and injuries. Fortunately no one was fatally injured in this car crash. To avoid being another statistic you can take a few simple driving safety precautions to drastically reduce your chances of being involved in a drunken driving accident.

Reading articles like this really concern me. It’s hard for me to imagine what was going through Jose Chavez’s mind when he entered the wrong-way entrance onto the freeway. Luckily, there was a witness to describe to the police what happened. I wish a speedy recovery for the other driver. Hopefully stories like this will deter other drivers from driving drunk. When you drink and drive, you will go to jail.

Information and commentary is provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000. If you have questions about drunk driving accidents, please fill out our contact form online for a free consultation.

Preston Cass, 22, of Garland died late Monday when he crashed his motorcycle while fleeing police with a group of speeding motorcyclists on the Dallas North Tollway. Cass, was driving with a group of six to eight bikers speeding south and popping wheelies about 10:30 p.m last night. Apparently the group had been driving up and down the highway. When Dallas police attempted to stop the group, the motorcycles did a U-turn and headed north between Royal and Forest lanes. That's when Cass crashed into the back of a Ford pickup. He was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead around 2 a.m.

The most common cause of wrecks involving motorcycles is inattention of the other driver; however this motorcycle accident was the rider’s fault 100 percent. Somewhere a family is grieving this foolish loss of a life. I hope that this group of riders got a wakeup call and learn a valuable lesson. It seems like common sense, if you are speeding, popping wheelies, and running from the police you are not going to have good results. I am glad that no one else was injured in this accident.

Information and commentary is provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Motorcycle Accident Attorney Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000. For more information regarding any motorcycle accident advice, please fill out our contact form online for a free consultation.

Every day in the Dallas/ Fort Worth area someone will decide to drink and drive. About a year ago, Mariza Rodriguez Martinez decided to drink and drive with a Blood Alcohol Content of 0.13 percent, above the 0.08 legal limit. Martinez left Gleneagles Country Club in Plano and drove the wrong direction on the freeway, which ended tragically killing Kara Taylor, 16, of Little Elm. Martinez reached speeds of 95 mph as she weaved from one side of the road to the other. Collin County jury found Martinez guilty of intoxication, manslaughter, and intoxication assault. The punishment phase of the trial is scheduled to start this morning, which could face up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

I have no sympathy for Martinez. She made choices to drink, she made choices to get intoxicated, and she made choices to get behind the wheel of a car. If you drink and drive, there is a strong chance something bad will happen. In 2007, there were 1,292 fatalities, solely due to drinking and driving. I can’t help, but feel sorry for Kara Taylor, her friends, and her family.

Information and commentary is provided by Dallas/ Fort Worth Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000. If you have questions about drunk driving accidents, please fill out our contact form online for a free consultation.