Dallas Fort Worth Car Accident Lawyer Blog

As a Fort Worth personal injury attorney, I know that drivers and passengers should take every precaution in order to stay safe when on DFW. Catastrophic wrecks happen all the time, and even if you are a cautious motorist, it doesn’t mean that every driver around you is. There are plenty of hazards out there on North Texas roads such as drivers texting behind the wheel, sleepy truckers who’ve been driving all night, and drunk drivers on the way home from a bar.

One of the simplest things you can do to protect yourself each time you get into a vehicle is to make sure that you’re wearing your seatbelt. According to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), seat belts saved an estimated 1,425 lives in 2010. That’s a significant number, especially considering that there were a total of 3,023 traffic fatalities throughout Texas that same year.

TxDOT is currently running a campaign aimed at educating drivers and passengers – specifically teenagers – as to why it is so important that you always wear your seatbelt. "A few seconds – that's all it takes to buckle up. In that same amount of time, you can lose your life in an accident because you weren't wearing your seat belt," said Carol T. Rawson, TxDOT's Traffic Operations Division director. "TxDOT is committed to educating teens about the deadly effects of not wearing a seat belt, and this campaign says to every teen: ‘If you love your life, buckle up.'"

Of course, even if you are wearing your seatbelt, you might still suffer serious bodily injuries at the hands of a negligent driver. If you or someone you love has been hurt in a crash which was not your fault, call the Anderson Law Firm today for a free consultation. Call toll free at 800-354-6275 or locally at 817-294-1900.

It is a well-known fact that smoking is bad for your health as well as those around you, but as a Fort Worth personal injury lawyer, I know that the potential danger is far more immediate whenever someone decides to light up behind the wheel.

A report published by the National Institute of Health pointed out a number of hazards caused by smoking while driving such as the cigarette reducing the amount of oxygen within the vehicle while at the same time increasing the carbon monoxide (lessening the brain’s ability to function) and that used cigarettes tossed out of car windows are a leading cause of roadside grass fires – a topic particularly sensitive to Texans given the catastrophic wildfire which ravages Bastrop and Possum Kingdom Lake last year. Most significantly, however, is the study’s findings that motorists who light and smoke a cigarette while driving are even more distracted than those who use a cellphone. On average, drivers who participated in the study traveled an average of 525 feet over 12.0 seconds without looking at the road when smoking, compared to an average of 492 feet over 10.6 seconds when using a cellphone.

Smoking while driving is an extremely hazardous hazard – it’s dangerous to you, your passengers and any other road users. Don’t believe me? Check out this video clip from the movie The Big Lebowski. The Dude is exhibiting several dangerous driving habits in this clip, but it’s the smoking while driving which causes him to crash:

If you or someone you love has been injured in a Texas car wreck caused by a negligent driver, call the Dallas-Fort Worth personal injury and wrongful death lawyers at the Anderson Law Firm for a no fee, no obligation consultation on your situation. Call toll free at 800-354-6275 or locally at 817-294-1900.

As a Fort Worth personal injury lawyer, one of the things I hate most are drunk drivers. Over the years, I’ve represented a lot of good, honest, hard-working people whose lives were ruined as a result of some idiot who decided to get behind the wheel when they knew full well that they were incapable of safely operating their vehicle. We all know drunk driving is wrong; it’s illegal and it’s incredibly dangerous. Everyone who makes the decision to drive while intoxicated knows this, and yet they do it anyway. This is an act of gross negligence.

While the purpose of any personal injury or wrongful death case is to compensate the innocent accident victim, to make sure the cost of their medical care is paid, make sure their lost earnings are recovered, etc., I think it is equally important that the at-fault party is punished for their actions. In those extreme cases which warrant it, Texas law allows experienced attorneys to make a claim for punitive damages against drunk drivers. Punitive damages are designed for the express purpose of punishing the at-fault party when it is clear that their negligent actions was the result of more than a simple error in judgment. Such is always the case in drunk driving cases – the intoxicated motorist decided to get on the road even though they knew they posed a huge danger to public safety.

If you or someone you love has been hurt as a result of the negligent actions of a drunk driver, then it is important that you hire a board certified accidental injury lawyer who is experienced in aggressively fighting for innocent victim’s legal right to recover full and fair damages. Call the Anderson Law Firm today for a free, no obligation consultation on your case. Call toll free at 800-354-6275, or locally in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900.

The people inside a mangled Chevrolet Aveo are lucky to be alive this morning after an 18-wheeler accident in Grand Prairie that had traffic backed up all the way to Arlington. The wreck happened around 6 a.m. in the eastbound lanes of I-20 and Highway 161 that are under construction.

According to accident investigators, the Chevy rear ended a dump truck that had slowed down to unload material to the construction site. Upon impact, the Chevy spun out into traffic where it was hit by two other 18-wheelers.

Emergency crews had to cut the car open to get out the trapped passengers. An adult driver and two teenage girls in the back seat survived the truck wreck and were taken to local hospitals. The wreckage backed up the highway for a couple of hours during Thursday rush hour and causing an even bigger traffic headache in the already congested construction zone.

Everyone driving today please be vigilant in all these highway construction zones across Dallas and Fort Worth. Driving in any work zone is not only frustrating and confusing, but also dangerous. We hope the victims in this truck wreck make a full recovery.

As a Fort Worth personal injury attorney, I know that the cars of today are simply amazing. Some of them have cameras that can tell you when you’re about to hit something, warning lights when there is a car in your blind spot and, of course, GPS and telematics systems, like On Star. The modern car has computers scattered throughout it that control the vehicles engine, windows, transmissions and radio. These computers don’t have the ability to store data, but the airbag control module (ACM) in most modern cars does.

Inside the ACM is something called the event data recorder (EDR) and it has the ability to record driving conditions at the time of an airbag’s deployment. When an airbag is deployed in most modern cars, the EDR will be able to tell you the steering wheel position, engine throttle, seatbelt usage, brake usage, change in velocity and warning light status. Event data recorders are already in some cars, but have recently been standardized by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and will be required in all new vehicles beginning in 2013.

What This Means to You
The goal of the required EDRs in vehicles is to make it easier to obtain data for crash investigations. As a personal injury attorney, I can use the data stored by the EDR to demonstrate driver behavior during an accident to prove negligence. To access the information, a technician can go through the OBD-II port using specialized equipment and get the data that is permanently stored by the EDR after an airbag deployment.

Who Has Access To This Information?
As of now, you do not have to surrender the EDR data to the police without probable cause, a warrant or a subpoena – the data is yours. Some insurance companies like Progressive and State Farm are giving their policy holders the opportunity to install tracking systems in their car's OBD-II port. The system records data on driver habits and in exchange, customers can potentially get lower insurance premiums. However, any data collected by these systems – including crash data – belongs to the insurance company.

With EDRs, knowing your rights is simply enough. If you’re involved in a wreck, the data stored inside it can give you an advantage in your car accident claim or case.

As a Fort Worth personal injury lawyer, one of the things I hate most are drunk drivers. Over the years, I’ve represented a lot of good, honest, hard-working people whose lives were ruined as a result of some idiot who decided to get behind the wheel when they knew full well that they were incapable of safely operating their vehicle. We all know drunk driving is wrong; it’s illegal and it’s incredibly dangerous. Everyone who makes the decision to drive while intoxicated knows this, and yet they do it anyway. This is an act of gross negligence.

While the purpose of any personal injury or wrongful death case is to compensate the innocent accident victim, to make sure the cost of their medical care is paid, make sure their lost earnings are recovered, etc., I think it is equally important that the at-fault party is punished for their actions. In those extreme cases which warrant it, Texas law allows experienced attorneys to make a claim for punitive damages against drunk drivers. Punitive damages are designed for the express purpose of punishing the at-fault party when it is clear that their negligent actions was the result of more than a simple error in judgment. Such is always the case in drunk driving cases – the intoxicated motorist decided to get on the road even though they knew they posed a huge danger to public safety.

If you or someone you love has been hurt as a result of the negligent actions of a drunk driver, then it is important that you hire a board certified accidental injury lawyer who is experienced in aggressively fighting for innocent victim’s legal right to recover full and fair damages. Call the Anderson Law Firm today for a free, no obligation consultation on your case. Call toll free at 800-354-6275, or locally in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900.

Although we only deal with personal injury and wrongful death claims at the Anderson Law Firm, over the years I have also learned a lot about how to successfully resolve property damage claims. Many of my clients' vehicles require significant repairs or are declared totaled by the insurance company, so I often help them handle the separate property damage claim, too.

Of course, if you've just been in a fender bender, it's unlikely that you've suffered serious enough injuries to hire an attorney, but you still have to deal with the insurance company in order to get your car repaired or replaced, depending on the extent of the damage. Since I have so much experience in handling these claims, I thought I'd write an easy-to-use guide which will take you
step-by-step through the claims process and explain your legal rights, how to make sure you gather the evidence to back up your claim and also what things like "diminished value" and "total loss" involve.

You can download a copy of this free guide through our website, or call 817-294-1900 and we'll mail you a copy.

As a Dallas-Fort Worth personal injury and wrongful death lawyer, I know the by far the most common cause of fatal auto accidents is speeding. In fact, according to the US Census Bureau, speed-related wrecks account for 40 percent of all Texas traffic fatalities. Crashes caused by speeding drivers often result in extremely severe bodily injuries because the force impact is directly related to the speed at which a vehicle is traveling immediately prior to crashing.

Speeding trucks are particularly dangerous because since their weight is significantly higher than the average car or motorcycle, the force with which they impact another vehicle is considerably greater.

Given that common injuries suffered by accident victims hurt in speed-related collisions include such serious injuries as broken bones, blunt force trauma, spinal compression injuries, brain damage and paralysis, it is extremely important that you are fully aware of your legal rights and obligations under Texas law. You are probably entitled to significant compensation.

Before speaking with the negligent motorist’s insurance company, it is important that you consult with a board certified Fort Worth personal injury attorney who will be able to discuss the law as it applies to your personal situation. To talk to a lawyer today, please call me toll free at 800-354-6275, or locally in Ft. Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000.

Here’s a fact that very few Dallas-Fort Worth personal injury attorneys will share: you may not need a lawyer to help you with your claim for compensation against the at-fault driver’s insurance company. Depending on your personal situation, you might well be able to handle your claim without any legal help whatsoever. That’s clearly not always the case, of course, but it is certainly true in some circumstances. However, it would be incredibly foolish to go into battle against the insurance company without a good understanding of what the personal injury claims process involves.

To help arm accident victims with this vital knowledge, I have written a book titled 15 Mistakes Which Will Wreck Your Texas Accident Case to help you understand and avoid some of the more common mistakes which the insurance adjustor will trick you into making. You can order the book through Amazon if you wish, or you can request a complimentary copy by calling 817-294-1900.

You should also know that I offer completely free, no obligation consultations to DFW accident victims, so if you still have some questions after reading my book, please feel free to call me so we can discuss your personal situation. I’ll give you my honest appraisal of your case and let you know truthfully whether or not I thing you can handle your claim successfully by yourself.

I have also written a similar book specifically aimed at helping injured motorcyclists, called Roadmap to Winning Your Texas Motorcycle Accident Case, and another which deals with non-injury accident claims; Texas Property Damage Guide. You can order a free copy of either of these books by calling the Anderson Law Firm toll free at 800-354-6275.

As a Fort Worth personal injury lawyer, I know that the sooner you hire an attorney to get working on your car or truck wreck case, the better your chance of recovering the full and fair compensation you deserve from the negligent party’s insurance company. This is especially true in traffic accidents involving 18 wheeler trucks and other commercial vehicles. Most motor carrier companies have crash scene investigators on retainer in towns throughout Texas, so that if one of their truckers ever causes a wreck, they can have their own people on the ground almost immediately, pointing out things the police might have missed to try and reduce the impression that it was their driver who was completely at fault.

Another worrying trend I’ve noticed as a Fort Worth personal injury attorney is that when an accident victim is still recovering in hospital, a representative from the liable insurance company will arrive unannounced and attempt to get you to provide a statement and sign some paperwork. They might even offer to cut you a check right then and there for “your inconvenience.” This is particularly common in cases where they know you are due a large settlement because of expensive medical bills. Please understand that you have absolutely no obligation to give the insurance adjuster a recorded statement or to provide them with access to your medical records. Definitely don’t sign anything or accept the money they’re offering – if you do, you’re effectively waiving your rights to any further compensation. That is a huge mistake.

Since time is often of the essence in successfully resolving a personal injury or wrongful death claim, my law firm offers a free service to all accident victims in the Fort Worth area: if you have been hurt in a car wreck, we will get your police report for you. You don’t have to pay any of the fees, and you don’t have to go down to FWPD. We’ll take care of it on your behalf. To request this complimentary service or to schedule a no obligation consultation with a lawyer, please call me toll free at 800-354-6275 or locally at 817-294-1900.

As a Fort Worth personal injury lawyer, I am acutely aware of the dangers posed by distracted drivers. While the rise of cellphones and smart phones in particular has seen an increase in the number of people talking and texting while behind the wheel, the fact is that distracted driving has been a big problem for a long time. As the cars we drive have gotten bigger and bigger over the past couple of decades, drivers have become accustomed to treating their vehicle like their living room. The seats are big and comfortable; there are plenty of cup holders available; good quality audio systems, etc… Unfortunately, all this extra comfort allows the person in the driver’s seat to forget that they should be concentrating on the task in hand: focusing on the road ahead and avoiding a crash with another motorist or pedestrian.

Now it seems that auto manufacturers are trying to make the problem even worse. Ford, Mercedes Benz and other car makers have either already launched or are gearing up to launch a range of in-car accessories which allow people to send tweets, interact with friends on Facebook and even surf the web – while driving. Even though many of these systems allow steering wheel controls or voice-automated controls, they still pose a very serious threat to public safety. Use of these devices compromises the operator’s visual, auditory and cognitive functions at a minimum – meaning a very real threat to the safety of anyone else who is unfortunate enough to sharing the road with them.

Sadly, while road safety advocated such as myself might complain about the new hazards caused by this new technology, it does to be inevitability. I expect over the coming years, I’ll be seeing far more distracted driving accident cases as a Fort Worth personal injury attorney. We should not become complacent about this rise in such accidents. We must all take responsibility for our own safety, as well as that of our passengers and of other road users. Just because this technology is available, does not mean that you should use it. Please, keep your attention on the road. The life you save could be your own.

If you’ve been injured in a car crash caused by an uninsured motorist, you might be worried that you have no options. Faced with mounting medical expenses not to mention forced time off work, the whole situation can see extremely daunting. How are you going to pay off all this debt? If the collision wasn’t even your fault it can seem incredibly frustrating and unfair. Fortunately, you might have more options than you realize.

As a Fort Worth personal injury lawyer, I know that injury victims who have been in a wreck caused by either a hit and run driver or an uninsured motorist may still be able to recover compensation which can help pay off their accident-related debts. To help you understand the key issues you need to be aware of, I’ve assembled the most important information here: Uninsured Motorist Accidents 101.

Of course, every situation is different, so it is always worth speaking directly with an experienced Fort Worth attorney who will be able to explain your legal rights and options as they relate to your personal situation. For a free, no obligation consultation on your case, please call the Anderson Law Firm toll free at 800-354-6275 or locally at 817-294-1900.

President Barack Obama’s step-grandmother was injured in a rollover wreck in Kenya over the weekend. Sarah Obama, 91, reportedly suffered bruises after the car she was traveling in attempted to overtake a slower truck, when the driver lost control and caused the vehicle to flip. She has already been discharged from hospital.

While I am glad that Mrs. Obama is apparently recovering well, as a Dallas-Fort Worth personal injury lawyer, I know that in many cases the injuries sustained in DFW rollover accidents are extremely serious. SUVs, church and daycare vans, and school buses are all particularly prone to rollover in a crash. Such wrecks are especially common in intersection collisions, where one vehicle is hit broadside by another. Ejections are extremely common in rollovers, further increasing the severity of the wounds suffered. In fact, it is estimated that 80 percent of passenger van fatalities occur in rollover crashes.

Van and bus injury victims were more than likely passengers in the vehicle at the time of the accident, meaning they had absolutely no control whatsoever over their own safety. They put their trust in the driver and the vehicle itself to protect them from harm. If you or someone you love was hurt in a Texas rollover accident, then it is important that you consult with a board certified bodily injury and wrongful death attorney as soon as possible to discuss your legal rights. You may be entitled to compensation.

Call the Anderson Law Firm in Fort Worth today. Call toll free at 800-354-6275 or locally at 817-294-1900.

Texting, eating, applying makeup or shaving, disciplining kids, and reading are all average everyday activities for most Texans living in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Doing any of them while you’re driving, however, and you’re putting multiple lives at risk: your own, your passengers, and every other person who is unfortunate enough to be on the road near you at that time.

As a DFW personal injury lawyer, I know just how serious a problem distracted driving is in all its forms. The amount of property damage and bodily injuries which can be caused in a multi-vehicle wreck caused by a distracted driver can be catastrophic. If you or someone you love has been injured in such an accident, it is critical that you are aware of your legal rights. Texas law gives distracted driver crash victims the legal right to make an insurance claim to pay for your medical bills, loss of income and other costs associated with the collision. This even applies if you were a passenger in a car being driven by a negligent driver.

In order to help victims such as yourself understand the key information you need to know, I have put together a resource called Distracted Driving 101. It highlights the main issues you need to know and will hopefully answer a lot of the questions you have at this stage. It is no replacement for personalized legal service, however, and I strongly encourage you to call an attorney to discuss your cases one-on-one as soon as possible.

To speak to a board certified personal injury attorney immediately, please call the Anderson Law Firm toll free at 800-354-2675 or call locally in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900.

As a Fort Worth personal injury lawyer and parent myself, I understand the importance of using a booster seat when driving with my child in the car. I’m sure most of you do too, but have are you similarly concerned when your son or daughter gets a ride from another relative or a friend’s parent? Unless your child is a toddler requiring an infant car seat, it’s probably not something you think too much about.

In fact, according to a study published by the magazine Pediatrics, roughly 45 percent of parents do not require their kids to use potentially life-saving booster seats when riding with another motorist. What’s more, 30 percent of parents admitted that when they are giving a lift to someone else’s child who does not have a car seat in their vehicle, they allow their own child to not use their own booster seat even though it is there in the vehicle.

The study also points out that since up to 70 percent of all parents utilize a carpool to some degree, this could be a very big problem not just if the car in question was involved in a collision, but even if the driver was forced to make an emergency brake. An adult seat belt can cause significant injuries to a young child in such an occasion. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recommends that all children use a booster seat until at least they reach 57 inches of height, at which time they can probably transfer safely to a full-size adult seat.

If your child is injured in a traffic wreck it is important that you are fully briefed on your legal rights. Even if your child was a passenger when you were driving, there may be an option for you to claim compensation from the insurance company. To speak with a board certified child injury and auto accident attorney today, please call the Anderson Law Firm toll free at 800-354-6275 or locally at 817-294-1900.