JD LAW Blog

Depending on the nature and severity of a trucking accident, you may need to file a claim to help recover money for medical bills and lost wages. However, before you can make a claim for such expenses, you must be able to demonstrate that the truck driver or trucking company was responsible for the collision. In order to do this, you must first identify the cause of the collision. There are many, many different factors that can lead to a collision and often times there are a number of responsible individuals and companies. The following are a few examples of the more common causes of truck accidents and the parties that may be held liable.

Read more: Truck Accident and Personal Injury - Aledo/Hudson Oaks/Weatherford/ Willow Park

Few car accidents are blameless. Usually, someone is at fault. Common types of Texas car accidents include:

• Aggressive driving: Speeding, making dangerous passes and roaring through red lights cuts trips short. It also creates the risk of cutting lives short in an intersection crash or head-on collision.
• Drunk driving: Heavier law enforcement and public awareness campaigns have reduced Texas DWI / DUI accidents. But alcohol-impaired driving remains a serious public safety problem. For many years, more people have died in drunk-driving wrecks in Texas than anywhere else in the country.
• Distracted driving: Types of distracted driving include talking on a cell phone, texting, eating, drinking, talking with passengers or using a GPS device. Distracted driving is particularly dangerous when the driver approaches an intersection or goes through a work zone.
• Drowsy driving: Instead of taking a break, too many drivers stay on the road when they are tired or falling asleep at the wheel. Drowsy drivers can cause fatal car accidents and fatigue-related crashes that send people to the hospital with serious injuries.
• Teen driving: Teen drivers lack experience and can fail to see the consequences of dangerous driving habits. They often speed or talk on a cell phone behind the wheel. As a result, teen drivers have a high accident rate and endanger others.
• Vehicle defects: Even when a driver operates their vehicle safely, a car crash may be caused by defective brakes, gears, sudden acceleration or a rollover.

Read more: Common Types of Texas Car Accidents

Big trucks, worker fatigue are cause for increase in fatalities.

The rising rate of Texas traffic fatalities involving three or more deaths is alarming: 72 such accidents in 2010; 101 in 2012 and 148 last year, according to an in-depth report by the Houston Chronicle.

Through mid-July of this year, the newspaper said 81 people had died in triple tragedies on Texas highways, and it points out that Texas now leads the nation in motor vehicle deaths. The trend across the country is a decrease in such accidents.

Perhaps as disturbing is one of the key factors in this recent spike in fatal crashes. The Chronicle’s analysis suggests that the oil and gas industry boom is a major contributor.

Read more: Better Safety Rules in Oil and Gas Industry Needed to Reduce Traffic Fatalities

Most times when someone dies with a Will, the Will has to be probated to transfer property to their loved ones. In Texas, probating a Will is usually very easy and straightforward. In general, you are asking the court to find that it the Will is valid so that the property can be transferred to the individuals named as the beneficiaries, and you are asking the court to appoint the person named in the Will to act as the Executor to administer the estate. When appointed, the Executor can get “Letters Testamentary”, which is just a fancy term for court orders showing that the Executor can act on behalf of the estate.

Read more: Probate as Muniment of Title: What is It?

Texting and driving has become a huge problem in many states, especially Texas where people drive all the time and often have long commutes to work. It seems rather obvious that texting and driving is dangerous - simply put, it takes your focus off the road and on your phone. If you have been injured in an auto accident caused by a distracted driver, you should seek the advice of a Dallas-Fort Worth personal injury lawyer.

Read more: Drive, Don't Text