More than fourteen months after a balloon crash into power lines near Lockhart, Texas, took the lives of sixteen people, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued a report blaming the pilot but also blasting the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for exempting balloon operators from the medical certification regulations applied to other commercial pilots.
The NTSB has called on the FAA to close this dangerous loophole.
The ill-fated flight began at 6:58 a.m. on July 30, 2016, and ended at 7:42 a.m. when the balloon crashed into power lines the pilot didn’t see as he descended into clouds and fog. The victims died in the resulting fire and multi-story fall after the collision.
The pilot had reportedly taken off despite worsening conditions and without current weather information. The accumulation of pilot errors was the main cause of the crash, the NTSB ruled.
The pilot was also on numerous medications to treat multiple issues, including depression, attention deficit disorder, and back pain. Use of some of these medications, including oxycodone, should have immediately disqualified the pilot from flying. In fact, an NTSB medical officer expressed the opinion that the drugs in the pilot’s system probably led to impairment about the same as that of a drunk driver.
In addition to the pilot’s poor decisions and drug impairment, the NTSB report also found that the FAA’s lack of medical certification was a contributing factor in the crash.
The NTSB had asked the FAA to impose stricter regulation on commercial balloon operators more than two years before the Lockhart tragedy. Those recommendations were based on NTSB investigations of several previous balloon crashes that led to serious injuries and the death of a pilot.
Unfortunately for the passengers and pilot in Lockhart, the FAA declined to expand the regulations—which apply to all other aviation tour operators—to balloons. Ironically, their 2015 response noted that “there are no known links that suggest the use of medications or drugs not approved by the FAA are a contributor to balloon accidents.”
The FAA has said that the NTSB recommendations would not have made a difference in this crash, noting that the pilot in the Lockhart crash concealed medical information. Others have pointed out that the FAA discovered this information after the crash and that, if they’d had a better system in place, even simple background checks might have discovered it before the crash.
This kind of accident is unusual, but people are harmed or killed every day because of the negligent or reckless actions of others. It doesn’t matter if an injury is inflicted in a car crash, a boat crash, a balloon crash, a dog attack, or slip-and-fall accident. If you’ve been a victim because of someone else’s dangerous actions—or inaction—you may be entitled to recover damages to help with your recovery.
The attorneys at Denena Points, PC understand all sorts of personal injury situations, and we’re available to give you a free consultation about your case. Give us a call at 713-807-9500 or fill out our contact form today to find out what we can do for you.
Freedom isn’t free, as many people say, and when it comes to the freedom to operate a motorcycle without a helmet in Texas, this principle definitely applies.
The Texas helmet law isn’t particularly strict compared to other states, and a motorcyclist can take steps to become exempt from it. But there are a couple of important issues to be aware of before choosing to ride helmetless.
First of all, let’s get one thing out of the way. The Texas law does enforce one mandate without exceptions: Any rider under age twenty-one, operator or passenger, must wear a helmet.
You can receive a ticket for a violation, although the amount—$10 to $50—isn’t much of a deterrent.
An operator over age twenty-one doesn’t need to wear a helmet, as long as you meet one of two criteria. You have to have completed a state-approved motorcycle safety course or have valid health insurance.
Even when these conditions haven’t been met, you can still go helmetless and expect to have no trouble with law enforcement—unless you’re stopped for another infraction. In Texas, you can’t be pulled over only for a helmet violation, but you can be ticketed for one if you’ve been stopped for something else.
Even though it’s allowed, should you ride without a helmet? Because of safety concerns and liability issues, doing so probably isn’t a good choice.
Some still argue that motorcycles aren’t inherently less safe than cars, or that a helmet can cause more injury than it prevents. They’re entitled to their opinions, but let’s not sugarcoat the real risks.
Like it or not, when you’re on a motorcycle, you have a much greater risk of being injured or killed than when you’re in a car. Data from 2015 found that motorcyclists were five times more likely to be injured and 29 times more likely to be killed per vehicle mile traveled than those in cars.
That year, just under 5,000 motorcyclists died in crashes, accounting for one of every seven traffic fatalities. Considering that fewer than one in twenty-five vehicles on the road is a motorcycle, that’s a disproportionate risk.
When it comes to helmet use, studies have been getting the same results for years: All things being equal, about one-third of helmeted riders will survive a crash that otherwise would have killed them, while about two-thirds of serious head injuries would have been avoided.
That’s no magic bullet, but it’s much better odds. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that about 740 of those killed in 2015 would have survived if 100 percent of motorcyclists had worn helmets.
Crash survivability isn’t the only issue. Consider this fact: About half of all motorcycle accidents are single-vehicle crashes (only the biker is involved). The others involve a second vehicle—a passenger car or truck.
The motorcycle operator is not the one at fault in many of those crashes. So what happens if a biker is seriously injured in a crash that he didn’t cause, but the injury was at least in part due to not wearing a helmet? In many cases, this can shift at least part of the blame from the driver who caused the crash to the biker who was a victim of it.
Texas allows defendants to claim contributory negligence by the victim, which means any damage award can be reduced by the amount a victim contributed to an injury. In fact, the injured party will get no compensation at all if the court finds him or her to be more than 50 percent responsible for his or her own injury.
It all boils down to this: If you’re in a motorcycle crash and you’re not wearing a helmet, you could be found partially responsible for your injuries, even if you were 100 percent blameless.
Rear-ended by a speeding drunk driver? Hit by a distracted teen who wandered over the yellow line? Run into by a careless driver who took a left turn across your path? If the injury would have been less severe or could have been prevented by wearing a helmet, your damage award can be reduced because you didn’t take available steps to protect yourself from possible injury.
You might not think this is fair, but it’s the law and it’s not likely to change soon. For your own protection—physical and legal—our advice is that you always ride with a helmet.
When you’ve been the victim of a crash involving a motorcycle, you need help that only an experienced personal injury firm can offer. Denena Points, PC understands motorcycle accident law, and we’ll provide a free consultation to discuss your case.
Call us at 713-807-9500 or fill out the online contact form below to get started.
Tragedy struck on Saturday, March 5, about two miles from NRG Stadium when a speeding drunk driver caused a fatal, multi-vehicle crash. The sixty-five-year-old victim was killed after a Chevrolet Avalanche rear-ended his Nissan 370Z, which was stopped on Alameda at a red light. His vehicle was pushed into the intersection at Reed, which caused it to collide with two charter rodeo buses successively.
The driver of the Avalanche survived, but highway officials said he smelled of alcohol, and a witness said it took five minutes to wake him up. Once the witness saw the driver stir, he asked him if he could turn his radio off, which he did. The witness was glad that he was alive and recorded a video after the crash. It shows the driver wandering around disoriented and not speaking. It also shows a Chevy pickup with a seriously damaged front end. Luckily, the rodeo buses were used to transport attendees. Its forty-three-year-old driver was charged with intoxication manslaughter.
Speeding and drunk driving are among the top causes of accidents, along with distracted driving. All are examples of recklessness. What makes drinking and driving especially dangerous is that alcohol not only impairs judgment, but also slows reaction time. Studies have also shown that it compromises vision. Visual search and image detection are weakened by alcohol consumption, upping the chance of missed stops and turns and greatly enhancing the chance of collisions.
Another troubling fact is that people who drink and drive usually do it repeatedly—with some driving while impaired as often as eighty times before getting caught. Others crash.
Intersections are a common spot for accidents for many reasons. Not only do many lanes converge, with dedicated turning lanes adding confusion, but they often have people making sudden moves or reacting out of step with the flow of traffic. The simple act of stopping for a stop light or stop sign can come too late for a distracted person playing with their cell phone or otherwise breaking the law. Add speeders and drunk people and things get ugly.
Drunk and reckless drivers must be held responsible for the destruction they cause. Not only can they face criminal charges, but a civil personal injury case helps the victim and the family get back on financial track. For example, in this case, the family of the victim can potentially seek damages, as can the rodeo charter bus owners and drivers. (Those buses were used to transport visitors to and from the rodeo, but luckily were empty at the time of the crash.) A personal injury case can be pursued separately outside of any criminal charges.
If you or a loved one have been the victim of wrongdoing, we can help. Denena Points has a proven track record of getting higher insurance payments and other compensation for victims and their families. You can check our homepage for a list of some of the settlements we have gotten for our clients. Contact us today for a free consultation with no obligations by calling 713-807-9500 or completing the form below.
Two bicyclists tragically lost their lives to a hit-and-run car driver who allegedly fled a Waller County accident scene on foot and then hid in an empty stranger’s hunting lodge. The very brave Brookshire homeowner Mark Newkirk returned, found the man on the couch, and somehow convinced him to turn himself in. A third bicyclist was also injured in the accident and taken to Memorial-Hermann Katy Hospital.
All were part of a planned group ride that supports adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, the 2017 SpringFest Metric Century, an MS 150 training ride. Hundreds of riders were participating. According to Texas State Trooper Eric Burse, the bicyclists were obeying the law and were on the right side of the road.
Trooper Burse also said that upon apprehending the driver, his “demeanor” was obviously abnormal. As more details of the story emerged, authorities learned that the driver plowed through the bicyclists on purpose. Mark Newkirk said he claimed that people thought he was a Russian spy, and that he had to hurt the riders before they hurt him.
Mr. Newkirk said he was talking nonstop, and in different accounts said the man had found his unloaded guns and that he was holding a knife and scissors when found in the living room. In order to coax the driver out of the house, Mr. Newkirk acted like he was on the man’s side during his paranoid rants and miraculously coaxed him into getting into his pickup by saying he would make sure no one was going to hurt him. He drove the suspect to the police where he turned himself in without incident.
The driver is facing two counts of murder, three counts of failing to stop and render aid, one count of burglary, and possibly, leaving the scene of an accident. While his murder charge is a criminal one, wrongful death is a civil charge, handled by personal injury lawyers. Criminal charges are crimes against the state and often result in incarceration, which this man will likely face.
Wrongful death suits occur after someone’s deliberate action (which appears to be the case here), negligence, or carelessness. These suits do not result in prison time, rather with financial compensation. Relatives of the deceased are usually the ones to bring it about, and who is allowed to do so varies by state.
Damages that the family can seek are monetary amounts based on calculations of income to determine what wages have been lost, as well as compensation for pain and suffering. This money can be acquired from the perpetrator by seizing property, garnishing wages, or finding other financial sources related to the guilty party.
As opposed to criminal charges in which the state has to prove the accused’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, wrongful death cases require that only fault be proved by a preponderance of the evidence. For instance, OJ Simpson was found not guilty of murder but was found guilty of wrongful death. Reasonable doubt is much tougher to prove.
At Denena Points, PC, we work with victims’ families in wrongful death cases to make sure that they have the financial support they need going forward while recovering from a tragic loss. In personal injury cases, we fight hard to get the best results from insurance companies and build solid court cases—should that be the best course of action.
Call today and speak to us for free. We will tell you what your rights are and answer any questions you may have with no obligations. You can schedule your consultation by calling 713-807-9500 or by completing the form at the bottom of this page.
“What’s the matter with kids today?” Older generations love to blame things on the young, but in decrying the driving habits of millennials, critics are spot on. An alarming AAA study details the fact that 88 percent of these drivers have sped, run red lights, and texted while behind the wheel—all in the thirty days prior to taking the survey! Worse yet, many don’t think anything is wrong with that.
This AAA data was collected from 2,511 licensed drivers at least sixteen years old who had driven in the preceding thirty days. It reflects the number of people who admitted to doing at least one of the three offenses mentioned above.
Growing up surrounded by technology has made it an integral part of how millennials communicate with the world. Texting is a primary form of communication for them—so “obvi” they’ll use it when they feel they need it—constantly. There is also the youth factor that has psychologists disagreeing on whether young people are inherently drawn to risky behavior or if they just don’t have the life experience to realize how dangerous they’re behaving.
Because cell phone use while behind the wheel is one the leading causes of accidents, we should do everything we can to reduce its frequency. While millennials are easily the main transgressors here, the tips listed below can benefit all drivers:
Aside from drivers being financially penalized, if their texting, speeding, or red-light running affects someone else, they can be accused of negligent driving under the law. Accidents happen, but how you deal with the aftermath can impact your future wellbeing. If you’ve been in a crash and decide to take an insurance settlement, you want to make sure that you get the best one possible. You should never blindly accept an insurance company’s first offer as it will usually be well below what a case is worth. Add injuries to the mix and you really need to know all of your options!
At Denena Points, we fight hard to get our clients the best outcome for their traffic accident and personal injury cases. Call today to speak with us about your case for free. There is no obligation to proceed, so there’s no risk involved. To arrange a time for yours, simply call 713-807-9500 or complete the contact form below.
Driving in Houston can be an epic test of both your patience and your safety. The Houston Chronicle reports that of the worst US commutes, Houston is number four behind Los Angeles; Washington, DC; and San Francisco. Every year, commuters here waste seventy-four hours of their life crawling through traffic. Along with high traffic congestion comes more traffic accidents—especially at intersections—where roughly one-quarter of traffic fatalities and roughly half of all traffic injuries occur.
When Houston traffic is not ground to a halt, too many drivers are blowing through red lights. The city ranked number one for red-light running in a National Coalition for Safer Roads study of 2003–2014 with a total of 181 fatalities.
Houston removed red-light cameras that it had installed between 2006 and 2010, and fatal crashes increased 305 percent afterward, while all crashes increased 186 percent. While Houstonians no longer have to pay the $75 red-light fines, they have to make sure that they are at the top of their defensive game to avoid the risk of reckless drivers.
Red-light running can cause many types of crashes, but common intersection wrecks such as T-bone and left-hand-turn accidents are also caused by poor judgment of other drivers’ timing. This is especially common with drunk or distracted drivers. Rear-end collisions and head-on accidents abound as well, occurring even when the eyes of drivers are removed from the road for just an instant.
The Texas Department of Transportation (DOT) specifies the difference between an “intersection crash” and an “intersection-related crash,” which includes the lead-up to or exit from an intersection. The data below contains both.
Many of these intersections involve wide roads and feeder lanes, which are frequent locations for quick maneuvers and dangerous merges. With Houston’s population exploding and there being constant roadwork, the problem will probably only get worse in the time to come.
These are the city’s most dangerous intersections as determined by data collected between 2012 and 2015 by the Texas DOT based on about 2,000,000 accidents. Crashes also increased throughout that time period.
Beechnut and Sam Houston Parkway – 189 traffic accidents
Main Street and South Loop – 206 traffic accidents
Sam Houston Parkway and Westheimer – 233 traffic accidents
Hardy Road and Sam Houston Parkway – 280 traffic accidents
Bissonnet Street and Sam Houston Parkway – 335 traffic accidents
To get the best outcome for your traffic crash or personal injury case, it’s essential that you contact a personal injury attorney right away. A trusted firm like Denena Points, PC will keep you from saying the wrong thing after an accident to an insurance company that could compromise your case.
Since most accidents are caused by recklessness and negligence, we know how to build the strongest case to get you the best outcome. In the event that a court case is needed, we’ll gather the evidence to seek the awards you deserve. Call 713-807-9500 or complete the form below for a free consultation. There is no obligation to proceed, so there’s no risk involved in exploring your legal options for financial compensation.
For decades, Houston has seen countless illegal drag races played out on its highways. A major appeal of these contests is the adrenaline rush of flooring tricked-out, nitrous-burning vehicles that hit triple-digit speeds within seconds.
But with the thrill comes consequences, and innocent victims are often caught in the path of these reckless drivers. Such was the case when a retired caregiver of special needs children and her husband, a pastor and remodeling business owner, were killed in a hit-and-run accident. A drag racing truck ran a red light and tragically crashed into them in northwest Houston. The couple, who had been married for over thirty years, had been visiting a niece with a new baby and were headed home from the hospital.
The truck driver eventually turned himself in to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and appealed to the family for forgiveness in court, saying that since the tragedy, God had transformed him. One of the victims’ sons said he wanted justice served but would forgive the driver and pray for him and his family because that was what his devout parents would want him to do.
One news account reported that the driver got a forty-eight-year sentence. Another said he will be in prison for twelve years in concurrently running sentences. The charges were two counts of failure to stop and render aid and two counts of felony racing “in exchange for the sentence.”
Law enforcement has a hard time keeping up, so to speak, as these contests are often set up last minute in changing locations at night. According to a news interview with Harris County Officer Joe O’Leary, the officers must catch the racers in the act in order to arrest them. He added that he has witnessed speeds of at least 225 mph.
For innocent victims of street-racing crashes, the damage and injuries done can be severe. Brain and spine injuries are common results, and wrongful death is tragically seen on a regular basis. Even when the street racer goes to prison, such as in the story above, the victims are still left with medical and funeral bills to contend with—not to mention their pain and suffering and other damages.
Because street racing is a glaring example of negligent driving, a personal injury lawsuit can be used as a means to recover the compensation victims and their families need to move on. It might even be possible to use a criminal conviction as evidence to prove the civil case.
At Denena Points, PC we see daily how lives can be shattered by other people’s recklessness and have dedicated our careers to fighting for victims’ rights. Street racing and other bad behavior on the road—such as drunk, drugged, or distracted driving—are examples of negligence, which leave the victims of these crashes with options for compensation.
All of these cases involve a selfish disregard for other people’s wellbeing. Call today for a free consultation to learn how we can help you or your family if someone’s bad decisions have caused you harm. To get started, simply call 713-766-1163 or reach us online through the contact form on this page.
Fatal crashes are devastating for the victim’s family, especially if the driver flees the scene and leaves helpless passengers behind. While few would ever think that someone could do this—it does happen.
In New Caney, Texas, a driver recently slammed into a parked semi-truck and then fled the scene in another vehicle, leaving his critically injured passenger to die alone. If he had stayed and called the police, that passenger might still be alive.
Last April, a vehicle crashed in Miami-Dade County while driving at high speeds. The driver lost control and crashed into a fence and utility pole. The driver was able to get out of the vehicle and fled the accident scene, but the thirty-five-year-old passenger died of injuries suffered in the crash.
In February, a driver in Los Angeles lost control and ran into a light pole. The driver was intoxicated at the time and left the scene—supposedly to get help—but his passenger died.
In all three of these cases, the driver exhibited reckless or careless behavior that resulted in an accident. In each case, the passenger was killed or critically wounded while the driver was free to get up and leave the scene.
All three individuals were subsequently arrested by the police. These are just a few examples of fatal crashes that happen on a regular basis due to the negligence of the driver. The unique aspect of cases where the driver flees the scene is the likelihood of criminal charges in addition to potential civil penalties.
As a car wreck victim, it is important to note that just because the driver faces criminal charges, it does not necessarily mean that the outcome of the trial will benefit you in any way. The prosecutor will be seeking imprisonment and financial penalties. However, those penalties will not be paid to your family, and they are typically minor in comparison to what you’ve actually lost.
This makes it necessary for you to work with a skilled personal injury attorney to file a lawsuit against the negligent driver in civil court. Doing so enables you to seek financial damages to pay for things like medical bills and lost wages.
If your loved one was killed in a fatal car accident, you may have the right to file a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of his or her estate. To do so, you typically need to be a close family member such as a spouse or a dependent child.
In a wrongful death case, you can recover compensation for the wages the victim would have made if he or she had continued to work until retirement. For example, if your spouse was killed at age forty, he or she would likely have worked for twenty-five more years until the age of sixty-five.
All of those lost wages equate to money that your family should have received, and it could be compensated to you through a wrongful death suit. You can also seek compensation for pain and suffering and the overall impact that the deceased’s death has had on your life.
Hit-and-run accidents and fatal car crashes are difficult events to go through, but you deserve to be compensated for the pain and financial losses your family has gone through.
Each case is different, so if your family has suffered because of a terrible or fatal accident, call 713-807-9500 to speak with an experienced attorney from Denena Points, PC. If you aren’t available to speak right now but would still like to schedule a free consultation, you can also reach us by using the contact form below.
Another tragic incident has taken the life of an amusement park visitor, this time a ten-year-old Kansas boy. The boy, Caleb Schwab, died while riding the Verrückt waterslide at the Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas. The exact details of Caleb’s death haven’t been officially released (and the public might never learn them, for a number of reasons), but reports suggest the situation may have been particularly gruesome. Two women were also injured in the same incident.
We hope with all sincerity that Caleb’s family and the other victims of the Verrückt tragedy are eventually able to heal. Unfortunately, we also expect that if the full details of this case ever come to light, they’ll reveal that this tremendous misfortune was preventable, and for that reason we hope the responsible parties are held accountable.
Since it opened in July of 2014, Verrückt has been recognized as the tallest waterslide in the world. Riders, secured to rafts, plunge down an initial flume drop of seventeen stories then shoot upward and over a five-story drop before a final plunge.
While acclaimed by thrill seekers, the ride faced trouble early on. Sections of the ride were rebuilt to rectify problems not revealed during its design, and the opening was delayed more than once while safety concerns were addressed. But at least one published report suggests that the ride originated less as a well-thought-out concept and more as a publicity stunt. When some of the outsize ride’s outsized safety risks were addressed, others were created.
County records suggest that construction of the ride was approved not based on whether it was safe for park guests, but on whether its presence would disturb neighboring property owners. Continuing operations of the ride were also not subject to rigorous review. The state of Kansas, which some feel has lax amusement park regulations, is reported not to have inspected Verrückt in the two years that it’s been operating.
There has been greater concern over the general safety of amusement park rides in recent years. Although firm statistics on deaths and injuries are difficult to pin down, it’s safe to estimate that just among children there are more than 4,000 injuries on amusement park rides annually. On average, three to four people die each year on these rides. As one writer has pointed out, this means that more people are killed on American thrill rides each year than die from shark attacks.
Sadly, the Verrückt incident is not unique—it’s only received more attention than most. Here in Texas, we’ve seen a fatality of our own this year, when a teenage girl was killed and two others injured by a ride at a carnival in El Paso. In a separate accident, a Nebraska girl was essentially scalped by a ride and also might never see again. A spate of serious injuries involving amusement park rides has been reported this month alone. It’s enough to make people think twice about climbing aboard rides they previously considered only frightening, not legitimately unsafe.
When you have been injured or someone you love has been injured or killed by an amusement park ride, water park ride, carnival ride, or even a ride installed in a shopping mall, it’s important to hold the operators responsible. This is not just for your own recovery and peace of mind, but also for all the others out there who might also be placed at risk by the continued operation of that unsafe equipment.
At Denena Points, PC, our attorneys have experience with carnival and amusement park accident cases, and we’ll put our knowledge to work for you. Give us a call today to set up a free consultation to discuss your case. Our number is 713-807-9500, or you can complete our contact form below. You can also launch the LiveChat application from any page of this website to have some of your questions answered right now.
The Pokémon franchise has included popular video games, card games, and children’s cartoons since the mid-1990s. The latest installment, “Pokémon Go,” has met with astounding success, spiking parent company Nintendo’s stock price and setting records for a mobile app download.
However, the game’s popularity has also quickly raised concerns that its legion of players might present a risk to others by paying more attention to what’s happening on their screens than in the world around them.
The critical component to the success of “Pokémon Go” is the clever way the game interacts with the real world through the use of augmented reality, a technique that overlays gameplay features such as maps and characters onto the real world as seen through the camera of a player’s smartphone or other mobile device. This technique isn’t new, but “Pokémon Go” has found a sweet spot of playability and popularity that no similar app has before.
Unfortunately, it’s been so successful that some players have forgotten that even though they’re playing a game, they’re still walking—or driving—through the real world. And in the real world, walking into traffic while distracted by a game hurts. Players began reporting injuries (from their own carelessness) almost as soon as the game had been released. Here in the Lone Star State, the most creative self-induced injury so far might be the teen who was so engrossed in the game that he stepped on and was bitten by a venomous snake; fortunately, he was not seriously injured.
Public safety agencies are very concerned with the problem and have been trying to stay ahead of it. The police department in Irving, for example, released this so-bad-it’s-funny public service message to remind gamers to play with the safety of themselves and others in mind.
Walking into a tree or twisting an ankle are minor concerns compared to another risk: driving while playing. It was predicted early in the app’s life that overeager “Pokémon Go” players might cause car crashes, and it wasn’t long before this came to pass. Within the first two weeks of the game’s release, wrecks in upstate New York, Wisconsin, and Washington State were all attributed (usually by the drivers themselves) to playing the game while driving. One distracted driver was even caught on video crashing into a parked police cruiser in Baltimore.
If you believe that Texans will somehow behave better, you’d best think twice. “Pokémon Go” has proven just as popular here as in the rest of the country, to the point where Houston Pokémon enthusiasts have collected advice on the best—and the worst—places to play the game. In fact, we saw our first “Pokémon Go”-related wreck less than a week after the game was released. A player left his car parked in the street as he chased a digital monster. No one was injured in that crash, and so far no one is known to have been killed in a crash blamed on the game, but many people fear that it’s only a matter of time before that changes.
Distracted driving has already been on the rise for years now. By conservative estimates, drivers who are fiddling with their radio, deep in conversation with others in the car, texting or making a phone call, or—unfortunately—using an app such as “Pokémon Go” are already responsible for more than 400,000 crash injuries and over 3,000 crash fatalities every year. Those numbers will probably only continue to increase.
When you or someone close to you has been the victim of a car crash caused by a distracted driver, it’s important to seek out an attorney who has experience with these issues and knows which steps to take to best prepare your case. Denena Points, PC understands the issues in car crashes caused by distracted drivers. Give us a call today at 713-807-9500 or contact us online for a free consultation to discuss your case.