When an uninsured, unlicensed driver, especially one who is in this country illegally, causes your Harris County car accident, your prospects of obtaining a financial recovery for your losses from the wreck might seem dim. You should first consult with a Harris County car accident lawyer with extensive experience in local injury accidents.
Your lawyer’s years of experience investigating car accidents, identifying the parties at fault for those accidents, and conducting defendant asset checks could help you to recover where at first you thought you had no recourse.
The key to recovery for your injuries is the in-depth knowledge and experience of an able Harris County car accident lawyer. Let Tony Denena and Chad Points help you in your quest to obtain justice and fair financial compensation for your harm from a grievous accident.
Chad and Tony possess more than 12 years of solid experience in all types of car accident cases. They have a winning track record in helping clients to obtain the monetary recoveries they needed to become financially whole again.
Call today for your free accident consultation. Our specialized Harris County car accident experience could help you recover even where you thought you had no chance. And, perhaps more importantly, we could help you hold accountable the negligent, callous driver who caused your harm.
Houston injury attorney asks: did you happen to read the news story announcing that the Houston, TX police officer that mishandled a DWI investigation involving another police office has received appointment as the head of the Police Department’s DWI task force? Does that seem a poor choice to you?
Ruben Trejo, a Houston PD officer, was on his way to work on the evening shift when he collided with an unoccupied school bus. Ruben Trejo’s blood alcohol level was found to be 0.21%, nearly THREE TIMES the legal limit in Texas. That’s a pretty high level of intoxication. And if he hadn’t crashed first, he would have spent the evening on the job as a police officer. The Houston PD fired Ruben Trejo.
Daniel S. Perales was the Houston PD officer who investigated the accident case. Reportedly he failed to mark open wine bottles in Trejo’s car as evidence, and he failed to initiate an investigation of the matter with Internal Affairs. Daniel Perales has been rewarded with promotion to head of the Houston, TX Police Department’s DWI task force. This Houston injury attorney re-read the news account of this promotion twice, thinking he must have misread the article. Apparently at least 30 people applied for the position of head of the DWI task force. Did not one of them have a better record regarding DWI cases?
The Houston, TX PD’s decision regarding Daniel Perales’ promotion seems to have strong implications for your safety on Houston roads. Houston already leads the nation in the number of drunk drivers and drunk driving accidents. If the Houston PD fails in its task of thoroughly investigating and prosecuting DWI cases, your safety remains at risk from drivers who believe that they can drink and drive with impunity.
In cases against railroads or trucking companies where an injured victim needs to prove that defendant negligence was the cause of the injuries, the victim’s attorney must use diligence and savvy inquiry to track down and secure the evidence necessary to prove the claim. One of the best sources of accurate and reliable evidence about what happened in a train or truck accident is the data from the vehicle’s own Event Data Recorder (EDR) or “black box.”
EDRs record all sorts of detailed data such as daily engine usage and speed, driver inputs, restraint usage, safety equipment deployments, braking status, and other information relevant to the crash. Types of data recorded might vary based upon the engine type of the vehicle and the type of recording technology used (magnetic tape, solid state microprocessor-based recorders, or control system embedded recorders).
Regulations require that railroads and trucking companies preserve the EDR data for specific lengths of time after a crash with injuries or fatalities or after certain other types of events. They are also required to provide the data to the FMCSA (for truck accidents) or the FRA (Federal Railroad Administration, for trains). But trucking companies and railroads don’t necessarily want to face up to the liabilities caused by their negligence. So they might lose the recorders and their data, they might destroy the data, or they might let it “spoil,” making it difficult for you to prove your claim.
Your Conroe, TX accident attorney should send a strong “spoliation” letter to the trucking company or railroad involved in your collision to ensure preservation of the EDR evidence. Where a trucking company or railroad won’t provide the EDR data directly, your attorney can sometimes obtain that data from the FMCSA or the FRA.
The EDR and its data are some of your best weapons in your injury accident claim. The data, clearly interpreted and explained by an accident reconstruction EDR expert, can paint a clear picture of defendant liability for your injuries. This clear evidence could facilitate a generous settlement offer or your victory at trial before a jury.
But the EDR data, its extraction, and its interpretation are highly technical and complex. Special software is required to extract the data. Detailed charts, graphs, and tables are used to relate the raw numerical data to real-world information like the circumference of a wheel, the pressure on a brake, or the change in speed and direction before a crash occurred.
You need a Conroe, TX accident attorney with in-depth experience using EDR evidence to accurately interpret and present this data. You need the EDR expert witnesses that your Conroe, TX accident attorney can marshal on your behalf in order to make a winning presentation of your claim and the evidence that supports it.
Go to Part 2.
As we mentioned in Part 1, good EDR data evidence can serve as one of your most effective evidentiary weapons in a claim against a negligent trucking company or railroad. But trucking companies and railroads often take great pains to avoid the costly consequences of their negligence. There are two main obstacles they might put in the way of your recovery of the EDR data evidence you need to prove your claim.
Spoliation is the alteration, destruction, or non-preservation of evidence relevant to pending or anticipated future litigation. Trucking companies and railroads might work to delay a case until the data has spoiled, lost, or destroyed. They might take direct action to “lose” the EDR and its data.
Your Conroe, TX injury lawyer could send a strong and detailed spoliation letter to the company at once as a way to help prevent the EDR data’s loss. Spoliation letters must be extremely detailed and must cover a number of specific legal points to be effective. The letters need to reference the legal and monetary penalties in place for spoliation of needed evidence.
Railroads and trucking companies might also harass company witnesses that could provide good evidence regarding some of the circumstances of the accident. The companies might forbid their employees from having any voluntary contact with you or your attorney. They might forbid the employees from voluntarily providing any information that your attorney requests. Regulations clearly prohibit this company practice in most instances. And your Conroe, TX injury lawyer could use relevant sections of federal and state codes to compel the delivery of needed information.
EDR data evidence remains one of the very best ways to prove some of the key elements of your accident injury claim. And most courts readily accept EDR data evidence as accurate and reliable. Your main difficulty lies in obtaining the EDR data evidence in usable form.
Trucking companies and railroads are well aware of the danger that EDR data evidence could expose their liability in an accident. So they might engage in underhanded practices to avoid supplying that evidence. You need a canny and experienced Conroe, TX injury lawyer who knows their dirty tactics and how to combat them.
Your effective Conroe, TX injury lawyer could ensure that you get the evidence you need for your case. He and his EDR expert witnesses could make clear and accurate interpretations and presentations of the data to secure a fair settlement offer from the defendant or to win over the jury in your case. Contact Tony Denena and Chad Points, Conroe, TX injury lawyers with more than a decade of winning experience in such claims, for your free accident consultation today.
Return to Part 1 of this article.
Vehicle accidents are tragic, no matter what you’re driving in during the accident. Texas trucking accidents are no exception. The good news is that by avoiding a few common unsafe acts by drivers, you can help save your family and yourself from a dangerous Houston 18-wheeler crash.
If someone you care about has suffered injuries from a Texas 18-wheeler wreck, you need to order a free copy of The Roadmap to Texas 18-Wheeler Injury Claims: What You Must Do Now, written by the Houston truck accident lawyers at Denena & Points.
Many times, a traffic accident between a passenger vehicle and a tractor-trailer is caused by the driver not paying attention. The rules of the road are different around trucks and need to be closely followed. A truck’s level of visibility and ability to brake and accelerate are much different than a passenger vehicle. The following actions are some of the most common causes of a trucking accident:
Houston tractor-trailer crashes can be very painful and time consuming. By following safe driving practices while around large trucks, you can help keep everyone safe from a debilitating Texas truck accident. If you have been a victim of a truck wreck in Texas, you need to talk to an attorney who knows how to help you receive the compensation you deserve. Contact a Houston truck wreck lawyer at Denena & Points to schedule your free consultation.
If you’re at the end of the chain in a 10-vehicle chain reaction pileup, you may not even know what actually caused the accident. Especially in a weird case where the vehicle that actually caused the other drivers to take the actions that led to the pileup remained blissfully free of their effects.
Of course, you could probably all sue each other. The insurance companies would probably all get together and settle the tangle amongst themselves. You could sue the driver of the vehicle that initiated, but remained free of, the 10-vehicle chain reaction. You could sue the manufacturer of his tire that blew out. You might be able to sue his trucking company for failure to maintain that tire. There might be many parties partially at fault in the tangled accident situation.
The key to winning any financial compensation for your injuries and vehicle damage resides in properly identifying the parties at fault for your accident along with their shares of fault in the matter. You’ll also need convincing evidence to back up your claims of their responsibility for your accident.
Tracing the tangled chain of events and properly pinpointing the liable parties for your specific damages present some interesting challenges. You’ll need an adept Baytown accident lawyer who has years of experience with complex accident situations and who just loves this sort of knotty problem.
Feel free to call us at Denena & Points. We like the interesting cases. We have a winning track record in complex accident cases with unusual twists and turns. We offer you a free consultation where we could discuss your accident and begin to trace the chain of liability. We’d be glad to help you recover the fair compensation you deserve for your complex accident losses.
Baytown Truck Accident Lawyer: On I-35 in Waco, TX, a truck driver stopped his rig around 2:30 p.m. when he realized his oversized load exceeded the clearance of the approaching overpass. Unfortunately, not all of the vehicles behind him were likewise able to safely stop in time.
According to news reports, 2 other trucks and 8 smaller vehicles piled up behind the original stopped truck. But they all managed to avoid colliding with the original stopped truck, which carried a container described as tank-like.
The 10-vehicle crash tied up traffic for two hours and injured at least one person. Investigators were looking into whether the original truck driver violated any traffic laws. Accounts indicate that the original truck might have begun backing when the accident occurred.
Whether or not the truck driver violated any traffic laws, it’s clear that someone violated good truck route planning practices. People tend to blame truck drivers for every truck accident that occurs. Baytown truck accident lawyer mentions that while it’s true that truck drivers have a duty to see to safety concerns before they pull out onto the road, it’s probably not humanly possible for a trucker to:
Perform a complete mechanical and safety check on the truck,
Supervise and check the cargo loading,
Double check every aspect of the route plan, and
Still get the required rest that regulations impose upon him.
Route planning often comes from third party vendors or other employees of a trucking company. There are entire companies dedicated just to the business of planning routes for trucks and trucking fleets. Several competing route planning software applications exist. There’s even a website focused on planning the best trucks routes just for I-10 and I-70. Route planning is a big business.
If you’ve been injured in an accident because of a truck route planning failure, you might be able to look to the route plan vendor for the financial compensation you need to pay for your costs from the accident. You might also be able to claim compensation from the trucker and his employer.
Call Denena & Points for a free consultation about your accident. We’re experienced Baytown truck accident lawyers with more than 12 years of experience pinpointing those at fault for truck-related accidents. We help injured victims obtain the compensation they deserve from those who caused their injuries. We know how to find the truth about the causes of truck wrecks and route planning failures. Call today for your free initial consultation.
Theme park accident lawyer notes the passing of a questionable ride concept at Universal Orlando. Universal Orlando theme park has decided to change the design of its Dragon Challenge dueling roller coaster in response to two accidents that occurred on the ride. In one accident, rider Carlos Montalvo emerged from the ride with an eye injury after something struck him in the eye at one of the dueling points of the roller coaster. Carlo Montalvo subsequently lost his eye to the injury; doctors were unable to save it.
The dueling points of the roller coaster are where two separate roller coaster trains pass very close to each other to create the illusion that a crash is about to occur. In the second accident, rider Jon Wilson received injuries to his head, leg, and arm after being struck with something at a dueling point in the roller coaster.
The park closed down the Dragon Challenge dueling roller coaster ride in response to both accidents. But investigations turned up no objects that could have caused the injuries. No safety issues were found with the roller coaster structure or equipment. And no other riders or witnesses saw any objects that caused the injuries.
This theme park accident lawyer emphasizes that the basic safety issue with the Dragon Challenge dueling roller coaster lies in the coaster of the ride, which allows the possibility that malicious passengers could hurl objects across at the other roller coaster train during the duels. Indeed, the evidence (or lack thereof) suggests strongly that the objects that caused both injury accidents must have come from a passenger on the other, dueling roller coaster train.
So Orlando Universal has decided to re-conceptualize the ride so that the roller coaster trains will no longer set off simultaneously to “duel” at the intersection points. Going forward the roller coaster trains will set off in an alternating fashion instead of simultaneously. This helps eliminate the possibility that malicious passengers will decide to change a false duel into a real one.
Theme parks may never eliminate ride accidents completely. But, in my experience as a theme park accident lawyer, I’ve noticed that some ride concepts and designs just seem to be asking for accidents. The whole concept behind the Dragon Challenge dueling roller coaster was one of these concepts.
This structural collapse attorney recently read that Indiana’s lawmakers so far are taking a wait and see approach before they change any laws in response to the stage collapse at the 2011 Indiana State Fair. Some discussion is under way to raise the state’s liability cap from $5 million to $15 million. $5 million represents a paltry sum for a case like the State Fair stage collapse, which killed and injured so many people. But some legislators have already raised strong objections to the idea of raising the cap.
Uncertainty also remains whether evacuation and emergency procedures will change. The State Fair might change some of its procedures independently. As yet, officials and lawmakers seem content to wait and see the results of the investigations conducted by two independent firms hired by the state. Those results won’t be available until at least mid-April 2012.
In the meantime, injured victims of the State Fair stage collapse, and surviving family members of those who needlessly died in the collapse, have filed more than 60 lawsuits. Their structural collapse attorneys no doubt have commenced investigations of their own.
One thing is clear. Many mistakes played a part in the State Fair stage collapse and in the injuries and fatalities resulting from it. Officials did not cancel the planned stage performance, when other outdoor venues around the region did cancel theirs. Officials did not make a timely evacuation of the area. Procedures and communications lines seem to have been unclear or confused in the matter.
The speakers hanging above the stage appear to have dropped like rocks. They may have been hung with shackles not rated for overhead lifting, or they may have been hung with shackles on a 1:1 weight ratio. It’s always safer to have at least a 3:1 margin, preferably a 10:1 for outdoor public performances where wind could present a factor.
The stage itself was about 15 years old. After 15 years of use through all kinds of weather conditions, it might no longer have been fit for use.
The state’s current liability cap might limit the amount of compensation that victims harmed by the State Fair stage collapse could obtain from Indiana for the state’s negligence in the matter. But other negligent parties might share the blame for the disastrous structural collapse accident. Victims’ personal injury structural collapse attorneys will no doubt be diligent in identifying all of the parties at fault to ensure that their clients have a fair opportunity to receive just compensation for the harm they’ve suffered because of this horrific, but preventable, accident.
When you’ve been injured by a Pearland DWI accident, or you’ve lost a family member to such a devastating wreck, you could suffer serious financial consequences from the event. Mounting medical expenses combined with lost income create a harrowing financial situation.
Sometimes the financial compensation you can obtain from the drunk driver or that driver’s insurance carrier won’t even begin to help you cover the high costs from the DWI crash. You need a knowledgeable Pearland, TX accident lawyer to help you discover other negligent parties that contributed to the DWI accident.
A negligent entrustment claim against the owner of a borrowed car the drunk driver used in your Pearland DWI accident could provide an alternative route to financial compensation when the drunk driver can’t pay for your injuries. You might have a valid claim for negligent entrustment when you can prove these elements.
An experienced Pearland, TX accident lawyer could discuss your case with you, examine the evidence from the accident, and help you determine whether negligent entrustment forms a valid basis for a claim in your case. At Denena & Points, we’re practiced Pearland, TX accident lawyers with more than 12 years of experience helping DWI accident victims make fair financial recoveries from their claims.
We have extensive experience investigating accidents, examining the case evidence, identifying all parties at fault in a wreck, and developing winning legal strategies to maximize our clients’ recoveries from catastrophic crashes. We could help you too. Call today for your free initial consultation case evaluation.