Austin Personal Injury Law Blog

The truck safety portion of Senate Bill 1950, the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Enforcement Act, passed the Senate Commerce Committee by a narrow margin and is now headed to the Senate floor. The purpose of the safety provisions of the bill is to improve commercial vehicle safety as well as to reduce the number of commercial trucking accidents and resulting fatalities.

The bill would amend title 49 of the U.S. Code to require "comprehensive electronic onboard recorders" for commercial vehicles. The bill would give the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration additional responsibilities, including the duty to create a "clearinghouse for drug and alcohol test results," a written exam for new truck drivers to test their driving proficiency and a system for employers to be notified of driver violations.

Statewide bans are not the only way to go after texting while driving. Municipalities also have the ability to address the problem on the local level through ordinances restricting cell phone or texting behind the wheel.

Seeking to prevent Texas car accidents, the Arlington City recently voted to enact an ordinance prohibiting the use of cell phones for all uses other than phone calls. Violating is a Class C misdemeanor that will be punishable by a $200 fine.

Prohibited activities include not only texting, but also tweeting or using other mobile applications while driving.

Austin led the way among Texas municipalities on restricting texting behind the wheel. The citywide ban in Austin took effect on January 1, 2010. Like the Arlington ban, the Austin ordinance includes other activities besides texting. It also prohibits tweeting, e-mailing and Web searches by drivers of motor vehicles.

In Arlington, the vote on a texting driving ban was close. Five council members voted for the ban and four were opposed.

The medical data about the damage done by traumatic brain injuries continues to accumulate. Some of the common symptoms of mild TBI, such as memory loss, mood changes, and blurred vision, are becoming better known - in part because of the increased attention being paid to concussions in football and other sports.

Moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries often show symptoms that are even more troubling. According to the Mayo Clinic, these can include extreme confusion, prolonged feelings of nausea, and loss of bladder or bowel control.

The latest research finding is that traumatic brain injuries can also increase the risk of suffering a stroke. A study conducted in Taiwan found that people suffering from TBI were at heightened risk of having a stroke for as long as five years.

If you were forced into a boxing ring and were given the choice to have a professional fighter walk into the ring with you on your side as opposed to walking in there alone, what would you choose? You face this same choice after a wreck, and the opponent this time is often an experienced insurance adjuster looking to knock your block off. 

You may have just spent the last week in the orthopedic wing of your local hospital.  You may have just taken a pain pill. For certain, you feel like you have just been hit by a truck. The phone rings. The last thing you need right now is a telephone call from an insurance adjuster who "just needs a little information from you." It is an insurance adjuster wanting to take a recorded statement from you about the wreck. "If you want us to arrange a rental car for you, you must give us a recorded statement." Bam! You're about to be knocked out.  

Insurance adjusters are almost always not on your side. Their jobs are to determine if coverage applies (i.e. they will try to find out if coverage does NOT apply to you for whatever reason). The questions that they ask are geared to help the insurance company avoid coverage or to create liability on you, if possible, or if coverage does apply, the questions are geared toward minimizing your damages. 

For example, injuries are not always apparent the day after the collision; injuries sometimes become apparent a week or more later. If an insurance adjuster is able to get a recorded statement from an injured person the day after the wreck that says the person is "fine" then if a muscle injury resulting from the collision become apparent the following day or later, the carrier is going to deny the claim due to the claimant's statement the day after the wreck that they were "fine."  Is this fair? No.  Do insurance companies encourage their adjusters to use this kind of tactic? Yes. 

There are instances that I have heard of where the Progressive Insurance SUV pulls up to the wreck before the cars are even towed from the scene, and offer $500 to the injured person "just to get them a little cash to help pay bills- just sign here." The injured person is signing a Release cutting off any further damage claim before their injuries are ever evaluated by a doctor. 

Whether you have received connective tissue injuries or severe orthopedic injuries after an auto collision or a motorcycle accident, you need to talk to an educated professional before you start dealing with an experienced insurance adjuster.

Talk to an attorney who you know is on your side. An experienced personal injury attorney can and will talk to you about insurance company tricks that are used to deflect liability and to minimize your damage. Why talk about an accident, when in reality it was a collision that was caused because the other person violated the number one driving safety rule: keep your eyes on the road when driving. 

My children have grown up in a world in which they have seen first hand what a personal injury attorney does. what I do for a living. If you ask them what a lawyer does, they will respond, "Lawyers help people." I can't talk for the guys on TV who promise buckets of money for seemingly little or no injury. I don't know what kind of people pursue lawyers like that, but what I do know is that there are a lot of good lawyers out there doing good things for good people who have been injured and don't know what the playing field looks like until it's too late.  In order to effectively deal with a professional insurance adjuster, you need someone on your side who will handle them while you focus on healing from your injuries. 

- Len Gabbay, Austin , Tx