Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

A 70-year-old man was tragically killed yesterday near the Stockyards in North Fort Worth. What started out as a pedestrian/car accident, quickly made a turn for the worst in just a matter of minutes. The incident happened on Northwest 25th Street at 7:30 p.m. when a woman driving an Oldsmobile hit the elderly man as he was walking. She pulled over while another car traveling behind her narrowly missed running into the man as he was still in the road. Then, a pickup struck the man and ended up dragging his body for three blocks. The man was pronounced dead at the scene at the intersection of Ross Avenue and Northwest 24th Street.

The driver of the pickup truck drove on and has yet to be caught. He or she was said to have been driving an extended-cab, gray Chevrolet pickup, according to witnesses who saw the elderly man dragged. Reports also said drag marks were visible along the route.

This wrongful death case makes my stomach churn. Certainly the driver of the pickup knew he had hit and dragged the man. The law (not to mention human decency) requires that he stop. Sometimes I just can’t understand the way people act. Hopefully an investigation into the accident will determine who committed this horrible crime.

If someone you know or a loved one has been tragically killed or seriously injured, you may have rights regarding their wrongful death or personal injuries. Please contact me for a free consultation to discuss your rights at 817-294-1900.

I received news of an important recall that I’d like to share because I think it applies to many people. Some 140,000 Bridgestone/Firestone tires are being recalled today. The tires were manufactured between June 4 and September 8, 2007. Another 27,000 larger Lemans Champion tires which were manufactured between June 4 and September 2, 2006 are also being recalled. The reason is the same for both types of tires—they were all produced with insufficient tread base guage.

The cause may sound complicated, but the potential negative effect from these faulty tires is simple: car accidents. Driving with the recalled tires can lead to vibration and groove cracking, which eventually may lead to distortion of the tire tread, resulting in loss of vehicle control. If your tire tread falls apart, you will undoubtedly lose control of your car and wreck. It would be similar to the feeling of popping a tire, but imagine doing that at high speeds on an interstate or in any other dangerous situation.

Bridgestone/Firestone is supposed to be contacting owners of such tires and replacing them free of charge. If you think this may apply to you, call 1-800-465-1904 or visit the Bridgestone/Firestone Web site for more information.

To see the official recall and any other car-related recalls, visit safercar.org. And remember, if you’ve been personally injured in a car accident, feel free to contact me at 817-294-1900 for a free consultation.

Another drunk-driving car accident in the Metroplex injured eight teenagers Saturday night. One of the teen’s mothers picked up her daughter and seven other kids from the movies in Euless, Texas and was driving the kids while under the influence. On the way home, she served because of a dog in the road and hit a curb, causing the SUV to flip. Everyone was transported to hospitals in nearby Grapevine and Irving.

The accident investigation is still pending, but the woman faces several counts of driving while intoxicated, or DWI. A first offense can mean a jail stay, suspension of one’s license and up to a $2,000 fine. After the first time, jail time increases, as well as the length of license suspension and the amount of the fine.

Not long ago I wrote about the unfortunate weekend when two separate drunk-driving related incidences killed three people in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I just hate to see when intoxication is a cause for a wreck or accident because such incidences are 100 percent preventable.

For more information on the DWI laws in Texas, visit www.texasdwi.org. If you’ve suffered injuries due to someone else’s negligence, please call me to discuss your rights at 817-294-1900 or feel free to Contact Me Online.

Early this morning a car crashed through the home of a Haltom City couple, driving into their bedroom where they were sleeping. Upon impact, the car flipped the mattress they slept on and ran over it as the couple lay beneath. It came to a rest on top of them. Although the 54-year-old husband and 45-year-old wife were treated at Harris Hospital in Fort Worth, both were able to get up and walk around, seemingly unharmed. Miraculously, they were only banged up with scrapes and a few bruises.

The driver on the other hand, ran from the scene. A bloody trail led police to the 30-year-old driver who was then also taken to Harris and treated for head trauma. Oddly, alcohol is not suspected to have been a factor in the car accident.

Posted on the Houston Chronicle’s Web site, this story got so many hits and had people making many light-hearted and often “colorful” remarks about the situation. One commenter writes, “SERTA-fied lucky!” and another, “I bet that’s the most their mattress has moved in years!” Others wrote faux advertisements for life-saving mattresses.

Either way, I don’t doubt that couple knows how lucky they are. And now they have an incredible story to tell. I can’t help but wonder what kind of mattress it was. If the brand name was released, something tells me profits will increase after this incident.

After a hose on a school bus broke, antifreeze was sprayed on six kids who were coming home from an away middle school football game. The freak personal injury accident happened in Denton County just before 10 p.m. last night when the Sanger Middle School football team was on its way home from a game.

Four of the six who were sprayed were taken by helicopter to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas—all with very scary injuries. Three had eye injuries and one had burns on both legs. As of now, there’s no update on whether anyone else was injured or treated.
There seems to be some confusion on whether the injured were on the bus or outside next to it when they were sprayed—either way, this accident is a perfect example of wrong place, wrong time.

Antifreeze, a chemical which is used to protect air-conditioning systems from freezing or boiling over, is poisonous to ingest, but not to the touch. The problem in this case was that the chemical was boiling hot, which was actually what caused the injuries.

I’m sure an investigation must be pending on how (I assume was) a pipe with poisonous matter would break or malfunction and endanger school children. I can’t wait to hear what the problem was and I hope all those children will fully recover.

If you have experienced bodily injury due to the negligence of another person or as the result of some sort of malfunctioning equipment (as in this case), please call me to discuss your rights. I am always available for free consultations. Call 817-294-1900 or Contact Me Online.

A 3-year-old Haltom City, Texas girl is dead after the car she was riding in hit an Oncor truck that pulled out in front of it. Oncor is the electrical delivery service company, often seen working on the overhead power lines.

The car accident happened in Benbrook, Texas at Farm Road 1187 and Winscott Plover Road. The Oncor truck pulled out from its stop sign, failing to yield the right of way of oncoming traffic on the rural road and was hit from behind by the Saturn carrying the girl. She was taken to Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth where she died shortly thereafter from blunt-force trauma injuries. The driver and another woman in the car were also taken to the hospital, but did not suffer life-threatening injuries.

The driver of the Oncor truck was on-the-job at the time of the accident and was not hurt. The company is helping police investigate the accident.

According to radio traffic reports, 1187 was still shut down during the 5 o’clock rush hour yesterday evening due to the accident.

I have not seen the accident report, only heard about this in the news. But if it is indeed the fault of the Oncor worker, then the laws of the State of Texas will hold the employer responsible for the accident since the worker was working at the time of the wreck.

If you are a family member have been injured as a result of the fault of someone else, then please contact Board Certified Injury Attorney Mark Anderson of Fort Worth, Texas. For a no obligation, free case analysis, please call 817-294-1900 or Contact Me Online.

A new Texas dog bite law was put to good use recently when the owners of four dangerous killer dogs were sentenced to seven years in prison. Back in May, their four pit bulls were found surrounding the dead body of a 7-year-old boy in a ditch near the couple’s house. Two of the dogs were killed by police at the scene; the other two were taken away by animal control at the reluctance of the owners.

The new Texas law states that unsecured dogs that attack are the responsibility of their owners, holding the owners liable if the dogs injure or kill a person.

In this case, a Texas jury found the couple guilty of the second-degree felony (a dog attack resulting in a death), which means a maximum of 20 years in jail. Since this sentence was for less than 10 years, the two were each up for $150,000 bail, but neither has posted it yet.

About two weeks ago, a Rotweiller attack in Fort Worth prompted me to examine the law surrounding dangerous dogs. Under the new (and much stronger) dog laws, owners of “dangerous dogs” are required to carry liability insurance for their dogs, keep rabies and other vaccines current, make sure their dogs are secure at all times and pay an annual fee for keeping a dog designated as “dangerous.”

I applaud our state legislature for strengthening these dog laws. The change came at the urging of the family of an elderly lady who was killed in a dog attack as she was gardening over the Thanksgiving holiday back in 2005. The new law has been referenced to as “Lillian’s Law” after this lady.

I represent people who have suffered personal injuries as a result of a dog bite or attack. Should you have any questions about a dog attack, please give me a call at 817-294-1900.
Dog attacks are always preventable, which is what makes the resulting deaths so tragic. So if you’re going to own an aggressive-by-nature dog, please, do everyone else around you a favor and keep it secure.

Texas Highway 121, just west of DFW Airport in Grapevine, was shut down until about noon today due to a tragic motorcycle accident involving an already crashed car.

Early this morning, a woman suspected of drunk driving wrecked her car on 121 and then got out. She was standing next to it as a 32-year-old man on a sport bike motorcycle slammed into her crashed car. The man died at the scene from his injuries. His impact was so hard that it flipped the woman’s Honda Civic over onto its roof.

The man had been riding with another guy who was also on a motorcycle. Luckily, the other rider was able to avoid the accident and is unharmed. Coincidentally, just last week I wrote about the dangers of riding sport bike motorcycles, but in this particular scenario, the biker wasn’t the one guilty of dangerous behavior. It’s tragic that the man came up on the scene at precisely the wrong time.

An investigation is still pending, but if it is determined that she was intoxicated when she crashed, causing a dangerous road-block for other drivers and killing one, then she will be facing charges for intoxication manslaughter.

Drunk driving is a serious problem. As I mentioned in a recent blog about drunk driving accidents, every five hours someone is killed in Texas in a drunk-driving wreck. That is just ridiculous.

If one of your loved ones has suffered injuries or a wrongful death due to a motorcycle collision, please give me a call to discuss your rights. I can be reached at 817-294-1900 or Contact Me Online.

It seems that the Fort Worth/Dallas newspapers always contain stories about motor vehicle accidents, including car wrecks, 18-wheeler accidents and motorcycle wrecks. It seems like there is at least one tragic story reported a day. I sometimes write about these events, but I think it’s also important to write about what things are being done to prevent accidents.

Have you ever noticed those stretches of highway that have a wire fence barrier down the median? Those barriers are being built all around Texas to prevent drowsy drivers or out-of-control vehicles from crossing the median and hitting on-coming traffic head on. It’s no secret that highway accidents are the most deadly and cause the worst injuries due to high speeds at impact. Even though these new barriers don’t look that sturdy, it has been reported that some 700 miles of the wired median on Texas highways have helped to prevent almost 20 deaths and about 30 serious injuries in the last year.

The barriers are made of cable wire held up by metal poles every few feet and are easily repairable after accidents. The only downside is that they are more expensive than the usual concrete barrier eyesores. I think the injuries and deaths the barriers are preventing, along with their subtle look, makes them a welcome addition to our dangerous roadways.
Unfortunately, these safety nets can’t stop all personal injuries.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a vehicle collision, feel free to contact Mark A. Anderson, Fort Worth Injury Attorney for a consultation at 817-294-1900 anytime.

A charter bus swerved off a rural two-lane highway Saturday night, killing 10 people just 10 miles short of the casino resort it was heading to. The bus, which departed from Sacramento, California flipped at least once, tossing passengers around and crushing some, eventually coming to rest right side up in a ditch.

The injured were taken to many hospitals in the surrounding area, and as of today, 11 were still in the hospital—all with varying conditions ranging from critical to fair. Many of the passengers on the bus were from Laos and did not speak English.

The weird part is that the bus said “Greyhound” on the side, which is a Dallas, Texas-based company. However, spokespeople from Greyhound said the bus had been sold years before. And that was just one of the bizarre factors surrounding the wreck. Among other problems: the bus had an invalid, Texas license plate, the driver was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence of prescription or non-prescription drugs and the driver might not have even had the proper permits to have been driving a charter bus in California.

This entire situation is strange-sounding to me. I feel terrible for the victims and their families and am anxious to find out the story behind who owns the “Greyhound” bus. As I have blogged about several times before, many of the bus accidents are easily preventable. Who knows? A little better screening of bus operators might have saved 10 lives here.

If you or a loved one has suffered bodily injuries in any type of bus or other vehicle-related accident, please call Fort Worth Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson at 817-294-1900.

Photo by wfaa.com

On Saturday, a grandmother and her baby granddaughter were hit by a drunk driver in Dallas when they were walking together on East Overton Road in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas, Texas. The 54-year-old man who hit the two is currently in a Dallas jail, facing two counts of intoxication manslaughter. He and his passenger (who was also arrested for public intoxication) hit the woman and her 1-year-old granddaughter, then carried them 20 yards before the two finally fell off the car. Both died of blunt force trauma at the hospital.

Then, just a few hours later, a 12-year-old Dallas, Texas boy was killed when he was riding as a passenger with two teenagers when the car he was riding in hit another car and a utility pole. The car accident happened at the intersection of Lemon Avenue and Lovers Lane. The boy died at the hospital of his injuries and the other two were last heard to be in stable condition. Alcohol is suspected to also be the cause of this accident.

Drunk driving is a huge problem in Texas. According to the Texas Department of Transportation, every five hours, someone is killed in Texas in an alcohol-related traffic crash. Unfortunately, Texas ranks second only behind California in drunk-driving deaths.

If you have been seriously injured or a loved one has died as a result of a drunk-driving collision, you may receive a free consultation from a Board Certified injury attorney by calling Mark Anderson at 817-294-1900.

Not long ago, I wrote about about a motorcycle accident that killed two teenagers. Now, just a few weeks later, a story has turned up in the Dallas Morning News about the culture surrounding sport bikes—riding them and showing off tricks.

Sport bikes are different than “cruiser” bikes like Harleys in that their low weight allows them to reach speeds up to 185 miles per hour. They are also capable of going from zero to 60 miles per hour in just three seconds.

Another problem with the sport bikes is that they are very affordable. This means teens and young twenty-somethings are able to purchase racing bikes a lot easier. Some of the riders of these bikes do it for the thrill; many popping “wheelies” and racing on interstates and highways all around Dallas-Fort Worth. Not only does going double (or more) the speed limit on Airport Freeway, for example, greatly endanger the driver of a speedy sport bike, but just think of all the other vehicles on the roadways who aren’t looking to get into a deadly collision with a motorcycle. Statistics show those who ride sport bikes are far more likely to be killed than those riding cruiser motorcycles.

And that seems to be what happened with the wreck I previously wrote on. Even though the speed the teens were going when they crashed has not been determined, fellow racers who knew the two who were killed reasoned that they were following each other too closely and maybe going too fast to prevent the deadly wreck. They had been riding on a ramp from the George Bush Turnpike to Highway 161 in Irving, Texas, when one hit a wall, flying over the side of the ramp and falling to his death, and the rider behind him ran into the first bike, also being thrown over the wall of the ramp. The two were both 18-years-old; one was from North Richland Hills and the other was from Bedford, Texas.

If you have been injured riding a motorcycle and someone else caused your injury, you may have a claim for your personal injuries. Please call Fort Worth Motorcycle Accident Attorney Mark A. Anderson at 817-294-1900 of Contact Me Online.

A great video has been released by Texas Watch on the anti-consumer bias of the Texas Supreme Court. The video sarcastically highlights the fact that an analysis of the Court's opinions reveals:

* 86 percent of the Court's decisions are anti-consumer

* The Court uses "anonymous" opinions 57 percent of the time

* The Court has a 328 percent increase in case backlog

* It takes an average 2.3 years for the Court to decide each case

These facts are disturbing. The increasing trend to favor big business and insurance companies over individual Texans is terrible.

Texas Watch is a non-partisan advocacy group that works to improve insurance and consumer protections for Texas families. Texas Watch is about to embark on a 16-city "Fix Texas Insurance RV Tour," where it will highlight the unfair advantages handed over to big insurance companies by the Texas Supreme Court.

For more information about Mark A. Anderson, Fort Worth injury attorney and an advocate of individual consumer rights, please visit his website at maafirm.com, or contact him at 817-294-1900.

An amazing story of greed in my profession came to surface yesterday. Trey Allen, P.C., a Dallas law firm, has pled guilty to a federal conspiracy charge relating to its role in a broad scheme to defraud insurance companies. The employees of the firm were somehow enticing individuals to stage car accidents. Then the firm would send theses supposedly injured clients to chiropractors, who would forge medical records and bills. After “treatment,” the firm would present their fake clients’ claim to the insurance company of the party who supposedly caused the collision. After the claim was resolved, the chiropractor would get paid, the “hurt” individual would get paid and the law firm would get their share. Then the chiropractor would “kick-back” some of his or her profits to the firm’s legal assistants who spear-headed the scheme.

This fraudulent scheme started back in 2000 and continued through 2007. It is absolutely unbelievable that this firm and these chiropractors got away with it—and for so long! The chiropractors including one in Arlington, Texas and one in Haltom City, Texas are now under indictment. So far, 27 people have pled guilty to fraud in this matter.

Click here to view the “Factual Resume” filed in the federal court case. This document contains the details of the offense of conviction.

I am disgusted by this conduct. My profession, especially those like myself who are dedicated to helping injured individuals, faces a huge public relations battle every day against our main foe: the big insurance companies. This type of illegal conduct makes all injury lawyers look horribly sleazy, not to mention, it gives the insurance companies ammunition in the PR battle. I believe this ends up hurting our profession and, as a result, the value of our clients' claims. But just as there are bad cops, bad doctors—even bad priests, there are ultimately bad lawyers. I just hate to see it.

Not long ago, I wrote “Texas Supreme Court Declines to Hear Case on Malpractice Caps,” which is ironic, considering today’s news.

Today, Medicare announced that it will stop paying medical bills for 10 preventable conditions in a congressionally-mandated attempt to save millions. Among those conditions are:

* Bedsores
* Infections after surgeries
* Incompatible blood transfusions
* Urinary tract infections caused by catheters
* Operations to remove sponge left from first operation
* Injuries from falls while at the hospital

Amazingly, out of the 12.5 million people covered by Medicare, cutting these corners could prevent several hundred thousand hospital stays a year.

On the positive side, doctors will stop getting paid for medical errors and this major change will hopefully encourage better medical practices.

But I also see this as bad news for consumers. I wonder if the patient will get billed for the doctor’s mistakes instead? I would hope not. And worse than that, I wonder if the remedial procedures or treatment will ever even occur? Take for example, a piece of sponge left in a body after surgery. That’s about the clearest example of a medical error that exists. So if Medicare doesn’t pay for the second (and necessary)sponge-removal surgery, will the doctor just do the surgery for free? Probably not.

If a doctor has the fear that goes along with the threat of a medical malpractice case, then a necessary second surgery might be possible. But here in Texas, doctors received a “free pass” by our state government with the so-called Tort Reform of 2003. In the new law, there have been unreasonably low caps placed on recoverable damages, which has led most attorney’s (including myself) to refuse to take medical malpractice cases. Since doctors are basically shielded from lawsuits, their incentive to “do the right thing” and fix their errors is nonexistent. With no fear of litigation and no payment from Medicaid, there will be outrageous numbers of medical errors which will unfortunately go untreated.

If you have questions about a personal injury claim, please call Personal Injury Attorney Mark Anderson, or feel free to Contact Me Online.