Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

Many people dread the start of the week in Fort Worth and the only thing that comes to mind is how much longer until Friday? Well folks, Friday is here and with it being a weekend that means more drunk drivers on the road. An estimated 17 million people have driven while drunk at least once on U.S. streets and highways in the course of a year, according to a government study released Wednesday. A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration survey conducted in late 2008 found that 20 percent of those 16 and older reported driving within two hours of drinking alcohol. Estimates show that that 8 percent of all drivers, or 17.2 million people, have driven at least once over the course of a year, even though they thought they were drunk. Additionally, 8 percent said they got a ride from a driver they thought was drunk. This was a particular problem for males between 21 and 24 years old. In this age group, 24 percent reported riding with a driver they thought had consumed too much alcohol.

On the positive side, the message about the dangers of drunken driving is widespread, with 81 percent of those surveyed seeing it as a serious public safety threat. The only problem is the statistics are still high. We have got to do more, as a country, to close the gap between believing that drunk driving is a threat and actively doing something about it, to warn motorists about the dangers of drunken driving, the government is spending about $13 million for an advertising campaign to publicize increased enforcement through Labor Day weekend.

Even if you are being the responsible one to drive your friends around you still have to worry about the idiots roaming the street. The time of the day does not matter for intoxicated drivers and that is the scary part. Enjoy yourself this weekend, but be smart about it!

Information and commentary is provided by Fort Worth DWI Victim Lawyer Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900. . If you have any questions related with injuries from being hit by a drunk driver, please fill contact us or fill out our contact form online for a free consultation.

Dr. Frank Ryan, a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon most recently known for performing ten procedures on Heidi Montag in one operation, has died at the age of 50. The Jeep Wrangler he was driving plunged off a cliff along the Pacific Coast Highway near his Malibu home. People magazine, among other news sources, reports that he was texting while driving and accidently veered off the road. His Jeep tumbled down a rocky embankment toward the ocean and landed on its roof. He died of blunt force head injuries.

According to People magazine, the Los Angeles police told Dr. Ryan's family that at the time of his death, Dr. Ryan was sending a Tweet about his dog. What was so important about his dog that it couldn’t have waited until he made it back home? The answer is nothing. It has been proven that distracted driving causes thousands of deaths and injuries every year. While more laws and acts are passed to restrict people from texting while driving, it doesn’t seem to deter them, as seen from the numerous deaths caused by driver distraction. Hopefully the senseless death of a famous plastic surgeon will open people’s eyes to the fact that distracted driving can effect anyone, and can have fatal consequences.

Information provided by Texas Board Certified Personal Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached in Dallas at 214-327-8000, in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900, and toll free across the state at 877-294-1115. You can click here to contact a Board Certified Personal Injury Attorney immediately.

Pedestrians walking across the intersection of Allen Street and McKinney Avenue in the Uptown Dallas neighborhood are in danger because of fading street markings.

Numerous accidents have occurred at the intersection, including car crashes and pedestrians getting hit by motor vehicles. Three years ago, the City of Dallas installed signs and marked the crosswalk with white striping. The signs are still visible, but the street markings are fading.

The Uptown Public Improvement District believes more safety measures are needed. The city said they would review the signage and markings at this crosswalk and others in a four-block stretch along McKinney Avenue.

"I'm for a light or a pedestrian light, either one," said UPID Chief Executive Officer Jim Reagan. "If you have to slow down a little bit when you are on McKinney, so be it, if it keeps pedestrians safe."

It is important to look out for pedestrian signs because at crosswalks, pedestrians have the right of way. Of pedestrian fatalities, 73% occur in urban areas like downtown Dallas. While fault is sometimes a tricky thing to establish, with pedestrian accidents it’s pretty clear cut. If you are crossing with the right of way and a driver turns and causes a cross walk accident, the driver is at fault. Hopefully the City of Dallas will be able to fix this problem so that the number of accidents will decrease.

Information and commentary is provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reach in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000. If you have questions about a pedestrian accident, fill out our contact form online for a free consultation.

A 5-year-old boy died Thursday evening after being struck by a vehicle backing out of the driveway of his family's home. Evan Fisher was pronounced dead at 7:22 p.m. at his home on Bowie Road, a rural area in Parker County near Weatherford.

Our deepest sympathies go out to the Fisher family, and we hope time will heal the pain they are feeling. It’s hard losing a loved one, especially a child. It is important to watch your kids at all times so accidents like this can be prevented. Remember also that there are blind spots with any vehicle, so be sure to check those before backing out of a driveway. Statistics show that children are at a high risk of pedestrian-related accidents. In the 5 to 19 age demographic, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death. Many of these accidents involve children as pedestrians. Evan was probably just playing outside when it happened, and because he was only 5 years old, probably couldn’t be seen from the vehicle.

Information and commentary is provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Personal Injury Lawyer Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000. If you have questions regarding a car accident or a child injury, please fill out our contact form online for a free consultation.

After a month of signing pledges, the Teens Against Distracted Driving contest is finally over! Haltom High School was able to get the most pledges signed to not text and drive, with 89.3% of their student body! The other four schools did outstanding as well, with Southwest High School coming in second with 68.5% of their students, Mansfield Summit High School finishing with 41% of their student body, Keller High School with 39.7% of their students, and Boswell High School with 27.2% of their students. Overall, 5, 385 teens signed the pledge.

Congratulations to all the schools that participated for your hard work and dedication! Haltom High School Student Council will be receiving a $500 donation from The Anderson Law Firm for recognition of their achievement. I know they’ll find a good place for the money to go.

I hope this Project will encourage both teens and adults to drive without distractions, remember the average driver will go 200 yards without looking at the road when reading just one text. Stay safe, and congratulations again to all of the high schools that participated in TADD!

The man who was killed by a hit-and-run driver on Wednesday morning on the Airport Freeway was a Marine. He was on two week’s leave from Afghanistan.

The Marine, Evan Sanchey, 23, was flying home to Washington but had a layover at DFW Airport. The victim was trying to cross S.H. 183 when he was struck in the far right eastbound lane. No one can say for sure why Sanchey was crossing the highway on foot, and no car parts were found that could give the make or model of the car.

What is even more suspicious is the fact that he was booked on a flight for Thursday, which meant that the military would have put him in a hotel overnight. So officials are unsure as to why he was crossing the road when he could have stayed at the hotel.

This is saddening not only because he was killed, but also because he was a man fighting for his country. Our sympathies go out to his family and friends who are dealing with an indescribable loss. I am sure no one thought he would make it through Afghanistan but die from a hit-and-run. Still, it is important to recognize the serious danger involved with pedestrians and a crowded highway. 4,654 pedestrians were killed in traffic accidents in the U.S. in 2007. And because this death could have been prevented, it is even more important to be informed about cross-walk and pedestrian laws.

Information and commentary is provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Car Accident Lawyer Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000. If you have questions about a car accident or pedestrian accident, please fill out our contact form online for a free consultation.

A Cleburne man was stitched up and released from Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital on Monday. The motorcycle accident occurred at 11:45 a.m. in the morning.

The motorcyclist, Matthew Lybbert, told rescuers that the truck in front of him had come to a sudden stop. Lybbert was able to swerve right, but clipped the left side of his bike on the truck.

Lybbert believes the truck stopped because the driver thought the light at North Main Street and U.S 67 was red instead of green. While he was able to avoid direct contact with the truck, he was unable to regain balance and fell off his bike.

Crashes like this can be prevented by paying more attention to the road. By being aware and by adhering to road safety rules many accidents can be avoided. A motorcycle rider is 37 times more likely to die in a crash than automobile driver. Luckily Matthew Lybbert was able to escape the accident with only thirty stitches.

This information and commentary is provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000. If you have been involved in a motorcycle accident and have questions please fill out our contact form for a free consultation.

A woman in her mid twenties died early this morning after being hit by a pickup truck on Matlock Road in Arlington. Witnesses said that they saw the woman step into the roadway.

The woman has not yet been identified, and the fatal car accident is still under investigation. The driver of the pickup truck was cooperative with the Arlington Police Department.

Matlock Road was closed from around 5:45 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. while the police department investigated the accident.

I would like to hear further details about why the woman was near the roadway. It is unclear whether or not she was in a car and then stepped into the roadway, or whether she suffered from a pedestrian injury. It is important in any situation to follow safety laws concerning pedestrians when you are driving near intersections.

This information and commentary is provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000. If you have been involved in a car accident and have questions please fill out our contact form for a free consultation.

Over 6,000 teens die each year in car accidents. This statistic is staggering, and it is obvious that something has to be changed in the way we teach our teens how to drive. I recently found a website called Teens in the Driver’s Seat, which has many great resources about preventative measures to help keep teens safe while driving.

Here are just a few of the startling facts about teen driving that are listed on the Teens in the Driver’s Seat website:

•Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens in the U.S.
(National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2006)
•64% of youth aged 15-20 years old who died in passenger vehicles were not wearing seat belts.
(National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2006)
•54% of motor vehicle crash deaths among teens occurred on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.
(Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 2006)
•One out of every five 16 year-olds will be in a car crash.
(National Safety Council, 2006)
•31% of 15-20 year-olds killed in motor vehicle crashes had been drinking.
(National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2006)
•In 2006, 272,000 young drivers (15-20 years old) were injured in car crashes. This averages to about 745 injuries each day.
•Cell phone distractions contribute to a yearly cost of 2,600 fatalities and 330,000 injuries for all age groups and a total societal cost of $43 billion.

I am currently part of an initiative to stop teens from texting and driving. The program is called TADD (Teens Against Distracted Driving). I have currently partnered with 5 Tarrant County high schools, where their student councils are having pledge drives to have students sign a pledge to not text and drive. In return, they receive a free orange wrist bracelet (as pictured below).

This information and commentary is provided by Texas Board Certified Personal Injury Attorney Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000.

On Tuesday, the Nissan Motor Corporation issued a statement that over 135,000 Infiniti G-35 coupes and sedans will be recalled over a possible problem with air bags deploying upon impact. The coupes are being recalled for the 2005-2007 models and the sedans are being recalled for the 2005-2006 models.

There have been no injuries reported, but Nissan is taking preventative measures to issue the recall before there is a serious problem. Nissan is worried that the air bag’s wire harness could wear down causing it not to deploy in a car crash.

The NHTSA said that Nissan has not proposed a plan to fix the problem.

Hopefully, this recall will be taken care of in a much more responsible manner than what happened with Toyota several months ago. Toyota ended up with a $16.4 million dollar fine from the Department of Transportation. Seeing that Nissan has already released a recall before any accidents have happened, I would say that this looks to be a much different situation.

This information and commentary is provided by Fort Worth Car Accident Attorney Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000. If you have questions about a car accident, please fill out our contact form online for a free consultation.

We have all been on the highway minding our own business, when an aggressive driver ruins our day. Drivers that experience “road rage” are very dangerous. Being attacked by an aggressive driver is an easy way to end up in a car accident. Dealing with abusive drivers is not something that happens to us frequently, but it is extremely important to know what to do if an overly aggressive driver is tormenting you on the road.

The National Highway Safety Administration has several tips to help prevent yourself from being a victim of an aggressive driver:

•Make every attempt to safely move out of the aggressive driver's way.
•Do not challenge an aggressive driver by speeding up or attempting to "hold your own" in the travel lane.
•Avoid eye contact with the aggressive driver.
•Ignore gestures, and refuse to return them.
•Report aggressive drivers to the appropriate authorities by providing a vehicle description, license number, location, and if possible, direction of travel. This is extremely important. Reporting the vehicle that is being overly aggressive can prevent the same behaviors from happening to other people.
•If you have a cellular phone, and can use it while driving safely, call the police immediately.

A close friend of mine was recently traveling to Austin on I-35 and had a terrible experience with an aggressive driver. A man and woman in a pickup truck caused my friend to swerve on and off the road because they were hanging out of their car spitting on her windshield, yelling obscenities, and blocking her from exiting the highway. She was in the right lane following traffic laws, and going the speed limit. Thank goodness my friend was able to get away, and report the car to the authorities.

I hope this information helps you know what to do if you are the victim of an aggressive driver. This information and commentary is provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000.

A three car accident occurred as the result of a wrong way driver over the weekend in Richardson on North Central Expressway.

The wrong way driver, Jose Sanchez-Quezada, remains hospitalized after the car wreck. No charges have been filed against Sanchez-Quezada, who is suspected of driving while intoxicated. The Richardson Police Department is still waiting for blood test results.

Sanchez-Quezada was driving a Volkswagen Jetta and crashed into a Cadillac and Acura. Two people from the Cadillac and one person from the Acura were hospitalized. Their names have not been released.

Several wrecks occur in the Dallas/Fort Worth area each year from wrong way driving crashes. Many of these do involve alcohol use while driving. There are several things you can do to help protect your family from drunk drivers, including avoiding driving after 9 p.m. and into the early hours of the morning on weekends. Drunk driving kills almost 12,000 people each year.

This information and commentary is provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Car Accident Attorney Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Dallas at 214-327-8000 or in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900. If you have questions about a car wreck, please fill out our contact form online for a free consultation.

There are many things that can be attributed to bicycle accidents in our community. I personally believe that being aware of many of the situations that cause bicycle wrecks will help prevent you from being in a bicycle accident.
Here are a few of the common causes of bike crashes:

•Drivers who are unaware of bicyclists: Make sure that if you are biking on a road that is shared with vehicles that you keep a safe distance from all of the cars around you. It is often difficult for drivers to see where you are if you are not far enough away from their car to see you clearly in their mirrors.
•U-Turns: Be particularly aware of cars that are about to make a u-turn or are in the process of making a u-turn. There is a lot going on that the vehicle driver should be paying attention to when making a u-turn, so keeping your distance from cars that are u-turning. This is a preventative measure to make sure you are not in a bike accident because a driver does not see you when making a u-turn.
•Car Doors: When biking near parked cars, keep enough distance so that if a car door suddenly opens, you would not run into the door with your bicycle.
•Alcohol: In 37% of bicycle accidents either the driver of the car or the bicyclist was driving under the influence. Bottom line: do not drink and drive whether you are driving a car, bike, or any other form of transportation.

I hope being aware of several of the common causes of bike accidents will help you be better prepared next time you are riding to work, working out, or just simply enjoying the outdoors. Almost 700 bicyclists are killed each year. I hope that taking precautionary measures by being aware of possible causes of bike wrecks will help keep you and your family safe.

This information is provided by Fort Worth Personal Injury Lawyer Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000. If you have questions about a bicycle accident, please fill out our contact form for a free consultation.

Fort Worth Police Officer, Michael Buchanan, has turned in his letter of resignation after he crashed his pickup truck into a house when driving while intoxicated. His attorney, Craig Driskell, stated that if Buchanan wants to resign he should be able to.

At about 1:30 a.m. on Friday, Buchanan ran a stop sign and crashed into the bedroom window of Maria Garcia’s home. Blood tests have revealed that the Fort Worth Police Officer was driving with a blood alcohol content of over twice the legal limit.

It was not too long ago that Fort Worth saw another one of its police officer’s drive under the influence. In December, Jesus Cisneros, caused a DWI wreck that killed Sonia Baker. If you would like to read the details of this DWI car wreck please read our blog from December.

It is situations like these that leave me very puzzled. The people who are in charge of enforcing laws like drunk driving, should be role models to the rest of the community. I realize most police officers would never be involved in a wreck like this one, but it still bothers me that an DWI accident would ever happen involving a police officer. The Anderson Law Firm has resources to help you avoid being the victim of a drunk driver. Awareness and prevention are often key in avoiding being involved in any type of car accident or drunk driving incident.

This information and commentary is provided by Fort Worth Car Accident Attorney Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000. If you have been the victim of a drunk driver and have questions about your wreck please fill out our contact form online for a free consultation.

With car wrecks happening every few minutes around the country, it is important to be prepared in the case that you are involved in any kind of car accident. The following is a basic guideline that will help take care of several things that need to be done in the case that you are in a car crash.

1) Call 9-1-1 and then refer to your accident scene checklist that you should have handy in your glove box. It will help you know exactly what to do, including taking pictures of your accident.
2) Seek Medical Attention. This needs to be done immediately. The longer you wait to be treated, the worse your injuries may get.
3) Contact an experienced accident attorney. We believe that all accident victims need professional help with this process.
4) Investigate your Accident.
5) Have an Accident Report Made. This will be done by the local police department and help the give the insurance company information about the details of the car wreck. Read more on how to obtain a police report.

I hope this outline is helpful and has better prepared you for what to do in the case that you are involved in an auto accident. With over 6 million traffic accidents reported in the United States every year, it is vital to always be prepared. This information and commentary is provided by Fort Worth Personal Injury Lawyer Mark Anderson. Mark can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000. If you have questions about a car accident, please fill out our contact form for a free consultation.

Oprah has declared this Friday “National No Phone Zone Day.” In 2009, Oprah started an initiative to educate and have people pledge to stop using their phones altogether while driving. Oprah is calling driving and using your phone “America’s New Deadly Obsession.” This year Oprah will air a special live episode on April 30th that will show “No Phone” rallies all around the country.

There are many different campaigns going on around the country to raise awareness of the increasing problem of distracted driving on our roadways. The Department of Transportation has launched distraction.gov, which has all kinds of resources and statistics about distracted driving. To read more information about distraction.gov, read our blog from earlier this month.

I am personally involved in a campaign with other lawyers around the country to stop teens from texting while driving. It is called TADD, Teens Against Distracted Driving. I am currently partnering with local high schools to get students to sign a pledge card that says they will not text and drive. In return, they receive a free wrist bracelet. The student council that has the highest percentage of their student body sign the pledge cards will receive $500 dollars from my office.

I urge you to join Oprah on Friday for “No Phone Zone” day. The more awareness that is raised about this subject the better!

This information and commentary is provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Personal Injury Lawyer Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000. For a free consultation with the Anderson Law Firm please fill out our contact form online.

A tow-truck driver from Ranger, Texas died in the hospital after being hit on I-20 while loading a car onto his tow truck from a previous wreck. Adam Diaz Lopez Jr. was working at about 12:20 a.m. on Wednesday when a Fort F-250 swerved off the road, hitting Lopez.

The Department of Public Safety said that no citations have been issued for the driver of the F-250 at this time.

My sincere condolences go out to the family and friends of Adam Lopez. It is terrible to hear about a fatality such as this one occurring while a man was simply doing his job. The NHTSA reports that there is an average of 60 tow-truck driver deaths each year from roadside and job related accidents.

This information and commentary is provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Car Accident Lawyer Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000. If you have questions about a personal injury case please fill out our contact form online for a free consultation.

Around 10:50 this morning two semi-trucks collided head on while driving on U.S. 67 around Cleburne, Texas. One of the drivers died at the scene. The other driver was taken to the hospital. Their condition has not been released.

A pickup truck also had to veer off of the road in order to avoid becoming part of the wreck.

Traffic was not a problem in the area at the time of the wreck. Drivers have been driving on the service road in the immediate area where the tractor-trailer wreck occurred.

Unfortunately, this is the kind of tragedy that occurs when two such enormous vehicles collide with one another. I hope that the second driver is not in critical condition. Semi-truck wrecks account for almost 8% of fatal car wrecks that occur nationwide. This particular car accident is very unusual, because 88% of semi-truck wrecks involve the semi-truck crashing with a non-semi truck. To read more about tractor-trailer accident statistics refer to the statistics page on our website.

This information and commentary is provided by Texas Board Certified Attorney Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000. If you have been involved in an 18-wheeler accident and have questions about your case, please fill out our contact form online for a free consultation.

Early this morning, a silver Nissan flew almost 40 feet off of a bridge before landing in Five Mile Creek in Oak Cliff. The fatal car crash occurred around 3 a.m. between the north and southbound bridges at Westmoreland Road.

Both passengers, a man and a woman in their early 20’s, died at the scene. Witnesses told the Dallas Police Department that the Nissan was racing an SUV right before the car wreck.
A combination of excessive speeding and alcohol are suspected to be the cause of the accident. It took several hours for the recovery crew to get the Nissan out of the creek.

It is unfortunate to hear about two young people being involved in such a tragic car wreck. The outcome of this accident could easily have never happened if reckless driving and speeding were not involved in this incident. I feel like the media makes things like speed racing seem glamorous and cool, when the sad thing is, it rarely ends like it does in the movies.

Information and Commentary provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Car Accident Attorney Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Dallas at 214-327-8000 or in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900. If you have questions about a car accident or personal injury case, fill out our contact form for a free consultation.

An 11-year-old girl from Saginaw, TX was hit by an SUV on Tuesday as she was riding her bicycle. The crash occurred at the intersection of High Country and East Bailey Boswell Road in far north Fort Worth. The SUV was driven by an 18-year-old, who stopped immediately after the collision. The 11 year old girl was care-flighted to Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth and is reported to be in good condition.

I don't know any other information about this wreck, but I always wonder when I see these reports what was the cause of the accident. I see a good portion of these bicycle/car collisions being caused by either the bike rider or the car driver not paying attention. I'm not saying that is the case here, as I don't know what caused the accident, but it makes me wonder. I sure hope the 11-year-old girl recovers quickly from her injuries.

Personally, I somewhat know how the 18-year-old motorist feels, as I was involved in a bicycle/vehicle collision when I was in high school. Coincidently, my accident occurred in Saginaw. In my wreck, the cause was the bicyclist pulling in front of me as I was driving through an apartment complex. However, as I get older and look back, I wonder if I would have been more of an experienced driver if I would have been able to avoid the accident.

Information and commentary provided by Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson who can be contacted at (817) 294 1900. Click the link to visit the Anderson Law Firm personal injury website.

Fort Worth pedestrian accidents may happen at intersections, in marked crosswalks or on virtually any roadway. Pedestrian accidents can and do occur when pedestrians have the right of way and vehicles are not paying attention, so do not assume that you are safe just because you have the right of way. Always pay attention to oncoming traffic before you step out into the roadway.

Establishing Liability for Pedestrian Accidents
If you are involved in a pedestrian accident in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, one of the first things to do is to establish liability. In order to successfully resolve a pedestrian accident, you must establish whether the motor vehicle operator was at fault in an accident or whether the pedestrian was at fault. Fault depends in part on whether you or the vehicle was in compliance with Texas highway safety laws.

Texas Highway Safety Laws
Section 552 of The Texas Transportation Code deals with various pedestrian crossing rules. The pedestrian laws are listed in further detail on my website. They include information about when a pedestrian does and does not have the right of way. I know it is common misconception that pedestrians “always” have the right of way, but they do not in all cases.

I hope this information helps you understand the rules and your rights as a pedestrian. My hope is that by informing people about pedestrian safety, there will be less accidents involving pedestrians each year. This information is provided by DFW Personal Injury Lawyer Mark Anderson. For a free consultation with the Anderson Law Firm please fill out our contact form online.

A Grapevine, Texas utility worker crashed their city vehicle into a power pole and then fled the scene late Tuesday night. The employee who caused the car accident has not been identified. The Fort Worth Police Department is investigating what could have caused the utility worker to flee the scene in a single vehicle crash.

Bruno Rumbelow, the Grapevine city manager, stated that they had made contact with the employee, and he was meeting with his supervisors this morning. The utility worker also faces any criminal charges filed from the City of Fort Worth.

There is speculation about whether alcohol could have played a role in the wreck, but no official statement has been made.

The wreck left a large area around the Camden Apartments without power.

I think there is a very short list as to the reasons a worker would flee the scene of a single vehicle wreck like this one. Since the worker was driving a city vehicle, he would be easily identified by the City of Grapevine. If drunk driving is the culprit in this case, the worker could have been in an altered state of mind, causing them to flee the scene because they were impaired. There have been many drunk driving accidents in the Fort Worth in the past few weeks. It is very disheartening to continue to hear of such problems week after week.

This information and commentary is provided by Fort Worth Car Accident Attorney Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000. If you have questions about a car accident or a personal injury case please fill out our contact form online for a free consultation.

A series of emails between a former Toyota Vice President and another employee show that Toyota knew about the accelerator pedal problems long before a recall was issued in the U.S.
Last week, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, announced that the government was seeking to fine Toyota $16.4 million.

To read about the details of the $16.4 million dollar fine against Toyota please read our blog from last week.

The New York Times reported that Irving Miller sent an email to another Toyota employee stating that they needed to come clean about the accelerator problems and specifically noted the issues with the accelerator pedals.

There are over 70,000 pages of interviews and documents surrounding Toyota’s response to issuing recalls. Toyota issued the recall of floor mats in the fall, and did not issue a recall for the accelerator pedals until January.

James Lentz, the president of Toyota in the United States, stated that he was not aware of the accelerator issues until January. However, Toyota’s own documents show that the engineering department was aware of the problem as early as April 2009.

As this disaster continues to unfold, we have to ask why Toyota was willing to risk safety for all of its customers for almost 8 months before issuing a recall. What will it take for corporations to act ethically? The government will never be able to make laws around every loophole; it is the responsibility of companies, like Toyota, to make sure integrity and concern for their customers are the number one priority.

It is important to know how to protect your family and stay up to date on auto safety recalls. Being informed is the best way to prevent yourself from becoming the victim of a car accident due to an auto part defect.

This information and commentary is provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Personal Injury Lawyer Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Dallas at 214-327-8000 or in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900. If you have questions about a car wreck that happened due to an auto part defect please fill out our contact form online for a free consultation.

Another horrible drunk driving wreck occurred last night in Fort Worth. This one involved TWO drunk drivers, which is very unusual. A Dodge pickup truck was on the northbound service road on MLK Freeway (Highway 287) when it collided with a Ford Taurus at the Mitchell Boulevard intersection. The collision killed two kids in the Taurus, one a four year old girl who was thrown from the car and a two year old girl who was not properly restrained. Four adults, including three from the Taurus and the driver of the pickup, were taken to Fort Worth area hospitals. The driver of the pickup is reportedly in critical condition.

Since this is a fatality DWI wreck, there will definitely be charges filed. It is expected that the driver of the pickup will face intoxication manslaughter charges and the driver of the Taurus will face a charge of DWI with a minor.

This is such a horrible wreck. My hearts go out to the families of the young kids killed in this accident. We have a huge drunk driving problem in Texas, with over 1,400 fatalities annually. As I mentioned, it is unusual for both drivers in a wreck to be intoxicated. Who knows if the wreck would have been preventable if just one of the drivers would have obeyed the law and not driven drunk.

The Anderson Law Firm is a huge proponent of keeping our streets safe. We sponsor an initiative to help get intoxicated or impaired motorcycle riders off the road, a program called RIDE SAFE RIDE SOBER. For questions relating to drunk driving accidents or victims rights, please contact the Anderson Law Firm at 817-294-1900 or click here to contact Fort Worth Accident Attorney Mark A. Anderson.

Click this link for a video of Mark Anderson on Drunk Driving Accidents in Texas.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has launched an initiative to increase awareness of the dangers of distracted driving. The website lists numerous campaigns around the country that have started as a result of so many car accidents related to texting and talking on cell phones while driving in the car.

DOT has also launched a “Put it Down” campaign that simply encourages drivers to put their phones down upon getting in their vehicle. They have materials for school and community groups to urge drivers to not be part of over 6,000 people that are involved in distracted driving wrecks each year.

In addition to listing campaigns, the Distraction.gov also has a news ticker that lists all kinds of relevant news articles about laws and tickets involving distracted driving, as well as articles on car wrecks that occur as a result of texting or talking on the phone in the car.

I am part of an initiative to help end distracting driving as well called Teens Against Distracted Driving. It is a program that is designed to have teens sign a pledge to not text and drive and in return they will receive a wrist bracelet that shows that they have signed the pledge. If you would like to help me with this campaign in Fort Worth area schools, please do not hesitate to call me at 817-294-1900.

This information and commentary is provided by Texas Board Certified Personal Injury Attorney Mark Anderson. You can reach the Anderson Law Firm in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000. For a free consultation about a car accident or personal injury please fill out our contact form online.

Gerardo Lorenzo-Moreno was westbound on Main Street in Grand Prairie, when he attempted to make an illegal pass by a 1991 Camaro. The fatal motorcycle accident happened late Thursday evening. Moreno did not have a motorcycle license.

When he attempted to change lanes, Lorenzo-Moreno’s 2005 Yamaha motorcycle slammed into the side of the Camaro, causing him to be thrown from the motorcycle and onto the pavement. Lorenzo-Moreno was taken to Methodist Dallas Medical Center, where he died later that night.

In addition to not having a motorcycle license, Lorenzo-Moreno was also not wearing a helmet.

The driver and passenger of the Camaro were not injured.

The outcome of this motorcycle accident could have been much different had Lorenzo-Moreno been a licensed rider and had his helmet on. It is so important for motorcyclists to be aware of safety procedures so that their favorite form of transportation does not become the most dangerous thing that they do every day. The Texas Department of Transportation has several motorcycle safety programs that are available to riders. In addition, TxDot also has a Look, Learn, Live campaign which makes both motorists and motorcyclists aware of many safety tips that help keep drivers and riders safe.

Commentary and Information provided by Fort Worth Car Accident Attorney Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000. If you have questions about a motorcycle or car accident, the Anderson Law Firm gives free consultations online by filling out our contact form.

After the deadly car accident that occurred on Sunday, outrage has ensued about 3 time DWI offender, John Patrick Barton, who caused a drunk driving accident killing a mother and daughter.

To read more about the details of the DWI accident read our blog post from Monday, April 5th.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has released information that Barton was in compliance with his parole provisions leading up to the crash on Sunday. However, a stipulation of his parole was that he could not operate a motor vehicle unless it had an ignition interlock device.

Barton does not personally own a car. On Sunday, he was driving his sister’s Mazda, which does not have an ignition interlock device. State parole officials issued Barton a parole violation on Tuesday. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice also stated that because Barton faces two counts of murder, officials will wait to pursue parole revocation procedures.

The Dallas Police Department believes Barton was drunk at the time of the accident. The results of his blood test will not be released for a few more days.

Once again my sincere condolences and thoughts go out to the Hull family. I know nothing can replace the lives lost on Sunday, but my hope is that justice is served and Barton is convicted of the intoxication manslaughter charge he received.

Drunk driving accidents cause about 1,500 fatalities each year in Texas. Most alcohol related accidents occur on the weekend, particularly Friday and Saturday night. You can drastically reduce your chance of being involved in a DWI accident by avoiding driving during high risk times.

This information and commentary is provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Car Accident Attorney Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Dallas at 214-327-8000 or in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900. If you have questions about a drunk driving or car accident case please fill out our contact form on our website.

Sisters Wynesha and Wykeila Deanes were Eastbound on Lancaster Avenue when the vehicle lost control and ran into a utility pole on Friday night. The two sisters, ages 16 and 20, were pronounced dead around 11:00 p.m.

A front seat passenger was taken to the hospital and is listed in critical condition.
According to a report from the Fort Worth Police Department, Wynesha Deanes was driving a green Hyundai Sonata well over the speed limit when she lost control of the car and ran into and broke a utility pole. The vehicle rolled over before coming to a stop.

The sisters are both residents of Arlington, Texas, and were on their way home from a church event when the fatal car accident occurred.

My sincere condolences go out to the friends and family of Wynesha and Wykeila Deanes. This accident is a tragic loss to the community. There were 6 million reported car accidents in the United States last year. It is vital to always follow road safety rules to avoid injury while driving. My hope is that by informing people about easy tips to stay safe while driving, there will be less traffic accidents in our area.

This information and commentary is provided by Fort Worth Car Accident Attorney Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000. If you have questions about a personal injury or car wreck, please fill out the contact form on our website for a free consultation.

There are many things we do not typically think of when involved in a car accident. It is important to be aware of what you need to do in the case that you are in any type of car wreck. I encourage you to print out the Car Accident Checklist from my website and keep it in your glove box so you are prepared if you have an car accident.

Here are some helpful pointers on the steps to take immediately following a car wreck:

•Call the Police and insist on filing a police report, even if the officer does not want to issue one
•Ask for an Ambulance if there is someone who has been injured
•Talk to witnesses who were there during the car wreck and record their names and information
•Take pictures of the accident with your cell phone or with a camera if you have one
•Record date, time, and location of the wreck
•Use your Car Accident Checklist to fill out all the necessary information about the other parties involved in the wreck
•Report the wreck to your own insurance company
•Research your legal options and Hire The Right Attorney For Your Case
•Do not give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurance company

These are just a few basic guidelines to help you form a quality accident investigation in the case that there is a dispute about your accident. Obtaining this information will also help you have fewer issues with your insurance company.

This information and commentary is provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Car Accident Lawyer Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Dallas at 214-327-8000 or in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900. For a free consultation with The Anderson Law Firm about your car accident case please fill out our contact form online.

On Sunday morning, Patricia Godwin, a 45-year-old woman from Weatherford, Texas, died in a car wreck which occurred on Texas 171, nine miles south of Weatherford. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, Ms. Godwin was southbound on Texas 171 in a 2008 Jeep Patriot when she was hit by a pick-up truck heading southbound which veered out of its lane. The collision caused Godwin’s Patriot to roll over and come to rest on its roof. The driver of the Ford pick-up truck is from Cresson, Texas. He was taken to a hospital in Fort Worth.

My sincere condolences go out to Patricia Godwin’s friends and family. It does not appear that she did anything wrong and instead, she lost her life prematurely. This type of accident is very common where one vehicle veers, sometimes only slightly, outside of its lane causing a head-on collision. Oftentimes, the reason for veering is driver distraction, such as cell phone usage. I have also seen cases of vehicle malfunction and of the driver. Hopefully, a complete investigation will determine the cause of the wreck.

Information and commentary provided by Fort Worth Auto Accident Lawyer Mark Anderson. For information regarding the legal process, please visit Mark’s Injury Lawyer Website or call 817-294-1900.

There are several companies starting to come up with ideas of how to warn or block drivers from using their cell phones while driving. The programs range from producing a simple warning stating the dangers of being on the phone while driving (similar to a seat belt warning light), to more complex technology that actually quarantines text messages when the car has reached a certain speed. The software companies are hoping to prevent car accidents associated with distracted driving.

Though the ideas behind the applications are for safety, there are several problems with these new software programs. The first is that there is no way to tell if the person is the driver or passenger of the car, or if they are a passenger on a train or bus. Due to the applications being activated by sensing a certain speed, the program could mobilize on a person’s phone that isn’t even driving.

The second problem that has been noted about the new technology is the price. Some applications cost as much as $40, plus a monthly fee that may cost about $4. Critics say that the importance of price may depend on the price parents are willing to pay to ensure safety and security of their newly driving teen.

For right now, there is not a clear solution to the problems associated with being on the phone while driving. These new software companies are on the right track to figure out a solution to a growing problem. It is obvious that there are still a few problems that have to be figured out before the technology can be widely implemented and accepted. I applaud these technology companies for their efforts.

I am currently part of an initiative to stop texting and driving. The program is called TADD (Teens Against Distracted Driving). I am encouraging teens to get online and sign a pledge to not text and drive, and in return will receive a cool wrist bracelet! I feel as though the movement to stop distracted driving is growing, and I am glad I am a part of it.

Information and commentary provided by Board Certified Personal Injury Lawyer Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000. You may also contact us about your personal injury or car accident case online.

Last year, our Texas Legislature passes a new law that prohibited medical professionals from contacting people who have been injured in an accident for at least 30 days after the accident. The law was aimed at a few unscrupulous chiropractors who would call and mislead people who had been injured in car wrecks. Usually, the marketers, as they are called, working on behalf of the chiros would obtain the information from the publically available crash reports completed by the local police department. The marketers would then call the injury victims and mislead them that the insurance company had authorized a medical visit.

A chiropractor from Houston filed a federal lawsuit challenging the new law and on Friday, a federal judge from Austin overturned the law saying the law violated the chiropractor’s right to free speech. The Texas Attorney General’s office has 30 day to decide if it wants to appeal this ruling. I certainly hope the AG’s office files an appeal, as this law seems to me to be a reasonable restriction on free speech. After all, it is done to protect the consumers from this misleading conduct while they recover or possible grieve the loss of a loved one.

On a related topic, The Texas Department of Public Safety recently enacted a change in the way crash reports are written in order to address this issue. No longer are phone numbers included on the accident reports. While this is a small deterrent, it has caused some marketers to resort to going to the home of the accident victims. While that makes the marketers’ job harder, ultimately it makes the contact more invasive.

I think the best way to handle this is to make the crash reports unavailable to anyone accept the people involved in the accident. That way, the reports could never get into the marketers hands and the phone calls (or door knocks) could never happen. Of course, there is always the possibility of someone selling the reports out the back door of the police station, but that is a whole different problem.

Commentary by Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Mark A. Anderson, who can be contacted at 817-294-1900 or through his website at www.maafirm.com.

Hung Nguyen, 22, died tragically Sunday as the result of a multi-vehicle car accident in Fort Worth, TX, after a car struck him and knocked him off a bridge onto the highway below.

The wreck occurred on the bridge from southbound Loop 820 to eastbound East Freeway (I-30). Initially two vehicles had collided on the bridge due to icy conditions. A tow truck had stopped to help, and Mr. Nguyen crashed into the back of the tow truck. Another vehicle then hit Mr. Nguyen’s 2001 Honda. When Mr. Nguyen walked to the back of his vehicle to inspect the damage, a sixth car hit him and knocked him off the bridge. A seventh car then hit the sixth car involved in the accident.

According to police investigators, Mr. Nguyen fell several hundred feet to the highway below, where he was pronounced dead. My condolences go out to Mr. Nguyen’s family. This winter we have had an inordinate amount of wet and icy weather and it has caused more fatal accidents than normal.

Information provided by Fort Worth Accident Injury Lawyer Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached at 817-294-1900 or contacted by clicking here.

Paul Smith, 36, of Haltom City, Texas died in a motor vehicle accident Sunday morning around 6:30 a.m. on I-30 in Arlington, Texas.

Two other cars were involved in an initial wreck when, according to the Arlington Police Department, subsequent crashes occurred because of slick conditions on the westbound side of I-30. In all, the accident involved five cars, two 18-wheelers, and two pickup trucks. The westbound lanes of Interstate 30 were closed for several hours while authorities investigated the cause of the multi-vehicle crash.

My sincere condolences go out to Mr. Smith’s family. Undoubtedly, they are going through an extremely difficult time now as Mr. Smith was a young man who apparently fell victim to a weather-related accident. This winter we have had an incredible amount of rain, snow and ice. It appeared to the Arlington Police Department investigators that ice on a highway was a factor in causing the accident. It is the sixth traffic fatality in Arlington this year.

Information provided by Tarrant County Accident Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who can be contacted at 817-294-1900 or by clicking here.

A man was struck by a pickup truck on Loop 820 late Monday evening. The man, who was identified as Aaron Smith, died at the scene.

His car had broken down and ran out of gas so he pulled over to the shoulder of the road. Smith was hit when he tried to cross the highway in order to get gas. He left his girlfriend in the car while he attempted to cross the highway.

The driver of the pickup truck stopped and no charges are expected to be filled. Witnesses also say that Smith was hit by an 18-Wheeler; however the Fort Worth Police Department states that this is not the case.

My sincere condolences go out to the friends and family of Aaron Smith. It is terrible to hear about such a tragic accident happening in our community. This pedestrian accident goes to show that you must be extremely careful in all situations involving motor vehicles, even if it is just something like crossing the highway to get gas for your broken down vehicle.

Information and commentary provided by Fort Worth Car Accident Lawyer Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900, in Dallas at 214-327-8000, or online by clicking here.

On Sunday afternoon, an Amtrak train was in a collision with a semi-truck due to the truck being stuck on a railroad crossing. The truck accident occurred in the 1000 block of Erie Street in Fort Worth, Texas around 3 p.m.

The truck driver was not inside of the truck at the time, so he was not injured. However, one passenger in the train was injured, but is considered to have non-life threatening injuries. The name of the passenger has not been released.

The Fort Worth Police Department stated that when the train hit the 18 wheeler, it split the trailer in half, and dispersed the insulation it was carrying on the roadway.

In Texas, tractor-trailer accidents are a major problem. Last year, 10% of all fatal accidents involved semi-trucks. Nationwide, almost 5,000 people are killed each year in accidents that involve trucks. In this particular case, it is very fortunate no one was more seriously injured. I wonder why the truck got stuck? Is it something the truck driver did wrong? Was there something wrong with the tracks or the crossing? Could a passenger car have also got stuck? It is still scary to think how much worse the accident could have been if the train had been moving faster, or if more passengers would have been on board.

This information and commentary is provided by Fort Worth Car Accident Lawyer Mark Anderson. Mr. Anderson can be reached in Dallas at 214-327-8000, in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or online by clicking here.

The family of Fort Worth, Texas resident, Sonia Baker, who was killed in a car accident in December, filed suit against The Pour House, where Officer Jesus Cisneros was drinking. Cisneros drove his unmarked city vehicle to the Pour House when he was off-duty. He was meeting other officers for a birthday celebration.

At about 2:25 a.m. Cisneros left the bar after reportedly having four beers and four shots of alcohol. He then proceeded to drive his city vehicle and then crashed into Sonia Baker’s PT Cruiser.

Baker had been driving to a fast-food restaurant to pick up breakfast for her family before work when the wreck occurred. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Cisneros was taken to the hospital where his blood tests showed that he had a .17 BAC, which is more than twice the legal limit. Cisneros has been charged with intoxication manslaughter, and also quit his job with the Fort Worth Police Department on December 21.

The issue is that the Pour House should be held accountable for “over-serving” Cisneros, and letting him leave the bar and drive. The family’s lawyer, Jeff Rasansky said that the Baker family wants The Pour House to be held accountable for their actions. I applaud Jeff for his efforts to hold the bar responsible. Jeff is a very good lawyer who will make sure that the true story is out in the open.

Besides the bar’s responsibility not to serve an obviously intoxicated individual, I think the other police officers celebrating with Cisneros have a moral and ethical duty to stop him from getting into his car. The entire wreck and the life of Sonia Baker could have been spared if the officers would have been responsible enough to stop their friend and colleague from leaving the bar.

To read more about the accident please click here.

This information and commentary is provided by Board Certified Personal Injury Lawyer Mark Anderson. Mr. Anderson can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900, in Dallas at 214-327-8000, or online by clicking here.

The Texas Department of Public Safety said that a mini-van heading East on Highway 290 near Bastrop, Texas collided with a pickup truck, when the driver of the mini-van did not yield the right of way to the pickup truck.

Three children, all under the age of 9 were killed in the accident. None of them were wearing seatbelts. Two other children were also injured. The two adults in the van have non-life threatening injuries.

The van flipped whenever the pickup hit them. Paul (9), Noel (8), and Leah (5) Gonzalez were all killed in the car crash and were declared dead at the scene. Angie Gonzalez, who is 6-years-old, is listed in critical condition at a local hospital.

A 19-year-old, Texas A&M student was the driver of the pickup truck. Bastrop area police officials say he is not at fault for the accident because he had the right of way.

Any accident involving children is absolutely heartbreaking to hear about. My heart goes out to the families of the children killed and injured in this tragic accident. The other true tragedy in this case is that the children could have possibly been saved if they had been wearing their seatbelts. It is imperative that we make sure everyone is buckled up in the car before you even put the car in reverse. For a list of driving safety tips please click here.

Information and commentary provided by Texas Car Accident Lawyer Mark Anderson. Mark can be reached Toll Free across Texas at 1-877-294-1115 or online by clicking here.

Seattle accident attorney, Jason Epstein founded TADD (Teens Against Distracted Driving) to educate teens of the dangers of texting and driving, and hopefully put an end to the problem all together. Click here for a link to the TADD website. Teens are invited to sign their name on the pledge online, and in return receive a free wrist bracelet. Jason had no idea how much energy and enthusiasm would be generated by this program, but he has seen the commitment teens have to making a change.

I have teamed with Jason, along with ten other attorneys from around the country, to build awareness of the problem of teens texting and driving in our communities. Jason has been asked to speak at schools in his community and has encouraged me to do the same.

The program is in its critical growth stage and is expected to continue to grow exponentially and gain more support in the next few months. The idea is that if you can educate teens and stop the habit early, we can help save many young lives.

I will do my share in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Please call my office if you or someone you know would be interested in arranging a speaking engagement anywhere in the DFW metroplex. After being a personal injury lawyer for 18 years, I have seen my fair share of tragedies caused by things just like texting and driving.

Take a stand and pledge not to text and drive!

Mark Anderson is a Personal Injury Attorney in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. He can be reached in Dallas at 214-327-8000, in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or online by clicking here.

A car wreck involving 77-year-old Waynoka Ricord happened right before 1:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. The accident occurred near the 1800 block of Shady Oaks Drive in Southlake, Texas. Ricord was on her way home from work at the DFW Airport hotel.

Police are still investigating the cause of the wreck. Ricord’s car, a Toyota Corolla, is on the list of over 8.5 million recalled in the past month. It is possible that the car wreck is related with the accelerator pedal problems associated with Corollas; however it could also have been a driver error.

What is apparent is that something happened to make her lose control. When her car veered off the road it hit a tree, then repelled off and hit another tree. The cause of death was from blunt-force trauma to her chest.

This is not the first car accident in Southlake involving a Toyota. A driver and three passengers were killed in December when driving their Toyota Avalon on Lonesome Dove Road. I blogged about this in February and in December, to read more please click here or here.

My sincere condolences go out to Ms. Ricord’s family and friends. The Toyota recall has turned into a giant question mark of the safety of the vehicles, and the car manufacturer’s promise of quality. It seems like every couple of days there is another wreck involving a question about the malfunction of a Toyota or another investigation of a possible new recall.

This information is provided by Board Certified Personal Injury Lawyer Mark A. Anderson. Mark can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or online by clicking here.

It may be interesting to find out that teenagers are actually less likely to drive after drinking than adults are. I think a major reason why teens are less likely to drive under the influence is that they are aware that it is first, illegal for them to be driving, and second, have been educated relentlessly over the consequences of drinking while driving.

However, if a teen does decide to drive under the influence, they are at a much higher risk to crash than adults are. According to research done by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, it is the combination of teens’ inexperience of driving, paired with alcohol use that makes driving under the influence so dangerous for teenagers. Interestingly, males are 17 times more likely to crash if they have a BAC between .05-.08 than if they were driving sober and females are 7 times more likely to get in a car accident than if they were driving sober.

Fortunately, all of the drunk driving awareness programs have made progress in lowering drinking related accidents among our youngest group of drivers. I think it is so important to continue to educate middle school and high school aged students on not only drunk driving safety, but general driving safety tips as well.

This information is provided by Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Mark Anderson. Mr. Anderson can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or online by clicking here.

There is a campaign going on today through Sunday focusing on enforcing Texas’ seat belt laws with young drivers. The Texas Department of Transportation’s “Click it or Ticket” campaign has decided to quite literally “buckle down” on making sure new drivers are following the seat belt laws.

Though the campaign focuses on young drivers, police officers will be looking for anyone not wearing their seat belt. In Tarrant County, the cities of Fort Worth, Arlington, and North Richland Hills are participating in the campaign.

In Texas, it is required that all drivers and passengers wear their seat belts at all times or risk a fine up to $200. TxDot has recently been to high schools with materials to help teens be motivated to buckle up when driving or riding in a car. The incentives have included everything from Valentine’s Cards to Whataburger coupons.

With February’s theme of “Love,” the campaign is being nationally marketed by the saying “When you love somebody, everything clicks.” In Texas, 47% of young drivers killed in motor vehicle accidents did not have seat belts on. Many of these deaths could have been prevented had a seat belt been used.

I sincerely hope that this will help make teens, and everyone for that matter, more aware of the importance of wearing a seat belt. Even in the most minor collision, a seat belt can make the difference between minor and serious injuries. In serious wrecks, seat belts can make the difference between life and death.

This information is provided by Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Mark Anderson. Mr. Anderson can be reached at 817-294-1900 or online by clicking here.

The Look, Learn, Live campaign was launched last year to help improve motor vehicle driver’s awareness of motor cycle safety for both themselves and for the motor cycle rider.

According to TxDot, Texas has over 431,000 motor cycle riders. Unfortunately as the amount of motorcycle riders increase, so do crashes. The message of Look, Learn, Live is to make both motorcycle riders and vehicle drivers aware that 50% of motorcycle wrecks involve a motor cycle and a vehicle.

The “Look” portion of Look, Learn, Live is for motorists who share the road with motorcyclists. There are several key safety tips TxDot emphasizes for motorists:

-Look twice for motorcyclists —at intersections, entering
highways and whenever turning or changing lanes. The small size
of motorcycles often makes them hard to see, and motorcyclists can
get lost in blind spots.

-Always maintain a safe following distance. Motorcycles can stop
more quickly than passenger vehicles.

-When passing a motorcyclist, move to the other lane and allow a
full lane for the motorcycle. After doing so, avoid re-entering the
lane too quickly.

The “Learn” portion of Look, Learn, Live is a course for motorcyclists that goes over everything from the basics to defensive driving skills that can help you in a number of situations. The course is primarily for inexperienced riders who are under 18, riders who have just purchased a motorcycle, or riders who are unaware of new legislation pertaining to motorcycles.

The “Live” segment challenges motorcyclists to “Ride sober, not impaired.” Over half of motorcycle crashes involve alcohol or drugs. Of this 50%, most of the crashes involve impact with an off-road object such as a tree or other roadside hazard. To show its support for the motorcycle riders, the Anderson Law Firm sponsors a free motorcycle towing service for impaired riders called "Ride Safe, Ride Sober."

I applaud TxDot for challenging the entire driving population to increase motorcycle safety. Awareness is often the best form of education. I know after reading this I will think twice before changing lanes, and I will surely “look twice” for motorcyclists.

Information and Commentary provided by Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson. Mark has represented many motorcycle riders and is an advocate for motorcycle safety. Mark can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or online by clicking here.

Four people died in a car wreck the day after Christmas in Southlake due to alleged acceleration problems with a Toyota Avalon. A lawsuit was filed on Thursday against the Japanese automaker for the death of one of the four passengers of the car. I blogged about this accident here.

This is at least the third law suit filed against Toyota in Texas. All suits involve the vehicle speeding or accelerating out of control. For more information about the recalls specifically please click here or here.

According to the Southlake Police Department’s report, Monty Hardy was driving the car on Lonesome Dove Road and failed to stop at a T intersection with Burney Lane. The vehicle crossed the road, went over an embankment, went through a mental fence, and ended up being up-side-down in a six foot deep pond.

My deepest sympathy goes out to all four lives lost in this tragic accident. I sincerely hope that these recalls are resolved and taken more seriously before there is even more of a problem with fatal accidents around the country. It seems like every day there is a new problem involving Toyota. I hope justice is served in their case, and can help bring the families some closure.

This information is provided by Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Mark Anderson. Mark can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or online by clicking here.

Around 8 am Wednesday morning a 14 year old girl was struck by a pickup truck in North Fort Worth while skating. The pedestrian accident occurred at the intersection of Basswood Boulevard and Buttonwood Drive.

The girl is a student at Fossil Hill Middle School; she was one her way to school when the accident occurred. She was taken to Cook Children’s Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to Fort Worth police.

She was hit by a 35 year old man driving a Nissan Frontier. The man said that he could not see her after going through an intersection because the sun was partially blocking his view.
Officers chose not to issue a citation.

According to the Pedestrian Safety Guide, an estimated 70,000 injuries occur to pedestrians in motor vehicle accidents each year. Of these accidents, they typically happen during rush hour traffic periods in the morning and early evening. My thoughts are with the victim and her family, what an unfortunate accident to happen to such a young girl on her way to school. I am glad to hear that her injuries are not too serious.

Commentary provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Area Personal Injury Lawyer Mark A. Anderson. Mark can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or online by clicking here.

There is now a possibility that Toyota will be recalling its popular Corolla due to growing power steering complaints. This is now the third car on the list of safety recalls for the Japanese based automaker.

President Akio Toyoda has not disclosed which model years would be affected by the recall, but he did say that there have been less than 100 complaints. Toyota sold over 1.3 million Corollas last year.

It is also unclear why drivers felt as though they were losing control of the steering. Mr. Toyoda stated that it could be to underlying break or tire problems.

Toyota’s once flawless reputation has now been damaged, with no sign of returning to its former glory anytime soon. For the first time since 1998, Toyotas total monthly sales plummeted to below 100,000 vehicles.

US Federal Safety officials are currently examining the complaints about the steering in the Toyota Corolla. It remains questionable whether another recall will take place.

I think it is safe to say that if you own a Toyota, you should be very cautious when driving. With the increasing list of recalls and reports of safety problems I not only question Toyota’s promise of high quality automobiles, but their sincerity in fixing these problems as well.

If you would like more information on other Toyota recalls please click here.

Information provided by Texas Board Certified Personal Injury Lawyer Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached in Dallas at 214-327-8000 and in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900. He can also be contacted by clicking here.

In my book 15 Mistakes that Will Wreck your Texas Accident Case, I address some of the most important issues I have observed over the years while helping thousands of injury victims. I believe that with this information, you can take control of your unfortunate situation.

Mistake No. 2: Failing to promptly obtain medical treatment

If you are hurt in an accident, it’s absolutely crucial that you seek medical attention immediately. If you do not seek medical treatment soon after an accident you probably will not have a viable injury claim. Insurance companies and juries assume that if you are hurt you would have gone to the doctor.

It is vital that you do not try to “tough it out” or “hope it gets better” because it not only delays your recovery from the injuries but it negatively affects the success of your personal injury claim. Depending on the extent of your injuries, your initial treatment might very well be taking an ambulance ride to the hospital or visiting the emergency room on your own.

Do not let a lack of health insurance stand in your way to cause you to endure pain unnecessarily. A good place to start is by visiting an urgent treatment car facility near you. You can also rely on the local public health system.

Another option is to contact an attorney who specializes in injury cases. When requested, I will happily provide the names of various doctors who will provide proper treatment and delay billing patients until their case is resolved.

No matter which option you choose, it is extremely important that you seek medical attention promptly. Failing to do so will almost certainly “wreck” your case.

Hopefully, this helps to educate and inform you about how and when to seek medical treatment after an injury. I hope this makes you more aware of how important it is to not make a mistake that can “wreck” your case!

Information provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Board Certified Personal Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached in Dallas at 214-327-8000, in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900, or toll free across Texas at 877-294-1115. He can also be contacted by clicking here.

In the spirit of the snow day in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I thought it might be useful to share a few tips for avoiding car accidents in the snow. The best advice is to avoid driving all together, but if you must face the weather, it is important to have some basic knowledge about how to alter your driving habits for the winter weather.

Here are some winter driving tips from AAA:

Accelerate and decelerate slowly. Applying the gas slowly to accelerate is the best method for regaining traction and avoiding skids. Don't try to get moving in a hurry. And take time to slow down for a stoplight. Remember: It takes longer to slow down on icy roads.

Drive slowly. Everything takes longer on snow-covered roads. Accelerating, stopping, and turning - nothing happens as quickly as on dry pavement. Give yourself time to maneuver by driving slowly.

Know your brakes. Whether you have antilock brakes or not, the best way to stop is threshold breaking. Keep the heel of your foot on the floor and use the ball of your foot to apply firm, steady pressure on the brake pedal.

Don't stop if you can avoid it. There's a big difference in the amount of inertia it takes to start moving from a full stop versus how much it takes to get moving while still rolling. If you can slow down enough to keep rolling until a traffic light changes, do it.

Don't power up hills. Applying extra gas on snow-covered roads just starts your wheels spinning. Try to get a little inertia going before you reach the hill and let that inertia carry you to the top. As you reach the crest of the hill, reduce your speed and proceed downhill as slowly as possible.

Don't stop going up a hill. There's nothing worse than trying to get moving up a hill on an icy road. Get some inertia going on a flat roadway before you take on the hill.

Stay home. If you really don't have to go out, don't. Even if you can drive well in the snow, not everyone else can. Don't tempt fate: If you don't have somewhere you have to be, watch the snow from indoors.

I hope everyone is enjoying the break from the typical North Texas weather pattern. I think snow days bring back many great memories. Stay warm and stay safe!

Information provided by Texas Board Certified Personal Injury Lawyer Mark A. Anderson, who can be contacted in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or online by clicking here.

Street racing is the culprit of a deadly car accident in Fort Worth, TX. Two maroon Chevrolet Avalanches were racing when one suddenly lost control and swerved into the retaining wall on the service road killing one man and severely injuring the other. Carlos Jimenez-Cano, 20, was pronounced dead at 10:41 p.m. Tuesday night by the Fort Worth Medical Examiner. The driver of the Avalanche, who has not been identified, remains in critical condition at John Peter Smith hospital.

Alcohol use is suspected in the cause of the accident; however, no further information is available at this time. The other Avalanche fled the scene and turned west back onto Bolt Street near the access road. Fort Worth police are still looking for the second maroon Avalanche.

Street racing is an increasing problem in our communities. With celebrities and Hollywood endorsing this illegal activity, it is no wonder that more often than not the younger generations are the ones becoming victims of the consequences of street racing. It is unfortunate that the media makes such a dangerous activity look so appealing.

Information and commentary provided by Texas Car Accident Lawyer Mark A. Anderson of the Anderson Law Firm. The firm specializes in representing those seriously injured as a result of the negligence of others. Mark Anderson can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or online by clicking here.

Police have determined that suspect Jeffery Drew Lamar, 34, is believed to be responsible for causing a car wreck around 10:30 pm on Saturday night. The crash occurred on the 6900 block of Robertson Road, in Northwest Tarrant County. Witnesses say that Lamar lost control of his BMW and collided head on with Fort Worth resident Larry Thompson. According to Fort Worth Police, Lamar is believed to have been driving while intoxicated.

Thompson, 63, was the Executive Director of the Northwest Tarrant County Chamber of Commerce and also worked in hospital administration for 35 years. He was pronounced dead at the scene according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner and police reports. Lamar, the alleged drunk driver, still remains at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth.

Drunk driving still remains a huge problem. Despite all the awareness of its dangers, it seems that we see weekly reports of another senseless death as a result of someone’s reckless decision to get behind the wheel of a car after they have had too much to drink. According to MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), someone is killed by a drunk driver every 45 minutes here in the US. In 2008, 11,773 people died from drunk driving related crashes, a decline of 9.8% from 2007.

My sincere condolences go out to the Thompson family. When you hear of tragedies such as this one, we must be reminded to be responsible before we get in our cars.

Information and commentary provided by Tarrant County DWI Accident Victim Lawyer Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached at 817-294-1900 or by clicking here.

A woman was killed in a tragic automobile accident early Monday morning in far northwest Tarrant County when her car collided head-on with a pickup truck.

The car crash occurred at about 2:30 a.m. 32-year-old Ung Phimmasone was pronounced dead at the scene on Farm Road 718, about two miles east of Eagle Mountain Lake. According to police, Ms. Phimmasone was driving her car eastbound when she crossed the center stripe and collided with a Ford F-250 pickup.

46-year-old Jose Tovar-Ortiz was driving the pickup and taken by ambulance to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth with non-life threatening injuries. The wreck is still under investigation as police are still unsure why Ms. Phimmasone’s car veered into oncoming traffic.

Information provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached in Dallas at 214-327-8000, in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900, and toll free across Texas at 877-294-1115. He can also be contacted by clicking here.

Francisco Ramirez-Gil, 24, of Richland Hills died in a rollover car accident Wednesday in a crash off I-35W near Northeast 28th Street in Fort Worth, TX.

According to witnesses, Mr. Ramirez-Gil’s dark-colored sedan was traveling very fast in the center lane of the highway. Then the car moved into the far right lane, as if about to take the Northeast 28th Street exit, but it struck an exit sign then went up onto a grassy median. The car rolled over and Mr. Ramirez-Gil was ejected from the vehicle.

This is yet another example of speed causing a fatal wreck. I blogged a couple of days ago on a car wreck in Grand Prairie, Texas which killed two men and it was apparently caused by driving too fast.

Information provided by Fort Worth Car Accident Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached at 817-294-1900 or contacted by clicking here.

I recently blogged about Toyota’s 4.2 million vehicle recall after concerns that the floor mats were getting caught up beneath the accelerator pedal; this defect causes uncontrollable acceleration which caused several wrecks and killed four people in San Diego. Now, they are recalling 2.3 million vehicles due to a similar problem; however, this time, the defect is in the pedal itself, not the floor mat.

The cars affected in the recall:

2009-2010 RAV4
2009-2010 Corolla
2009-2010 Matrix
2005-2010 Avalon
2007-2010 Camry
2010 Highlander
2007-2010 Tundra
2008-2010 Sequoia

The cars affected by this recall AND the floor mat recall:

2005-2010 Avalon
2007-2010 Camry
2007-2010 Tundra

According to Toyota, these vehicles are at risk for the accelerator pedal to become stuck even without a floor mat present. The problem is that the pedal mechanism can wear down and in some cases causing the accelerator to become harder to press, slower to return, or even stuck. Toyota thinks the problem is caused by build-up of condensation on sliding surfaces in the accelerator system.

Unfortunately, the company does not yet have an actual fix for the problem, although they say they are working on one. The company will be contacting drivers affected by the recall immediately.

According to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, problem is "a serious safety issue and we are pleased Toyota is taking immediate action to address it."

Information provided by Texas Board Certified Personal Injury Lawyer Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached in Dallas at 214-327-8000, in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900, or toll fee anywhere in the state at 877-294-1115. He can also be contacted by clicking here.

A 68-year-old woman, whose name has not yet been released, died at the hospital after she was involved in a head-on collision with a tractor-trailer in Cleburne, TX.

The accident occurred on U.S. 67, a two-lane highway with no divider, near Farm Road 4. She was driving her 2001 Honda southbound when she unexpectedly veered into northbound traffic. She was flown to a hospital after the crash with the big rig but tragically did not survive. The driver of the truck, a 50-year-old man from Cleburne, was treated at the hospital for injuries that were not life-threatening.

I am sorry to hear about this tragic accident. There are many reasons for cars to veer in another lane (fatigue, distractions, cell phones…). The police investigators will probably never be able to figure this one out. My condolences to her family. And I hope for a speedy recovery for the truck driver.

Information provided by Texas Board Certified Car Accident Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached in Dallas at 214-327-8000, in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900, and toll free across Texas at 877-294-1115. He can also be contacted by clicking here.

6 people, including four teenagers, an adult and a child, were injured early Tuesday morning in a three-vehicle auto accident near Boswell High School. Four people were hospitalized.

The crash occurred at about 8:00 in the morning on West Bailey Boswell Road. This area is in North Fort Worth, just outside of Saginaw. A Mercury changed lanes into a Corvette, sending the Corvette across the center lane into a Honda. The Mercury over-corrected to the right and hit a wall.

A 16-year-old girl, the driver of a Corvette, was taken by ambulance to John Peter Smith Hospital. Her passenger, a 14-year-old girl, was taken by helicopter in serious but stable condition. Both are Boswell students. A 16-year-old driver of the Mercury and his 17-year-old passenger reported injuries as well. The adult driver of the Honda and her 11-year-old daughter also went to the hospital by ambulance.

I went to Boswell High School, so I am very familiar with the area. I don't recall anything particularly dangerous about the road. This appears to be a case of basic driver error of changing lanes when it was not clear to do so. But this is a perfect example of how a simple mistake while driving can lead to serious injuries. I certainly hope all of the injured parties are not seriously hurt.

Information provided by Fort Worth Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached at 817-294-1900, or contacted by clicking here.

Seven people were injured in a car crash Sunday night at Mitchell Blvd and East Maddox Ave in Fort Worth. Everyone was taken to the hospital, but none of the injuries were life threatening, according to the Fort Worth Police Department.

The accident occurred when a Ford F-150 carrying four adults tried to make a left turn onto Mitchell from Maddox. The truck was traveling west and trying to turn south. Their vehicle hit a Mitsubishi Montero that was traveling east on Maddox. An adult and two children were in the Montero. According to Fort Worth Police, alcohol was not a factor in the wreck.

I sure hope all of those I injured in this wreck recover quickly. Even when the reports come out that the injuries are not life threatening, that certainly does not mean that no injuries occurred. Hopefully, there is enough liability insurance coverage available to fairly compensate the injured parties.

Information provided by Fort Worth Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who can be contacted online by clicking here or by calling 817-294-1900.

New Year’s resolutions are oftern focused on improving one's health through exercise. And riding a bike is a fantastic form of exercise. I personally love riding one of my bikes, even though I enjoy riding on a trail as opposed to a road for safety reasons. I do this as I know that bicycle accidents happen on a regular basis. While many people choose bicycles as an eco-friendly means of transportation over short distances, and a wonderful form of relaxation and exercise, riding a bicycle isn’t all nice views and good exercise. What’s the biggest danger to bicycle riders? Other vehicles sharing the road.

Bike statistics reveal dangers.
A motor vehicle accident involving a bike can be deadly. These accidents injure 52,000 people every year, and kill 700 bikers annually. Urban areas are particularly hazardous for bike riders, but bicycle-car accidents happen practically anywhere. As a bicyclist, you must be extra vigilant in order to effectively protect yourself.

How to protect yourself while biking.
Helmets exist for a reason. They’re not particularly glamorous, but helmets can save your life and help prevent extremely dangerous brain injuries. Make sure you always wear a properly fitted helmet for your own protection.

The biggest cause of vehicle-bicycle accidents is drivers not seeing a biker. You must be extremely vigilant and defensive when you’re biking around cars. Never assume that a vehicle can see you while you’re out biking. Signal properly before turning, and make sure vehicles are responding to your signals before you turn. Even if you do everything right; if a motor vehicle driver isn’t paying attention, it’ll be you suffering the injuries. You have to pay enough attention for everyone.

When riding at night, always wear reflective gear on both you and the bike. Having reflective gear only on your bike can expose you to a potentially dangerous situation; most drivers are accustomed to looking at eye-height for obstacles, and may not look carefully enough to notice your bike’s reflective gear before they encounter you. Also, a flashing red light affixed to your bike is a great safety item. These are relatively inexpensive and can be purchased at your local bike store.

At the Anderson Law Firm, we represent bicycle accident victims and always offer free consultations. So if you have been injured in a bike accident and you want to know your legal rights, feel free to contact us at 1-877-294-1115. With offices in Dallas and Fort Worth, we represent bicycle wreck victims all over the North Texas area. Click here to contact us online.

A wreck last Monday afternoon on U.S. 67 in Cleburne involving two trucks sent three people to the hospital.

20-year-old James Hall of Godley was driving a pickup hauling a flatbed trailer carrying a washer and dryer when he made an illegal left turn from the access road onto U.S. 67. Diana Dillard was driving her truck on U.S. 67 and Mr. Hall struck her vehicle, his truck sliding on its side then eventually landing upright.

Mr. Hall and Ms. Dillard were immediately taken by CareFlite into Fort Worth hospitals. 19-year-old James Peabody of Burleson was transported by CareFlite to Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth after being pulled from the truck when witnesses thought it was on fire. According to police, no one suffered life threatening injuries.

I am glad to read that no one suffered life threatening injuries. But that certainly does not mean that none of the occupants suffered injuries. A wreck of this magnitude certainly can result in severe and permanent injuries. I know from experience that the CareFlite bills are astronomical. Also, depending on the number of scans and type of treatment rendered, the hospital bills could also be staggering. I obviously don’t know the amount of insurance available, but I sure hope the driver not at fault, Ms. Dillard, carries under-insured motorist protection. In my opinion this is the best type of insurance to carry as it protects you, the policy holder, in case someone else causes an accident and does not have enough insurance.

Information provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Car Accident Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900, in Dallas at 214-327-8000, or toll free at 877-294-1115. He can also be contacted by clicking here.

A bizarre and fatal car accident occurred in Southlake, Texas at the intersection of Lonesome Dove and Burney Lane yesterday morning. It is not known what caused the Toyota Avalon to leave the road, smash through a metal fence, run into a tree and flip over into a private pond. The two people pronounced dead at Baylor Regional Medical Center in Grapevine were Monty Hardy, 56, of Southlake and Hadassah Vance, 35, of Euless. Then, today the two other occupants of the car, Wendy Akion, 38, of Irving, and Sharon Ransom, 56, of Grapevine, also died at Baylor Grapevine.

The cause of the horrible accident is still being investigated. According to the Southlake Police Department; there were no skid marks on the road. Was it a defect or malfunction of the Toyota? Those cars have been subject to a massive recall for floor mats which cause the accelerator to stick. (see my prior blog here for info on the recall). With there being no skid marks, you have to first think that the accelerator must have been stuck. If so, the families of these four innocent victims might very well have a major products liability case to pursue.

I feel very sorry for the families of these four victims. For them, I hope answers come fast.

Information and legal commentary provided by Texas Injury Lawyer Mark A. Anderson, phone 817-294-1900, contact online.

Recently I’ve blogged about Jesus Cisneros, the off-duty Fort Worth police officer who drove drunk in an unmarked police vehicle and caused a car accident that killed Sonia Baker, a mother of two. [see here, here and here] New details continue to be released from the ongoing investigation. Now, 20 other FWPD officers are being investigated after reports indicate they were drinking with Cisneros prior to the accident. It’s also been reported that Cisneros was driving at twice the posted speed limit of 35 mph.

The investigation is looking into 20 other officers who were apparently drinking with Cisneros at The Pour House on West 7th Street. Three off duty officers who were working security at the bar, including two sergeants, are included in the investigation.

According to police, Mrs. Baker was not at fault in the crash. Cisneros was traveling at such a high rate of speed that Mrs. Baker wouldn’t have even seen him as she tried to turn her vehicle onto Columbus Trail from Evening Star Drive.

Cisneros is not the first FWPD officer to drive drunk; this year three other officers were suspended and later fired after being arrested on DWI charges.

As the FWPD is releasing results of their investigation, it seems to answer some questions but raises many others. So how many other officers were driving drunk that night? How many were driving city vehicles? I would find it unusual that Cisneros was the only one out of 20 that had drank too much. And unrelated to the city, what about the Pour House? At some point the cops need to be cut off and not served anymore.

I agree with our Police Chief Jeff Halstead when he says that officers have a duty to step in and help out another officer that might have had too much to drink

I look forward to hearing more about this from our city’s investigation and am glad that the city and the FWPD are releasing information they way they are. This investigation must reveal what really happened and serious changes need to be made to make sure nothing like this happens again. This whole thing makes me sick. And embarrassed for our city and its police force.

Information and commentary provided by Fort Worth Personal Injury Lawyer Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached at 817-294-1900, or contacted by clicking here.

Sonia Baker

Jesus Cisneros

Photos from The Fort Worth Star Telegram

Jesus Cisneros, the Fort Worth police officer involved in the fatal drunk driving accident I blogged about here and here, was released on bail Monday. He has been charged with intoxication manslaughter in connection with the crash that killed a mother of two.

As conditions of his $25,000.00 bail, Cisneros is required to install a Breathalyzer in his car which he cannot drive without. He is also prohibited from drinking any alcoholic beverages.

According to Fort Worth police, Cisneros has submitted his resignation. The police have not released the findings of an internal affairs investigation regarding what Cisneros was doing before the crash, and they have not said whether speed was a factor in the accident. If convicted of intoxication manslaughter, Cisneros could spend up to 20 years in prison.

As I have previously written about, this is such a tragic case. The fact he was driving an unmarked FWPD vehicle is horrible and embarrassment for the FWPD and the City of Fort Worth. I am glad he submitted his resignation so the city will not have to go through a costly and lengthy process to terminate him.

Information provided by Texas Board Certified Personal Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900, in Dallas at 214-327-8000, and toll free across Texas at 877-294-1115. He can also be contacted by clicking here.

The Fort Worth Police Department announced yesterday that the blood alcohol content of Officer Jesus Cisneros was over twice the legal limit when the car he was driving crashed into the car driven by Sonia Baker, killing her. In Texas, the legal limit is .08 BAC, but Officer Cisneros’ blood alcohol limit was measured at .17 BAC. Because he was legally drunk when he caused the fatal crash, Officer Cisneros might be charged with the crime of intoxication manslaughter.

Mrs. Baker was married and had two young boys. She, and her family, are nothing but innocent victims in this terrible tragedy. What makes things worse is the Officer, even though off duty at the time, was driving an unmarked police vehicle. A million questions need to be asked and must absolutely be answered by our city officials:
• What was he doing in the city vehicle?
• Why does our city allow its employees to drive city on vehicles for personal time?
• Who authorized him to drive it?
• How long had he been drinking?
• Was he drinking while on duty?
• Who had knowledge of his drinking and driving a city vehicle?
• Why was this man even allowed to be a FW a police officer? (the Star Telegram lists out his previous infractions, including shooting a gun out the sun roof f his car while intoxicated).

This entire situation is appalling. There is no excuse for his actions and he deserves serious punishment, including jail time.

And someone needs to take a look at the FWPD policies and actions and determine if this could have been prevented if a little common sense had been used in dealing with this particular cop, considering is less than stellar past. And having a group of police officers look into this doesn’t exactly cut it. The City of Fort Worth needs to bring in impartial outsiders to look into how the city deals with bad cops and also its policies of allowing cops to drive city vehicles while off duty. And this analysis needs to happen immediately before another senseless act kills one of our innocent citizens.

Commentary provided by Fort Worth Accident Attorney Mark A. Anderson, 817-294-1900.

Early Friday, Fort Worth resident Sonia Baker was tragically killed in an auto accident when the PT cruiser she was driving was hit by un unmarked FW Police vehicle driven by off-duty FWPD Officer Jesus Cisneros. Mrs. Baker was pronounced dead at the scene and Mr. Cisneros was taken to JPS Hospital. At the Hospital, according to a FWPD statement released yesterday, it was determined that alcohol may have played a role in the accident.

This is absolutely a horrible story. My sincere condolences go out to the friends and family of this lady. Mrs. Baker was the married mother of two young boys, age four and five. Now, during the Christmas season of all times, Mrs. Baker’s husband must tell the young boys that their mother has died. And it very much appears that the Officer was drinking and driving. Come on, of all people a FWPD Officer should know better than to drink and driver. Each year over 1,400 people die in Texas due to drunk driving. It is a senseless act to get behind the wheel after you have had too much to drink. And for a cop to do this is even more senseless. It is an incredible act of negligence.

It will be interesting to learn the results of the official accident investigation. Was Officer Cisneros legally drunk? How did the accident occur? If he was drunk, will he be charged with Intoxication Manslaughter? Will the City of Fort Worth be held liable for the death? Should the cop have been allowed to drive a city vehicle? That is just the tip of the iceberg as far as unanswered questions. For the sake of Mrs. Baker’s husband and young boys, I hope answers come fast.

Information and commentary provided by Fort Worth Injury and Accident Lawyer Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached at 817-294-1900 or online by clicking here.

As an accident and injury lawyer, I see all the time the unfortunate results of someone driving while talking on the cell phone. We all know we aren’t as attentive when we have that ever-present cell phone up to our ears. Well, for those of you who want to do something about it but just don’t have the self discipline to turn off your phone, I now have a solution for you. I read about an interesting new technology yesterday in the New York Times: You can subscribe (for a cost) to a service which monitors your GPS signal on you cell phone and if it shows you are moving at driving speeds—it shuts your phone off. So it takes the decision away from you—if you are driving, you won’t be talking on your cell phone! And there is less of a chance you will cause a car wreck.

So who is using this new technology? The Times reported that some businesses with delivery drivers put the service in place on all of their phones. One such company, Community Coffee out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has implemented this service after its “no talk” policy was not really being followed by its 400 drivers. They have seen their accident rates drop by about 30%.

So are car insurance companies taking notice? Sure, as anything that decreases accidents is good for their business. Nationwide Insurance Company offers a 5% discount to drivers who sign up for this service with Aegis Mobility, which is one of the companies offering this new technology. State Farm Insurance Company is looking into this and considering offering discounts. I am sure other insurance carriers will soon follow and offer discounts.

I think this service is a good thing. I don’t really see individuals forking out money for the service (it costs about $85 to set up, then $5 a month). Most people just are too attached to their cell phones and want to be accessible. But for those companies that have delivery drivers, this service makes a lot of sense. Having a corporate policy about talking on the cell phone while driving just doesn’t quite do the trick. I see all the time cases where there is a company policy that isn’t followed.

Mark A. Anderson is a Board Certified Injury Attorney who handles Texas Accident Cases. He can be contacted at 877-294-1115 or online by clicking here.

Police found three vehicles at the scene of a car accident Sunday night in the eastbound lanes of I-20 near Green Oaks Blvd. in Arlington.

Investigators aren’t sure what caused the crash. They found one person dead at the scene and another person injured. The injured person was taken to John Peter Smith hospital in Fort Worth. So far, police have not released the names of the victims.

These are the types of situations where accident investigations are the key to finding out what happened. Through witness reports and physical evidence, hopefully the Arlington police Department will be able to reconstruct exactly what happened.

Information provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Accident Injury Lawyer Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached toll free at 877-294-1115 or contacted by clicking here.

A 29-year-old man was taken to the hospital today with life-threatening injuries when he was struck by an SUV attempting to make a U-turn across several lanes of traffic.

The crash happened in the 8500 block of Davis Boulevard near Tarrant Parkway North. All four passengers of the SUV, a man, woman and two children, were taken to the hospital but their injuries were not life threatening, according to police. The collision occurred when the SUV turned out of a parking lot going northbound, then attempted to make a U-turn in the middle of the street.

As of this afternoon, the motorcyclist’s condition is unavailable. I sure hope he is going to be alright. This was an accident that never would have happened if the driver of the SUV was just paying a little more attention to the other vehicles around him. Unfortunately, motorcyclists are extremely vulnerable to these types of accidents. I have seen time and time again how drivers of passenger cars just plain never see motorcyclists.

Information provided by Accident Injury Lawyer Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached toll free at 877-294-1115, or contacted by clicking here.

Who can resist a good deal? Buying refurbished products can help you save hundreds of dollars over buying products new (or maybe even more). However, buying refurbished can also cost you a lot in the long run, so think twice before you jump on that good deal when it could affect your safety.

Don’t buy refurbished when your safety is at risk.
Saving $50 could make a product a great deal, and help you decide to make a purchase when you’re considering refurbished products. However, buying refurb when your safety is at risk is a bad idea.

Consider the example of a refurbished car seat for your child. I hear that many refurbished car seats come back to the manufacturer after a car accident and are‘re-certified’ and then sold again. There is no legislation in place governing how refurbished car seats are inspected or tested to determine their safety. After the stresses of a car accident, you could buy a refurbished car seat on the verge of failure and you’d have no way to know it.

Follow safety checklists to determine whether a product is safe.
In many cases, there’s nothing you can do to determine whether or not a refurbished product is safe. In the car seat example, though, you do have a few options to check for safety before you use it.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has guidelines for when car seats need to be replaced, and when it’s safe to continue to use them after an accident. CPSafety has a checklist you can use to look for common issues and determine whether or not the car seat is safe for reuse. Neither of these can tell you for sure that the car seat is safe, but they can help you make an informed decision about whether or not to buy a product that has been refurbished for resale.

Information provided by Tarrant County Personal Injury Lawyer Mark A. Anderson, who practices injury law throughout Tarrant County, and can be reached at 817-294-1900.

Motor vehicle accidents range from minor to severe. If another car taps your car at a stop sign going five miles per hour, and doesn’t leave a scratch on either vehicle, you probably aren’t hurt and, therefore, don’t need to seek medical treatment. But if you’re involved in a more serious accident with injuries, don’t try to ignore them; get medical treatment as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, it’s a fact that many people refuse medical treatment after an auto accident. Sometimes they think that they pain will go away. Sometimes they are worried about the huge hospital bill that they would incur. The bottom line is that your health is extremely important and should be a top priority.

Seeking medical treatment right away isn’t just a matter of taking care of your health, although that’s certainly the most important thing to consider after a car accident. It’s also about documenting your medical problems in the event that you need to prove they’re related to the car accident. If you have back problems after a car accident but wait two weeks to go to the doctor, it’s much more difficult to prove that it’s related to the car wreck than if you go the next day.

I have seen it time and again when folks tried to “tough it out” and they accomplish nothing. They endure pain unnecessarily and they “wreck” their potential insurance claim. Bottom line: seek medical treatment ASAP after a car accident. Not just for your case, but for your health.

Information provided by Fort Worth Texas Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who discusses this topic and many others in his book, 15 Mistakes That Will Wreck Your Texas Accident Case. This book is available for free to Texas Residents at www.DontWreckYourCase.com.

This is a question I get from some of my new clients after they have been in some sort of an auto accident somewhere here in the Fort Worth Arlington area. The short answer to that is: yes, you absolutely should. PIP insurance is No-Fault insurance which you carry on your own automobile policy and it provides reimbursement to you (and any passenger in your car), for medical expenses and for documented wages up to the amount of the PIP coverage. In Texas, each insurance company must offer at least $2,500.00 in PIP coverage, but you can buy more. In order to turn down this coverage, you must reject it in writing.

The reason that PIP coverage is so good is that you are not penalized in any subsequent claim against the responsive party if you use PIP coverage. In other words, you can recover from the responsible party’s insurance company (if they were indeed at fault) and you can also recover on your own policy. You can also even use health insurance to pay for your bills, therefore utilizing yet a third type of insurance.

Some people are reluctant to make a PIP claim on their own policy, but it is against the law for an insurance company to raise your rates or drop you solely because you make a PIP claim. The reason, this is a no-fault claim. You can make this type of claim regardless of whether you were at fault or somebody else was responsible for your injuries.

So to me, a lawyer who focuses solely on personal injury, this is a no brainer. If you were fortunate enough to pay for the PIP coverage (and it is very cheap), you should definitely use it if you have been in an automobile accident.

Information provided by Fort Worth Arlington, Texas Board Certified Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who can be contacted at 877 294 1115 or by clicking here.

If you have been involved in an automobile, truck or motorcycle accident in Fort Worth, Texas, you must make some decisions to protect your potential insurance claim or you could suffer the consequences of a “wrecked case.” Fort Worth’s Board Certified Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson has recently authored a book which goes over the many ways an accident victim can destroy their own case, therefore making it harder to recover fair and reasonable compensation. This book, entitled 15 Mistakes That Will Wreck Your Texas Accident Case, is for sale on Amazon.com, but is made available for free to Texas residents at www.DontWreckYourCase.com.

In this book, Mistake No. 2 is the failure to obtain prompt medical treatment. Insurance companies and juries tend to operate under the assumption that if you are hurt, then you need to go to the doctor. And that makes sense. But the problem I see often is most people try to tough out their pain and not go to the hospital or doctor unless it is absolutely necessary. If you have a broken bone or are bleeding excessively, you will go to the hospital. But it is human nature to try to tough it out if you have a less obvious injury. You might take over the counter pain medications and see if the injury will heal on its own. You might wait an entire month before you go to the doctor.

The problem with this approach is that without good medical documentation, it may look to an outsider like you weren’t really hurt. So in order to not hurt your ability to recover fair compensation, you will need to seek medial treatment within the first few days after an accident. This will allow you to get on the road to recovery much faster and will serve as proper documentation of your injury.

Fort Worth Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson can be contacted at 817-294-1900 or at www.maafirm.com.

A patrol car collided with an SUV Tuesday morning at the intersection of Brentwood Stair Road and the East Loop 820 service road under the overpass. Fortunately there were no life-threatening injuries.

According to preliminary reports, the police car spun out on slick pavement, causing the accident. However, a recent statement by police indicates an investigation will take place to determine if the road conditions contributed to the wreck. The officer driving the patrol car was “responding to a possible life-threatening disturbance in progress,” according to police.

There is no word on whether or not speed contributed to the accident. Also, initial reports do not indicate whether the officer was using his lights and siren. That makes a huge difference, as there are certain regulations about when a responding officer must use lights and sirens on a police vehicle to alert the public that a responding vehicle is nearby.

Information provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Accident Injury Lawyer Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached at 817-294-1900 or contacted by clicking here.

A 20 year old man from Fort Worth died yesterday from injuries he received last week in a car accident which happened in the 2900 block of East Loop 820 in Fort Worth. The man, Arialdo Hernandez, was a back seat passenger in a Ford Explorer which was reportedly traveling at a high rate of speed when the driver lost control. The vehicle then hit a curb and started rolling over, and Mr. Hernandez and another passenger were ejected from the SUV. Mr. Hernandez was transported to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth where he remained until his death yesterday.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the Hernandez family. Twenty years old is way too young to die. This accident brings to light the danger of speeding. Nothing good happens and bad accidents are the frequent consequence of highway speeding. In the eyes of the law, this is a wrongful death.

Also, I don’t know if Mr. Hernandez was wearing his seatbelt, but seatbelts do normally help prevent passengers from being ejected. They really help reduce injuries in rollover accidents.

Information provided by Dallas Fort Worth Accident Lawyer Mark Anderson.

In a terrible tragedy that happened early in the morning of September 20, a man who was trying to help accident victims on 1-20 in Arlington was struck by a passing car and killed.

Two people involved in the initial multiple car crash were injured and taken to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. The accident occurred on westbound 1-20 between Collins Street and Matlock Road. According to police, the driver who hit and killed the man was not speeding or driving while intoxicated.

I hate hearing about things like this. This man was concerned with the safety of those involved in the wreck, and died as a result of his good intentions. Since police said this driver wasn’t speeding or drunk, it seems like just a terrible accident. Always stay alert while driving and keep a look out for any accidents or vehicles by the side of the road, because as this case shows, it is not only the car crash itself than can be deadly, but simply being out of your car in the vicinity of the accident.

Information provided by Personal Injury Lawyer Mark A. Anderson, who can be contacted by clicking here.

Toyota Motor Corp. issued a warning on Tuesday that the floor mats found in many popular models of Toyota and Lexus cars may cause the accelerator to become stuck and could potentially lead to dangerous accidents. The warning came after a crash near San Diego in August which killed four family members when their Lexus ES 350 sped out of control, flew off of an embankment, rolled over several times and burst into flames.

Toyota and government officials recommended owners remove the floor mat from the driver’s side of their vehicles and not replace it. Toyota has not said how many complaints they’ve received about this issue, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it has received reports of 102 incidents where the accelerator may have been stuck on Toyota vehicles.

Toyota advises that if the accelerator appears to be stuck and the driver can’t remove the floor mat, to step on the brake pedal with both feet to slow the vehicle and then try to put the car in neutral and switch the ignition to accessory power.

This can be a huge problem if not fixed, so I encourage all owners affected to make sure they get replacement mats.

The following is a list of vehicles that will be affected in the floor mat recall:
2007-2010 Toyota Camry
2005-2010 Toyota Avalon
2004-2009 Toyota Prius
2005-2010 Toyota Tacoma
2007-2010 Toyota Tundra
2007-2010 Lexus ES 350
2006-2010 Lexus IS 250 and IS 350

For more information consumers can contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at 1-888-327-4236, Toyota at 1-800-331-4331, or Lexus at 1-800-255-3987.

Information provided by Texas Board Certified Personal Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached toll free at 877-294-1115 or contacted by clicking here.

Photo from NHTSA

Two men died Friday in a terrible rollover accident in western Tarrant County, Texas. Both were ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene.

30-year-old John Farris of Fort Worth died in the accident, as well as a 29-year-old man whose name has not yet been released. The accident occurred at 10203 Confederate Park Road, also known as Farm Road 1886.

Authorities do not know what caused the crash.

This is a tragic wreck. I feel sorry for the families and friends of these two young men. With the cause of the accident unknown, it is hard to figure out if this accident could have been prevented. Were seat belts used? And if not, would these two men have survived the rollover if they had not been ejected? I recently read that seat belt use is up to 84% of vehicle occupants, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Information provided by Tarrant County Personal Injury Lawyer Mark A. Anderson, who can be contacted at 817-294-1900, or by clicking here.

A National Guard Humvee caused a tragic crash Wednesday when it somehow went airborne, over the center barrier on I-35, and into oncoming traffic. Authorities are unsure what caused the Humvee to go airborne as it traveled south on 1-35 in Troy, a small town near Temple, Texas. After going onto the other side of the highway, the Humvee struck an oncoming car and an 18-wheeler. The big rig then crashed into a truck towing a trailer, then into a garbage truck. A soldier driving the Humvee, the tractor-trailer driver, and the driver of the car were all killed.

This is a very bizarre accident. I have never heard of a car or truck just going airborne. So I wonder what caused the Humvee to go airborne and over the highway divider. Was it speed? Was there contact with another vehicle before the Humvee went airborne? I am sure the Texas Department of Public Safety is investigating this wreck. To investigate a large wreck like this takes a lot of work and a lot of luck. The Humvee should be equipped with a data box which will yield some information. There is the analysis of the scene, the wrecked vehicles and witness statements. Sometimes in complicated accident cases, I hire an accident reconstruction expert to recreate the accident and help explain to me what really happened.

I feel very sorry for the families of the three individuals killed, as well as those who were hurt in this accident. We all take traveling on our interstate highways for granted and don’t seem to think that accidents like this can happen to us.

Information and commentary provided by Texas Board Certified Personal Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached toll free at 877-294-1115, or contacted by clicking here.

A student at Blalack Middle School in Carrollton was left with devastating injuries after being hit by a car on Wednesday. The absence of school zone signs or crossing guards in the area may have contributed to the accident.

13-year-old Caitlyn Self was walking home from school and attempted to cross Rosemeade Parkway at Standridge Drive when she was struck by a vehicle. The impact broke an elbow and leg, fractured her hand, and cracked her pelvis in two places. Luckily as she fell her backpack slipped up and protected her head from even worse injury.

The intersection where the accident occurred is about half a mile away from the school. There are no school zone signs or crossing guards at Rosemeade Parkway, which is a big street with fairly heavy traffic in this mainly residential area. I hate to hear about an injury to a teenager like this, and hopefully after this terrible accident the city will take greater precautions in protecting the students who walk home from school.

Information provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Accident Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who can be contacted toll free at 877-294-1115, or by clicking here.

A man whose car left the road and struck a tree last Thursday has died from injuries he received in the accident in Arlington, Texas. He died Friday at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth.

20-year-old William Alexander Wilson was thrown from his vehicle when his Ford GT left the road and hit a tree in the 1700 block of W. Lamar Boulevard near Fielder Road. Although the accident is still under investigation, police said speed was a likely factor in the accident.

This is such a tragic accident for the family and friends of Mr. Wilson. If he was driving at excessive speeds, as police seem to believe, he could easily have lost control of his car, and striking a tree at high speeds would lead to devastating injuries.

Information provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Accident Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who can be contacted at 817-294-1900, or by clicking here.

83-year-old Ruth Miller died Wednesday morning at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth after she was injured in an auto accident on Tuesday. The passenger in Miller’s car, 89-year-old Leota Hopkins, went to the hospital as well and was later released.

The accident occurred when Miller was driving westbound on East Henderson Street and 55-year-old Alejandrina Cardona turned her SUV left onto Washington Street in front of Miller’s car. The SUV rolled over and stopped upside down. The passengers of the SUV, which included four children, were treated at a hospital and released. Miller was being treated in intensive care until she passed away.

The fault for the accident of course falls on the driver turning left. Turning left on an unprotected green light is always dangerous, and can lead to bad wrecks-in this case, a woman lost her life. Some cities are experimenting with flashing yellow arrows to alert drivers that they must yield the right-of-way to oncoming traffic, which I blogged about today.

Information provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Accident Lawyer Mark A. Anderson, who can be contacted at 817-294-1900, or by clicking here.

Two women were injured when they were hit by a car while walking on the 4600 block of Fossil Ridge Circle Wednesday night. They were walking near the home of one of the women.

The women, ages 48 and 62, were taken to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. The street was dimly lit, and the car that hit them stopped right away. The 46-year-old Bedford driver wasn’t hurt.

Even on a dimly lit street, it the driver’s responsibility to watch out for pedestrians. This driver did the right thing by stopping to help the women. Even though the responsibility is on the driver, however, pedestrians must be careful as well and should consider walking only when it’s bright enough outside to be seen by a passing car.

Information provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Accident Injury Lawyer Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached at 817-294-1900 or who can be contacted by clicking here.

As I blogged about recently, Fort Worth police department officers were out in full force looking for drunk drivers this Labor Day weekend. Well, the effort paid off, because police made 125 driving while intoxicated arrests, and there was only one traffic fatality in Fort Worth over the weekend.

The extra police effort was part of a Texas Transportation Department statewide effort to give grant money to police departments so additional officers could be on the streets. In addition to the statewide effort, the Fort Worth police department conducted a “Stop the Madness” program over Labor Day weekend as well. Additional police officers were put on traffic duty, and officers obtained search warrants for blood tests in incidents of suspected drunk driving. More than 30 officers volunteered to supplement the eight officer DWI force this year.

Over the weekend, police issued 407 traffic citations and 49 DWI arrests were made as part of the “Stop the Madness” program; additionally, 79 DWI arrests were made during the statewide campaign from August 21 through August 31.

Information provided by Fort Worth Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached at 817-294-1900, or contacted by clicking here.

A three-year-old boy died on Saturday afternoon as the result of a tragic accident in Dallas, Texas.

Jacob Vega was riding his bike when he was struck by his mother’s vehicle. She didn’t see him as she drove forward from her parking spot in front of their home. Jacob later died at the hospital. The police are not pressing charges on his mother as they have ruled the incident an accident.

I can’t even imagine the grief this family must be going through. Unfortunately, children are injured in horrible accidents such as this one every day. According to www.kidsandcars.org, 95 children in the United States have died since late June of this year in this type of accident. That’s why it is so important that parents don’t let small children play unattended where they might be in danger of getting hit by a car.

Information provided by Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached at 817-294-1900 or by clicking here.

Ana-Maria Landa, 53, died at the scene of a tragic auto accident early Friday morning after a drunk driver rear-ended her and forced her car into the underside of a bridge.

31-year-old Lawrence Carter was arrested for intoxication manslaughter after causing the fatal accident at the 800 block of I-35 E near Fox Avenue in Lewisville. Carter was driving a Chevrolet Avalanche pickup truck when he struck the back of Landa’s Isuza SUV. The impact of the crash sent the SUV off the highway, across the service road, up the embankment of the Fox Avenue overpass, and into the underside of the bridge.

Carter received only minor injuries. According to police, it was raining heavily at the time of the accident. This probably contributed to the seriousness of the crash. Harsh weather conditions require even more caution while driving, and drunk driving in the rain causes an even more dangerous situation. This car wreck is so tragic because it could have been prevented if only Mr. Carter hadn’t gotten behind the wheel of his truck after drinking.

Information provided by Texas Board Certified Accident Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached toll free at 877-294-1115, or contacted by clicking here.

The Fort Worth police department will have as many as 16 officers per night looking out for drunk drivers this Labor Day weekend. If you’re going to drink and travel, they recommend getting a cab.

Last Labor Day weekend 196 people died in drunken driving crashes across the country and 27 people were killed in Texas. Fort Worth police hope to prevent any fatalities this year. When they took similar measured during the July 4th weekend, no one died in traffic accidents. Police did arrest 43 people that weekend on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.

A new law that went into effect on Tuesday will make it even easier to make drunk driving arrests. Now mandatory blood tests to determine blood alcohol content can be performed on anyone with felony DWI cases, suspected drunken driving crashes where someone is injured and goes to the hospital, and DWI arrests with a child younger than 15 in the car. Police will get search warrants to perform blood tests on suspected drunk drivers who don’t already fall into those categories.

Drunk driving is always stupid, and your chances of getting caught will increase this weekend.

Information provided by Fort Worth Accident Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached at 817-294-1900 or contacted by clicking here.

Photo from The Fort Worth Star Telegram

A driver suspected of being drunk drove his car through the front of a Wal-Mart this morning. After crashing through the front doors he then jumped into the bed of a passing pickup and tried to flee. The pickup driver collided with several cars in the parking lot as he tried to remove the man from his truck.

According to witnesses the man drove erratically through the parking lot before crashing his vehicle into the front of the Wal-Mart near I-30 and Eastchase Parkway in Fort Worth, Texas. Unfortunately the car accident injured a Wal-Mart employee who was standing near the front of the store.

Police arrested the driver suspected of being drunk.

Drunk driving is a bad problem. This guy was drinking in the morning and was driving through a busy parking lot. It is amazing that more people were not injured. At this time of year with all of the back-to-school shopping, it is very fortunate that there were no children injured or killed. I certainly hope that the Wal Mart employee is OK.

Information provided by Mark A. Anderson, Fort Worth Injury Lawyer.

Despite overwhelming support from the House and Senate, Governor Rick Perry vetoed a bicycle-safety measure in the last legislative session that would require motorists to give cyclists and other vulnerable road users at least 3 feet of clearance when passing. The proposed law would have fined drivers $500 if they did not provide runners, motorcyclists, bicyclists and tow truck drivers at least 3 feet of clearance.

Gov. Perry apparently feels that there are already plenty of laws that protect cyclists and other non-motorists on our Texas roadways. This has undoubtedly irked many cyclists and organizations that support the shared use of our roads.

In an incident that occurred June 8, 2008, a young gentleman named Kenneth Bain stands accused of hitting and killing two cyclists in Duncanville. Meredith Hatch, 38, and Michael Alfaro, 36, were hit from behind and killed on Camp Wisdom road when Bain’s Lincoln Navigator struck them.

When a cyclist or pedestrian accident occurs on Texas roadways, liability insurance policies should be in place to punish careless drivers and provide compensation for the victims of such accidents. These accident victims are often left with incredibly high medical bills and are forced to miss work as a result of their injuries.

Information provided by Texas Board Certified Injury Lawyer Mark A. Anderson, who can be contacted at 817-294-1900 or online by clicking here.

What started as a daily bicycle ride for 59-year-old Ronnie Monroe Keller ended in his tragic death on Saturday night when drunk driver Vincent Paul Riojas struck him with his car and left Keller in the backseat to die.

Police say Riojas hit Keller on his bike on the 3400 block of East Main Street in Fort Worth, Texas-less than a mile from Riojas’s house, which is where he fled with Keller still in his car. Damage to Riojas’s auto indicates that when he hit Keller, the cyclist flew into the front windshield, over the roof, and partway through the back window. Since Riojas was covered in blood when they found him, police believe he may have removed the injured Keller from the back window and placed him in the backseat. Police found Keller in the car after Riojas’s family called 911 when they saw their bloodied son and his visibly damaged Chevrolet Cavalier hidden around the side of the house.

This bicycle accident is horrific for so many reasons. If Riojas hadn’t been driving drunk, he surely would have noticed Keller and avoided the accident in the first place. If he had called police immediately after the accident occurred, police believe it may have saved Keller’s life-he was pronounced dead after being taken to a local hospital, and had lain helplessly injured in Riojas’s car for about 20 minutes.

Of course Riojas was taken to jail; he was arrested on charges of intoxicated manslaughter and failure to stop and render aid, as well as resisting arrest and charges of an existing unrelated felony warrant. Unfortunately this will provide little comfort to those who lost a friend and family member in a tragic drunk driving accident that could have been avoided.

Information and commentary provided by Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Mark A. Anderson, who can be contacted at 817-294-1900 or online by clicking here.

A speeding drunk driver caused a fatal accident early this morning on University Drive in Fort Worth, Texas. Police had just clocked the drunk driver going 53 m.p.h. in the 1600 block of University, but the FWPD officer lost sight of the vehicle. Soon thereafter, the drunk driver slammed into a silver car which had stopped at the light at University and 7th Street. Renee Horton, a 24 year old from Wichita Falls, Texas was a passenger in the silver car and was pronounced dead at the scene. The drunk driver, who was not identified by the police, was arrested on suspicion of intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault.

This is a tragic and obviously preventable accident. Texas has a real problem with drunk driving. Each year we lead the national statistics on number of alcohol related deaths. And we average over 1500 deaths each year as a result of drunk drivers. While each accident is different, the criminal case will hopefully result in substantial punishment for this one reckless but irreversible act of negligence. Any civil claim based on liability insurance policies or uninsured motorists policies will never truly compensate the family of the young girl.

Fort Worth Accident and Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson can be contacted at 817-294-1900 or by clicking here.

For the second time in a month, a horrible crash has claimed the lives of innocent victims near a construction site on I-35 south of Gainesville. And just like the previous wreck, a tractor-trailer was not paying attention and slammed into the back of a vehicle, causing a terrible chain reaction. The wreck happened just before noon on Monday north of FM 1306. A tractor-trailer driven by 59-year-old James Creighton of Dallas came barreling into backed-up construction traffic where two lanes were merging into one, causing a Chevrolet car to burst into flames. Anthony Brandon, 48, and his wife, Kimberly, 47, both of Bedford, died instantly, leaving 3 teenage daughters and members of Harwood Terrace Church in Bedford in shock. The 18-wheeler, registered to Bradco Supply in Irving, then struck a small Honda sedan, injuring Carroll Whaley, 63, and his wife Linda, 61, who were treated and released at an area hospital. The truck next hit a Nissan and killed the driver, 55-year-old Darryl Hoosier of Lafayette, La. Finally, the rig hit another truck driven by Charles Haney, 53, who suffered only minor injuries. The driver of the tractor-trailer was only slightly injured. Officials blame the dangerous construction zone on KKM Construction, which has failed to meet its deadline on repairs of the 70 year old Elm Fork bridge over the Trinity River. Although warning signs begin 7 miles before the lanes merge, and again posted at one mile intervals before the construction zone, the site remains a mess that has lingered far too long and has now been blamed for 5 wrongful deaths. Driver inattention is also a huge contributing factor in these tragic trucking accidents. Big rigs are dangerous vehicles that are operated many times by drivers who have had too little sleep, are under deadlines, or simply zone out from boredom on the road. When drivers are negligent and unaware of approaching traffic conditions, consequences are often on a large scale. The amount of time it takes for the driver to react and slow an 18-wheeler to a stop from 70 mph is too great to allow for driver inattention. In this instance, before the truck could come to a stop, he ran over 4 other vehicles causing a path of death and destruction that even seasoned officials couldn’t believe. Mark A. Anderson of Fort Worth is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law. He focuses his practice on helping those seriously injured or killed by the wrongful acts of others. He can be reached online by clicking here or by phone at 817-294-1900.

Another drunk driving accident here in the Metroplex. In the early morning hours of July 31, 2009, Karla Rivers, 45, was killed when her Jeep SUV was hit head-on by a black Infiniti driven by Ramiro Moreno. Rivers was on her way home from work at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas at the time of the accident which occurred around 12:30 a.m. on Interstate 20 near Polk Street. Moreno, 29, and his passenger, Ian Edward Pierson, 21, were also killed in the accident.

Investigators found evidence of alcohol in Moreno’s vehicle. Rivers was only a few miles from her home when Moreno crashed into her as he drove eastbound in a westbound lane of I-20. Another vehicle narrowly avoided being hit when the driver saw the oncoming lights of the Infiniti coming at him. As that driver’s wife attempted to call 911, she saw “a burst of dark, black smoke” as the vehicles crashed behind them.

These types of accidents have been in the news earlier this year when multiple crashes occurred on the Dallas North Tollway due to drivers going the wrong-way resulting in the deaths of four people. Reflective buttons and “Wrong Way” and “Do Not Enter” signs have been installed by the North Texas Tollway Authority in hopes of decreasing these types of deadly incidents.

Information provided by Texas Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who can be contacted online by clicking here or at 817-294-1900.

Toxicology results have revealed that Diane Schuler, 36, was under the influence of alcohol and marijuana at the time of a horrific crash on the Taconic State Parkway in Briarcliff Manor, New York on July 26, 2009. Schuler was returning home from a camping trip when she drove her Ford Windstar minivan on the wrong side of the road and smashed head-on into a Chevrolet Trail Blazer. Among the dead were Schuler, her 2-year-old daughter and her three nieces ages 5, 7 and 8. The driver of the Trail Blazer, Guy Bastardi, his father and a family friend were also killed. The only survivor from the fiery crash was Schuler’s 5-year-old son who is hospitalized in stable condition.

An accident investigator indicated that at approximately 1 p.m. Schuler phoned her brother stating that she did not feel well and was “disoriented and had trouble seeing.” Her brother told her to pull to the side of the road and wait for him to come to her aid. Unfortunately, Schuler did not wait for her brother and drove directly into the unsuspecting oncoming traffic at about 1:35 p.m.

Come on, drinking and smoking with kids in the car? Drinking and driving is a huge problem. In Texas, about half of the vehicle fatalities are related to alcohol.

Information and commentary provided by Mark A. Anderson, Texas Injury Attorney. Please contact the Anderson Law Firm at 817-294-1900 for any questions.

Marion Linville of Weatherford died last night when the Ford truck he was driving crossed into oncoming traffic in the 500 block of W. 4th Street in Weatherford. According to the Weatherford Police Department, Mr. Linville was westbound and for some unknown reason veered into the eastbound lanes and struck a Toyota Minivan occupied by two women. One of the ladies, Sandra Whittlesey of Arlington, was care-flighted to Harris Hospital (Texas Heath) in downtown Fort Worth. She was listed in good condition today. The other occupant of the minivan was Phyllis Whittlesey, age 22, who was taken by ground ambulance to Harris Hospital, where she was treated and released. The truck Mr. Linville was driving also hit a third vehicle, but no one was injured in that vehicle.

This is a strange motor vehicle accident (MVA), as there is no apparent reason for it. Even though no criminal charges are expected, hopefully the cause of the accident will be investigated. I have handled some cases where a medical condition caused someone to drive erratically. Could that be the case here? Or was it a distraction like a ringing cell phone? Maybe the cause will never be known.

Information and commentary provided by Fort Worth Accident Lawyer Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached at 817-294-1900 or ONLINE.

In a tragic accident which may have been alcohol related, two women in their 20’s were ejected from a black Honda sedan about three a.m. on Friday morning. It happened when the driver struck the guardrail on the ramp from Airport Freeway (Highway 121) as it merges onto I-35W Southbound. The driver then lost control of the Honda and it rolled over Both ladies were ejected, causing the Fort Worth Police to assume that they were not wearing their seatbelts. The FWPD also reported that several alcoholic beverages containers were found at the scene.

I am making some assumptions here, but judging by the alcoholic containers and the time of the accident, I would assume that alcohol probably played a role in this accident. Each year in Texas, there are over 1,500 fatalities on Texas roads that are attributed to alcohol. While the legal limit is .08 BAC (Blood Alcohol Content), any amount of alcohol that impairs ones ability to judge and react is dangerous.

Plus, it appears that the ladies were not wearing their seatbelts. It is the law that all front seat passengers wear their seatbelts (and it will be the law in Texas effective September 1, 2009 that ALL passengers must wear seatbelts). It almost goes without saying that it is proven that wearing seatbelts saves lives.

This Information provided by Fort Worth Auto Accident and DWI Accident Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who can by reached ONLINE or at 817-294-1900.

A 19 year old woman from Grand Prairie, Amanda Marie Ray, has turned herself in to Arlington, Texas Police after she fled the scene of a fatal accident. The wreck occurred on Interstate 20 in Arlington near the Little Road/U.S. 287 Exit. Her car hit a van being driven by John Price, a 75 year old man from Arlington, causing the van to hit the median and then rollover. Mr. Price was transported to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, where he died. Two other people who were in the van were also transported to JPS for injuries.

The vehicle being driven by Ms. Ray fled, taking the upcoming exit. Police were provided information which led them to Ms. Ray by several witnesses. She is now in jail.

This is a tragic car accident. I do not know the facts of what caused the car to hit the van, but I am confident that speed and reckless driving had something to do with it. The young lady should face criminal charges for not only her (presumed) reckless driving, but also her spineless act of leaving the scene of an accident. We all know that you just don’t do that—you must stop and render aid.

For the sake of the family of Mr. Price and the other victims that were injured in the accident, I hope Ms. Ray carried enough liability insurance. While money will never makes things right, it might help with the financial difficulties caused by losing a loved one. But many drivers do not carry insurance or only carry the state minimum of $25,000 in liability insurance. Hopefully. Mr. Price carried uninsured motorist’s protection on the van which will compensate his family even if the lady had no insurance or only the minimum insurance.

Information and commentary provided by Accident and Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached at 87-294-1900 or who can be Contacted Online.

An 11-year-old boy is in "very critical condition" this morning after he was struck by a car in east Fort Worth around 5:30 a.m.

The boy and three other children were playing with shopping carts on the access road of East Loop 820 in between Ellis Road and Meadowbrook Drive when the pedestrian-auto accident happened.

A 31-year-old woman in a Dodge Stratus said the boy ran out in front of her and she was unable to stop in time before hitting him. He was rushed to Cook Children's Hospital where he is currently being treated for his serious injuries.

Investigators said they were called to the area because they had gotten reports of children out past curfew. They also said the day before, the boy who was hit and another kid who was out were reported as runaways.

This is a sad story--especially if the child is a runaway. I can only imagine a parent's worry over their child missing, let alone finding out from authorities that their child has been critically injured. I hope FWPD will be able to locate the boy's family and that he is able to recover from his injuries.

Pedestrian accdidents can have devastating effects since people have no protection against the force of a car hitting them. If you or a loved one has been hurt by a vehicle, please contact Board Certified Pedestrian Accident Lawyer Mark Anderson by calling 817-294-1900.

Yesterday I wrote about the three-vehicle crash which happened Sunday night on the exit ramp of I-30 and Cherry Lane near downtwon Fort Worth. That wreck claimed the life of 78-year-old Floyd Boortz and last night, a second victim died from his critical injuries.

Adrian Boortz, 20, was taken to Texas Health Harris Hospital Sunday night after the 10 p.m. accident and was pronounced dead last night around 7 p.m. from his injuries.

Adrian and Floyd Boortz were putting gas in their van on the access road when a 35-year-old driver of a Kia SUV crashed into them and their van as the motorist was exiting the freeway. A 20-year-old woman in the van was not injured and a 2-year-old toddler was taken to Cook Children's Hospital to be checked out but did not seem to be injured. The Kia went on to slam into a Dodge sedan in front of the parked van whose driver had stop to help the men fill their vehicle with gas.

Neither the driver of the Dodge or the Kia were injured.

An accident investigation has revealed alcohol or drugs were not a factor in this accident. Unfortunately, it has turned into two wrongful death accidents. This family seems to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. My heart goes out to whom I assume is the wife or girlfriend of the second victim--the 20-year-old woman and the child in the van.

Wrongful death claims can be brought by relatives left behind by victims of tragic accidents like these. If you have questions about wrongful death claims in Texas, please contact the Anderson Law Firm to learn your rights by calling 817-294-1900.

A 78-year-old man died last night and a 20-year-old is in critical condition after the two were involved in a vehicle-accident on an Interstate 30 access road in Fort Worth.

Floyd Boortz and an unidentified 20-year-old were stalled on the Cherry Lane exit ramp filling their van with gas when a Kia SUV hit them as it was exiting the freeway. The auto accident happened around 10 p.m. and Boortz died from his injuries shortly after at Texas Health Harris Hospital in downtown Fort Worth. The 20-year-old man is still being treating at Harris.

A two-year-old toddler and 20-year-old female were in the van when the Kia struck the two men outside, as well as the van, and then went on to hit a Dodge sedan parked in front of the van whose driver had stopped to help put gas in the men's van.

Police did not release the name of the 35-year-old driver who casused the accident, but investigators don't believe alcohol or drugs were factors in the crash. An investigation will further reveal what happened.

This is a devastating wrongful death case because there were so many people involved in the accident who witnessed the Kia striking the two men. Fortunately, the woman and her baby were not injured and I hope the 20-year-old man's injuries heal quickly.

If you or someone you know has been injured or killed as the result of someone else's negligence, please contact Board Certified Fort Worth Accident Lawyer Mark Anderson for a free consultation by calling 817-294-1900.

A horrible wreck occurred Friday during afternoon rush hour on the eastbound lanes on Northwest Loop 820 in Fort Worth, Texas. The wreck started when a pickup rear ended a Chrysler. Then a Chevy Trailblazer rear ended the pickup, and a Grand Cherokee ran into the back of the Trailblazer. The bus operated by the Fort Worth Transportation Authority ran into the Grand Cherokee, which caught fire. The fire killed the driver of the Cherokee. The fire also spread to the T bus and the Trailblazer.

Besides the death, this chain-reaction accident caused other injuries. Two of the drivers were transported to Parkland Hospital’s burn unit. Two others with lesser injuries went to local Fort Worth hospitals.

The driver of the T bus, Ronnie Ware, was able to assist the sole passenger off the bus, and the passenger was not injured.

This horrible wreck surely could have been prevented. Driving in rush hour where the cars are more apt to slow and stop on the freeway takes extra precaution. Here, the drivers were approaching Interstate 35 and the traffic is usually bad there at that time of day. I am sure the investigation will focus on what caused the initial accident and why the T bus was unable to come to a stop. Bus and Truck accidents usually have serious, often fatal results.

Fort Worth Accident Lawyer Mark A. Anderson assists those injured or the families of those killed as the result of others negligent acts. Contact us at 817-294-1900 or at www.maafirm.com.

Photo from www.star-telegram.com.

One person died and five or six were injured in a crash on the monorail train system in the Magic Kingdom park at Walt Disney World over the weekend.

The accident happened at 2 a.m. early Sunday morning in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. 21-year-old Austin Wuennenberg died at the scene. He was the driver of one of the wrecked trains. The driver of the other train was not injured.

This is the first monorail-related fatality at Walt Disney World in Florida; there has been one at Disneyland in California. The Florida monorail has been in operation for 38 years.

The transit system--which carts thousands of people around the Disney parks each day--was shut down Sunday while an accident investigation was conducted. There's been no word yet on what caused the crash.

Information provided by Fort Worth Board Certified Accident Attorney Mark A. Anderson.

A car lost control and slid into the side of Brett Michaels' tour bus on Saturday, July 4th.

The VH1 Rock of Love star and his band, Poison, were traveling from Canada to St. Paul, Minnesota for a concert when the bus accident happened in Toronto. Five vehicles were involved in the pile-up, including the band's tour bus, but fortunately, no one suffered serious injuries.

Michaels was able to perform today in Minnesota. He plans on re-joining Poison in Connecticut or a concert Monday.

Information provided by DFW Personal Injury Lawyer Mark A. Anderson. Mark can be reached for a free consultation by calling 817-294-1900.

A University of Texas linebacker suffered a concussion last week after his car crashed into an Austin apartment building on June 24.

Sergio Kindle of Dallas and a senior at UT this year, was either sending or receiving a text-message when he slammed into the building, causing $8,700 in property damage. He was able to get out and pull the car back onto the street and fortunately, no one inside the building was injured.

Kindle was examined by team doctors who diagnosed him with a concussion, however he did not have to go to the hospital. According to his attorney, Kindle plans on paying for the damage himself, or through his car insurance if it will cover the accident.

An accident report was filed through the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), but no charges were filed since no one was injured and it was an accident.

Kindle had a successful season last year, but in 2007, he was forced to miss the first 10 games for suspension relating to a drunk-driving arrest.

Since Kindle was at-fault for this accident and he hit a stationary object, there is no room for him to make a personal injury claim if he suffered long-term injuries. Unfortunately, he will just have to pay the property damage and any medical bills with his own insurance, or out-of-pocket.

If you have questions about personal injury accidents in Texas, contact Board Certified Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson online, or by calling 817-294-1900.

A 41-year-old Arlington man lost control of his motorcycle and was ejected over an overpass yesterday afternoon.

The motorcycle crash happened around 2 p.m. when Douglas D. Trimm was driving on the Texas 360 overpass from northbound I-20. He suddenly lost control of his bike and was ejected off of it falling off the pass onto the westbound lanes of I-20. Trimm’s bike skidded all the way down the overpass before coming to rest in the median.

Trimm was rushed to Methodist Medical Center in Dallas where he died an hour later.
This is one more of a handful of motorcycle-related accident fatalities this spring and brings Arlington’s traffic fatality count to 18 this year.

If you’ve been injured in a motorcycle wreck, contact Board Certified DFW Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Mark Anderson for a free consultation by calling 817-294-1900.

Photograph from www.star-telegram.com.

It's barely 4 p.m. and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is already reporting two major wrecks which are blocking lanes and backing up traffic.

The first accident is blocking two lanes on Interstate 20 at the Grandbury Road exit. The left southbound lanes are blocked off and the impact is being reported as severe. No details of the crash or those involved has been releasd yet.

An even worse accident is being reported on Westbound Interstate 35 in Fort Worth approaching Airport Freeway/Highway 121 where an 18-wheel tractor trailor crash has left the big rig overturned. All lanes are blocked and only the left shoulder is getting by. There have also been no reports of injuries in that accident.

For the latest traffic reports, visit wfaa.com for a full list. And remember to contact the Anderson Law Firm if you've been injured in an auto accident by calling 817-294-1900.

The city of Fort Worth will be adding 10 more red light cameras around town. Currently, 17 intersections have cameras and 25 cameras are in use. Adding 10 more will make the count 35 total cameras—all of which were added in just the last year.

Nearly half of the people who run red lights and get tickets have not paid them, so the city has hired a collections agency to go after them. Approximately 4,000 people per month are ticketed for running lights with cameras and the fine is $75.

While adding cameras may make some intersections safer, many argue the threat of a ticket increases the chance for car accidents like rear-end collisions when people slam their brakes to prevent running red lights.

Fort Worth isn’t the only Metroplex city installing cameras. Several North Texas cities have joined the trend and turned on cameras to catch bad drivers.

Good or bad, drivers take caution when approaching red lights anywhere in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Here’s a list of the six intersections which will get new cameras:

1) Hulen Street at Loop 820 (north and southbound)
2) Trinity Boulevard at Texas 360 (east and westbound)
3) Altamesa Boulevard at McCart Avenue (south and westbound)
4) Ashland Avenue at Interstate 30
5) Berry Street at Interstate 35 (east and westbound)
6) Belknap at Henderson Street

Information provided by Board Certified DFW Accident Attorney Mark A. Anderson 817-294-1900.

If you have been injured in an automobile wreck, truck collision, motorcycle crash, or any other type of accident which causes personal injuries in Texas, you must be aware of the relevant law called the Statute of Limitations. This law requires you to file a lawsuit at a local Texas Courthouse within two years of the date of the accident. If you have not resolved your injury case before then, it is absolutely imperative that this very strict two-year deadline is complied with. Failing to file a lawsuit within the two-year time frame eliminates your right to pursue a claim forever.

And it's imporatant not to wait until the eve of your two years to think about purusing an injury claim. If you've been injured as the result of another person's negligence, you should consider hiring a Board Certified Injury Attorney as soon as possible after your accident. Sooner is better because crucial evidence must be collected before it disappears. Plus, it's very common for injured parties to make mistakes on their claims if they don't have the guidance of an experienced personal injury lawyer.

The common mistakes injury victims make are discussed in detail in the newly released book by Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson. It's appropriately titled, 15 Mistakes That Will Wreck Your Texas Accident Case. This informative book is available for FREE to Texas residents who may order it by calling 817-294-1900 or by visiting: www.DontWreckYourCase.com.

In Texas, it’s the law to carry liability insurance on your car. This type of insurance covers (or pays for) the damage you cause to someone else in an accident. In a perfect world, everyone would carry liability insurance as required by law. But this isn’t a perfect world. Here in Texas, it’s estimated that over 20% of the cars on our roads carry no liability insurance at all. So what happens if you get in a wreck with someone who has no insurance? Well, you are probably out of luck and will be stuck with huge car repair and medical bills, unless you carry the right kind of insurance yourself.

I highly recommend to all of my clients that they carry uninsured motorists’ coverage (UIM). This insurance covers YOU if you are injured in an accident that was someone else’s fault and he or she doesn’t have insurance. It also covers you if the other person caused you damage which exceeds the insurance coverage that they had. The way this comes about is if they have only a minimum limits policy (currently $25,000) and your damages exceed that amount. If you have UIM coverage, then your own insurance will pay for all damages that exceed the other persons insurance, up to the amount of insurance you purchased.

This is relatively cheap insurance to purchase, so I strongly recommend it to protect yourself. Just one trip to the hospital can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Whether or not you have health insurance, these bills can cause an incredible strain on your finances. With all of the uninsured drivers, and with all of the ones who only carry the minimum limits, it makes sense to safeguard yourself.

This issue is discussed in depth in Mark A. Anderson’s new book 15 Mistakes That Will Wreck Your Texas Accident Case. This book is available for FREE to Texas residents and can be obtained by calling 817-294-1900 or by filling out an order form at www.maafirm.com.

Dallas resident Neil Russell Murphy, 66, was killed Thursday morning in a bike accident with a car. A 57-year-old Lake Dallas driver in a 1992 Chevrolet was behind Murphy and collided with the back of his vintage Western Flyer Bike (see picture). Murphy was taken to Methodist Dallas Medical Center where he later died.

The bicycle pedestrian accident happened in the 1200 block of North Cockrell Hill Road in Dallas at approximately 9:30 a.m. The driver of the Chevy stopped and charges weren’t filed, however, the case has been referred to a grand jury since it’s being investigated as a criminally negligent homicide.

When vehicles collide with bicyclists or pedestrians, the results are almost always tragic or life-changing. Even though Mr. Murphy was wearing a helmet, it wasn’t enough to protect his body from the force of the car. Drivers need to be extra cautious of pedestrians during these summer months and likewise, pedestrians need to use sidewalks whenever possible.

Wrongful death Attorney Mark A. Anderson is happy to offer free consultations to those who have been hurt in pedestrian accidents or to families who have lost loved ones in such circumstances. Contact the Anderson Law Firm online for further information.

I get this question often, as a lot of injured people don’t want to run out and hire an attorney right after they are hurt. Sometimes, they want to see if their injuries heal on their own and sometimes they want to see if they can handle their claim by themselves. All of that is understandable, but one must be careful not to wait too long, as delaying hiring an experienced injury attorney can end up hurting your own case.

Mark Anderson discusses all the various ways injured parties “wreck” their claims in his new book, 15 Mistakes That Will Wreck Your Texas Accident Case. One sure fire way is if the injured party tries to handle a serious injury claim on their own, without the assistance and guidance from a personal injury attorney. They injury claim process is slanted in favor of the insurance company and hiring a good lawyer is the only way to level the playing field. Knowing how to present a claim and pursue a lawsuit is not something that can be learned overnight.

For a free copy of 15 Mistakes, call the Anderson Law Firm at 817-294-1900 or order it online at www.DontWreckYourCase.com. The book is free only to Texas residents.

Of course, the Anderson Law Firm provides free consultations and a free case analysis for all callers. Check us out online or give us a call.

If you have been injured in an auto accident, or any other type of accident for that matter, you have a ton of options when it comes down to hiring a lawyer for your Texas accident claim. Hiring an attorney is a very important decision and it's sometimes very difficult to try and weed through all of the attorneys out there who hold themselves out as being “injury attorneys.” So how do you know you're making the right decision? The best thing to do is to limit your search to only attorneys who are Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. This is a designation held by only 2% of the roughly 80,000 lawyers who practice law in Texas.

What does it mean to be Board Certified? It means that the attorney has passed a rigorous test on injury topics, has tried a certain number of cases to a jury, has been recommended by local attorneys and judges and has been practicing a certain number of years. There are plenty of qualified attorneys in Texas who are Board Certified, so there's no reason that an injury victim should settle for a lawyer who is not Board Certified.

The importance of hiring a Board Certified Injury Attorney is discussed in Mark A. Anderson’s new book, 15 Mistakes That Will Wreck your Texas Accident Case. This book is full of information which is helpful to accident victims. The Anderson Law Firm is offering a copy of the book FREE to Texas residents. To order your free copy, please call the firm at 817-294-1900. The book can also be ordered online at www.DontWreckYourCase.com.

A family outing to the beach quickly turned tragic Sunday after a car collision struck a family on Galveston’s seawall sidewalk, killing a man and two children.

A sport utility vehicle was speeding and rear-ended a car, coming to rest upside down on the sidewalk next to the beach near 12th Street in Galveston. The crash happened around 10:30 p.m.

25-year-old Tremane Albert, his 10-year-old stepson Alan Meredith and a child from another family, Isaiah Barnett, 3, were all struck by the vehicles and killed. Albert’s wife and another child were close by at the time of the pedestrian accident, but were fortunately, unharmed. The families at the beach were from Houston.

Police confirmed that in addition to speed, alcohol was a contributing factor to the crash. The driver of the SUV was taken to a Houston hospital where he was tested for alcohol in his system. No charges have been filed yet.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured or killed as the result of another person’s negligence, contact Texas Board Certified Personal Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson for a free consultation at 817-294-1900.

A vehicle wreck on Interstate 35 in Lewisville left one dead Sunday night.

Darla Dale, a 39-year-old woman from Lake Dallas died at the scene after she lost control of her Pontiac Sunfire, hit a wall and then spun out, crashing into two more vehicles. This accident occurred on I-35E just after 9 p.m. near the exit for FM 407 in Lewsville.

The occupants of the two other vehicles Dale hit—a Chevy Impala and a Pontiac G6—fortunately did not report any injuries.

An accident investigation is still underway to determine what caused Dale to lose control of her car.

If you have been in a car crash and sustained injuries due to the result of someone else’s negligence, please contact the Anderson Law Firm at 817-294-1900.

A 47-year-old woman was killed early Thursday morning when a car hit her around 12:30 a.m. The pedestrian accident happened when Lora Wallace was crossing the street at 7000 Keller Parkway and a car struck her, causing serious injuries. Wallace was taken to John Peter Smith (JPS) Hospital in Fort Worth where she died shortly thereafter of head trauma. No citations were given to the driver of the car who said he or she didn’t see Wallace in the crosswalk.

If you have been injured in a crosswalk-pedestrian accident, or other accident involving personal injuries, please contact Board Certified Personal Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson at 817-294-1900 for a free consultation.

Wednesday around 4:30 p.m. a 10-year-old boy was impaled by a crowbar after the pickup truck he was riding in was rear-ended in Ennis, Texas. The car accident—which happened at the intersection of Highway 287 and Highway 34, caused an inch-in-diameter crowbar from the bed of the truck to be thrust into the cab. It impaled the boy’s lower back and leg and continued on to pierce his 38-year-old mother’s back, who was seated in front of him in the front passenger seat.

It took fire and rescue crews almost two hours to cut the boy out of the truck; rescuers said he was alert, oriented and talking throughout the process. He was taken to Medical City Children’s Hospital in Dallas and his mother was taken to Parkland Hospital. Miraculously, neither suffered life-threatening injuries.

The woman who hit the Ford Ranger pickup truck, causing the accident will not be charged. The wreck happened yesterday during the severe thunderstorm weather that hit North Texas.

If you or your child has suffered bodily injuries as the result of someone else's negligence, in a car wreck--or any other type of personal injury accident, please contact the Anderson Law Firm for a free consultation on how to recover damages.

Photo courtesy of NBC-Dallas.

Imagine that you're crossing a street at a crosswalk and you have the right of way. All of a sudden, a car flies around a corner and crashes into you. Pedestrian accidents like this scenario can be serious and often fatal, and unfortunately there is little you can do to prevent them if you're following the rules.

Most pedestrian accidents restult in serious injuries.

An alarming 64,000 pedestrians are injured each year and over 5,000 of these injuries result in fatalities. That means that a pedestrian is injured almost every eight minutes; someone just walking along, minding their own business and in a second a car strikes them and changes their life. Incredibly, over 85 percent of pedestrian accidents occur in urban areas--where drivers know to look for pedestrians in crosswalks and drives. The fact that the pedestrian accident rate is so high shows that drivers simply don't look before pulling out or turning a corner, and unfortunately, you or a loved one could be seriously injured as a result of another person's carelessness.

Pedestrian accidents fall under the same insurance policy as motor vehicle accidents.

If a person in a vehicle strikes you as a pedestrian, that person's auto insurance policy is just as valid as if he or she had hit the driver of another vehicle. If the negligence falls on the driver--and in many states the driver in a pedestrian accident is always liable, then that driver's auto insurance policy must pay your medical bills and other recoverable damages.

Unfortunately, due to the potentially life-altering nature of pedestrian injuries compared to injuries commonly sustained in car collisions, low auto policy limits may not be enough to cover your medical bills. Medical treatment is almost always more extensive since there is no protection of another vehicle between a pedestrian and the impact from a car or truck.

Hiring an experienced personal injury attorney to pursue an at-fault driver personally, to pay the rest of your medical bills and any other sufferable damages incurred (i.e. time off of work, loss of benefits, etc.) will help you recover the compensation you deserve after such a traumatic incident. Please contact the Anderson Law Firm for a free consultation if you or someone you know has been injured in a pedestrian accident at 817-294-1900.

If you’ve ever tried to leave Northeast Mall during rush-hour, then you know just how awful the traffic is in Hurst, Texas, right there where the three major North Texas highways interchange. Well it’s official—the interchange where Loop 820, Highway 121 and Airport Freeway (Highway 183) all intersect has been given the title: “Most Congested Area of the Metroplex.”

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s been stuck in traffic in that area—at any time of the day, really—whether driving to or from work, or just taking someone to the airport. The area has been officially rated by a traffic company as the worst bottleneck in North Texas.
I can’t tell you the number of calls we get from those who have been in truck accidents, car wrecks and motorcycle collisions in Hurst and along that whole stretch of Airport Freeway into Euless and Bedford.

Luckily, the $2 billion North Tarrant Express is aimed to alleviate much of the stress on that particular area, however it’s not expected to be completed until 2015. And I don’t even want to think about how much worse traffic will be when the construction begins (it’s projected to take five years). The Texas Department of Transportation is going to have to do something to keep that bottleneck moving or North Texans will have to put up with the ever-growing congestion for six more years until the Express is finally complete.

If you have been involved in a vehicle-related crash on that stretch of road, or any other in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, please call the Anderson Law Firm to learn how you can recover compensation for your injuries.

LEGISLATURE OPPOSES SPEEDING CAMERAS

About a month ago, the state announced it was changing various Dallas-Fort Worth speed limits on different interstate stretches, effective as soon as new signs were posted. This mostly meant reducing speeds from 65 to 60 miles per hour on roads like Loop 820 and Interstates 30 and 35 in and around the Metroplex. At the same time, state legislators have been discussing a bill which would implement the use of cameras to take pictures of speeders and send them tickets in the mail to enforce local speed limits (much like red-light cameras do for those who run them). Luckily for speeders, Thursday’s legislature opposed the idea presented by the Department of Public Safety and area counties who proposed it.

UPDATE ON MEXICAN TOUR BUS WRECK

The company who owned the Grupo Sendo bus which was demolished Monday after a drunk driver in an 18-wheel tractor trailer crashed into it in Mexico announced it will cover the funeral costs, medical bills and transportation expenses for the 11 victims of the wreck. Seven of the 11 killed were Americans. The Mexican company, based out of Brownsville, Texas has offered to help out—even though it wasn’t at-fault, because the driver of the semi-truck was uninsured.

Uninsured drivers are a huge problem and cases like this prove why. The number of injured and wrongfully killed parties on that tour bus who could make personal injury claims is huge, and there’s no insurance to cover their medical bills and pain and suffering, unless they use their own coverage (assuming they have it).

Please take this tragic situation as a lesson and look into getting yourself uninsured motorist coverage, so that if you’re in an accident with someone who’s uninsured, you’ll have something to fall back on. I think the bus company is extremely generous for helping out.

Please contact the Anderson Law Firm if you have questions about the different types of insurance coverage or if you’ve been injured in a truck/bus accident.

Area ambulances are trying to fund a new fleet of vehicles to decrease the time the injured have to wait for help. The only problem is, ambulance services like Medstar, are using patients to foot the bill.

Lately, Medstar has made changes to try and get to accident scenes quicker—their goal is to reach 90 percent of patients in less than nine minutes. To do this, they have recently started stationing their ambulances around the mid-cities area near places where personal injury accidents, like car crashes, commonly occur. Medstar services to 15 cities in Tarrant County and wants to add at least five more working ambulances, per day, to the current system.

Right now, Medstar has proposed the cities it serves to foot the bill for new vehicles and if they refuse to pay, the burden will fall onto the citizens. It seems to be putting city council members in tough positions. Some say that they’d be willing to pay for new vans if Medstar can prove its goal of reaching 90 percent of injured people within nine minutes. Those with critical injuries—usually from vehicle accidents, can’t wait much more than that for help.

Helping injured people receive quicker treatment is great, but many are worried about the cost—and for good reason. Currently, for a Medstar ambulance to pick a patient up, it charges about 1,200 dollars. On top of that, the company charges an extra fee for millage. Before a person even gets to a hospital, they’ve already racked up over a thousand-dollar bill. So obviously increasing this amount worries many people.

It will be interesting to see who ends up having to pay for this, and if it ends up being Dallas-Fort Worth Cities, how they’ll prove whether their money is being put to good use or not.
If you or someone you know has suffered bodily injury as the result of another person’s negligence, please call the Anderson Law Firm at 817-294-1900 for a free consultation.

The driver of an 18-Wheel Tractor Trailer faces homicide charges after his semi truck crashed into a Mexican tour bus on Monday, killing 11 and injuring many more. Investigators are still waiting on toxicology results to show the truck driver’s blood alcohol level which many suspect was over the limit. The Grupo Senda bus tour, which was hired out by McAllen, Texas-based Viva Mexico Tours was headed to Zacatecas in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, which was just one stop along the four-day tour of the area.

The semi-driver apparently lost control and swerved to overcompensate before crashing into the driver side of the tour bus. The truck had been traveling in the opposite direction of the bus. One of the bus passengers who escaped death said the first six rows of the tour bus were completely crushed. The driver of the tour bus, Cesar Garcia of Mexico was killed on impact.

Passengers on the bus included Mexicans, Americans and even Canadians. Among them, seven Americans were killed—including two Brownsville, Texas school teachers, as well as three Canadians and the Mexican driver. Sixteen people were injured—many seriously, but all are said to be in stable condition now.

The driver who caused the accident was hurt, but not critically, and now faces potential involuntary homicide charges due to the severity of the wreck and the number of those killed. His name has not been released yet as the accident investigation continues.

If you or someone you know has been injured or wrongfully killed in a truck, bus, car, motorcycle, or other vehicle-related accident, please contact the Anderson Law Firm at 817-294-1900 for a free consultation on your rights.

Yesterday evening, in the 3000 block of Las Vegas Trail, a toddler was injured when a group of teenagers threw rocks at the car she was riding in. The two-year old had a contusion and swelling to her right cheek, but did not suffer any life-threatening injuries. The girl’s mother was driving and noticed a group of teens throwing rocks from the sidewalk as her car approached them. One of the teens then threw a rock which flew through an open window and struck the girl as she drove by. The culprit was a 15-year-old girl who admitted fault and was taken to the Tarrant County Juvenile Detention Facility. This personal injury accident happened around 6 p.m.

The Anderson Law Firm handles all types of injury accidents, and most times, they result from vehicle accidents like car, truck and motorcycle wrecks. Occasionally, we get calls about dog bites and other common accidents. But there are so many ways a person can be injured as the result of someone else’s negligence that it’s too hard to categorize them all. This is the perfect example of a freak accident which cannot be categorized, but it’s also a case I might be able to take after some investigation.

If you or someone you know has been injured as the result of another person’s negligence, please contact the Anderson Law Firm to discuss your rights at 817-294-1900.

People panic when they’re in an automobile accident. All the rules you’ve ever heard for what to do in an accident fly right out the window when an accident occurs. To make sure you’re prepared if you’re ever in an accident, make a list of procedures (or print this one out!) and keep it in your glove compartment with your registration so you’re sure to follow the right steps.

Call the police if you’re in an accident.
Call the police – no ifs, ands or buts. Let the police determine whether the accident warrants a written report, and let the police collect insurance information from the other driver. If you’re unable to retain the other driver at the scene of the accident, make sure you get a thorough description of the vehicle, including the license plate number, color make and model of the car. Also get witnesses’ information if they need to leave before the police arrive.

Seek medical treatment sooner rather than later.
Sometimes it’s readily apparent when you’re in an accident that you need medical assistance. Other times, it doesn’t seem obvious until the next day, or even a week later, that something isn’t right because of the accident. Seek medical treatment sooner rather than later. If nothing else, go to the ER and follow up with your doctor a week or two later. If you don’t seek medical treatment right away but develop complications later, it’s more difficult to tie your injuries to the accident if you didn’t seek medical assistance quickly.

Get photos of the scene, if possible.
The best thing you can do for yourself if you’re in an accident is to get photos of the accident scene, if possible. Get photos of your car, the other car and the surrounding area. Take photos from multiple perspectives to capture all the relevant details from the accident. If you can’t get photos at the time of the accident, return as quickly as possible to the scene to get photos of the area.

Consult a personal injury attorney.
Insurance companies can be quite a hassle if you’re involved in an auto accident. If you don’t want the hassle of dealing with the insurance companies, contact a Board certified personal injury lawyer if you’re involved in an accident. Let the lawyer be your advocate and deal with the insurance companies directly.

Information provided by Mark A. Anderson, Fort Worth, Texas
Contact: 817-294-1900 or Contact Mark A. Anderson Online

When you’re involved in an accident, you should try to get photographs of an accident scene as quickly as possible. Why do you need photos of an accident scene?

Photographs back up what you say.
One of the most important considerations in a personal injury case is to establish credibility. Photographs physically back up what you say by showing how things happened. Not only does this strengthen your personal injury case in terms of facts, but it also makes you look like a more credible party.

Photos can demonstrate negligence.
Depending on what’s included in a photograph, photos can demonstrate negligence. If you slip and fall on debris that someone should have spotted and cleaned, photographs can show the debris and demonstrate that the party was negligent in not cleaning it. Likewise if photographs show an auto accident scene where a vehicle made no attempt to stop (i.e. skid marks) before hitting your car, the photo can help to establish the liable party’s negligence.

Photographs show the extent of the damage.
One of the most popular defense mechanisms for a liable party is to attempt to minimize the damage of an accident. Photographs show the extent of the damage at an accident scene. If a liable party tries to say you weren’t injured badly in an accident, but a photograph shows a car so mangled that you had to have the Jaws of Life pry you out, the liable party can’t minimize that photograph away.

Good photos can help counter any defense.
Popular automobile accident defenses may include inclement weather, poor road conditions, blocked or obscured street signs or other considerations that prevented the liable party from exercising due caution. Good photos that show the accident scene can counter all of these defenses by showing conditions at the time of the accident.

If you have questions regarding your personal injury claim, The Anderson Law Firm offers free consultations. Please call us at 817-294-1900 or contact us online.

Location: Bowie County, Texarkana

Type: Motorcycle/Car Accident

Outcome: Two Hospitalized

Two people are injured after a motorcycle accident in the Bowie County area of Texarkana, Texas. A 25-year-old man on a motorcycle was hit by a 52-year-old woman who turned in front of him. The motorcycle rider struck her car and flew up over it. He was taken to the hospital with critical injuries. The driver of the car was treated and released with minor injuries however, charges are now being pressed.

These types of accidents occur all too often when drivers don’t see or anticipate the speed of motorcyclists. If you or someone you know has been injured in a motorcycle crash, please contact the Anderson Law Firm to learn your rights at 817-294-1900.

2-year-old Abdallah Khader remains on life support at Cook Children’s hospital in Fort Worth after his car was hit by an alleged drunk driver. Stewart Richardson is in jail on $100,000 bond. He has been charged with intoxication with serious bodily injury and DWI felony repetition. Richardson has outstanding drunk-driving charges in Iowa, Colorado and Utah.

The car crash happened in Arlington. Richardson rear-ended the Khadar family after he’d been drinking at two bars—Applebee’s and Mr. B’s, both in Mansfield. His blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit at the time of the wreck at .25. Witnesses say he showed no remorse and when he heard of Abdallah’s condition, he said, “that sucks.”

Since Abdallah is Muslim, religious beliefs are preventing his family from taking him off life support even though 80 percent of his brain is damaged. If he lives, he will have severe brain injuries and if he dies, it will be unfacilitated. The family has filed a civil action suit as well and investigators are looking into the two bars which served Richardson the night of the wreck.

If you’ve been injured in an accident as the result of someone else’s negligence, please contact the Anderson Law Firm for a free consultation on your rights at 817-294-1900.

A man killed in a motorcycle accident Sunday night on Airport Freeway in Haltom City, Texas remains unidentified. The driver of the bike had been wearing a helmet when his motorcycle ran into the back of a pickup truck in the 6100 block of Highway 183. He had been riding with at least two other bikers around 7:45 p.m. when the wreck happened. The man died at the scene after his Suzuki GSXR 600 speed bike struck the back of a 1995 Ford F-150. The impact threw the man from his bike and police are saying speed was a factor contributing to the accident.

Sport bike racing and riding has become a popular sport in DFW in recent months, but a handful of young men have died as the result of dangerous riding. If you or someone you know was injured as the result of someone else’s negligence while riding a motorcycle, sport bike, or any other type of vehicle, please contact the Anderson Law Firm at 817-294-1900 to learn your rights.

Personal injury law covers many different practice areas. Basically, a personal injury claim may arise when you are injured as a result of someone else’s negligence. This can take the form of an auto accident, a construction accident, a product liability case or any number of other potential injuries. If you’ve been injured, you may want to seek the assistance of a personal injury attorney to help pursue your personal injury claim.

Personal injuries could be avoided.
One key characteristic that all personal injury claims share is that they could have been avoided. If the liable party had behaved in a responsible manner, most personal injury cases would never happen. Common examples of personal injuries that could be avoided include: auto accidents caused by negligence, an accident at work caused by unsafe work conditions, or a defective product that the manufacturer should have foreseen as a potential issue. In each of these cases, if the liable party had behaved differently, the personal injury would never have occurred.

What should you do if you’re injured?
If you’re involved in an accident, you should consult a personal injury attorney to determine if you’ve got a personal injury claim on your hands. In some cases, injuries are unfortunate but not caused by negligence; accidents do occur. In many cases, however, those accidents could have been prevented with a certain exercise of due care, and a personal injury attorney can help you follow up on your claim and get compensation for your injury.

Should you need a free consultation on your legal rights, feel free to contact Board Certified Injury Lawyer Mark A. Anderson at 817-294-1900 or contact him online.

Date: February 15, 2009

Location: North Park Boulevard in Grapevine

Type: Rollover Wreck

A 21-year-old man was killed after the car he was riding in flipped several times before hitting a 5-foot-10 Grapevine, Texas church sign Sunday night. Michael Bentley was taken to JPS Hospital where he was pronounced dead after the car accident.

Now, the driver of the Ford Focus—a 20-year-old man whose name hasn’t been released yet, has been arrested on suspicion of intoxication manslaughter. He and another passenger, a 19-year-old female, were treated for minor injuries and released. The accident happened at 9 p.m. Sunday night near First Presbyterian Church of Grapevine. Charges have yet to be filed.

Date: February 15, 2009
Location: LBJ Freeway
Type: Car Accident
Outcome: One Dead

A man was killed overnight when his car rolled off of an embankment in Coppell, Texas on LBJ Freeway. His car rolled 40 feet and landed upside down in a creek between Royal Lane and Freeport Parkway. His body was recovered by divers but he has yet to be identified. An accident investigation will hopefully reveal what caused the wreck.

Duncanville, Texas residents are outraged by the red light cameras in their city which capture traffic at four intersections on eight different cameras. People in the town are being ticketed for turning right on red, including council member Paul Ford, who doesn’t think he did anything illegal. Apparently, cameras flash if drivers approach and cross the “white line”—even after making complete stops, to see if it’s clear to make a right turn.

Duncanville isn’t the only North Texas city to install red light cameras. Fort Worth now has over 20 cameras and the city of Garland was the first to implement cameras almost six years ago. They too, have recently started giving citations for turning right on red.

But Duncanville’s implementation of excessive ticketing for right-hand red light turns is raising a few eyebrows. Last year, Duncanville issued 44,000 tickets, while the much larger Fort Worth issued less at 42,000.

Duncanville lawmakers say it makes larger intersections safer and prevents car accidents. Concerned citizens think it’s more like a money trap.

We don’t handle traffic tickets, but if you’ve been injured as the result of someone else’s negligence in a car crash or other vehicle-related crash, please contact Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Mark A. Anderson for a free consultation.

Over the weekend a tragic one-car accident in Bowie, Texas killed young Allison Hammer on her sixth birthday. The wreck occurred when the van she was riding in veered off the road, and rolled after the driver tried to over-correct. The van was driven by her aunt and unfortunately, Allison was not wearing a seatbelt.

Texas law requires the use of child safety seats if the child is less than five years old and less than 36 inches in height. But those are the minimum standards, and it is recommended that all children be in child safety or boosters seats, or at the very least, have seat belts on. Since it was Allison’s sixth birthday, no law was broken by her not being in a car seat. But it is illegal to not wear a seat belt. Seatbelts do save lives.

According to the National Center for Statistics and Analysis, the leading cause of death or injuries to children is auto accidents. Approximately seven children are killed and 700 are injured every day in the United States in car crashes.

Information provided by Texas Accident Attorney Mark A. Anderson.

An Arlington, Texas man is in the Grand Prairie jail today awaiting potential intoxication manslaughter charges after he killed a 17-year-old Arlington student in a car wreck Friday. 20-year-old Adrian Quezada Jr.’s bail has been set at $30,000 after he was arrested Monday on suspicion of intoxication assault just after he was released from the hospital.

Investigators are awaiting the results of a blood-alcohol test—they suspect alcohol was a factor in the crash, as well as speeding.

The wreck happened Friday in Arlington when Quezada’s GMC pickup truck hit 17-year-old Robert Joslin’s 1977 Chevy Malibu as he sat at a red light. The impact caused Joslin’s car to then crash into an SUV which was also stopped at the light. Joslin and his passenger were taken to Dallas Hospitals; he was taken off life support yesterday. His passenger was treated and released along with two injured people in the SUV.

Joslin was the starting center fielder for Sam Houston High School’s football team.

Ironically, just last week, a plan was announced to try and reduce the number of severe car accidents in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. In just over one month of the New Year, there have already been six accidents in Arlington involving fatalities and two in Grand Prairie.

Information provided by Arlington DWI Car Accident Lawyer Mark A. Anderson. Photo courtesy of star-telegram.com.

Date: February 3, 2009
Location: Airport Freeway and Industrial Road
Type: Truck accident
Outcome: Wrongful Death

A woman is dead after an 18-wheeler big rig rolled onto her car, crushing her. The accident happened late this morning at 11 and police are still investigating the woman’s identity. Her body wasn’t recovered from the wreckage until two hours later. She had been driving on Industrial Boulevard in Euless, Texas (also known as Farm Road 157) when the rig driver—carrying a large load of sand, attempted to turn southbound onto Industrial from the Airport Freeway (Hwy 183) service road. He turned right into her Chevrolet.

Date: February 1, 2009
Location: Cass County, Nebraska
Type: car accident
Outcome: one dead, two critically injured

A Weatherford, Texas woman is in critical condition after a wreck early Sunday morning. 44-year-old Karen M. Frank was ejected from a vehicle in Cass County, Nebraska over the weekend. The driver, from Plattsmouth, Nebraska lost control of the vehicle, rolling it several times. All three occupants, including Frank, were ejected. The driver was killed. Frank was taken by helicopter to the Creighton Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska with critical injuries. None of the three occupants were wearing seatbelts at the time of the wreck and an accident investigation is being conducted to determine whether or not alcohol was a factor.

Date: January 30, 2009
Location: I35E and Saner Ave.
Type: truck and car accident

A man was critically injured Friday after a rock-hauling 18-wheeler crushed his Toyota Corolla on Interstate-35E at Saner Avenue in Dallas, Texas. Somehow, the large truck wound up with its rear wheels on top of his small car and several firefighters had to extricate the man before he was quickly transported to Methodist Hospital in Dallas in critical condition. The man’s passenger, a woman, was able to escape the vehicle and was not injured. The wreck, which happened right around 2 p.m., shut down the interstate until 4:40 p.m. when everything was finally cleared. An accident investigation is being conducted to determine how the wreck occurred. The driver of the rock-hauler was not injured.

Information provided by Texas Board Certified Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson. Photo courtesy of NBC5.com.

Last Wednesday, 16-year-old Chelsea Lunt was texting on her way to Decatur High School just before losing control of her pickup truck. The truck flipped five times after she tried to overcorrect it before landing in the ditch on U.S. 81/287, just short of the FM 730 exit. Lunt was killed instantly in the car accident. Although she was wearing a seat belt, her body was partially ejected and she suffered major head injuries.

Lunt was on her way to track practice and had been texting a boy during the drive. 11 messages had been sent to the boy on her drive to school—the last was at 6:51 a.m.—the time of the accident, which was called in two minutes later.

Witness statements revealed that the sophomore had been swerving in her lane, an indication that she might have been distracted by something. An accident investigation, which will continue for weeks as police await test results, revealed that texting was the absolute cause of the tragic wreck.

According to an article published a year ago in U.S. News and World Report, approximately 20 percent of people on the roads were texting while driving. I’m sure that number has increased in the last year. Already, texting and driving has been banned in New Jersey and Washington, and 16 other states were considering legislation that would ban the distracting activity. Most of these states are in the Midwest and on the East Coast, but unfortunately, Texas is not among them.

The good news is Texas does recognize texting—and using a cell phone in general, while driving as dangerous. Already, several cities in North Texas ban the use of cell phones, including texting, in school zones. Hopefully, our state will jump on board soon as far as extending the ban to major roads and highways.

Funeral services for Lunt—a star athlete in volleyball and track, were Saturday in Decatur, Texas.

Information provided by Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson.

Southlake, Texas is the latest city in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area to ban car cell phone use in school zones. The city is just one of many to jump on the bandwagon in the last few months making it illegal to talk or text near schools. The ban will take effect just as soon as signs can be posted. If caught, violators face a $200 fine. The new law, like the ones in nearby Texas cities—Dallas, Denton, Hurst, Flower Mound, University Park, Watauga, Irving, Duncanville and Rowlett, not only bans people from talking on their hand-held devices, but also from sending and receiving text-messages. Drivers are allowed to talk on hands-free devises, however.

I think these bans are great ideas. It is really a minimal intrusion on the rights of people to stop talking on cell phones for a moment. This law can really save lives and prevent injuries to children. The Texas Legislature is currently I session. I’ve heard that a state-wide ban on talking or texting in school zones is up for consideration. I say let’s do it! Protecting our kids has to be a higher priority than that one phone call or text.

For more information on bans, car safety, accident prevention and cell phone statistics while driving, visit the National Highway Safety Web site.

Information provided by Fort Worth Accident Attorney Mark A. Anderson.

Just after 9 p.m. last night, two motorcyclists on separate bikes were killed in the westbound lanes of Highway 183 just past Loop 12 in Irving, Texas. Apparently road debris caused portions of the busy road to be temporarily closed, resulting in back-ups and heavy traffic. Witnesses said they saw the two cyclists weaving in and out of traffic to avoid the congestion just before the motorcycle crash. The accident facts are still unclear, but the cause of the wreck happened when both bikes collided into the back of a minivan.

The wreck, which happened near Texas Stadium, closed down Highway 183 for hours Sunday night as an accident investigation was conducted. Traffic was diverted off of the westbound lanes onto Loop 12 and a service road.

News reports have not revealed what type of bikes the 21-year-old woman and 42-year-old man were riding at the time of the wreck. Last year, sport bike riding at high speeds was the cause of several Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas deaths. An investigation will further reveal the facts of this tragic accident.

For the full story, watch WFAA Channel 8’s live coverage.

Contact Fort Worth Motorcycle Accident Attorney Mark A. Anderson at 817-294-1900.

In separate news stories, it was reported today that intoxication manslaughter charges have been brought against a Bedford woman and an Arlington woman whose reckless acts of driving while intoxicated resulted in two preventable deaths. First of all, the Dallas Morning News reported that the Arlington woman had almost double the level of allowable alcohol in her blood when she crashed into a guardrail on October 13, 2008. A motorcycle rider from Justin crashed into her wrecked car (which did not have its lights on). The crash killed the motorcycle rider. This lady was just now arrested and faces up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. I had blogged about this accident back in October.

Today’s Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that late Sunday night a drunk driver of a Chevrolet Blazer ran a red light on Green Oaks Road in Arlington and ran into a Dodge Avenger, killing the driver and critically injuring the passenger. This lady faces both intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault charges.

Unfortunately, Texas has a big problem with drunk drivers. Every five hours someone dies in our state as a result of a drunk driver. We have to do something to get these drunk drivers off the road. And it is not as if all of these accidents occur in the middle of the night. The Arlington accident occurred at 11 p.m. And I have seen plenty of drunk driving accidents occur during the middle of the day. The site Alcohol Alert has some other drunk driving statistics worth reviewing.

If you or a loved one has been injured or suffered a wrongful death as a result of a drunk driver, feel free to contact the Anderson Law Firm if you have questions regarding your legal rights. Call 817-294-1900 or Contact Us Online.

A 38 year old driver from Fort Worth died this morning when his pickup rolled over in Arlington on I-20 near highway 287. The Arlington Police spokesman said he was not wearing his seatbelt and was thrown from the truck. He was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital where he died. A passenger was also taken to JPS where he was treated for minor injuries.

This unfortunate wreck highlights the danger of driving without a seatbelt. Airbags do indeed help in certain collisions, but they do nothing for rollover accidents. Who knows, if the driver had been using his seatbelt, he might have been treated for minor injuries.

For questions regarding injuries sustained in a motor vehicle collision, feel free to contact Fort Worth Injury Attorney Mark Anderson online or by calling 817-294-1900

Ice on a bridge may have been the cause of a tragic accident this morning as two people died when a truck and a sport utility vehicle collided on Highway 287 at Lonestar in Mansfield, Texas. Both of the fatalities were passengers of the SUV. There were three other passengers of the SUV who were transported to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. The accident is still under investigation.

As we all know, icy roads and especially bridges are very dangerous and hard to navigate. It is sometimes even tougher when there is not ice or snow all around, as the ice on the bridge is not expected. I did not encounter any ice today and it was not even on my mind to be careful. After getting to work, I noticed where the news were reporting about all of the iced over bridges. This tragic accident is just one more reminder.

If you have questions about an automobile accident, feel free to contact Tarrant County Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson online or call him at 817-294-1900.

A 44-year-old woman was killed early this morning on Highway 175 and Malloy Bridge Road in Seagoville, Texas when her car flipped and ejected her. She died at the scene. Fortunately, the passengers in the car accident—the woman’s daughter and two grandchildren, ages 6 and 2, were taken to the hospital with minor injuries and are expected to be released later today.

A Dallas County Sheriff’s spokeswoman said that water from nearby sprinklers may have been the cause for the slick road, which in turn caused the rollover, resulting in death.

So that raises the question of whether or not it is negligent to allow your sprinklers to hit the road when it’s below freezing. In my opinion, I don’t think you should be running your sprinklers in the winter when temperatures might drop below 32 degrees. But what’s potentially negligent is allowing water to fall onto the road. It is my understanding that most cities have ordinances which prevent excess water on the streets. If that’s true, then there is definitely a possibility that someone was negligent in breaking a city ordinance which, not only resulted in an injury to a child, but also in the wrongful death of an innocent person.

If you have questions regarding an injury claim, feel free to contact Fort Worth Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson online, or by calling 817-294-1900.

Yesterday during the morning rush hour, local news stations were reporting over 200 car accidents which were all causing problems around the DFW Metroplex at the same time. Luckily for me, I don’t have to take an interstate or major highway to get to work, but hundreds of thousands of people were affected by the weather-related wrecks.

Most Texans, including myself, don’t really know how to drive when the roads get icy or snow packs the ground. But with the always unpredictable and ever-changing climate, it seems to me all of us should jump on the bandwagon and learn how to safely maneuver slick roads and poor weather conditions while driving.

On the Fort Worth National Weather Service Forecast Web site, every major snow or ice storm has been documented, amazingly since as far back as 1879. Not only is the site helpful for forecasting inclement weather and offering predictions for the upcoming winter’s climate, but it also gives information on bad weather awareness and how to prepare for when it strikes North Texas.

While searching through the site, I couldn’t help but notice a pattern amongst all the major storms. It seems that every year as far back as anyone can remember, North Texas has experienced a snowfall or poor weather event about twice a winter season. Each winter we have experienced a storm once between late November and December and then another one in either January or February. The record shows at least two storms a year for the last 50 years, so why aren’t we prepared when bad weather hits?

I’m not saying we all need to go out and buy chains to put on our tires, but we could learn not to follow too closely and to pump our brakes instead of slam on them if we need to stop on ice. And maybe stay off the roads completely unless it's absolutely necessary to go somewhere (as all meteorologists tell us).

If you are injured as the result of someone else’s negligence (ice or not), then please call Fort Worth Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson at 817-294-1900 for a free consultation.

This morning in Carrollton, Texas, an elementary school crossing guard was hit by a passing car. The car accident happened around 8 a.m. at L.F. Blanton Elementary School on Scott Mill Road. Since it happened just three hours ago, no more information has been released on the people involved or their injuries.

I recently just settled a pedestrian injury case exactly like this. My client in that case was working as a crossing guard at a local Fort Worth, Texas elementary school. It was a cold morning and there was a small layer of ice on the windshields of the cars. Unfortunately, one idiot didn’t take time to scrape the ice off his windshield and chose to drive with an obscured view. He didn’t see my client and ran him over. We were able to obtain the full insurance policy limits for my client on that case.

Injuries happen every day in Fort Worth and many people don’t immediately think to make personal injury claims on pedestrian accidents or other types of accidents that are not car wrecks, truck accidents or accidents that are work-related like oil field injuries, for example. Sometimes in automobile wrecks or truck accidents, a “he said, she said” debate arises over who was at fault—especially if there is no police report to show who was at fault. But the truth is, accidents like a crossing guard struck by a car make the most compelling cases. A man or woman helping children cross the street at a school is just doing his or her job in a school zone where the speed limit is only 20 miles per hour. There is no disputed liability if they are hit by a car. The driver of the car is clearly at fault.

If you or someone you know has suffered personal bodily injuries as the result of someone else’s negligence, even in the strangest of ways—car accident, pedestrian accident, ATV accident or other type of accident which may not even be classified, please call me to discuss your rights at 817-294-1900 or feel free to Contact Mark Anderson Online.

Just days after a Cub Scout troop was hit by a reckless driver in an Overton, Texas parade, another freak parade accident over the weekend left a 10-year-old girl dead. The girl was riding in the back of a pickup truck and had been hopping on and off the slow-moving vehicle during the parade. At one point, she was scolded and told not to hop around for safety reasons. Then, in front of the Beaumont, Texas crowd of a couple hundred people, the girl jumped off the truck and hit her head just before a trailer full of children ran her over. The girl was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Ironically, the annual parade was put on to bring the community together in a positive way after the devastation caused by Hurricane Ike in September.

As I view each wrongful death and tragic incident I read about through the eyes of an injury lawyer, I always wonder if a claim will be pursued. While I don’t know many of the facts of this case except what I have written above, I do not know whether an accident investigation will reveal that anyone, other than the young girl, was responsible for her tragic death. That is what investigations are for. I would look at the reasonableness of the actions of the event organizers and whether the adults on the truck in which the girl was riding took reasonable precautions to prevent her from jumping out. I would also look at the distance between the truck and the trailer vehicle that ran over her to make sure that a safe distance was between the two vehicles. And like I have said before, investigations are key and sometimes unveil surprising results in personal injury cases.

At the Anderson Law Firm, we investigate all of our clients’ claims to make sure that all possible evidence is found and used to support each claim. If you have questions regarding a personal injury claim or would like to set up a free consultation with Board Certified Personal Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson, please call 817-294-1900.

A tragic and bizarre pedestrian-truck accident has spiked my interest. An 82-year-old Troup, Texas man was released on bail from the Rusk County Jail yesterday after he drove his pickup around a barricade and crashed into a Cub Scout troop at a Christmas parade in downtown Overton, Texas Monday night. It’s hard to tell whether the man intended to hit the troop or if the Cub Scouts were just collateral damage. Either way, ten children and two women suffered injuries. The injured scouts were 7 to 11 years old and all but two were treated and released.

Unfortunately, two of the kids were not so lucky. One was taken to the Children’s Medical Center in Dallas and is in good condition while another child—a 7-year-old boy from New London, Texas, is in serious condition and being treated at Mother Frances Hospital.

The 82-year-old, Charles George, lost his license and has been charged with reckless driving. Overton, Texas is located about two hours southeast of Dallas.

As a parent, I would be outraged if this happened to my child. Maybe some sort of injury to a child charge would be more appropriate. The man should have never driven around a barricade. I sure hope this man had sufficient insurance to cover all the medical bills being incurred by these unfortunate families.

If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, contact me at 817-294-1900 or Contact Me Online to discuss your rights.

A teenage boy whose name and age are still unknown is at John Peter Smith Hospital (JPS) this morning after he was hit by a truck last night in east Fort Worth, Texas. Witnesses say the boy appeared to be frightened by some dogs being walked on the same sidewalk he was on and jumped in to the street to avoid them. That’s when a passing truck struck the boy and stopped to help him.

The teen had no form of identification on him but was rushed to JPS with critical injuries. As of this morning, the only clue in his identification is that he may attend Eastern Hills High School. An update on his condition cannot be made without knowing his name.

The accident occurred on Meadowbrook Drive just after sunset.

If you or a loved one has suffered personal injuries from a pedestrian, truck, car or other vehicle-related accident, contact Attorney Mark A. Anderson at 817-294-1900 to learn your rights.

New information has been released regarding the investigation of a Euless, Texas woman who injured eight teenagers in a car accident back on October 25th. I wrote about this accident when it happened—the lady was the mother of twin daughters who were out at the movies with six of their friends. At 10 p.m., the woman was called to go pick the teens up in her 2002 Trailblazer. On the way home she hit a curb and flipped the vehicle several times. All of the kids were taken to hospitals in nearby Irving and Grapevine and luckily none of them suffered life-threatening injuries. On a subsequent blog, I wrote that evidence was released revealing that the woman’s blood-alcohol level was .13, which is .05 over the legal limit.

After having been arrested Nov. 6, the woman has since posted $20,000 bail but is being indicted on charges of driving while intoxicated (DWI) with a child, endangering a child and injury to a child. DWI with a child carries a larger penalty than a normal DWI.

A new article out today gives more detail on what happened, including witness accounts. Apparently, the woman told the kids she only had three beers and when the accident occurred, she said she swerved so as not to hit a dog. However, witnesses told police it was a parked car she swerved to miss just before hitting the curb and flipping. Also, a trailblazer has at most, 5 to 8 seats. The woman, plus the eight kids makes nine people riding in that car and none of the kids in the back seat were wearing seatbelts when the car flipped several times.

Apparently, during the drive home, the woman drove up to 95 miles per hour on an interstate.

Reports also allege that the woman asked her daughter to lie to police as well as the passengers and their parents about her drinking and driving. The sad thing about it is that the group of teens had gone to the movies to celebrate the twin daughters’ 15th birthday.

From a legal perspective, this case presents many issues. Clearly, the mother was negligent in driving while intoxicated. Did she have liability insurance? If so, does she have enough insurance to cover all of the teenagers’ personal injuries? In an injury case, the parents of the teenagers can recover for the medical bills and pain and suffering of their children. If the total amount of all those claims exceeds the limits of the mother’s policy, then each person must take a reduced settlement. The parents could then look to their own insurance policies, and if they had underinsured motorists coverage, that could help recover compensation for their children’s injuries.

When an accident occurs, there are many different ways to make a claim. If you were injured in an accident and would like to find out more about your rights, please call me at 817-294-1900 or feel free to Contact Me Online.

Photo courtesy of www.star-telegram.com

Just two months after a fatal car accident, changes have been made and upgrades implemented at a dangerous intersection. River Park Drive off Bryant Irving in Fort Worth, Texas curves just before the entrance to a gated subdivision at River Park Circle. A wall and trees along the street previously made the road difficult to see—especially at night. But now, the far eastbound lane, closest to the wall and trees, has been closed and new signs warn of the poor visibility.

A Fort Worth man, Rick Kubes, owner of Kubes Jewlers, began petitioning for safety upgrades at the neighborhood entrance in August. Ironically and tragically, a month later, his son Jeff, sustained fatal injuries at that exact intersection.

Luckily, Mr. Kube’s efforts continued and now the area is much safer for its residents. This just goes to show that persistence pays off. We should all be thankful for people like Mr. Kube who are helping to improve our city living standards.

If you or a loved one has suffered personal injuries and you have questions regarding your legal rights, please contact me at 817-294-1900 or feel free to Contact Me Online.

This past summer and into the fall there has been what seems like a story a week in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about a tragic motorcycle accident in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex? Well, the Arlington Police Department and other DFW-area law enforcement agencies teamed up this week to teach these riders the “SMART” way to ride. I think this is a great idea.

SMART is one of the courses developed from the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) which was founded in 1974 to educate riders about safe driving and proper licensing. S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym for: Smart Motorcyclists Attend Rider Training. The course was developed for riders specifically in Topeka, Kansas, however its message is the same one DFW law enforcement is trying to relay here.

Apparently, since 2006, the number of motorcycle-related fatalities in Arlington has tripled. And as early as two months ago, a study was done on the sport bike trend and how racing such bikes is compromising the safety of riders and fellow motorists. That study came just one month after the Irving accident that killed two young men when they lost control of their bikes and were flung off a ramp on the George Bush Turnpike.

It’s time something be done and I’m glad our area is taking steps to educate inexperienced riders on sport bike and motorcycle safety. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more programs and classes like the one they put on in Arlington this week.

Of course, motorcycle accidents are not always the fault of the riders, but instead, accidents are caused by other car and truck drivers. Another good thing about these motorcycle safety courses is that they teach riders how to be defensive and watch out for mistakes made by other motorists.

If you have suffered bodily injuries as a result of a motorcycle-related accident, please call injury attorney Mark A. Anderson for a free consultation at 817-294-1900 or Contact Me Online.

A few weeks ago I wrote about a Euless, Texas woman who injured eight kids (including one of her own) when she drove them home from the movies while she was drunk. Here's an update on what’s developed.

Last night, the 37-year-old was arrested and her bail has been set at $75,000. She’s being charged with endangering a child and the obvious DWI. The blood alcohol test showed she had been driving her Trailblazer at .05 over the legal limit of .08 when the car hit a curb and flipped. The car accident sent all eight teens and herself to the hospital. Luckily, no one was killed.

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.

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.

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.

Saturday night an Arlington, Texas woman was killed when she was struck by a car on Interstate-20 in Arlington. The woman’s car stalled so she got out to push it to the shoulder when a 21-year-old man driving a Jetta was unable to swerve around the woman and hit her. The woman died at the scene while a young girl who was in the car steering it to the shoulder was taken to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth with injuries. The driver of the Jetta also suffered some minor injuries.

This extremely tragic accident is a prime example of wrongful death. While the lady was doing what she believed was the right thing to prevent an accident, it turned out to be just too dangerous. If her car was still able to drive on its own power, it would’ve been better to drive it off the roadway before calling 9-1-1. If a car ever stalls and you can’t get it to the shoulder of the road (which was the case here), it’s safer to turn on the hazard lights, exit the car immediately, and head to a safe area to avoid a car accident.

If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of someone else’s negligence, you may have a legal right to compensation. For answers to your questions, you can call Fort Worth, Texas Personal Injury Attorney Mark Anderson at 817-294-1900, or feel free to Contact Me Online.

A bizarre truck accident in Benbrook, Texas left one man dead when the 18-wheeler he was driving swerved off of Southwest Loop 820 and unded crunched up under a bridge. The truck was carrying water bottles. The accident happened at 7:15 p.m. Thursday evening under the Winscott Road bridge. Three other cars driving the same direction as the semi-truck were involved and one man was taken to the hospital with injuries.

The bridge was closed last night until early this morning so it could be checked for structural damage.

As of now, no facts have been released which would reveal the reason for the accident. A thorough accident investigation might turn up what happened. The best source of facts for this investigation will be witness interviews and collection of the scene evidence, like skid marks, for example. The truck should also be equipped with an Engine Control Module (ECM) which may give useful information such as how fast the truck was going at the time of the crash.

Yesterday, I wrote about a Fort Worth, Texas Woman Killed at the Railroad Crossing on Galvez Avenue, where it intersects Riverside Driver near downtown Fort Worth. The 21-year-old woman who died was riding passenger to a 23-year-old man who is expected to survive, but suffered major bodily injuries when he decided to drive around the gates, as the Trinity Railway Express (TRE) came crashing into the passenger side of his car. The woman's two-year-old daughter was also in the car, and suffered injuries.

A similar car/train accident injured another woman at the same crossing just last year.

Now, just two days after the most recent accident, there's already talk of improvements to be made at the crossing as soon as February, 2009. So why wasn't this addressed sooner?

The hold up was due to a battle of control of the project to improve many Tarrant County crossings between TRE officials and the City of Fort Worth, so funds were dispersed between the competing groups. In 2005, government officials put the money together and approved $384,000 for improvements to be made as early as 2009.

Improvements suggested at the particular intersection of Galvez Avenue and Riverside Drive include installing "quad gates" to block access to the tracks completely from the road so impatient drivers won't be able to go around them. There's even been talk of cutting Galvez Avenue off completely just before the tracks and turning it into a cul-de-sac.

No matter what it decides to do, let's hope the city does something sooner, rather than later. But it's important to remember that no matter how many improvements a city can make, nothing beats common sense, and there's a big lesson to be learned from fatal accidents like this one.

Two people were badly injured early this morning after a pickup truck and a car decided to race down the westbound lanes of Airport Freeway in North Richland Hills, Texas. The truck hit a car (that was not involved in the race) and the truck spun out of control, off the freeway and landing twisted up around a tree. The driver of the truck which caused this motor vehicle collision was a 23-year-old Keller man who was taken to Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth with critical bodily injuries. While the other racer kept on driving, the uninvolved driver of the car that was hit was also taken to Harris with unknown injuries. It is unknown at this point if alcohol was involved.

How do these dangerous racing events come about? Police and experts say that they arise in three situations:
1) Spontaneous contests when drivers end up at the same light at the same time
2) Roving parties where racers and their friends take over the highways, and
3) Planned events on a remote road where races are for money

Due to the incredibly dangerous speeds people drive when they “street race,” serious injuries almost always result for those involved. And also for those unsuspecting motorists who happen to be in the way. I understand the feeling of excitement that comes with getting your license when you turn 16. The thrill of driving on one’s own often makes young people feel invincible. But by the time you’re 23, you should know better than to race someone on the freeway in the middle of the night.

And the fact that the other racer was able to speed off from the accident scene without punishment bothers me. I hope the local Police are able to track him down. If located, I assume that he will face criminal charges for leaving the scene of an accident in addition to some sort of reckless endangerment charges relating to the racing. The poor guy who landed in the hospital that wasn’t involved in the race must hope that the pickup driver liability insurance as mandated by the State of Texas.

Yesterday, a Fort Worth, Texas woman died when the car she was a passenger in was hit by the Trinity Railway Express (TRE) train just east of downtown. This tragic accident occurred at the intersection of Riverside Drive and Galvez Avenue. According to witnesses, the male driver of the Chrysler sedan tried to go around the lowered crossing gates. The driver was critically injured and a child was taken to Cook Children’s Medical Center with minor injuries. This intersection was the site of another car/train collision last year.

According to the Federal Railroad Administration, there are approximately 150,000 public grade crossings. Of those, 35,500 have gates, 25,000 have flashing lights and 1,200 have traffic signals, wigwags and bells. Unfortunately, each year approximately 400 deaths occur at railroad crossings, with another 900 injuries. An additional 500 people are killed each year while they are trespassing on railroad property.

This accident, and resulting death and bodily injuries, sounds like it was entirely preventable if the driver had just exercised some more patience and waited for the upcoming train to pass. While it is very tempting to drive around gates, the danger is just too high.

Photo courtesy of Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

In a continuing effort to curb the running of red lights, the City of Fort Worth, Texas has announced that it will install nine more red light cameras. These additional cameras will be turned on October 1 and will double the number of red light cameras in the city. As I talked about last month in Fort Worth, Texas Turns On Another Red Light Camera, I think these cameras are a great idea. I have represented a lot of automobile accident victims who were seriously injured by someone running a red light. The results can be horrible and any efforts to stop red light runners should be applauded.

The intersections where the new cameras will be installed are:

• Eastchase Parkway and Meadowbrook Boulevard
• East Long Avenue and Deen Road
• South Hulen Street and Bellaire Drive South
• McCart Avenue and Westcreek Drive
• Bryant Irvin Road and West Vickery Boulevard
• Eighth Avenue and Elizabeth Boulevard
• North Beach Street and Western Center Boulevard
• Lancaster Avenue and Riverside Drive
• Lancaster Avenue and Sandy Lane

Related topic: Products Aimed to Avoid Fort Worth’s Red Light Cameras

Early Monday morning a drunk driver killed a newlywed couple and injured four others in a horrific car accident near Interstate 75 and Mockingbird Lane in Dallas, Texas. Prior to the accident, police pulled a man driving with a female passenger over whose vehicle had been weaving in and out of traffic. When the officer started to approach him, the driver sped away with his lights off, eventually running a red light and slamming into a carload of Southern Methodist University (SMU) students. All five of them suffered injuries. The impact from that crash sent the drunk driver’s Tahoe flying into another car—killing a newlywed couple. At the hospital, his passenger was in serious condition while he was upgraded to fair.

If this story isn’t tragic enough, it gets worse. The drunk driver had previously been convicted of DWI twice before and two other DWI charges were pending. He was out on bond, which had been revoked and had four outstanding warrants. He was driving the night of the crash with a suspended license and two empty bottles of Patron tequila.

This is one of those tragic cases of someone slipping through the cracks of the legal system. Why wasn’t he in jail? Who forgot to take his license…and his car for that matter? Apparently on one of his latest DWI charges, the “system” did not catch his prior DWI’s.

I only practice personal injury law—not criminal law, but it just seems to me like the law should mandate that the driver should have already been in jail. This man should have already lost his freedom.

Late Friday night, an 18-year-old passenger in a Chevrolet Suburban was ejected from his vehicle when a Honda CRV ran a red light and hit the Suburban on the rear passenger side. Unfortunately, the passenger was not wearing his seatbelt as is required by Texas law. The tragic accident occurred at Highway 121 and Holfords Prairie Road in Lewisville, Texas.

I just wrote earlier this week about the huge problem we have in Dallas/Fort Worth with people running red lights. The statistics are staggering: The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported that in 2006, in the United States alone, there were 171,000 crashes, 144,000 injuries and 887 deaths related to red light running. In my opinion, the more red light cameras the better. But we all have to be aware and drive defensively anyway, as some folks are going to run red lights and cause accidents whether they're caught on camera or not. This serves as one more reminder of the importance of always wearing a seatbelt.

Last week, I wrote about the City of Fort Worth, Texas turning on its 9th red light camera. I think that if these cameras get people to stop running red lights and lower the number of dangerous car accidents, then they are a great idea. The statistics from other North Texas communities that are using red light camera show that they do indeed work.

Today, I read in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that there are products out there which consumers can buy to help them not get ticket as a result of these cameras. One product is good and the other should be criminal. The first is a GPS receiver which can be programmed to alert the driver if he or she is approaching a red light camera. I think this is good as it will only encourage the driver to slow down and be cognizant of the approaching light. In fact, the intersections have signs that tell you ahead of time that it is a camera monitored intersection. So this is a good product.

The other one is a spray you can use on your license plate which will supposedly obscure the plate so that the camera will not be able to read the license plate number. So if this product were to work as intended, it would allow the driver to run the red light and get away with it. This encourages red light running—so it should be illegal. The good thing for us citizens of Fort Worth is that this spray does not work on the high quality cameras our city uses.

As we are in the midst of an economic downturn, two of the largest and most profitable insurance companies operating in Texas (Allstate and State Farm) have filed rate requests with the Texas Department of Insurance. Allstate filed for an increase of 3.6% for Allstate Indemnity (affecting 694,000 drivers) and for 5.5% for Allstate County Mutual (affecting 435,000 drivers). State Farm’s hike in rates will be 2.4% for State Farm Mutual and a whopping 7.3% for State Farm County Mutual. Ouch!!!

I am skeptical of the stated reasons of a greater frequency of claims and rising costs of bodily injury claims. Having been in the business for 17 years, I certainly don’t see it. I think this is just another example of corporate greed. And as the leader of Texas Watch (the consumer protection group) said, this comes “at a time when Texans are struggling to keep up with the rising costs of gasoline, food and housing.” Great going, Allstate and State Farm.

The City of Fort Worth, Texas turned on its ninth red light camera today. This one is at the intersection of East Lancaster and Sandy Lane. These cameras take still pictures of the front and back of your car if you run a red light. You then receive a $75 citation in the mail. While they obviously collect revenue for the City, the main purpose is to discourage people from running the red lights and causing accidents. The other intersections where cameras currently operate are:
• Eastchase Parkway and Meadowbrook Blvd
• E. Long Avenue and Deen Road
• S. Hulen Street and Bellaire Drive South
• McCart Avenue and Westcreek Drive
• Bryant Irvin and West Vickery Blvd
• Eighth Avenue and Elizabeth Blvd
• N. Beach Street and Western Center Blvd
• East Lancaster and Riverside Drive

As a lawyer who handles car accidents, among other cases, I am acutely aware of the dangers caused by running a red light. The impact is often in the side of one of the cars (called a T-bone) and results in horrible injuries as there is not much protection on the side of your car. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has reported that in 2006, in the United States alone, there were 171,000 crashes, 144,000 injuries and 887 deaths related to red light running.

So, do these cameras work? Yes, they do. Like everyone else, I try not to run red lights. On my way to and from work, I go through one of the intersections with a red light camera. I must say that I am a lot more careful and aware at this intersection. More important than my personal observations are the statistics. The statistics also show that these red light cameras definitely help to reduce accidents. Many cities across Texas and the United States have installed them and have reported a large decrease in both red light violators and crashes. Other local cities that have them include Arlington, Grapevine, Southlake and Dallas. There has been a reported 20% to 50% in crashes at these intersections. Sounds like a good thing for the local cities to do.

I recently posted a page on my website about Texas’ new policy of installing computer systems in police cruisers which are capable of verifying, with the click of a mouse, whether or not a driver is insured. I think this is a really important topic for people to know about. The new policy took effect about two months ago on a temporary basis in Travis County. With the new program, police can check at the scene an insurance database to see if drivers have the required auto liability coverage of $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident and $25,000 for property damage. If a driver is found without insurance, he or she will be ticketed, and if it happened more than once, his or her license may be revoked.

Well, the trial run is almost over now and the policy will eventually be used state-wide, but the trial period grossed some really scary numbers. One in four drivers are uninsured in Travis County—and that the number may be higher in other parts of the state. Even though it may not be surprising, to me that is a wildly alarming statistic. I hear too often cases made by those who were in a wreck with an uninsured driver. What a bind someone is in when they’ve been hurt, they have medical bills and property damage and the responsible party does not carry insurance. Being in a wreck is burden enough. Get insured people—it is the law! Because so many people are uninsured, I think it is a great idea to carry uninsured motorists coverage on your own car. I encourage all of my clients to do so.

A tragic accident occurred last Thursday when a Weatherford, Texas man was killed riding his bicycle. The bicycle accident happened on the access road of I-20 near Willow Park, Texas at around 8:00 p.m. The driver of the pickup truck that hit him reported to the police that the sun was in his eyes and he did not see the bicyclist, who was driving in the center of the road.

Was this accident avoidable? Sure, most are. I don’t know anymore about it than I wrote here, but it did make me think about the dangers of mixing bicycles and roadways. This gentleman was wearing a helmet, but that was not enough. Just as with motorcycles, a wreck with a bicycle and a car usually results in serious injuries, or death for the bicyclist.

Every year, around 700 bicycle riders are killed in collisions with cars. This accounts for about two percent of the total deaths on the roads. Texas ranks fourth in the U.S. for injuries to bicyclists.

I ride a bicycle myself on the roads occasionally. I would ride more if I was not as nervous as I am about being hit by a car. When I read about this accident, I decided to do an internet search on bike safety. I found a great site, BicycleSafe.com, which talks about all the ways to make riding on the road safer. It goes through a list of ten ways to NOT GET HIT.

The basic rules of safe riding are simple: wear a helmet; use a light and reflective vest if riding at night; avoid busy roads; ride as far right as practicable (but in certain times taking the whole lane is even safer); and ride as if you were invisible (in other words, ride where you won’t get hit even if they don’t see you). But most riders know all this. Check out the site.