Accident & Injury Law in Texas

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Here is a reprint of a Dear Abby column:

Recently, a man ran a stop sign, rammed my car and left me with a broken back.  From that I learned what a dim view insurance companies have of homemakers.  When asked if I was losing time at work, I answered with an honest “yes.”  Then came the question, “What do you do?”  When I replied that I am a housewife, I learned there was no coverage because what I do isn’t considered “work.”

Abby’s answer goes on to explain how the founder of USA Today wrote an article on the value of stay-at-home moms concluding that stay-at-home moms work “an average of 91.6 hours a week … worth $143,121 annually” based on their roles as housekeeper, laundry machine operator, janitor, computer operator, facilities manager, psychologist, and family CEO.

Of course, from a legal point of view, Abby’s answer falls far short.  The question really is what is her lost earning capacity and how much did they have to pay to replace her.  In other words, she could make a claim by hiring someone to do all the work she does and asking for reimbursement.

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Round Rock police are asking for the public’s help in finding the driver of a car that hit and fatally wounded a motorcyclist last week.

The wreck occurred on September 25 at about 9:45 p.m. when the driver of a white Chevrolet Impala failed to yield the right of way while turning left in the 1700 block of North Mays Street.  Victor Luna was riding a Harley-Davidson, which hit the car’s right rear side when the car crossed his lane.  Mr. Luna, who was not wearing a helmet, was tossed over the car and landed on his head.  He was taken to University Medical Center at Brackenridge in Austin and died Sunday from his injuries.

Witnesses said that somehow the motorcycle ended up stuck to the front of the car, causing the driver of the Impala to swerve erratically to release it. The driver, who faces manslaughter charges, then took off down Boman Road at a high rate of speed.

The police are asking the public to consider whether such a vehicle may be known to them to frequent a particular area, but has been absent since Thursday’s incident; possibly garaged, covered, or otherwise concealed.

Anybody with information is asked to call the Round Rock Police Department at (512) 218-5500.

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Scary.  Very Scary.

Tractor trailer and bus drivers in the United States have suffered seizures, hear attacks or unconscious spells behind the wheel that led to deadly crashes on highways.  Hundreds of thousands of drivers carry commercial licenses even though they also qualify for full federal disability payments, according to a new U.S. safety study.

The problems threatening highway travelers persist despite years of government warnings and hundreds of deaths and injuries blamed on commercial truck and bus drivers who blacked out, collapsed or suffered major health problems behind the wheel of vehicles that can weith 40 tons or more!

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the agency responsible for cracking down on unfit truckers, acknowledges that it hasn’t completed any of eight recommendations U.S. safety regulators have proposed since 2001 including minimum standards for officials who determine whether truckers are medically safe to drive and preventing truckers from “doctor shopping” to find a physician who might overlook risky health.

The Transportation Department said 5,300 people died in crashes involving large commercial trucks or buses in 2006 and about 126,000 were injured while truckers violating federal medical rules have been caught in every state.

A federal safety study last summer found that drivers falling asleep, suffering heart attacks or seizures or otherwise being physically impaired were a leading cause of serious crashes involving large trucks.

Scary.  Very Scary.

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Austin police are investigating the death of a man who was hit by a vehicle after he got out of his car to inspect damage from a wreck Friday night.

Just after 10 p.m., Jose Angel Fuentes-Reyes, 28, was stopped at a traffic light at Manor Road and Airport Boulevard when his pickup was rear-ended by a Chevrolet Tahoe, police said.  When Fuentes-Reyes got out of his truck, the Tahoe driver backed up and drove forward to leave the scene, police said.

The Tahoe hit Fuentes-Reyes as he tried to stop it, police said.  He was taken to University Medical Center at Brackenridge where he died Saturday, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at (512) 974-8212.

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A man died Monday afternoon in Williamson County after a vehicle crossed into incoming traffic and collided with a pickup in which he was riding, a Texas Department of Public Safety official said.

Eric Aguillar, 42, of Austin, a passenger in Raymond Dale Griffith’s pickup died at the scene when Douglas Fabian Tarrance, 20, of Killeen tried to pass a northbound tractor-trailer that had stopped to turn left.

Tarrance drove into oncoming traffic and hit Griffith’s pickup truck.

Griffith was treated for injuries that were not life-threatening while Tarrance was taken to Scott and White Memorial Hospital in Temple in critical condition.

Both Tarrance and Aguillar were not wearing their seat belts.  A sad lesson in the importance of buckling up.

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