Texas Truck Accident Lawyer Blog

Two people died last night when a car crashed into the back of an 18-wheeler stopped on the freeway. The truck had stopped because a gang of motorcyclists were driving the wrong way to check on another biker who had just crashed.

Sheriff's deputies say several motorcyclists traveling in a large pack had been heading north on the freeway at high speed, when one of them lost control and crashed.

When the other motorcyclists realized what had happened, they turned around and headed south in the northbound lanes.

The driver of the 18-wheeler saw the headlines and stopped in the right lane to avoid crashing into them.

Tragically, the driver of a Buick driving behind the semi could not stop in time, and smashed into the back of the trailer. The driver and a passenger in the rear died at the scene. Paramedics and rescuers using the jaws of life managed to save the front seat passenger. My heart goes out to the families of two who died and to the other people injured in the wreck.

I handle so many cases where one driver was clearly in the wrong for speeding or changing lanes unsafely, but in this case, evere

I was recently hired by a woman who was run off the road when an 18 wheeler suddenly moved into her lane. She was able to avoid getting hit by the truck, but she lost control of her vehicle, drove off the road, and did a complete flip before coming to a stop in a field.

My client and her grandson were rushed by ambulance to the local hospital for treatment of their injuries. They are currently being treated by a doctor and one may require surgery.

On the surface, this should have a pretty routine case: clear liability, significant property damage, and medical bills to date of $10,000.00. But as is often the case with 18 wheeler wrecks, things weren't as simple as they should be.

The first problem was getting a police report to find the insurance company for the truck. Because the wreck was in a remote part of west Texas, the Texas Highway Patrol investigated and it took them more than two weeks to finish the report. When it was finally ready, I had one of my assistants drive to Hurst to pick it up within the hour.

Unfortunately, the insurance company listed on the report was not correct, but after several phone calls, I did get to the right company. After my staff set up the claim, we thought we were okay, but then we got an e-mail saying that the tractor (the front part of the 18-wheeler) was not insured by that company.

We chased down a different company, which denied coverage.

Sadly, my client did not carry rental coverage or collision coverage on her policy, and because there was no impact between the vehicles, she could not file on her Uninsured Motorist coverage.

She was starting to think that there was not going to be any insurance coverage, and she was going to be left with all of her bills unpaid and no car. She was ready to give up. I was not. I told her that I always go the distance for my clients and was going to make sure she was compensated.

By the time we got the denial from the carrier, the adjuster at the first company had gone out of town for the week. My staff left four unreturned phone messages for different people there. I finally got the adjuster's supervisor's manager on the phone, and he said it could be two or three more weeks before they could make a coverage and liability decision. It had been 40 days since the wreck, and I was tired of the way they were treating my client, so I prepared a lawsuit and mailed it to them with a letter advising that it it didn't accept liability and pay for my client's vehicle, I would file suit immediately.

Less than an hour after my letter was faxed, I got a phone call from the backup adjuster saying that not only was there coverage, but even before she could determine liability, she was willing to provide a rental car to my client. The next day, the company accepted liability.

If you want an attorney who really cares about his clients and doesn't let insurance companies give clients the runaround, call my office today at 817-885-8000. I will take the time to get to know your case and make sure you get the maximum recovery.

My firm only represents people injured truck and automobile collisions

Click here to see what past clients had to say about me and my firm.

On my other blog, I wrote about how many insurance companies engaged in inproper handling claims practices Apparently feeling bad for not making the 10 worst list in that report I quoted, Travelers decided to jump on the bad behavior bandwagon.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, not known for criticizing insurance companies or big businesses, just ordered Travelers Insurance to stop airing a deceptive TV advertisement.

Thursday's cease and desist letter says the ad wrongly tells Texas homeowners to purchase additional vehicle insurance or risk losing their homes if they have inadequate insurance after a traffic accident.

The truth is, state law already protect homeowners so "it is improper for Travelers to scare Texans into buying insurance they may not need, " Abbot explained.

Under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Travelers could be liable for up to $20,000 for each airing of the ad.

I'm disgusted with Travelers over trying to rip off Texas consumers. Is it not enough that this megabillion dollar corporation already rakes in billions of dollars every year in premiums? Is not enough that they refuse to offer fair compensation to the innocent victims of their drivers' negligence? Now they are scaring people into paying them even more so they can make even bigger profits?

Last year, I represented a woman who was hit by an 18-wheeler insured with Travelers. The wreck ruptured one of her breast implants and she needed 4 surgeries to repair the damage. Her medical bills totaled nearly $140,000.00. Even though she had no complaints during the more than 20 years that the implants were in place, Travelers argued that they might have been ruptured prior to the wreck so they weren't responsible. They also argued that there wasn't much damage to either vehicle and even that the wreck was my client's fault.

I filed a lawsuit after they refused to make anything close to a reasonable settlement offer.

I hired a focus group and asked several local attorneys what they thought about the case. The consensus was that if a jury awarded $100,000.00, would would be lucky. After months of fighting, at mediation the case settled for nearly a quarter of a million dollars. I was then able to reduce the amount of medical bills she needed to pay so she would get to keep more of her settlement. Out of the nearly $140,000.00 worth of bills, all she had to repay was $300.00. My client received $132,200.00 after all fees, expenses and medical bills were paid. She was very pleased.

If you have been injured in a car wreck, e-mail or call me today at 817-885-8000.

I just got back from running a marathon in Oregon, my fifth marathon in the last five months, so you know I'll go the distance for you.