07 February 2022
DANGEROUS DRIVERS AND AUTO WRECKS – UNDERSTANDING TEXAS LAW
Though cars have come a long way from their early days with no seat belts, no air bags and poor crash survivability, with humans at the wheel, personal injury lawyers in Houston are all too familiar with the devastating impact of driver negligence. Despite human safety advances, cars still have blind spots, humans fail to calculate speed, distance or even know their vehicles stopping distance and auto accidents and 18 wheeler wrecks happen. Tailgating and other types of impatient and bad drivers cause predictable and preventable auto wrecks and injuries. Under Texas Law, reasonable or ordinary care is the core issue in negligence cases. Duty on the other hand, is a question of law for the Court. A personal injury victim who does not know or understand these factors and their legal meaning and required proof, it at a significant disadvantage.
LEGAL DUTIES EXIST FOR DRIVERS, BASED UPON TRAFFIC LAWS AND ORDINARY CARE
According to Texas Law, a car accident lawyer in Houston with twenty-five years of focus on helping personal injury victims knows that a driver has a legal duty to drive according to the conditions of traffic and the roadway, bin addition to following statutory traffic laws. By adhering to driving laws, looking and being aware of other vehicles and road conditions, a driver acts reasonably and exercises ordinary care. When a driver approaches a spot or situation which calls for and requires knowledge of traffic laws, extra care, in how they can safely drive, it is their legal duty and responsibility to comply. It’s a legal duty to use ordinary care and giving due regard for other drivers, which saves lives and prevents injury. Tragically, many drivers don’t and won’t adhere to their legal duty and cause injury and death on Texas Roadways, at an increasing rate.
Technology Works, to an Extent
Carmakers in recent years have been including sensor technology in the latest models that pick up and notice the driver of a nearby vehicle. These vehicle features do not relieve the driver of responsibility for hitting another motorist. The ticket would often be to fail to maintain a single lane, or failure to yield. Many personal injury victims view that a case is open and shut, when they know the other driver got a ticket. They would be wrong in that assumption, as most traffic tickets issued as a criminal misdemeanor are resolved by deferred adjudication, or a plea of nolo contendre, with a just fine.
Unless the defendant who hit you pleads guilty, without pre-condition, to the traffic citation, a jury in a civil case may never hear of the ticket and the findings of the investigating police officer on the ticket. Insurance adjusters know this, lawyers know this, Judges know this, but many personal injury victims wrongly count on the defendants ticket, to prove the win in their civil liability case, while the adjuster works to counter and adjust away ant facts that would establish the negligence of their insured defendant.
The Risk is Real
Even predominately good drivers make negligent mistakes and cause personal injury to another person, but don’t be confused with an excuse, it is still negligence. Ideally, everyone practices situational awareness, but in reality, a lot of carelessness happens, daily, especially in a city of 4.5 million, like Houston. Motorcycle drivers, pedestrians and bicyclist, are particularly at risk from negligent drivers, oblivious to other authorized users of the roadways and rights of way.
Ask a Houston car accident lawyer what are some of the most common accidents on the road, and most Houston traffic mistakes made by bad drivers result from inattention and carelessness. Many are avoidable with proactive, situation driving. Assuming no pedestrian, motorcyclist, or bicyclist will be on the road or in the right of way, is no excuse for a wreck. There are no normal driving conditions, there are the conditions then existing on the roadway at the time of the wreck, that dictate the drives duty to others. When you find yourself injured from a negligent driver and someone’s mistake of not being aware, it’s time to talk to the McLemore Law Firm. If you do not understand the law behind the duty owed by a negligent driver in a situation, before you are cross examined by an adjuster who does, you are at risk of assuming false legal premises and being misled about your legal rights. A Houston accident lawyer knows and has resources available, to help you appreciate your rights in your fight for justice. Scott McLemore is car accident and personal injury lawyer who has regularly represented injury victims, successfully in similar cases.
Don’t be another sad statistic and have your suffering and injury be a profit for an insurance company by failing to stand up for your rights and call a lawyer if you have been the victim of a negligent or careless driver on the road. The McLemore Law Firm has been helping injury victims for 25 years; call us today for a free consultation and let us fight for justice, for you.