Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

I am providing this important update regarding car safety and car accidents. Since our Fort Worth car accident lawyers have represented injury victims for many years we understand that while some accidents are unavoidable the extent of the injuries often depends on the safety of the cars involved.

Very often, the difference between a safe car and one that fails to meet national standards can mean the difference between simply walking away from an accident or being seriously injured or killed.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is a not-for-profit group financed entirely by the insurance industry. As a Tarrant traffic accident lawyer, we study closely the recently released IIHS 2012 list of Top Safety Picks, with a record breaking 115 passenger vehicles receiving the distinction of being a Top Safety Pick. Utilizing the IIHS study will help drivers make better-informed selections about the cars they drive.

Crash-worthiness is the study of how well a particular car protects its occupants in a crash. The IIHS rates vehicles in four separate tests. High-speed front and side crashes, roll-overs and rear-enders. It also analyzes seat restraints and head rests to determine the probability of sustaining a neck or back injury in a rear-end crash.

For any vehicle to score a Top Safety Pick it has to have good ratings in all four tests. Our Tarrant County car crash lawyers cannot recommend that any of our clients drive mini-cars. Surprisingly there are only four mini-cars that were deemed to be safe enough to be a Top Safety Pick. The Mini Cooper which seems to be very popular on the streets of Dallas did well in front impact crashes but scored poorly in side impact and roll-over tests.

It may not be stylish, but Suburu with the most models receiving 2012 picks while BMW has the least. Honda was the manufacturer deemed to be "most improved" due to increases in roof strength in 2012. To find out how will your car did, click here.

As a Texas Medical doctor and Fort Worth Personal Attorney, I am providing this commentary regarding the state of traffic in our Great State of Texas, particularly in the Dallas Forth Worth Metroplex.

I was sitting here in my office on a Friday afternoon, before the long holiday weekend for Labor Day, when I browsed this interesting article that I would like to share.

I-35W in Fort Worth is the most stressful road in Texas, and fifth overall on the state's list of 100 most congested roadways. According to the Texas Department of Transportation's 2011 edition of the 100 most congested roadways, I35w Interstate 35W north of downtown Fort Worth is the most stressful road to travel on in Texas during peak congestion periods.

The stretch of I-35W between I-30 and 28th Street north of downtown is the fifth most congested roadway in the state, according to calculations made by the Texas Transportation Institute. And I-35W has the highest score in the state when ranked by the congestion level during rush hours -- tied for first place with U.S. 281 in the San Antonio area.

Also in Tarrant County, Northeast Loop 820 between U.S. 377 and the Northeast Interchange is the 17th most congested roadway. If you want to review the list, click here. The top three most congested roads in Texas are Woodall Rodgers Freeway, LBJ Freeway and Central Expressway in Dallas, followed by I-35 in Austin.

There is an obvious relationship between stressful driving and car accidents. Y'all be safe this holiday weekend, as for me I am going to drive into Dallas as soon as this blog is published.

As a Dallas Car Accident Attorney I am providing this update regarding the most dangerous time for car accidents in Dallas.

Minimizing risk is not about when you are on the road, but how careful you are while on the road. The most dangerous month, is August, and Saturday the most dangerous day, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Auto accidents kill more than 40,000 people in the U.S. each year; they are the No. 1 cause of death for people between the ages of 1 and 34.

Time of Day Does Matter According to the the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, IIHS, an average 6.6 people are killed between the hours of 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., and another 6.6 between the hours of 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. Those rates are the overall highest of any time during the day. In 2007, 14,055 people were killed in the 5 p.m. hour. But the hours between midnight and 4 a.m. have the highest number of fatalities when calculated as a percentage of the amount of people on the road, according to AAA. During that time, statistically speaking, 5.87 per 100 million people on the road will be killed.

Time of day plays an important role in evaluating fatal crashes, because other dangerous factors are increased at night. Drunk driving, speeding and driving without a safety belt all increase during the night hours and each factor contributes directly to increased fatality rates.

Speeding is a factor in 30% of all fatal crashes, according to the NHTSA. 18% of fatal crashes during the day are alcohol-related, while 54% of crashes at night are alcohol-related. Two out of three the people killed at night are not wearing a seat belt.

Nationwide, 49% of fatal crashes happen at night, with a fatality rate per mile of travel about three times as high as daytime hours. During the day, the percentage of unrestrained fatalities tends to be under half.

The fewest deaths by crash in 2007, the latest year with complete data, happened early in the morning, between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. Those hours see significantly less traffic--only 9% of the average amount during peak hours.

Mid-week days like Tuesday and Wednesday also pose the lowest number of fatalities, both averaging fewer drivers and 96 and 100 deaths per day, respectively. So the answer is if you want to drive without getting killed, limit your driving to Tuesday and Wednesday morning, between 4 and 5 am. Hardly a practical solution to this epidemic.

Weekends--when the greatest number of people are on the road--predictably see the highest numbers of crash victims, with a combined average of 143 deaths for Saturday and Sunday, according to the IIHS.

Read more here.

Continue reading "Car Accident Guru Reveals The Most Dangerous Time for Accidents" »

As a Dallas Car Accident DUI Attorney, I am reporting this tragic pedestrian monster car wrongful death accident.

The parents of a Granbury college student who was struck and killed by a monster truck outside a Dallas strip club, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the driver of the truck and the club.

The lawsuit comes after Kasey McKenzie, 23, was killed while leaving with friends after a party at the Spearmint Rhino Gentlemen's Club shortly after 2 a.m. when Eric Crutchfield, pulled his custom 2003 Ford F-250 truck out of a parking space and ran over her with both front and rear tires.McKenzie died at the scene.

The lawsuit claims that the club was negligent when bartenders served Crutchfield past the legal limit of intoxication and allowed him to get in his vehicle and drive, even though it was apparent he was drunk, according to the parent's lawyer.

The lawsuit also claims that Crutchfield was driving with a suspended license and was so intoxicated at the time of McKenzie's death that he didn't know he had hit anyone.

Crutchfield's truck had a lift kit that limited his field of vision and was not in keeping with federal and state regulations.

The Dallas resident was charged with intoxication manslaughter after his blood alcohol level was shown to be 0.18, more than twice the legal limit at 0.08, according to Dallas police spokesman Kevin Janse.

Continue reading "Dallas Monster Car Accident Wrongful Death" »

As a Fort Worth Car Accident and Truck Accident attorney, I am reporting this tragic accident that lead to a wrongful death of the truck driver, from a tanker gasoline explosion. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Raya family.

Fort Worth police have arrested and charged Louis Nieves, 23, with intoxication manslaughter after a fiery traffic accident early in the morning that killed the driver of a fuel tanker truck and shut down the freeway most of the day.

Nieves was the driver of a small red pickup truck. Police reported he was driving the wrong way on Interstate 30 when he slammed into the oncoming 18-wheeler near the Beach Street exit at 2:37 a.m.

The freeway was shut down and traffic was backed up through downtown Fort Worth after the deadly wrong-way crash. The tanker exploded after impact, killing its driver. The truck was so badly burned that the flames destroyed the tanker and damaged the surface of the freeway.

The red pickup showed significant front end damage, but did not catch on fire. Emergency crews rushed Nieves to a nearby hospital. He was treated at the hospital, released and booked into the Fort Worth jail. Officers said several people called 911 to report the wrong-way driver.

The other two lanes remain badly damaged and must undergo extensive repairs. TxDOT said the road must be resurfaced and, underneath, steel beams and the concrete support system that burned must also be replaced.

The tanker was so badly burned, there is no obvious way to determine who owns it or even to whom it was registered.

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission has opened an investigation into where a 23-year-old pickup driver was drinking before he was involved in a fiery crash.

Louis Nieves, 23, who was arrested after the wreck, told a reporter for WFAA/Channel 8 TV that he had drunk 10 beers before getting behind the wheel and leaving a bar on East Eighth Street near the Fort Worth Convention Center.

Family and friends identified the tanker driver as 45-year-old Alejandro Raya of Fort Worth.

The beverage commission is investigating but won't identify the business until the investigation is further along.

Nieves, who faces a charge of intoxication manslaughter, remained in the Mansfield Jail with bail set at $90,000, according to Fort Worth police.

Alejandro Raya left a wife and three children, ages 21, 14 and 12. Alejandro Raya moved to the United States from Mexico in the 1980s. Raya was working for Petro-Chemical Transport, based in Addison, according to a company spokeswoman. Gasoline fuel that spilled from the tanker ignited, melting steel beams and concrete in the I-30 bridge over Sycamore Creek.

Continue reading "Fort Worth Truck Explosion Accident Wrongful Death" »

As a Dallas car accident attorney, I am writing to inform folks about the dangers to automobiles and drivers from highway construction zones.

Construction sites and highway construction zones are adversely impacted by poor communication, a work force in a hurry, third party contractors, a mind set of profits before people and safety and negligence.

The first rule of safety is to eliminate the danger; if that is not possible, then the second rule of safety is to barricade the danger and if that is not possible then you communicate the danger and warn. The trouble is how can you communicate with somebody who does not understand or speak English.

Safety violations can occur; by breaking and ignoring local, municipal, city, county, state or federal regulations, for example when equipment is left too close to the side of the road, or when proper safety policies and procedures are not followed, construction companies and employers can be held financially liable.

Highway and road construction zones are the most dangerous road conditions in Texas. In the Dallas/Fort Worth area major highways and thoroughfares are always under construction, leaving drivers to deal with improperly marked roads, obstacles, and other hazardous road conditions. In our Metroplex, we have over 6,000 miles of highways and roads. Hundreds of drivers and passengers of cars, semi-trucks, buses and motorcycles are injured or killed every year in construction zone accidents that could have been easily prevented and avoided.

If you or a family member has been injured in a highway or construction zone car accident, there may be more than one party that can be held responsible and required to compensate you for your injuries. Road maintenance crews, highway design engineers, and other drivers are often held legally accountable for their negligence Contractors, subcontractors or government agencies in charge of construction zones may also be held liable if they were negligent in their duties.

The following is a list of some factors that may lead to an auto accident in a construction zone:

Substandard road maintenance
Unmarked or unfixed potholes
Dangerous gravel on the road or road resurfacing
Slippery road surfaces due to spills especially chemicals or oil
Substandard or defective marked construction zones
Dangerous unmarked changes in road conditions
Defective or missing Guardrails
Substandard marked intersections
Negligently or reckless designed roadways, bridges, and rights-of-way

Continue reading "Personal Injury, Wrongful Death and Car Accidents" »

As a Fort Worth Car Accident Attorney, this story takes the biscuit as far as crazy things to do while you are driving.

According to police, a van that caught on fire in a Seattle suburb was caused by the passengers filling up the van with gas while driving.

According to one of the victims, she and her two friends had bought gas at a gas station. She said they didn't have a gas can, so they filled an open bucket with two gallons of gas and put it in the van.

The engine cowling, a piece of metal that covered the engine had been removed. The passengers used a water bottle to transfer gas from the bucket directly into the carburetor in order to keep the engine running.

The van was filled with gas fumes, then the van stalled and as the driver tried to restart the van, it exploded.

According to Witnesses, the woman jumped out of the back of the van and fell to the ground, on fire, and that the van rolled over her leg. All three people were on fire and "desperately trying to put it out," investigators said.

Continue reading "Victims In Car Fire Were Filling Gas While Driving" »

As a Fort Worth Car Accident Attorney, I am reporting this crazy case of road rage, which took place in my back yard of Grapevine, Texas.

A Dallas man, James D. Wilson, tried to escape after assaulting another driver in a road-rage incident here in Grapevine.

According to the Grapevine police, Wilson is expected to be charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, endangering a child and criminal mischief. The incident occurred on westbound Texas 114, which is being rebuilt as part of the DFW Connector project.

The other driver, was with his wife, his 9-year-old daughter and their dog in their BMW when he was cut off by a pickup.

The pickup pulled up beside the BMW and then the pickup driver and his passenger got out and yelled at the BMW driver.

The pickup driver got into his truck, leaving the door open, and backed into the BMW and the driver with the door.

The BMW driver got up after being hit, and was dragged about 100 feet while hanging on the door. The BMW driver eventually let go of the door and rolled onto the roadway.

Luckily the incident was witnessed by an off duty police officer and the arrest took place. The man who performed the criminal attack should have his license revoked, pay a hefty fine and go to jail. These kind of assaults/road rage cannot be tolerated in a civilized society...zero tolerance.

Continue reading "Car Accident and Road Rage in Grapevine Texas" »

The law is always changing when it comes to accidents, and as a Fort Worth Car Accident attorney I read with interest this car accident case which is now in front of the Texas Supreme Court.

Seven years ago, near Fredericksburg, Courtney Foreman of Cedar Park drowned after construction work left a 15-foot gap in a bridge guardrail room enough for her car, sliding on wet dirt and gravel, to hit the Pedernales River.

She was 18. But a lawsuit against the construction company that followed those plans was thrown out, only to be reinstated on appeal.

Now the case is before the Texas Supreme Court, which will determine whether the Allen Keller Co. had a duty to protect drivers like Foreman from a potentially dangerous situation. The answer could have repercussions for Texas contractors, construction firms and accident victims.

Continue reading "Texas Supreme Court to Answer: Is Builder Liable for Bridge's Guardrail Gap?" »

As a Fort Worth Car Accident attorney, I am writing about this tragic loss of life in a car crash just before New Years day.

Spc. Clinton Young, on leave for Christmas, and was to return Jan. 3 to finish training at the 14th Military Police Brigade at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. He died just before New Years day when a collision knocked him off an overpass on U.S. 287 in southeast Fort Worth, where he was standing after his car crashed into a guardrail.

His mother, Ruby Young said she was on the phone with her son moments before he was killed. "He loved his family very much and his family dearly loved him," his mom said. "But we'd like people to know that Clinton was proud to serve his country. He wanted to be a soldier."

Ruby Young said she was told that her son lost control of his car on a U.S. 287 overpass and smashed into the guardrail. An 18-wheeler then crashed just past her son's vehicle, blocking the road.

Another 18-wheeler stopped in the road because the driver couldn't get around the wreckage. Then a vehicle slammed into the second truck's trailer and careered into Clinton Young, who was standing next to his vehicle.

The collision threw him over the guardrail and he fell dozens of feet onto East Loop 820, Fort Worth police reported. My thoughts and prayers are with this young man;s family at this time of need.

Continue reading "Fort Worth Car Crash Leads to Death of Promising Young Soldier" »

As a Fort Worth Car Accident and Wrongful Death Attorney, I have the following accident to report.

According to the police, a 33-year-old Denton woman died after being ran over by a moving trailer.

Police said a group of people were helping friends move out of an apartment complex, when Andrea Noecker sat down on the tongue and hitch connected to a trailer. One in the group was moving a pickup truck to the street when Noecker fell off in the parking lot and was run over by the trailer.

Noecker was flown to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth where she died from her injuries.

My thoughts and prayers are with her family in their time of need.

Information and commentary provided by Dallas Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Dr Shezad Malik. The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm can be contacted in Dallas toll free at 888-210-9693 or in Fort Worth at 817-900-8439. If you or a loved one has been injured from a truck accident, car crash or bus accident, please fill out our contact card for a free consultation.

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Virginia Jury Verdict: $10.5 Million in Wrongful Death

A Virginia jury has awarded $10.5 million to the family of a woman who died in 2007 after a concrete mixer truck fell onto her car.

The wrongful death victim was aged 25, and she died after eight days in hospital. The victim's husband survived the horrific accident. Their car was crushed as they drove on State Route 53 and were hit by a truck driven by William Sprouse, working for Allied Concrete Co. Sprouse later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and served 30 days in jail.

Information and commentary provided by Dallas Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Dr Shezad Malik. The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm can be contacted in Dallas toll free at 888-210-9693 or in Fort Worth at 817-900-8439. If you or a loved one has been injured from a truck accident, car crash or bus accident, please fill out our contact card for a free consultation.

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As a Fort Worth car accident attorney I am proud to relay this Texas jury verdict involving a bus accident.

An El Paso jury ordered a local Texas bus company to pay more than $132 million to the victims of a 2005 Colorado deadly crash.

The jury found that the van had bald tires and no safety belts. Two people died, and several others were severely injured in the crash. After a four-day trial, the judgment was reached against Los Paisanos bus lines and its owner, Uriel Chavira.

According to the plaintiff attorneys, and the lawsuit, the Los Paisanos bus company treated these victims like cattle, and the van, without seat belts, was driven over 188,000 miles in two years in an illegal interstate operation to move Mexican citizens across state lines.

33 people from El Paso and Juárez boarded a Los Paisanos bus in El Paso and headed for Denver.

According to witness testimony, the van was on a highway just outside Denver when the driver, Heriberto Flores-Garcia, began speeding and eating at the same time. He lost control of the van, which went over an embankment and rolled.

Read Article: El Paso Times

Information and commentary provided by Dallas Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Dr Shezad Malik. The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm can be contacted in Dallas toll free at 888-210-9693 or in Fort Worth at 817-900-8439. If you or a loved one has been injured from a truck accident, car crash or bus accident, please fill out our contact card for a free consultation.

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As a Fort Worth Wrongful Death Attorney and Car Accident Attorney I am providing this latest update regarding the on going Toyota Product Liability Lawsuits.

The California federal judge said that he is inclined to let personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits against Toyota Motor Corp. move forward.

U.S. District Judge James V. Selna issued a preliminary opinion denying the automaker's motion to dismiss key causes of action in 51 lawsuits.

Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed since the Japanese automaker starting recalling millions of vehicles because of sudden-acceleration problems in several models and brake defects with the Prius hybrid.

If the order is finalized, Selna's order would be a victory for plaintiffs suing Toyota for negligence, design defects, failure to warn and fraudulent concealment.

Information and commentary provided by Dallas Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Dr Shezad Malik. The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm can be contacted in Dallas at 888-210-9693 or in Fort Worth at 817-900-8439. If you or a loved one has been injured from a car accident, please fill out our contact card for a free consultation.

As a Fort Worth Car Accident Attorney I am providing this update on drunk driving related car accidents and fatalities. These incredible statistics reveal why drunk driving is a major public policy issue.

According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving MADD, these are the statistics for 2010 for the State of Texas.

Rank: 45

3 time offenders: 124,662

5 time offenders: 18,271

DUI Fatalities: 1,235

% of total traffic deaths DUI related 40%

% of change in DUI fatalities from previous to current year: -6

State subsidy of drunk driving fatalities: $5.8 Billion

Summary:

The Legislature rejected lifesaving interlock legislation and sobriety checkpoint legislation in 2009; MADD is working toward the 2011 session.

Alcohol use in past month among persons aged 12 to 20: 26%

Binge alcohol use in past month among persons aged 12 to 20: 17%

Source: SAMHSA, Office of Applied Studies, National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2007 and 2008.

We are following closely this local story involving a drunk Fort Worth police officer and the tragic car accident that he was involved in. Read full Fort Worth Star Telegram story here.

An accident investigator said a former Fort Worth police officer's alcohol intoxication is to blame for a fatal car crash.

Jesus Cisneros, a former undercover narcotics officer, is charged with intoxication manslaughter in the wrongful death of a 27-year-old mother.

Sonia Baker died in December when a Fort Worth issued SUV driven by Cisneros crashed into her. The SUV apparently was speeding at 76 mph in a busy residential area when it collided with Baker's car. Baker could not have been able to avoid the accident, according to the investigators.

According to State Prosecutors, the crash came after Cisneros attended a birthday party for a fellow officer at a Fort Worth bar. Video that was recorded at the party show him drinking heavily.

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As a Fort Worth Truck accident attorney, I would to share my thoughts about the causes of truck accidents and injuries.

There are many causes of Trucking Accidents, most common include Driver Fatigue, and Mechanical Failure involving the cars and trucks.

Deadly Trucking accidents can result from driver fatigue, inclement weather or road conditions, and vehicle failure.

Usually there is no contest between a fully loaded 100,000 lbs 18 wheeler truck and a 5,000 lbs automobile. And usually death or catastrophic injuries are the invariable outcome.

Across the United States, trucking accidents are caused by the dangerous and negligent actions of truck drivers. Speeding at unsafe speeds, not observing the traffic signals and rules, failure to yield and failing to follow rules of the road result in thousands of traffic accidents each year.

As a Fort Worth Wrongful Death Attorney and DUI Car Accident Attorney I am providing this latest update regarding the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol and car accidents.

An Indiana judge has awarded $15 million to the family of a man who was killed in a 2005 crash caused by a drunk driver.

The crash, which occurred on the Indiana Toll Road, killed four people in all, but Stanislaw Gil, the man responsible, was unharmed.

The truck driver had also been driving longer than federal regulations allow and his employer, Net Trucking, had doctored their logs to conceal this fact, an investigation discovered. Gil has been sentenced to 14 years in prison and 10 years probation.

Information and commentary provided by Dallas Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Dr Shezad Malik. The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm can be contacted in Dallas at 888-210-9693 or in Fort Worth at 817-900-8439. If you or a loved one has been injured from a hit and run, please fill out our contact card for a free consultation.

As a Southlake car accident and car wreck attorney I frequently provide updates to my readers.
If you are involved in a car accident, car wreck, hit and run, fender bender or any other terms you that may use for a car collision, you should be familiar with the Texas driving rules of the road.

As a Fort Worth Car Wreck attorney, I am involved with many of the similar types of car accident cases as I read about this weekend.

Dallas taxi broadsides SUV, leads to critical injuries of a stranded driver. Read full story here. A taxicab carrying seven passengers broadsided a Buick at a downtown Dallas intersection Saturday morning, sending the SUV crashing into a man as he filled his dead vehicle with gas.

Obviously the taxi cab driver did not keep a proper lookout and went through a busy intersection, causing the accident and causing significant brain trauma to a pedestrian.

In Texas, all drivers have to keep a “proper lookout”and observe the speed, traffic signals/signs and traffic conditions for that particular stretch of road. It is the law in Texas to wear a seat belt and so buckle up. That means that the driver has to pay continuous attention to the road as well as other drivers and failure to observe this could result in a Texas car accident because of negligence.

Every driver in Texas- whether you live in Southlake, or any other area- has a responsibility to be careful when driving. Remember a Texas driver license is a privilege and not an automatic right to use the road.

Information and commentary is provided by Dallas and Fort Worth Car Accident Attorney Shezad Malik. The Dr Shezad Malik Law Firm can be reached in Dallas at http://www.shezadmalik.com/http://www.shezadmalik.com/http://www.shezadmalik.com/http://www.shezadmalik.com/http://www.shezadmalik.com/888-210-9693 or in Fort Worth at 817-900-8439. If you have questions about a car accident, please fill out our contact for online for a free consultation.

The personal injury sage continues. As a Fort Worth Personal Injury attorney I am writing this blog to hopefully provide insight to my readers, about the law works with its byzantine rules and regulations.

The Law and its practical applications are murky at best and we as lawyers have developed our own rituals and our own special language. Because if we spoke in plain English, then it would not be special anymore.

In my last missive I detailed the week before an actual trial that we were getting ready to do on our slip and fall case. The case got continued. Now we are using this opportunity to continue in our siege of the defendants castle. We continue to press our charge and are unrelenting in our skirmishes.

The defendants strategy in every personal injury case, irrespective of the claim, is to first deny the claim, then to deflect the claim ie somebody elses fault and then finally to delay the case going to trial. They hope with this strategy with wear out the plaintiff and make the cost of litigation prohibitively expensive to continue.

This standard strategy is designed to sap the will of the opponent, to make the risk reward ratio tilt in their favor. This tactic may have traction in some quarters especially in the claim is weak or ill founded, but to us it is like waving a red flag to a bull. We are only spurred on, and I have a natural dislike for bullies, and that is what the defense are; bullies by any other name are still bullies, with their repeated denials and rejections of liability and fault.

In this particular instance, we have been at it for over 3 years. The defense is a stubborn lot, mangy and dogged in their delay tactics. We shall prevail, Justice will triumph in the end and the dark forces crushed.

Ultimately the defendants insurance is going to rein them in especially when they have spent more in defending this case than they could have settled it for. They are consumed by over reaching hubris and a lack of common sense. They will ultimately lose this account.

"Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war."

And so it begins, twenty four hours from now, with a drop of the hammer and a cry of "Order, Court now in session," the battle banners would have unfurled with the sounds of trumpets.

As a Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney, I would like to offer the following insights. As I mentioned in my last posting from the battlefront, we were due in court tomorrow to argue our slip and fall case which just got canceled and set for a new date.

The foul air would have been filled with the clanging of steel, the clashing of shields, the stench of panic and fear permeating the air to be supplemented with whiffs of gunpowder. My friends, this was no ordinary skirmish, but the accumulation of 3 years hard labor. But it was not to be...

My friends that is what a court room feels and sounds like, all shrouded in the fog of war and at the end of the day, one victor and the vanquished. Carnage and havoc for both.
Trials are no easy things and the plaintiffs all want their day in court. It is hard to then explain to them when you get a worse deal at trial that in settlement talks a year earlier.

In this particular battle, the decision to go to war was easy, we had no offers to settle or offers through mediation. Here, if we had failed to press our charge and we lost, what did we lose? We came with nothing and left with nothing. Then the next time the defense would know we spared no quarter, we yielded no ground, and we fought to the last man. Each man died a hero, with sword in hand, a bloody battle indeed.

In this battle dear readers, there are no prisoners.

Continue reading "Fort Worth Personal Injury Attorney Who Will Fight For You 817-900-8439" »

Today I settled one of my trucking-car accident cases through mediation. Mediation for those of you who are not familiar with the process, is an alternative dispute resolution process that I frequently employ with good results. As a Dallas Wrongful Death Attorney, I use mediation as a settlement instrument in 80-90% of my personal injury cases.

Usually after the lawsuit is filed, initial discovery is shared and the first round of depositions have taken place, both sides of the dispute will have a good idea of the strength and weaknesses of their respective case. No one case is perfect on all counts.

That is when I usually approach the opposition and ask them to consider and participate in the mediation process. Today we had such a meeting, which was held at a neutral place, the office of the neutral attorney mediator. It is the job of the mediator to listen over a period of several hours to both sides of the conflict and urge both sides to come to a settlement.

Sometimes the mediation process fails and the case goes to trial, this usually happens when the parties are too far apart. That happened to me at the last mediation, 2 weeks ago on a dog bite case. We go to trial in October.

In the present mediation, my client had significant soft tissue injuries after she was rear ended by a 18 wheeler truck. She developed chronic pain and had to have significant medical therapy. The outcome could have been much worse, she could have died as a result of the accident. In this case both vehicles had become locked as a result of the accident and the truck driver did not realize that he was in an accident as he continued to drive. It came to his attention when another truck driver called him on the radio that he was pushing a car up the hill.

I am glad to report that the case settled for a confidential amount and the truck driver/company accepted liability.

Continue reading "Dallas Wrongful Death Attorney 817-900-8439" »

There are thousands of car, truck and motor bike accidents through out the Dallas Fort Worth multiplex on an annual basis. Many people get severely injured, maimed for life or die as a result of the motor vehicle accident.

I got a call today from a potential client in San Antonio. She told me the sad story of the death of her son's father from a car accident. Apparently the driver was under the influence of alcohol, and been charged with vehicular manslaughter. The driver is in jail awaiting sentencing.

I do not know all the details but in this particular instance at least 3 people have been affected, the woman, the son and the father...

Continue reading "Fort Worth Car Accident Attorney" »

I am proud of our work this week. We just settled another car accident injury claim. My client was minding his own business, one night in Dallas. Somebody plowed into him and rear ended him. The folks who hit him were drunk and tried to run. They were caught by an off duty apartment security guard.

Come to find out they were high as a kite and ready to fly.

Luckily for my client he had minor soft tissue injuries, but he had pre-existing neck problems including cervical neck fusion. Obviously we were concerned that he may have had neck injuries. But after medical evaluation he was cleared of major injuries.

We settled for insurance policy limits.

When you need to help after an injury or accident, you need to find the Dallas Fort Worth Texas personal injury lawyers.

We evaluate and accept cases all over Texas including Houston, Dallas, San Antonio car accidents, auto wrongful death cases, mesothelioma, burn injuries, Accutane side effect bowel disease, Paxil birth defects, brain injuries, 18 wheeler, semi truck, tractor trailer accidents, diesel truck or big rig accidents.

If you have been injured in an accident as a result of the negligence of others,
please call 817-900-8439, 888-210-9693 or Contact Me Online.

A jury has awarded $6.8 million to a Pennsylvania woman who was injured in a car crash caused by a drunk driver. The jury found the Famous Mexican Restaurant & Bar in Coatesville, Penn., liable for continuing to serve alcohol to Omar Villalava-Martinez, even after he was visibly intoxicated.

Villalava-Martinez left the restaurant in his car and crashed it into Ryan Fell's vehicle, the suit claimed. Fell broke nearly every bone in her body, and even after three years of recovery, it is painful for her to walk.

Sam Wood , Philadelphia Inquirer 08/20/2010
Read Article: Philadelphia Inquirer

Continue reading "Bar Found Liable In DUI Crash Lawsuit" »

A Chicago strip club has agreed to a $1 million settlement after a patron left the club and got into a car accident, killing two other people.

John Homatas was kicked out of Diamond's Gentlemen's Club for being too drunk in January 2006. According to the lawsuit, he and John Chiariello got into Homatas' car and left the club.

Homatas crashed into an SUV driven by April Simmons. Simmons, who was pregnant, and Chiariello were killed in the accident. Homatas is serving a 12-year sentence for DUI and reckless homicide. Clifford Ward, Chicago Tribune 08/12/2010
Read Article: Chicago Tribune

Continue reading "Chicago Strip Club Reaches Settlement" »

A woman in Florida has filed a lawsuit against Ford Motors over the death of her husband in a fiery car accident. Patrick Ambroise, a Florida Highway Patrol, died in his Ford Crown Victoria cruiser when the rear end burst into flames when it was rear-ended.

The suit claims that Ford poorly designed the vehicle and placed the gas tank in an unsafe position to where it may ignite of the car was hit from behind. The seeks unspecified damages. Staff Report, Miami Herald 08/06/2010

Read Article: Miami Herald

Continue reading "Widow Files Lawsuit Against Ford In Husband's Death" »

The death of a woman who was hit by a car on a crosswalk at the Salt Lake City International Airport has prompted a lawsuit from the woman's husband.

The lawsuit claims that airport officials were aware of the "dangerous traffic situation" at the crosswalk but had done nothing to make it safer.

The airport had been warned by an employee of the potential for accidents at the crosswalk, the lawsuit states. The suit also names the driver of the car, Evelini Kinikini, as a defendant. Sheena McFarland, The Salt Lake Tribune 07/28/2010

Read Article: The Salt Lake Tribune

Continue reading "Lawsuit Filed Over Fatal Accident at Utah Airport" »

A sports bar in Austell, Ga., has agreed to pay $1 million to the widow of a man killed by a drunk driver who was allegedly over-served by the bar staff.

The lawsuit claims that in October 2008, The Sports Grill served alcohol to William Paul Davis IV when he was already drunk.

Davis then crashed his car into Cuneyt Erturk's vehicle, killing Erturk. The judge also sanctioned the bar after it was discovered that they destroyed video tapes and bar tabs that showed Davis drinking. Andria Simmons , Atlanta Journal-Constitution 07/27/2010

Read Article: Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Continue reading "Bar To Pay Damages In Fatal Drunk Driver Crash" »

A San Diego jury will decide this week if Pizza Hut is liable for a November 2008 accident involving one of their drivers.

The accident left a mother and daughter severely injured. According to the lawsuit, driver Nicole Fisk had a seizure while driving during work, causing her to black out and crash into the car containing Olena and Shari Novak.

The lawsuit claims that Pizza Hut should have known that Fisk was at risk for seizures and has the responsibility of putting safe drivers on the road.

Fisk was eventually dropped from the Novaks' lawsuit. Dana Littlefield, San Diego Union Tribune 07/25/2010

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Continue reading "Jury To Decide Verdict in Pizza Hut Driver Wreck" »

The Washington State Department of Transportation has agreed to pay $2 million to settle a lawsuit filed by a man involved in a serious motorcycle crash in 2006.

John Lancaster claims in his lawsuit that the DOT was aware for years that the roadway where he crashed was dangerously designed, but had failed to do anything to fix it.

The area has a high level of traffic accidents, and a 2001 report by the DOT recommended the road be fixed. Four years later, Lancaster still cannot use his right arm and has limited mobility in his left hand. Jeremy Pawloski, The Olympian 07/20/2010

Read Article: The Olympian

Continue reading "WA DOT Settles Lawsuit Over Dangerous Road" »

A lawsuit was filed against two northern railroad companies this week by the family of a Chicago woman who was hit by a train and killed.

Katie Ann Lunn died in the train accident earlier this year when an Amtrak train hit her SUV, which was stopped on the tracks in heavy traffic.

The lawsuit contends that the Illinois Central Railroad Co. and Wisconsin Central Ltd. failed "to ensure crossing-protection systems were functioning properly," among other things, which would have prevented the accident. The suit is seeking unspecified damages. Jon Hilkevitch, Chicago Tribune 07/14/2010
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Continue reading "Fatal Train Wreck In Illinois Prompts Lawsuit" »

A San Mateo County jury has ordered Caltrans and a northern California woman to pay $12.2 million to a 21-year-old girl who suffered permanent brain damage during a car accident in 2006.

Gada Hassan hit Emily Liou with her car while Liou was crossing the street at a cross walk at the top of a small rise in the road.

The lawyers for the plaintiff argued also that Caltrans was responsible because they had done nothing to ensure the safety of pedestrians and drivers at that intersection, which has seen three similarly fatal accidents since 1991. Joshua Melvin, San Jose Mercury News 07/14/2010

Read the article here.

Continue reading "Driver and Caltrans, Responsible For Car Accident" »

Utility provider PG&E has agreed to pay $5 million to the mother of a 20-year-old woman who was killed in a car accident involving one of the company drivers.

Mary Bernstein and a friend were killed in the wreck in 2006 when John Mayfield, a diabetic, blacked out a the wheel after forgetting to test his blood sugar. Under the terms of the agreement, PG&E agreed to record the resolution as a judgment, rather than a confidential settlement.

Mary's mother Lisa has also said she will petition California legislators to pass regulations that require companies to more closely monitor their fleet drivers. Tracey Kaplan, San Jose Mercury News 07/06/2010
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Continue reading "PG&E Agrees to Settlement Over Fatal Car Accident" »

A Dayton, Ohio, couple will receive $27,000 from the city in a settlement for their involvement in a car crash with a local police officer.

The lawsuit claimed that Officer Adam Sharp caused the accident with the couple when he was driving the wrong way on a one-way road without his lights flashing or siren on. The couple incurred $64,000 in medical bills related to their injuries, the Dayton Daily News reported.

Lucas Sullivan, Dayton Daily News 06/23/2010
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Continue reading "Lawsuit Settled Over Wreck Caused By Police Officer" »

A jury has ruled that Enterprise Rent-A-Car must pay $15 million to the family of two girls who died in a fiery car crash in 2004 in one of the company's rental cars.

Raechel and Jacqueline Houck were riding in a rented Chrysler PT Cruiser when the car crashed, killing the girls, the lawsuit stated.

The month before the crash, Chrysler had issued a recall of PT Cruisers for a defect that could cause the car to catch on fire, but the company had not returned its PT Cruisers for repairs.

Enterprise admitted in May through a signed statement that "their negligence was the sole proximate cause of the fatal injuries." Jondi Gumz, San Jose Mercury News 06/21/2010

Read Article: San Jose Mercury News

Continue reading "Enterprise Car Rental Liable for Fatal Crash in Recalled Vehicle" »

Camden County, Penn., has agreed to a $15 million settlement with a man who lost his leg and part of his arm when his car crashed into a guardrail and the railing snapped off, cutting through the vehicle.

In 2004, Nicholas Anderson was driving on Raritan Road when he was forced off the road by an oncoming car.

The lawsuit claims that the guardrail was improperly designed and should have absorbed the impact of Anderson's vehicle instead of snapping off.

Properly designed guardrails were later installed throughout the county. Barbara Boyer , Philadelphia Inquirer 06/18/2010

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Continue reading "Settlement Reached in PA Guardrail Crash" »

An $835,000 settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed against the city of Louisville over an accident with a police cruiser that killed a local man in 2006.

Donnie Puente was standing next to his car in the emergency lane on a Kentucky highway when a police car driven by Officer Kenten Measle swerved into the lane, striking and killing Puente.

Measle was suspended for 30 days, but the death was ruled accidental. Jason Riley, Louisville Courier Journal 06/14/2010

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Continue reading "Louisville City Settles Suit Over Fatal Police Collision" »

A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against a Naples, Fla., teacher alleging that she was intoxicated when she caused a car accident last year that killed a local woman.

The lawsuit, filed by the family of Bree Kelly, claims that Andrea M. Kidder was drunk at the wheel, which caused her to rear end the truck Kelly was riding in at over 70 mph, throwing Kelly from the vehicle and killing her.

Florida investigators are still awaiting the results of a toxicology report on Kidder's blood, but have not filed any charges as of yet. Aisling Swift, Naples News 06/13/2010

Read Article: Naples News

Continue reading "Lawsuit Claims Driver Was Drunk, Caused Fatal Crash" »

Scott Wilson, a 23-year-old civil engineer, was killed while driving to his mother's house in Wellington when his Hyundai Sonata was struck by a black Bentley driven by wealthy polo club owner John Goodman.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office is still investigating whether Goodman, the founder of the International Polo Club Palm Beach, should face any criminal charges. Scott Wilson's father and his mother, Lili Wilson, filed wrongful-death lawsuits against Goodman.

Read the full story here.

Continue reading "Family to File Wrongful Death Lawsuit Over Fatal Palm Beach Car Crash" »

Don't ignore flashing lights, bells and other warnings when approaching railroad crossings.

And in Burleson, officials were working to get that message across.

After three fatalities at railroad crossings in about a year, the Burleson Police Department, along with the Union Pacific Railroad, conducted an enforcement operation at the Alsbury Boulevard and Renfro Street crossings in Burleson. Nine drivers were cited for ignoring the warning signals, receiving a ticket that carries a $176 fine.

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/04/15/2118783/burleson-cracks-down-on-illegal.html#ixzz0lKdK2ch5

Continue reading "Burleson Texas Cracks Down on Illegal Train Crossings After Wrongful Deaths " »

A Denton County grand jury returned a murder indictment against a chronic drunken driver on charges that he drove drunk again on Easter and caused a wreck, killing two members of an Argyle family and seriously injuring three others.

John Patrick Barton, 30, is accused of causing the wreck on Interstate 35E in Lewisville that killed Kandace Hull, 33, and her 13-year-old daughter, Autumn Caudle.

Critically injured were Hull's husband, Anthony Hull, and their two other children, ages 12 and 16.

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/04/15/2118917/suspected-dwi-crash-on-easter.html#storylink=omni_popular#ixzz0lKRIIzys

Continue reading "Suspected DWI Crash Results in Murder Indictment in Denton County Texas " »

Students at Crowley High School mourned the loss of sophomore Germain Harris II, who died in a car wreck.

Harris, 16, died after his car struck a sign pole in front of an Arby's restaurant in the 3800 block of Altamesa Boulevard in southwest Fort Worth. The wreck happened at about 10:20 p.m.

The 1992 Lexus coupe was traveling at a "high rate of speed," said Sgt. Pedro Criado, a Fort Worth police spokesman.

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/04/16/2121090/crowley-high-school-mourns-death.html#ixzz0lKGU8DSm

Continue reading "Crowley Texas High School Mourns Death of Student in Car Crash " »

A St Louis police officer and the bar that served her alcohol have agreed to pay a total of $2.255 million — the limit of their insurance policies — to compensate the families of four young people killed and one man injured in a traffic crash in Des Peres last year.

A wrongful-death lawsuit, brought by the survivor and the dead victims' families, claimed that Officer Christine L. Miller, who was off duty, drank "a high quantity" of alcohol that night at O'Leary's Restaurant & Bar, and then drove her car into oncoming traffic.

Read the full story here.

Continue reading "Officer, Bar, Pay $2.255 M to Settle Suit in Crash That Killed 4" »

The federal judge handling the lawsuits against Toyota Motor Corp over cars that raced out of control has set the first court hearing on the combined litigation for next month.

Lawyers for Toyota will face off May 13 before U.S. District Judge James Selna in Santa Ana, California, against attorneys representing over 100 lawsuits consisting of consumer fraud class actions and personal injury claims against the Japanese automaker.

Read the full story here.

Continue reading "U.S. Judge Sets Toyota Suits " »

The mother of a 17-year-old girl killed in a hit-and-run accident in Escondido, California is suing the woman accused of the teenager’s death for $25 million.

The wrongful-death lawsuit, filed in Vista Superior Court, alleges that Tiffany St. Ives, 54, may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol when she struck Marlene Resendiz with her car while the girl was crossing a street on Nov. 24, 2007.

Read the full story here.

Continue reading "Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Over Fatal Hit-And-Run Crash" »

A panel of federal judges in San Diego, California is expected to rule on whether to consolidate a large number of lawsuits filed nationwide against Toyota.

Toyota has been inundated with lawsuits due to safety concerns that have led to the recall of more than eight-and-a-half million vehicles worldwide. Federal judges in California will hear arguments on whether to consolidate more than one hundred lawsuits claiming Toyota is responsible for economic losses suffered by Toyota owners.

A panel of seven judges will deliver a ruling on the proposed consolidation in April.

Continue reading "Massive Legal Battle Shaping Up Against Toyota" »

More than 100 deaths have now been blamed on sudden acceleration of Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles, nearly twice the number that had been reported two months ago, according to a Times review of public records.

With a recent surge of complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration factored in, sudden acceleration has been raised as a possible cause of crashes involving Toyota vehicles that led to 102 deaths, according to NHTSA records, lawsuits and police reports.

Read the full story here at the Los Angeles Times

Continue reading "Toyota Blamed For More Wrongful Deaths And Car Crashes" »

Federal regulators in 2007 asked Toyota Motor Corp. to consider installing software to prevent sudden acceleration in its vehicles after receiving complaints that vehicles could race out of control, company documents show.

Yet the automaker began installing the safety feature, known as brake override, only this January after a widely publicized accident involving a runaway Lexus ES that killed four people near San Diego.

Read the full story here.

Continue reading "Toyota was asked in 2007 to consider installing software to prevent sudden acceleration" »

A Seattle couple have sued Toyota in federal court, demanding that the company either take back the vehicle they just bought or reimburse them for its loss in value since the automaker's sudden-acceleration troubles became news.

The lawsuit alleges that the issues plaguing Toyota violate the state's Consumer Protection Act and amount to a breach of contract. The lawsuit is a proposed class action and, if certified by a federal judge, could apply to other Toyota owners in Washington with similar issues.

It claims more than 100 class members exist in Washington and that the damages in question will exceed $5 million.

Read full story here.

Continue reading "Seattle Couple Sue Toyota Over Vehicle's Lost Value" »

The Texas Supreme Court threw out a $15.8 million verdict, ruling unanimously that lawyers improperly introduced evidence that a gravel truck driver involved in a 2002 accident that killed four members of a Wise County family was an illegal immigrant.

By repeatedly mentioning the truck driver's immigration status, lawyers for the Hughes family clearly sought to inflame jurors' passions against the driver and his employer, TXI Transportation Co., the court ruled.

Read full story here.

Continue reading "Texas Supreme Court Tosses $15.8 M Verdict in Case Involving Illegal Immigrant" »

The city of Los Angeles paid $7 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a volunteer for the Los Angeles Triathlon, who was left a paraplegic by an accident during the event in 2007, according to his attorney.

Steve Albala, who was 60 at the time of the accident, was on his motorcycle helping to officiate the bicycle portion of the triathlon. A traffic officer motioned for a vehicle to enter an intersection into the volunteer's path, causing the accident, Albala's attorney contended in the lawsuit.

Read the full story here at the LA Times.

Continue reading "L.A. Settles Accident Lawsuit for $7 M" »

The family of the man whose Aug. 28 death spurred the first recall of Toyota vehicles for unintended acceleration has filed a products liability and negligence lawsuit against the Japanese automaker.

Mark Saylor, 45, a California Highway Patrol Officer, was killed along with his family after the 2009 Lexus he was driving suddenly accelerated out of control while on Interstate 125 near San Diego.

Read full story here at Law.com

Continue reading "Law Suit Filed in Crash That Prompted First Toyota Recall" »

Family members of a Fort Worth woman killed in a December wreck involving an allegedly intoxicated off-duty Fort Worth police officer filed suit today against the Fort Worth bar at which the officer had been drinking.

At a news conference in Dallas today, the family's attorney said the family of Sonia Baker decided to sue The Pour House not as a quest for money, but to hold such establishments accountable for over-serving patrons and “placing profits ahead of safety.”

The lawsuit is filed under the state’s Dram Shop Act, which allows those who sell alcohol to an obviously intoxicated person to be held liable for resulting damages.

Read the full story here at the Fort Worth Star Telegram.

Continue reading "Family of Fort Worth Woman Killed in Crash Sues Bar That Served Officer" »

Monty and Linda Hardy had taken their 2008 Toyota Avalon to a Grapevine dealership "several times" with complaints about uncommanded acceleration but were told there was nothing wrong, their attorney says.

On the day after Christmas, Monty Hardy was driving the Toyota in Southlake when it sped through a T-intersection, barreled through a steel fence, struck a tree and landed upside down in an icy pond. He and all three passengers in the car were killed.

Read full story here at Dallas Morning News

Continue reading "Toyota Owners Took Concerns to Dealership Before Fatal Southlake Crash" »

A jury has awarded a woman $23.4 million in a civil judgment against Ford Motor Co. for a 2007 freeway accident that left her a quadriplegic.

Cynthia Castillo lost control of her 1997 Ford Explorer when the tread separated from her left-rear tire as she drove on the freeway.

Her attorney, Brian Brandt, said the SUV veered off the freeway and rolled three times down an embankment, leaving her legs and most of her body paralyzed. Flaws in the vehicle's design caused it to lose control when the tire tread separates, Brandt said.

Read full story here.

Continue reading "Woman Gets $23.4M for Personal Injury Ford Crash" »

An Idaho Springs man was awarded $18.5 million for catastrophic injuries he suffered when a driver drunk on alcohol and high on marijuana left a mountain road and slammed into him as he was changing the oil on his wife's car in their driveway.

Clear Creek District Court Judge Granger assessed the award against the driver, Kevin Ruszkowski, 24; the owner of the Jeep, Randall Guy; and Guy's son, Justin Guy, 20, who had allowed Ruszkowski to drive the vehicle.

Paul Savage, 46, who was injured, was head waiter at the Alpenglow Stube at Keystone at the time.

Ruszkowski had no license because his driving privileges had either been suspended or revoked for prior driving misconduct.

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_14419648#ixzz0gN2hsQw2

Continue reading "Idaho Springs Man Awarded $18.5 M in DUI Case " »

The pressure on Toyota Motor Corp. intensified as the company disclosed subpoenas from a federal grand jury and the Securities and Exchange Commission related to sudden acceleration in its cars, while the leaders of a congressional panel accused Toyota of misleading the public about safety problems.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee, in an 11-page letter, previewed issues its members likely will raise at a hearing Tuesday. The letter criticized Toyota for resisting the possibility that electronic defects could be responsible for the reports of unintended acceleration.

Read full story here at the WSJ.

Continue reading "Federal Subpoenas Hit Toyota on the Eve of Hearing " »

Toyota Motor Corp. and U.S. regulators are looking into possible steering problems in the company's popular Corolla compact, the latest quality issue to surface in the wake of two recalls that covered millions of vehicles and forced Toyota to halt U.S. sales of eight models.

The Corolla investigation could start as early as Thursday, said a U.S. Transportation Department official. The inquiry will cover about 500,000 model-year 2009 and 2010 Corollas, officials said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received 163 complaints about the steering in Corollas from those model years, according to the safety agency's Web site.

Read the full Wall Street Journal Article here.

Continue reading "U.S. to Probe Toyota Corolla Steering Reports " »

U.S. regulators on Tuesday opened an investigation into whether Toyota Motor Corp acted in a timely way to recall cars for acceleration problems, and the automaker moved to slow its U.S. production to avoid a costly ballooning of inventories.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it had requested production data, consumer complaints and other documents expected to shed light on how and when Toyota learned of problems affecting about 6 million vehicles it has recalled in the United States.

Read full Reuters story here.

Continue reading "U.S. Opens Probe into Toyota Recalls; Output Cut" »

Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles have been linked to 34 deaths by consumers filing complaints with the U.S. government over unexpected acceleration, according to the Transportation Department.

The total jumped by 13 fatalities since Jan. 27 as nine more filings were added to a database the department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration uses to track deaths, injuries and consumer complaints.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601209&sid=aPso41xXZS60Read the full Bloomberg story here.

Continue reading "Toyota Acceleration Complaints Cite 34 Deaths, U.S. Data Show" »

The wife of the driver of a 2008 Avalon that shot into a pond in Southlake and flipped, killing four people, said she believes quicker action by Toyota could have prevented the tragedy.

Linda Hardy's husband, Monty, was behind the wheel of his car that landed upside down in a small pond in Southlake.

Read full story here at WFAA

Continue reading "WFAA: Wife of Southlake Texas Driver Who Died Slams Toyota " »

The company vigorously denies that its vehicles' acceleration problems might stem from an electronic or software glitch. But it remains an open question, and any such finding would be devastating.

In the nearly five months since it launched a string of recalls to stop its cars from accelerating out of control, Toyota Motor Corp. has been adamant about one thing: It's not the electronics.

Company officials first put the blame on floor mats that could entrap the accelerator, later amending that to include gas pedals themselves that could stick.

Read the full story here at the Los Angeles Times

Continue reading "Toyota Car Recall: Now Electronics Questions" »

A Colorado man has fought mostly unsuccessfully to get his concerns heard since his wife's Prius car accident in 2006.

Before his wife's Prius suddenly accelerated uncontrollably to 90 miles per hour on a mountain highway, you'd have been hard-pressed to find a bigger fan of Toyota than Ted James.

A middle-school science teacher and ardent environmentalist, James got a Prius for his wife, Elizabeth, and a Corolla for himself.

Read the full story here at the Los Angeles Times.

Continue reading "Colorado Man's Crusade to Bring Attention to Defective Toyota Cars" »

Former regulators hired by Toyota Motor Corp. helped end at least four U.S. investigations of unintended acceleration by company vehicles in the last decade, warding off possible recalls, court and government records show.

Christopher Tinto, vice president of regulatory affairs in Toyota’s Washington office, and Christopher Santucci, who works for Tinto, helped persuade the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to end probes including those of 2002-2003 Toyota Camrys and Solaras, court documents show. Both men joined Toyota directly from NHTSA, Tinto in 1994 and Santucci in 2003.

Read full Bloomberg story here.

Continue reading "Ex NHTSA Regulators Hired by Toyota Helped Halt Investigations" »

Four Toyota Motor Corp. units were named as defendants in a racketeering lawsuit that claims the companies collaborated to sell cars they knew were unsafe.

The lawsuit, filed Feb. 8 in federal court in Covington, Kentucky, targets Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Inc., as well units that produce Toyota’s Camry and Avalon models and handle leasing and engineering.

Read the full Bloomberg story here.

Continue reading "Toyota Units Named in Suit Claiming Racketeering " »

Legal expenses and damages could add billions to Toyota's recall costs, with dozens of suits pending over injuries and deaths and at least 30 seeking class-action status over lost use of vehicles.

Toyota Motor Corp.'s massive recalls for acceleration and braking problems are creating a huge legal liability for the company -- and Toyota owners may share in the pain.

Toyota faces dozens of lawsuits over injuries and deaths attributed to safety problems, with many more suits expected. Lawyers and legal experts said the lawsuits could be particularly expensive for the automaker if plaintiffs prove that Toyota was aware of problems but failed to correct them.

Read full story here at the Los Angeles Times

Continue reading "Toyota Faces Massive Legal Liability From Defective Cars" »

Toyota said that its dealers are working overtime to fix sticking gas pedals on some 2.1 million recalled vehicles at a rate of 50,000 per day and have so far repaired 225,000 cars.

Toyota recalled 3.8 million vehicles last fall to repair what it called floor-mat "entrapment" of the gas pedal, and an additional 2.1 million cars last month to fix what it calls an unrelated sticky-gas-pedal problem.

Read the full story here at the Washington Post.

Continue reading "Toyota to Fix Gas Pedals as Lawsuits Increase" »

The parents and daughter of a man killed in a car crash have sued the bar that allegedly sold alcohol to the driver who was not only drunk, but also underage.

Michael Slay Chapman died on Nov. 27 when the vehicle in which he was riding was struck by a vehicle driven by Bo Pillsbury. Before the incident, the 19-year-old Pillsbury had been drinking at the Dixie Dance Hall in Beaumont's Crockett Street Entertainment District.

Chapman's parents, Wayne and Teresa Chapman, and his daughter, Zoe Jane Chapman, filed a lawsuit against Dixie Host Ltd. on Feb. 1 in Jefferson County District Court.

"Despite being obviously intoxicated and/or showing obvious signs of intoxication that a reasonable person, especially a provider of alcohol should recognize, employees of Defendant continued to serve Bo Pillsbury alcohol," the suit states.

"After drinking for an extended period of time at the Dixie Dance Hall, Bo Pillsbury was allowed to leave the premises and drive away. As he was driving in an intoxicated state, Bo Pillsbury lost control of his vehicle and struck a vehicle in which Michael Slay Chapman was a passenger."

Read the full story here.

Continue reading "Family of Crash Victim Sues Dixie Dance Hall for Serving Drinks to Driver " »

A Texas attorney is moving at full speed with a proposed class action against Toyota over accidents allegedly caused by stuck gas pedals, even as the automaker announced it has a remedy to put the brakes on the problem.

Representing Corpus Christi residents Sylvia and Albert Pena III and others similarly situated, attorney Hilliard filed suit against Toyota Motor Corp. and Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. The suit was filed Jan. 29 in the Corpus Christi Division of the Southern District of Texas.

"This is a civil action against defendants based upon information and belief that defendants, and each of them, designed, manufactured, distributed, and sold certain automobiles equipped with the Electronic Throttle Control System with Intelligence (ETCS-i) and/or Electronic Throttle Control System (ETC) that is defective in that it will allow sudden unintended acceleration of the vehicle engine," wrote Hilliard.

Read the full story here.

Continue reading "Breach of Warranty Claimed in Texas Class Action Against Toyota " »

Toyota said that it would recall 437,000 of its 2010 Priuses and other hybrid models worldwide because of a glitch in the braking system. 155,000 are in the United States and another 53,000 in Europe.

Separately, Toyota also recalled 7,300 of its latest-model Camrys in the United States to fix a power steering pressure hose in the engine compartment that may be the incorrect length. This could cause a hole in the brake tube and deplete the braking fluid, interfering with braking.

Read the full New York Times story here.

Continue reading "Toyota Recalls 2010 Prius for Brake Problems " »

Toyota has told dealers it's preparing a plan to repair the brakes on thousands of hybrid Prius cars in the U.S.

In a message sent last night to dealers, a Toyota group vice president, Bob Carter, said the company is working on a plan and will disclose more details early next week. More than 100 drivers of 2010 Prius cars have complained that their brakes seemed to fail momentarily when they were driving on bumpy roads. The U.S. government says the problem is suspected in four crashes and two minor injuries.

Read full story at the Los Angeles Times

Continue reading "Toyota Preparing to Announce Prius Fix " »

Faced with an unprecedented recall of millions of vehicles and rivals swooping in on its customers, the public relations machine at Toyota Motor Corp -- one of the most savvy brand-creators in Asia -- is floundering.

Toyota has consistently played down recurring complaints of unintended acceleration, breaking what PR experts said is the cardinal rule in crisis management: assume the worst.

Read full article here.

Continue reading "Toyota Grapples With Huge Car Recall" »

A Cincinnati couple has filed a lawsuit against Toyota charging fraud and negligence over a safety issue involving gas pedals that has caused a massive auto recall.

The lawsuit, filed in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, seeks class-action status on behalf of all Ohio residents who have bought or leased vehicles Toyota-manufactured vehicles subject to the recall. Attorney Chesley, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Hugh and Pamela Cox, said Wednesday that the class could involve thousands of Ohio residents.

Read full story here Fort Worth Star Telegram.

Continue reading "Ohio Couple Files Lawsuit Against Toyota Over Recall " »

The trip was one that Guadalupe Alberto had made many times before, just a few miles through her neighborhood to the small grocery store her family had owned for years.

It was a Saturday afternoon, April 2008, and Mrs. Alberto, a 77-year-old former autoworker, was driving her 2005 Toyota Camry. Within blocks of her home, witnesses told police, the car accelerated out of control, jumped a curb and flew through the air before crashing into a tree. Mrs. Alberto was killed instantly.

Read the rest of the NY Times article here.

Continue reading "More Crashes Adds toToyota’s Problems" »

Toyota Motor Corp said its North American and Japanese dealers had received several dozen complaints concerning what drivers characterized as insufficient braking on its new Prius hybrid car when driving over bumpy or frozen roads.

Read full story here.

Continue reading "Toyota Says Complaints on New Prius Brakes" »

Legal attacks against Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. increased this week following fresh reports of product-safety defects afflicting some of the most popular vehicles in the automaker's fleet.

Toyota announced on Jan. 26 that it would stop selling eight models because of accelerator pedals that can stick in the depressed position, causing the cars to speed up out of control. The company has recalled 2.3 million vehicles with that problem. Earlier, Toyota recalled another 4.2 million vehicles, blaming a problem with floor mats.

Read full story here.

Continue reading "Lawsuits Beginning to Pile Up Against Toyota Dallas Car Accident Attorney" »

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood advised owners of recalled vehicles to stop driving their cars, later characterizing the remark as a misstatement.

LaHood's explosive comment at a House of Representatives hearing fueled new confusion over how consumers should respond to a January recall of 2.4 million cars and trucks due to
faulty accelerator pedals.

Read breaking news here

Continue reading "US Transport Secretary Comment Shakes Toyota" »

News 8 has confirmed that a sticking accelerator is being investigated as one possible cause of a crash in Southlake in December that killed four people driving in a Toyota Avalon.

Recently, Toyota issued an extensive recall of close to 3 million vehicles for that very reason.

Read full story here.

Continue reading "Update Southlake Toyota Wrongful Death Car Crash" »

The family of a Houston woman whose car smashed into a cement wall, killing her on impact, filed what is likely the third acceleration-related wrongful death lawsuit against Toyota in the nation.

Trina Harris, a 34-year-old mother of two, died on impact when her 2009 Toyota Corolla slammed into an East Hardy Toll Road cement divider, leaving no skid marks.

Her husband, filed a lawsuit against Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., gas pedal maker CTS Corp. and Fred Haas Toyota World, which leased her the car.

Read the full story here.

In response to a nationwide recall of approximately 5.3 million Toyota vehicles for defective accelerator pedals, plaintiff's attorneys have filed three lawsuits in New Orleans asking Toyota to return profits it made from the sale of the vehicles.

The lawsuits state that the accelerator mechanism of the vehicles can become stuck in a depressed position and fail to return or return slowly to the idle position causing, "extreme, uncontrollable and inherently dangerous acceleration."

The Toyota models affected by the January recall include the 2009-2010 RAV4, 2009-2010 Corolla, 2009-2010 Matrix, 2009-2010 Pontiac Vibe, 2010 Highlander, 2007-2010 Tundra, 2008-2010 Sequoia and the 2007-2010 Camry.

Read the full story here.

Continue reading "Class Actions Against Toyota Over Gas Pedals Filed in New Orleans " »

– Toyota Motor Corp is facing a growing number lawsuits from consumers who complain their vehicles suddenly accelerate or may do so, and want the world's largest automaker to pay for it.

Last week, Toyota stopped selling eight models in the United States and Canada, including its popular Camry and Corolla, because of possible unintended acceleration.

Some 8 million vehicles are up for repair worldwide over problems including alleged faulty accelerator pedals made by the supplier CTS Corp, and the possibility that floor mats could jam the accelerator pedal.

Read the full story here Yahoo.com

Continue reading "Toyota's Huge Problem: Product Liability Lawsuits" »

The 911 call came at 6:35 p.m. on Aug. 28 from a car that was speeding out of control on Highway 125 near San Diego.

The caller, a male voice, was panic-stricken: “We’re in a Lexus ... we’re going north on 125 and our accelerator is stuck ... we’re in trouble ... there’s no brakes ... we’re approaching the intersection ... hold on ... hold on and pray ... pray ...”

The call ended with the sound of a crash.

Read the full story here.

Palo Alto has agreed to pay nearly $1.5 million to the victim of a 2006 vehicle crash involving a city worker who was using his cell phone while driving.

Silvio Obregon had asked the city for more than $5 million after the rear-end crash on Oregon Expressway left him with debilitating spinal injuries, according to court documents. He alleged that city worker Rubin Salas ran into him at a red light because he was reaching for his cell phone rather than watching the road.

Continue reading "Palo Alto Settles Cell Phone Crash Lawsuit for $1.5 M " »

Four people died in December just after Christmas after their car flipped over into a six-foot-deep pond in Southlake.

Just before 11:20 a.m., the Toyota sedan drove through the intersection of Lonesome Dove Road and Burney Lane, crashed into a metal fence, hit a tree, and landed upside-down in a pond on the grounds of a mansion.

Read full story here.

Continue reading "Four Dead After Toyota Car Crashes Into Southlake Pond " »

Already on the hook for the lion's share of a $17.7 million judgment and waiting for a decision from a jury that was out considering punitive damages, Ford Motor Co. decided to settle with a couple who sued following a Christmas 2005 wreck that left the woman paralyzed.

The agreement came after a Clayton County, Ga., jury ordered Ford on Dec. 18 to pay more than $16 million of the judgment to compensate for what the plaintiffs argued were design defects in the 2002 Explorer sport utility vehicle in which the woman was a passenger.

Continue reading "Ford Settles Explorer Suit as Jury Considers Damages" »

By the time Bryan Lee headed to work along Highway 51 in Texas on Sept. 15, 2005, the road-building industry and its government overseers were painfully aware of a deadly, though easily corrected, construction hazard: pavement-edge drop-offs.

Accidents involving dangerous drop-offs kill about 160 people and injure 11,000 each year. Numerous studies have shown that the steeper the drop-off, the greater the danger.

In Texas in 2002, seven people were killed when a car slipped off a sharp edge of roadway and onto the shoulder, causing the driver to overcorrect into the path of a minivan. Four years before, six people died in a succession of accidents in another Texas work zone, where contractors had failed to smooth out the edge of a newly paved lane.

Read full New York Times story here.

Continue reading "Texas Fails in Efforts to Improve Car Accidents at Work Zones" »

A Santa Rosa winery has agreed to pay $3 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a Sebastopol man who was permanently disabled in an alcohol-related car crash in 2006.

Paradise Ridge Winery was sued by Joshua Apodaca, the passenger in a car driven by a 19-year-old classmate, Sean Bradley, who allegedly was served beer at a wedding reception hosted by the winery.

A crash early the next morning left Apodaca with a serious brain injury and his family sought damages from Paradise Ridge, Bradley and the owners of a Sebastopol 7-Eleven store where Bradley bought additional alcohol.

Continue reading "Santa Rosa Winery to pay $3 M to Teen Injured in DUI" »

A Lee County jury awarded $44.9 million to a Cape Coral man who was paralyzed in a 2006 motor vehicle accident.

The verdict, one of the largest in the county’s history, was awarded to Gerald Aloia. Aloia was riding on his motorcycle on Oct. 22, 2006, when he was struck by a Chevrolet Corvette driven by Deborah Veilleux. Veilleux, 45 at the time, died in 2007.

Continue reading "Florida Man Paralyzed in Motor Veicle Accident Awarded $44.9 M" »

The Supreme Court has left in place an $82.6 million award to a woman who was paralyzed after her Ford Explorer rolled over.

The justices rejected Ford Motor Co.'s challenge to the portion of the award, $55 million, that was intended as punitive damages. Ford argued that it should not be punished because its design of the vehicle met federal safety standards.

A California state appeals court earlier rejected Ford's contention and upheld the award to Benetta Buell-Wilson.

Continue reading "Supreme Court Allows $82.6M Award in SUV Rollover" »

A jury has awarded $89 million in damages to the family of a man killed in a 2008 crash with a drunken driver, and to the man's fiancée and daughter.

"The eye-popping numbers were the jury's attempt to send a message the only way they could," said attorney Mark Bronson, who won the case after a one-day trial in Franklin County Circuit Court.

He said he doubts his clients will ever see a fraction of the money. But he said the jury's disgust with drunken driving was unmistakable.

Continue reading "Jury Awards $89 M Against Drunken Driver for Wrongful Death Car Crash" »

The state Supreme Court reinstated an $8 million default judgment against Hyundai Motor Co. in a lawsuit over the backward collapse of a front seat in a 1997 crash that left a man paralyzed.

In a 7-2 ruling, the high court reversed the Court of Appeals, which had overturned a trial court's finding for Jesse Magana of Vancouver.

The justices said the South Korean automaker deliberately withheld documentation from Magana's lawyers for too long concerning other crashes in which front seats collapsed backward.

"Trial courts need not tolerate deliberate and willful discovery abuse," wrote the majority. "This result appropriately compensates the other party, punishes Hyundai, and hopefully educates and deters others so inclined."

Continue reading "WA Supreme Court Reinstates $8M Award Against Hyundai" »

A Phillipsburg man was awarded nearly $6 million for injuries suffered when a large tree limb dropped onto their car in 2006.

Kenneth Matlock is permanently disabled and can no longer work as a truck driver, his career for more than 20 years.

On July 4, 2006 Matlock, his wife and three children were travelling on Route 29 when the limb from an oak tree, fell onto their car. Matlock and his wife suffered broken necks and he lost the use of his right hand after the limb fell from a height of about 20 feet. Kenneth Matlock, now 43, lost control of the SUV, which continued north 220 feet until hitting a guard rail on the opposite side of the road.

Continue reading "Jury Awards Man $6 M When a Tree Falls on his Car" »

The Iowa Supreme Court overturned lower court rulings and said a minister who crashed his car trying to avoid a trampoline that had blown into the road during a storm can sue its owners.

Thompson and his wife filed a lawsuit against the owners of the trampoline, Kaczinski and Lockwood, saying they were responsible for the 2006 crash near Earlham in Madison County because they had not secured the disassembled trampoline.

Court records show Kaczinski and Lockwood had taken the trampoline apart during the summer of 2006 and placed its parts in their yard about 38 feet from a gravel road nearby. A few weeks later, on Sept. 17, 2006, Thompson, who is a minister, was driving down the road from the church when he swerved to avoid the trampoline top, which has blown into the road during a storm the night before.

Continue reading "Iowa Supreme Court Orders Trial in Trampoline Case" »

An Albemarle County, Va jury awarded $5.25 million to the parents and sibling of a 16-year-old county girl who was killed in a car accident in 2008.

The jury found that Don B. Swisher Trucking Corp., McCann Delivery Service and Kenneth Barbour were negligent when Barbour hit Sydney Aichs’ 1999 Chevrolet Cavalier with a tractor-trailer while running a red light on May 9, 2008.

Continue reading "Jury Awards $5.25M in Va Teenager Wrongful Death" »

- Toyota Motor Corp. has failed to correct a problem with the throttle control system on some of its vehicles, causing them to suddenly accelerate, lawyers for consumers said in a lawsuit.

Los Angeles residents Seong Bae Choi and Chris Chan Park, who claim they experienced multiple instances of unintended acceleration, filed the suit as a class action on Nov. 5, seeking to represent all U.S. owners of certain Toyota and Lexus models.

Toyota last month said it would recall as many as 3.8 million vehicles including Lexus ES luxury cars, Camry sedans and Prius hybrids over a potential flaw in which floor mats shifting out of position could jam the accelerator pedal. The mats aren’t the problem, according to the plaintiff’s lawyer.

Continue reading "Toyota Lawsuits by Consumers Over Sudden Acceleration of Vehicles" »

Trial is set to begin in Michigan in a lawsuit that claims a company is liable for three deaths caused by a company employee who was driving drunk.

Thomas Wellinger, who had been sent from his office at UGS Corp. to seek medical attention, drove his vehicle at 70 mph into a car driven by Judith Weinstein, killing her and her two sons, ages 9 and 12. Her husband, Gary Weinstein of Farmington Hills, Mich., claims in a wrongful-death suit that USG Corp. had a duty not to let Wellinger leave the premises.

Continue reading "Lawsuit Claims That Company is Liabe for Drunk Employee Car Crash" »

A fatal accident in San Diego raises the question: Might a vehicle's complex electronic features make it hard for drivers to react quickly when accelerating out of control?

The 2009 Lexus ES 350 shot through suburban San Diego like a runaway missile, weaving at 120 miles an hour through rush hour freeway traffic as flames flashed from under the car.

At the wheel, veteran California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor desperately tried to control the 272-horsepower engine that was roaring at full throttle as his wife, teenage daughter and brother-in-law were gripped by fear.

"We’re in trouble. . . . There’s no brakes," Saylor's brother-in-law Chris Lastrella told a police dispatcher over a cellphone. Moments later, frantic shrieks filled the car as it slammed into another vehicle and then careened into a dirt embankment, killing all four aboard.

Continue reading "Toyota's runaway-car worries may not stop at floor mats" »

A Santa Clara County jury this week awarded a former college student more than $49 million in damages, finding that two truckers and state transportation officials were to blame for a 2007 accident on Highway 152 that left him permanently brain damaged.

In one of the county's largest personal injury verdicts in years, the jury sided with plaintiff Drew Bianchi, a 23-year-old Bakersfield man whose attorney presented evidence during a five-week trial that reckless driving by truckers on the perilous Pacheco Pass cost him a chance to go to medical school and left him needing round-the-clock medical care for the rest of his life.

Before the trial, the California Department of Transportation also agreed to pay Bianchi $10 million to settle claims against the state that were based on allegations that steps were not taken for years to correct safety issues on Highway 152.

One trucking company settled with Bianchi for $2 million, bringing total damages in the case to more than $60 million.

Continue reading "California Jury Awards $49 M to Car Accident Victim" »

A Tarrant County jury has awarded more than $11 million to the family of a boy who was seriously injured after being struck by a car driven by another child in the parking lot at Texas Motor Speedway.

The parents of Ryan Davies, who was injured in 2006, sued the speedway after an accident left the boy with traumatic brain injuries that limit his mobility and mental capacity.

Continue reading "Jury Awards Family more than $11 M in Texas Motor Speedway Lawsuit" »

Toyota could face reopened vehicle-rollover lawsuits after allegations by a former in-house lawyer that the automaker concealed and destroyed evidence and conspired to obstruct justice in civil cases.

Dimitrios Biller, a former Toyota corporate lawyer involved in the rollover cases, contends in his lawsuit that the Japanese automaker's executives "made every effort" to quash investigations from 2004 through 2007. Biller alleges Toyota destroyed data that should have been made available to plaintiffs' lawyers in 300 product-defect lawsuits.

An attorney who lost one rollover case against Toyota and settled another filed a lawsuit Friday against Toyota alleging unfair practices, fraud and racketeering. "If Mr. Biller's allegations are true, it should fit into all three of those," says the lawyer, who is seeking class-action status for the lawsuit.

Continue reading "Whistleblower Suit Claims Toyota Concealing Evidence in Hundreds of Accidents." »

On Sept. 22, 2006, plaintiff Marcus Button, 16, a student, was a front-seat passenger in his friend's sedan that was heading east on State Road 54. At the intersection at Meadow Pointe Boulevard where there was no traffic signal, a Pasco County School bus made a left turn and struck the sedan. Marcus sustained a brain injury. Investigators found that the bus driver was at fault.

Individually and as Marcus' parents, Mark and Robin Button sued Pasco County School Board for the bus driver's negligence.

Plaintiff's counsel stated that the bus driver violated state law in not yielding the right of way. Investigators determined that the bus driver was at fault. Plaintiff's counsel also pointed to the bus driver's deposition testimony in which he stated that he never saw the plaintiff's vehicle.

Defense counsel presented an accident reconstructionist who stated that the driver of Button's vehicle had ample time to observe and avoid the bus.

Continue reading "Florida Teen Sustained Brain Injury in Crash With School Bus" »

A District Court jury has awarded nearly $4.4 million to the widow and children of a UT Payson man who suffered fatal injuries in 2006 when he tried to swerve around backed-up traffic on Interstate 15 and hit other vehicles.

That amount will be reduced by almost $2 million because of a state law that caps damages against the state and because of the victim's share of responsibility for the accident.

The family of Richard Kunzler claimed in a lawsuit that the state Department of Transportation and a subcontractor working on a bridge reconstruction project near Spanish Fork failed to post appropriate signs warning motorists about traffic delays. Vehicles were backing up to Benjamin and drivers were given insufficient warning about the construction, the suit claimed.

Continue reading "Family Awarded $4.4M in Suit Over Fatal Accident" »

A man severely injured in a pileup that killed three people on Highway 40 (Interstate 64) last year is entitled to more than $13.8 million from a truck driver and his company, a federal magistrate judge has ruled.

The man's wife has been awarded $4.2 million more.

The crash left Mark Tiburzi, 53, under constant care in a nursing home, unable to walk or talk, according to his lawyer and court filings.

Trial is pending on involuntary manslaughter charges in St. Louis County against the truck driver, Jeffrey D. Knight, who was blamed for the wreck. Officials claim he was distracted by reaching for a cell phone when his tractor-trailer rig piled into vehicles near Interstate 270 on July 15, 2008, causing the three fatalities and 14 injuries.

Continue reading "Judge Awards $18 M to Man Hurt in St. Louis County Pileup" »

On May 15, 2007, plaintiff Jonny Osler, a 57-year-old language instructor, was riding a motor scooter on Collins Road in Sunny Isles when Nasir Jamal allegedly changed lanes in his Mercedes and hit him. Osler was wearing a helmet, but he was rendered unconscious by the impact. Having no recollection of the accident, Osler was ticketed at the scene. Osler sustained a subdural hematoma and fractured collar bone.

Osler sued Jamal for vehicular negligence, alleging that Jamal was talking on his cell phone at the time of the accident. Although subpoenaed records supported that theory, Jamal denied at trial that he was on the phone when the collision occurred. There were no witnesses to the accident.

Osler's accident reconstruction expert testified that Jamal's testimony was incredible. He opined that the way the scooter was laying on the ground after the accident according to the police report was inconsistent with Jamal's claim. Jamal paid cash to have his car repaired shortly after the accident. According to counsel for Osler, questions arose as to whether Jamal had repaired his vehicle and if so what had been repaired.

Continue reading "Motor scooter rider sustained head injury in collision" »

On June 26, 2007, at about 5:30 p.m., plaintiff Brian Moore, 19, a college student, hit a tree after he lost control of his sedan heading east on Peach Road in Fairfield County, South Carolina.

Moore alleged that he saw a clump of mud near the road's shoulder and tried to avoid it, but he couldn't, causing him to spin out of control and force him off the road. He was able to return to the road but overcorrected the vehicle which then yawed (when the vehicle's wheels are turned but the vehicle is also sliding sideways) 180 degrees and swerved through the oncoming lane and crashed into a tree with the passenger rear corner panel. Moore was paralyzed in the crash.

The road was being widened--2-foot paved shoulders were being added--and resurfaced by Boggs Paving Inc. under a contract with the state Department of Transportation. Boggs was putting down dirt that day to dress the shoulders, but the work was interrupted by a summer thunderstorm. Moore claimed that the road was contaminated with mud that had washed from the shoulders which resulted in his losing control of his vehicle.

Continue reading "Mud on Road Caused Car Crash, Paralyzing Driver" »

The University of Utah has settled a lawsuit brought by the families of seven Chinese scholars killed in a 2003 van rollover, cutting short a two-week trial in a Salt Lake City courtroom.

State officials agreed to pay the plaintiffs, who include three men injured in the crash, nearly $500,000, just under a ceiling above which any settlement would require legislative approval. The U.'s offer came Thursday after the victims' widows testified, leaving the jury in tears.

When the U. agreed to host the Chinese delegation in 2002, the school assumed responsibility for arranging the scholars' travel within the U.S., court records indicate. Attorneys for the families alleged the university acted negligently by contracting with an unlicensed travel business in New York, which in turn hired a driver unqualified to pilot the oversized van that plunged off a snow-covered Pennsylvania highway and folded against a tree.

Coupled with a settlement from the van owner's insurer, Friday's settlement means the 10 families split $800,000.

Continue reading "University Settles Lawsuit Brought by Students' Families for $500 K" »

A Florida jury found the Pasco County school district negligent in a 2006 crash that severely injured a 16-year-old boy.

The jury awarded Marcus Button, now 19, and his parents, Robin and Mark Button, $1.625 M in damages, which his mother has said she will use to pay for his continuing medical care.

Continue reading "Jury Awards $1.6 M in Pasco Florida School Bus Crash" »

A district court jury in Hidalgo County has awarded $1,702,709 to a nurse who blamed her employer for the injuries she sustained in a hit-and-run collision.

On April 13, 2005, Andrea Davilla was driving on Chihuahua Road in Penitas on her way to a patient appointment when she was struck head-on by another vehicle, which fled from the scene.

Davilla fractured her pelvis and left leg, arm and ankle, and also needed hip replacement surgery. She hasn't worked since the incident, and it's unlikely she will ever be able to return to nursing.

Davilla sued her employer, Americare Nursing Services, and its owner, Martha Arango, alleging her work schedule was such that she had to drive a dangerous route frequented by drug and human traffickers to get to her appointments. She said Americare refused to change her schedule despite her requests.

Continue reading "Employer Must Pay $1.7 Million to Nurse Hurt in Hit-and-Run" »

A jury deliberated less than an hour before award­ing $3.5 million to the family of a man who died when his van was crushed between two logging trucks in a January 2008 acci­dent in Elmore County.

A Chilton County jury ordered Ken Gorum Trucking and Gary Fruge, the driver of the logging truck, to pay $3.5 million to the family of James Sanderson.

Attorneys Benjamin E. Baker and J. Cole Portis entered evi­dence that the Gorum truck was being operated at a high rate of speed and with defective brakes in violation of Alabama law.

Continue reading "Jury Awards $3.5 M in Elmore County Traffic Fatality" »

The Supreme Court in Washington state unanimously reinstated a $14 million award to a family who sued a tavern and a bartender after one of the bar's customers drove away from the establishment and collided with their car, leaving a 7-year-old-boy a paraplegic.

Under state law, bartenders who serve visibly intoxicated customers are liable for damages to potential victims. At question was the type of evidence needed to prove "negligent overservice."

Continue reading "$14 M DUI Award Restored in Washington State" »

Santa Clara County has agreed to pay $2.3 M to the parents of one of the bicyclists killed when a former sheriff's deputy drove his patrol car into a group of cyclists.

The payment settles a lawsuit filed against both the county and the deputy by the family of cyclist Matt Peterson, 29, who was killed in the crash. Negotiations are still ongoing in civil suits filed by the family of the other cyclist who died, Kristy Gough, 30, and with Christopher Knapp, 21, who suffered two broken limbs but survived.

Continue reading "County Settles in Cyclist's Death After Crash " »

Nicholas Anderson should be a multimillionaire.

Instead, he is penniless - and in need of medical treatment he can't afford.

On Dec. 23, 2004, Anderson was driving home when a tire caught on a six-inch lip on the roadside and he lost control of his car. The car crashed into a guardrail, which impaled the vehicle, severing Anderson's left leg and nearly severing his left arm. He was 18.

He sued Camden County, and last year a jury awarded him $31 million, finding that the county-maintained road was dangerous because of the drop in elevation between the road and shoulder, and because of the guardrail's design.

"I'm in pain every day," Anderson said.

Continue reading "N.J. Crash Victim Caught in County-Insurer Lawsuits" »

Two trucking companies and their drivers are being sued over a 2008 accident on I-15 in Las Vegas in which two honeymooners outside their stranded vehicle were struck and killed.

Attorneys for the parents of one of the victims, Lisa Lynn Prock-Hills, filed a negligence suit in Clark County District Court against truck driver Stanislaw Masalski of Clearwater, Fla., and his company, Stan Trucking Inc.

Also sued were driver Sam Montalvo Martinez and his employer at the time of the accident, J.B. Hunt Transport Inc. of Lowell, Ark.

The Nevada Highway Patrol said Kevin Edward Hills, 38, and Prock-Hills, 41, were killed on Interstate 15 just south of Silverado Ranch Boulevard on March 13, 2008.

Continue reading "Lawsuit Filed in I-15 Wrongful Death of Stranded Honeymooners" »

An Oakland musician who was made a quadriplegic in a rollover crash four years ago won an $18.3 million verdict against Ford Motor Co. in federal court.

Dax Pierson, 38, suffered severe spinal injuries when a Ford passenger van that the band was traveling in ran off an icy highway in Iowa and rolled over in a ditch on Feb. 24, 2005.

Pierson sued Ford for creating a defective seat-latching mechanism that caused his seat to come loose, resulting in his head hitting the roof of the rolled-over van.

The $18.3 million jury award came after three weeks of trial in the court of U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton. It includes $12.3 million for past and future medical expenses and lost earnings plus $6 million for pain and suffering.

Continue reading "Quadriplegic Musician Wins $18 M Verdict Against Ford Motor Co." »

A Los Angeles judge has ordered automaker Jaguar Land Rover to pay $21.1 million to a Simi Valley man who was paralyzed in 2003 when his Land Rover Discovery sport utility vehicle rolled over several times after a collision on the 118 Freeway.

L.A. County Superior Court Judge Robert H. O'Brien cited two key reasons for his decision: The vehicle's high center of gravity made it susceptible to rolling over, and its roof collapsed too easily, causing Sukhsagar Pannu to suffer a debilitating spinal cord injury.

Continue reading "Land Rover Maker Ordered to Pay $21.1 M in Rollover Case" »

The families of three men killed in a 2007 crash on the Bay Bridge are suing a Maryland agency and several drivers over the accident. James Hewitt Ingle and Randall and Jonathan Orff died and five people were injured in May 2007 when a trailer being hauled behind a sport utility vehicle came loose and caused a multiple-vehicle crash.

The Ingle and Orff families are suing the Maryland Transportation Authority, the driver of the SUV, the owner of the trailer and two truck drivers and their employers for $19 million. Attorney Paul Bekman said his clients are suing the state because the authority knew accidents had happened before during two-way traffic on one span of the bridge. Officials have said the two-way traffic wasn't a factor in the accident. The lawsuit was filed in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court.

A Illinois Cook County jury has found in favor of the family of a BMW salesman in its wrongful death suit against a man who took a test drive and crashed the car, killing the salesman.

The jury awarded Roger Czapski's family $13.7 million, concluding that Christopher Maher was liable for Czapski's death Aug. 4, 2004 in South Barrington, Illinois.

Continue reading "$13.7M Awarded in Illinois Car Crash Lawsuit" »

City and police officials have agreed to pay a man $75,000 to settle a lawsuit filed after his fiancee was killed and he was seriously injured when a driver fleeing police crashed into his car.

Richard Garman’s settlement, allows the city of Indianapolis to avoid a costly trial without admitting liability in the fatal 1999 crash.

Garman’s case stemmed from a 50-second chase that reached 80 mph on city streets and ended when a fleeing driver struck the then 21-year-old Garman’s car, injuring him and killing his fiancee, J. Elizabeth Foster, 19.

Garman, now 30, sued based on his own injuries, which included broken ribs and collapsed lungs, as well as emotional distress and clinical depression spurred by Foster’s death. Garman’s injuries left him with more than $280,000 in medical bills.

Continue reading "Indiana Police Settle Wrongful Death Suit Over Police Crash" »

A judge has awarded $45 million in damages to a San Mateo woman who was paralyzed when a wrecking and demolition company's truck ran a red light and hit her car.

Tricia Roth, now 41, a former software developer for Microsoft Corp., suffered a broken neck and spinal injuries in the September 2006 accident, according to her lawyer. Her doctors said she requires full-time attendant care and will never walk again.

The driver, Roman Pantoja, failed to see the light on East Hillsdale Boulevard in San Mateo near Highway 101 and admitted that he was at fault, according to a court hearing.

Superior Court Judge awarded damages against Pantoja and his employer, Division 1 All Service.

A jury awarded a 21-year-old Florida woman $65 million for her injuries in a 2007 crash. The verdict is considered to be one of the largest by a Polk County jury.

The verdict stemmed from a traffic crash in Zolfo Springs that left Kendra Lymon in a coma and hospitalized for months.

Lymon had been driving her Dodge Neon on Aug. 21, 2007, when a tractor-trailer owned by Bynum Transport, struck her car at State Road 35 and State Road 64, according to the lawsuit naming Bynum and the driver.

The truck's driver, Robert Bohn, a battalion chief for Polk County Fire Services, was working part-time for the trucking company.

Continue reading "Florida Jury Awards Woman $65 M in Crash" »

An Arlington, Texas boy aged 2, who was critically injured in a drunken driving crash last week remained on life support as his parents coped with his devastating prognosis.

Eighty percent of Abdallah Khader’s brain was destroyed in the crash, according to his doctor, Jeff McGlothlin. If Abdallah survives, he will be severely disabled for the rest of his life.

Continue reading "Arlington Texas Family Struggles to Cope After Drunken Driving Crash" »

On Aug. 20, 2008 a jury awarded nearly $2 million to a man who sustained a lumbar compression burst fracture in a collision with a Federal Express delivery truck.

James Hughes was a passenger in a car going through an intersection when he was struck by the FedEx vehicle.

Hughes' injury is located at the L1 disk, and it will required fusion surgery. He claimed he's in constant pain and he's prevented from performing actions more strenuous than walking for brief periods.

He also claimed his injury forced him to close his business.

The defense argued that a traffic signal malfunction caused the accident, but the jury found FedEx 100 percent liable.

Hughes v. Federal Express Ground Packages System, No. 2:07-cv-00286-CE

Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall

An Illinois woman's homeowners insurance will pay $2.5 M to settle a lawsuit brought by a man who was injured in a crash that occurred after an underage drinking party in her home.

The settlement between the woman, whose teenage daughters hosted the party, and George Baldwin, 22, was approved by the judge in Lake County Circuit Court.

In 2006, Baldwin, then a 19-year-old Lake Forest High School graduate, went to the woman's home with a friend, William Klairmont, then 18 and also from Lake Forest. They were visiting Pfeifer's daughters, and all drank beer in the girls' bedroom.

Klairmont was intoxicated when he drove home and lost control of his car. Baldwin, a passenger, was injured with resulting paralysis.

Continue reading "Man Paralyzed in Crash After Underage Drinking Party Settles Lawsuit " »

On Dec. 4, 2008, a jury awarded $49,098 to a mother and two children injured in a rear-end collision in Dallas.

In 2004, Silvia Dominguez and her children Teresita and Erick Hernandez were passengers in a vehicle struck from behind by a van driven by Raul Romero and owned by Champ Transportation Services.

Dominguez sustained back injuries and underwent chiropractic treatment, a diskogram and disk resection at L4-5. However, she claimed her pain still persists and she may need a lumbar fusion in the future.

The children also had minor injuries and were treated at the emergency room after the crash.

The defendants admitted liability but argued Dominguez's back problems were due to her job as a warehouse worker and disputed the need for future treatment.

Dominguez v. Romero, No. DC-06-03870

Court: 160th District Court, Dallas County

CA lawmakers are planning to introduce legislation that would offer greater legal protections to Good Samaritans in light of a recent California Supreme Court decision.

Legislators have introduced three bills to address Van Horn v. Watson, 08 C.D.O.S. 15199, which held that a state statute only shields rescuers from liability if they provide medical care in an emergency situation. The ruling puts at risk aid-givers who inadvertently hurt victims while removing them from a burning building or other potentially dangerous scenarios.

Continue reading "California to Rescue Good Samaritans " »

On Sept. 30, a driver and his passenger netted a total of $1,456,874 for injuries they sustained in a collision with a tractor-trailer.

In 2006, Ronny Martinez, then 35, was traveling with Kenneth O'Neal, then 48, when an 18-wheeler owned by Celadon Trucking Services veered into their lane. Martinez swerved, but gravel off the roadway caused him to lose control and drive back onto the interstate.

He collided with the truck, causing his car to flip and roll several times. Martinez, a restaurant manager, sustained a fractured vertebra and was unable to work for two months.

O'Neal, a retail store manager, suffered a minor brain injury and torn ligaments in his knee. He underwent a knee replacement and has not worked since the accident.

Celadon acknowledged that its driver contributed to the accident but argued that Martinez overreacted. The jury found Celadon 80 percent liable and Martinez 20 percent liable.

Martinez v. Celadon Trucking Services Inc., No. 72596

Court: 40th District Court, Ellis County

On Oct. 1, a jury found that neither party was to blame for a collision that resulted in neck and back injuries for one driver.

In 2004, Christy Chaney's car was struck by a vehicle driven by Alan Sunberg as both drivers were traveling in opposite directions on Hwy. 190 near Heidenheimer, Texas.

Chaney alleged Sunberg caused the crash when he entered her lane as he attempted to maneuver around a truck that was turning left in front of him.

She said the injuries she sustained required three months of chiropractic treatment. She also claimed experiencing headaches and that an MRI showed possible bursitis from the jarring impact, but she has not received any further treatment.

She sought $75,000 in damages. Sunberg argued that he had to go into Chaney's lane to avoid hitting the truck.

Chaney v. Sunberg, No. 219-964-B

Court: 146th District Court, Bell County

LEONARD TEXAS— An ambulance collided with a car at a rural North Texas intersection, killing all three people inside the sedan.

Police in Leonard say the ambulance driver failed to see the Chevrolet Malibu before turning onto U.S. Highway 69. The car slammed into the ambulance, sending both vehicles off the road and leaving the ambulance on its side in a ditch.

Continue reading "Ambulance And Car Accident in Leonard, North of Dallas" »

DALLAS, TX.- The Dallas Police Department will begin enforcing the Uninsured Motorist Ordinance with the start of the new year.
Approved by the Dallas City Council on May 28, the new law says that drivers who are stopped for a traffic violation and cannot provide proof of the state-required auto insurance will have their vehicle towed at the owner’s expense.

Currently, uninsured drivers in Dallas are only towed in the event of a traffic accident. The new ordinance extends towing to any traffic violations.

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TEXAS-Johnson County officials are concerned about "mud" spills, the mess that some companies leave behind when waste is hauled away from drilling sites.

When trucks loaded with the mud used in the gas drilling process travel too fast along county roads, some of it spills out, and county officials are sometimes left to clean up the mess.

The Johnson County’s emergency management coordinator, said cleanup costs are mounting, and the problem is also plaguing other counties in the Barnett Shale.

The mud contains lubricants and toxic chemicals used to make the drill bit turn more easily. When mud spills onto roadways, it is like ice, sometimes leading to serious accidents.

Continue reading "Texas Roadway Hazards From Trucks Leaving Gas Well Sites " »

DALLAS — Four people, including a 14-month-old toddler, died in accidents on icy roadways as a wintry storm moved through Texas over the past week.

Authorities blamed icy roads for all four traffic fatalities. In three of the four deadly accidents, Monday night and early Tuesday, the drivers of the vehicles were speeding on slick roads, officials said.

Continue reading "4 Die On Icy North Texas Roads " »

A man was fleeing from Texas police at speeds topping 100 mph, when he crossed into oncoming traffic, ran through stop signs before his pickup smashed into another driver’s car in an intersection.

The 1999 wreck left a 7-year-old boy comatosed for a week, in the hospital for a month and in physical therapy for five years.

The man was later charged with using his truck as a deadly weapon, jumped bail and disappeared. He left behind a $300,000 auto insurance policy, money the family hoped would pay for their son’s medical bills.

But Nationwide Insurance, declined to pay, saying man violated his insurance contract by leading police on a wild chase all but guaranteed to end in a horrific wreck. Two courts have agreed with Nationwide.

Now the Texas Supreme Court will decide who deserves the law’s protection: a family whose car was in the wrong place at the wrong time or an insurance company with a reckless and irresponsible client.

Continue reading "Texas Family Fights Insurance Company Over Car Wreck" »

About 500 mourners attended a funeral service for the seven people who died this week in northern Mexico when their vehicle plunged into a river off an unfinished bridge that apparently lacked warning signs or barriers.

The mourners gathered at a west Dallas church, around the seven caskets containing the remains of three adults and four children who died in the accident, which occurred early Thankgiving morning as they drove from Texas to visit relatives.

The family were two miles from their destination, the village of El Mezquite, according to the uncle of one of the victims.

Continue reading "Dallas Funeral for Mexican Bridge Crash" »

There was a Dallas North Tollway collision early last Saturday, when a man drove the wrong away. His car collided with two others, killing a female passenger in one of them.

A Dallas police officer noticed a Honda Accord driving north in the southbound lanes of the tollway about 1 a.m. Saturday. The Honda, continued north until near Walnut Hill Lane, where it slammed into a Lexus sedan. The Honda then collided with a Chevrolet pickup. The driver was unhurt.

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ARLINGTON, TEXAS -- A woman in her 40s was killed this weekend after she tried to push her car out of the middle of Interstate 20 in southwest Arlington.

A child was apparently steering the car while the woman pushed. The child was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries.

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A class action lawsuit was filed in Utah federal court against insurance agencies who are alleged to defrauding Hispanic customers by intentionally not disclosing the availability, cost and purpose of buying uninsured and under-insured motorist protections.

The defendants are Florida-based United Automobile Insurance Company, and Utah agencies: El Sol Insurance, Amigos Insurance and Las Americas Insurance.

Continue reading "Hispanic Drivers Sue Car Insurers" »

Dallas-A man died earlier this week in Dallas when an 18-wheeler crashed into the back of his car on Interstate 45.

Police investigators say the black Suzuki car was stopped in a northbound traffic lane on the interstate just north of Loop 12.

The car exploded when the tractor-trailer hit it. The driver of the car was pronounced dead at the scene.

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DART trains were back on schedule after a Trinity Railway Express train crashed with a car and killed a Fort Worth woman.

DART officials noted that the westbound commuter train crashed into the passenger side of a car at a rail crossing just before 5 p.m. Tuesday near the Richland Hills station. The car apparently drove in front of the train.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. None of the passengers on the train were reported injured.

A 77 year old Boston woman crashed her car leading to the death of a bystander. Now the dead man's widow is suing the doctors, alleging that they should have warned the negligent driver not to drive while taking the prescribed pain medicines.

Jane Berghold, the driver, crashed it through a hospital entrance last year killing two people. She plead guilty to criminal charges, and settled a civil lawsuit.

Continue reading "Doctors Sued for causing Painkiller Crash" »

Another lawsuit has been filed in the Texas bus crash that killed 17 people earlier in August 2008. The lawsuit was filed by the estate of Cham Nguyen, who alleges that negligence on the part of the owner and driver of the bus, as well as the vehicle’s manufacturer, caused her death.

The August 8th 2008, bus accident was the nation’s deadliest since 2005. The charter bus, which was taking a group of Vietnamese Catholics to a religious festival in Missouri, blew an illegally treaded tire, skidded off the highway and overturned. In addition to the deaths, 38 people were injured.

Continue reading "Texas Bus Accident Negligence Lawsuit Filed" »

Santa Monica city and other defendants will pay $6 million to settle two lawsuits stemming from a vehicle crash at the Farmers Market that left 10 people dead, bringing the total of payouts to plaintiffs in the case to $21 million.

The resolution of the two remaining lawsuits came during jury selection this week and follows a $15.3-million settlement earlier this year with 40 other plaintiffs.

Continue reading "Santa Monica settles Farmers Market crash" »

Fake car accidents are a growing problem in North Texas. Statistics reported to the National Insurance Crime Bureau show since 2001 there have been nearly 350 staged car accident schemes in North Texas alone.

According to Dallas FBI agents, recruiters will find people to intentionally crash or damage their cars. Then they work with chiropractors and law firms to file the bogus insurance claims. They all share money received from insurance companies.