Texas Car Accident Lawyer

April 26, 2024 | Attorney, Matthew Dolman

When you drive in Texas, you share a vast network of highways with millions of other drivers. With so many people traveling to work, play, and entertainment destinations, car accidents occur when you least expect them. You can’t always avoid speeding, reckless, or inattentive drivers. When they crash into your car, they often cause extensive vehicle damage and life-changing injuries. When a Texas car accident affects you, let our lawyers handle your legal claim while you concentrate on healing.

If someone injures you in a car accident, it likely wasn't accidental. Drivers usually crash into other vehicles when they engage in poor driving behaviors. They may drink before driving, drive too fast for road, weather, or traffic conditions, or commit other risky acts. Call our Texas car accident lawyers today if you sustained serious injuries in a Texas car accident.

Why Choose Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA

At Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, our Texas car accident lawyers work closely with our injured clients. We understand that injury claims often involve complex legal strategies and accept these challenges on behalf of our clients. We will work hard to make responsible parties pay.

Our Texas personal injury attorneys analyze each case by listening to our client's version and conducting a comprehensive investigation. We review and evaluate the evidence and place the responsible parties on notice. We then follow up with negligent drivers, insurers, and attorneys when appropriate and take the necessary steps to protect our clients' legal rights and recover damages for them.

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We Are Dedicated to Our Clients

Our lawyers work hard to produce positive outcomes for injured clients. The journey can be long and often difficult for seriously or catastrophically injured victims. We accept each case with the idea that we will work toward the outcome that best meets our client's needs. We carefully prepare each case by focusing on the legal issues, the damages, and how the incident affects our clients' lives.

When given the opportunity to negotiate fairly, we resolve cases without legal action. Our lawyers may present evidence at mediation and other Alternative Dispute Resolution processes as other means of avoiding litigation. When necessary, however, we will present evidence at trial and let a court decide the outcome.

We Are Dedicated to Results

We offer 120 years of combined legal experience, and our seasoned legal team has worked to resolve numerous cases for our injured clients.

We are proud of our results.

  • Our law firm has handled cases for more than 40,000 clients.
  • We resolved over 400 cases for an amount that exceeded the defendant’s pretrial offer.
  • We recovered over $400 million in compensation for our injured clients.

Our Case Results and Client Testimonials

Texas Car Accident Lawyer

While we work hard to recover compensation for our injured clients, every car accident is different, and we can’t promise a specific outcome. In every case, we evaluate the liability issues and damages and work to produce a favorable outcome. Our case results and client testimonials demonstrate our unwavering commitment to recovering adequate compensation for our clients.

Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, has offices in Houston and San Antonio. You can easily reach us to learn how we can help you following a car accident in Texas.

Car Accidents in Texas

Texas has the country's largest highway and interstate system. Commuters, commercial vehicles, buses, and everyday motorists come together daily, often rushing to their destinations. Large trucks transport goods from warehousing companies, pipeline industries, gulf ports, and other unique regional operations.

Several unique factors contribute to frequent car accidents in the state.

  • Total Residents: 29.53 million, the second-largest state population in the country
  • Large cities: Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas, three of the country’s ten most populous metropolitan areas
  • Registered private passenger vehicles: 25,236,442 based on Texas Department of Motor Vehicles records
  • Licensed drivers: 17,822,760 based on Federal Highway Administration data
  • Registered private, commercial, and publicly owned trucks: 13,932,201 based on FHWA data
  • Registered private, commercial, and publicly owned buses: 70,931 based on FHWA data

Texas Accident Statistics

Each year the state’s Department of Transportation compiles a report with its most significant accident data. The TDOT records this data from reportable accidents in compliance with Texas Transportation Code, §550.001.

These statistics reflect data from the state’s most recent annual Motor Vehicle Traffic Crash Facts.

  • Total injuries in vehicle crashes: 239,539
  • Serious injury crashes: 15,764 crashes seriously injured 19,448 people
  • Injuries in reportable crashes: 1 person injured every 2 minutes and 12 seconds
  • Intersection-related crashes: 1,037 fatalities
  • Days without an accident-related fatality: Zero
  • Pedestrian fatalities: 824
  • Motorcycle fatalities: 521
  • Pedal cyclist fatalities: 90 (bicycles, etc.)
  • Distracted driving-related fatalities: 433

Auto Accident Injuries

Car accident injuries vary widely depending on the types of vehicles involved, the size, and the force at impact. Occupants sustain serious injuries when metal, glass, or mechanical parts intrude within the passenger compartment. They sustain injuries when their bodies collide with a vehicle’s dashboard, seats, or other interior elements.

The severity of injury increases when a large truck or bus crashes into a smaller vehicle. Due to physical frailties, older, younger, and physically infirm passengers may be vulnerable during crashes, resulting in more severe injuries.

An occupant's seating position often increases or decreases their risk of injuries. This often relates to available safety protections. Front-seat passengers have more safety options to protect them from serious injury. These include side airbags, curtains, seatbelts, and other systems. While manufacturers develop rear-seat passenger airbags, they are optional equipment and only exist on a few high-end vehicles, largely unavailable for most cars.

You Won’t Always Notice Symptoms Immediately

Until a vehicle occupant seeks post-accident medical treatment, they can't know they sustained no injuries. This is particularly true for injuries with no visible external signs, such as lacerations or bleeding. Conditions like whiplash, traumatic brain injury, and internal injuries often become symptomatic only days after a crash.

Accident-related injuries also include:

  • Spinal cord damage
  • Disc injuries
  • Muscle sprains and strains
  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Muscle sprains and strains
  • Nerve damage
  • Severe Burns
  • Multiple fractures
  • Shattered bones
  • Traumatic amputations
  • Internal organ damage
  • Fatal injuries

Who Can We Hold Responsible for an Auto Accident?

Texas laws acknowledge that more than one person can share liability for an accident. This is important because crashes don’t always result in clear liability issues. They often involve multiple vehicles, large trucks, or complex scenarios.

Product or maintenance defects add to the list of potentially responsible parties.

  • Driver: A driver is ultimately responsible for their negligence behind the wheel. An owner's liability policy usually provides coverage and acceptable proof of a driver's financial responsibility.
  • Private passenger vehicle owner: A vehicle owner is liable for damages their vehicle causes. Sometimes an owner is also liable due to negligent entrustment. This occurs when the owner allows a driver to use their car, knowing they have a bad driving history. Recent changes in the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, Title 4, §72, Subchapter A, modifies an owner's liability for injured passengers who are also relatives. They can only hold the owner liable for intentional acts or accidents due to heedlessness or reckless disregard for their rights.
  • Commercial vehicle owners: Title 4, §72, Subchapter B, changes how courts assess a commercial vehicle owner’s negligent entrustment. It provides resolution through a two-part trial. An injured party must first prove the driver’s negligence and their damages. During the trial’s second part, an injured plaintiff presents evidence that proves their case against the owner/employer.
  • Manufacturer: If a vehicle or component defect causes or contributes to an accident, an injured party might recover damages based on strict liability, negligence, misrepresentation, breach of express warranty, or other causes of action.
  • Maintenance company: When a service company negligently repairs, services, or maintains a car or truck, they may share liability for a plaintiff’s injuries

Recoverable Compensation for Car Accidents

Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, attorneys seek economic, general, and sometimes punitive damages when negotiating a client's injury claim.

Economic Damages

This category of damages includes costs incurred for emergency care, hospitalization, treatment, rehabilitation, and disability. If our client requires ongoing treatment, an economic expert projects their future costs and calculates them based on present-day values.

Economic damages often include:

  • Lost income
  • Hospital expenses
  • Physician and surgeon fees
  • Medications
  • Scar revision surgery
  • Mobility devices and prosthetics
  • Physical and psychological therapy
  • Transportation costs
  • Replacement services
  • Funeral and burial expenses

General Damages

General damages compensate an injured person for their physical pain and emotional and psychological injuries. We consider the person’s experiences and subjective feelings in determining these damages.

General damages often include:

  • Pain and suffering
  • Anxiety and emotional distress
  • Losses to spousal and family relationships
  • Lifestyle changes
  • Lost bodily functions
  • Scars
  • Disfigurement
  • Permanent impairments

Punitive Damages

A Texas jury sometimes punishes a defendant by awarding a plaintiff punitive or exemplary damages. We must present clear and convincing evidence of a defendant’s fraud, malice, or gross negligence to collect punitive damages.

Can a Person Who Causes an Accident Defend Themselves in Court?

When they receive a claim notice, negligent drivers, self-insured companies, insurance companies, and defense attorneys often take steps to avoid or diminish liability. They offer low settlements or negotiate unfairly. Sometimes, they deny liability and offer no settlement at all.

Each move they make serves a purpose.

  • When an insurer denies liability, some injured people simply walk away. The insurer might pay nothing.
  • When they make a low offer, they understand that temporarily disabled people often have financial difficulties and may settle because they believe they have no other choice.
  • Insurers realize that an injured person’s law firm might not have the funds to cover filing, deposition, and other litigation discovery fees. Rather than go to trial, some injured plaintiffs would rather accept a low offer.
  • When a company self-insures its claims, its claim staff pays losses out of the company’s financial resources. This often motivates a self-insured entity to settle for as little as possible.
  • Some defendants and their legal representatives defend lawsuits hoping for the best. They realize they might not receive a favorable judgment but hope a jury will award less than the plaintiff demands.

At Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, our seasoned lawyers recognize insurer defense strategies, and we work to overcome them. We accomplish this by preparing our cases long before we negotiate, mediate, or try the issues. We work hard to produce optimum results for our injured clients and rely on our firm’s trial attorneys and extensive resources to bring our clients’ cases to trial when appropriate.

Contact a Reliable Texas Car Accident Lawyer

If you sustained serious injuries in a Texas accident, our car accident lawyers could provide the immediate help you need. With offices in Houston and San Antonio, you can easily reach Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, at (281) 524-4370 or write to us using our online contact page.

You can discuss your accident with a legal representative when you receive your free consultation. We answer your questions and talk to you about your legal options. You decide how you move forward.

 

Matthew Dolman

Personal Injury Lawyer

This article was written and reviewed by Matthew Dolman. Matt has been a practicing civil trial, personal injury, products liability, and mass tort lawyer since 2004. He has successfully fought for more than 11,000 injured clients and acted as lead counsel in more than 1,000 lawsuits. Always on the cutting edge of personal injury law, Matt is actively engaged in complex legal matters, including Suboxone, AFFF, and Ozempic lawsuits.  Matt is a lifetime member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum for resolving individual cases in excess of $1 million and $2 million, respectively. He has also been selected by his colleagues as a Florida Superlawyer and as a member of Florida’s Legal Elite on multiple occasions. Further, Matt has been quoted in the media numerous times and is a sought-after speaker on a variety of legal issues and topics.

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