There’s no sugarcoating it: Houston has some of the deadliest roads and drivers in the country. If you’re a Houstonian that has to get behind the wheel everyday, you know how dangerous it can be. From trucks ramming into the back of cars at breakneck speeds, pedestrians being run over in crowded urban areas, and motorcyclists being struck on their bikes, our Houston car accident lawyers have seen it all when it comes to some of the deadliest, most catastrophic cases.

There are a lot of people that live and travel through Texas every day. This means that vehicle accidents are going to happen. However, there are many causes of these unfortunate events. Let’s take a look at some of the common causes of car accidents in the great state of Texas.

• Distracted Drivers
  Distracted drivers area a dime a dozen in Houston. They can be distracted by the children in the backseat that are arguing. They can be distracted by adjusting the temperature dial in the dash. They can be distracted by a conversation with a passenger. Regardless of the distraction, it only takes one second to look away from the road and then find yourself in an unfortunate event.
• Texting
  Despite the laws surrounding texting and driving in Houston (and Texas), texting has become a major problem for Houston drivers. People think that they can safely text and drive at the same time. What they don’t realize is that texting pulls their attention away from the road for a long time. In many cases, drivers are looking at the phone for a solid 20 seconds instead of the busy roadway in front of them.
• Speeding
  Speeding is another major contribution to Houston car accidents. There are speed limit signs for a reason – your own protection. When you’re speeding, you’re increasing the risk of losing control of your vehicle as well as reducing your response time to sudden objects in your way.
• Drinking
  Sadly, there are far too many people that consume alcohol and then get behind the wheel. This has been a major cause of many devastating Houston car accidents. Never, ever get behind the wheel if you have consumed any amount of alcohol. Period.
• Drug Influence
  With similar effects to drinking and driving, street drugs AND prescription drugs have caused many devastating Houston car wrecks as well. Anything you consume that compromises your physical and mental ability to independently operate a vehicle will cause immeasurable damage to your life and the life of others.
• Wildlife
  Wildlife is a very common cause of car accidents in Houston. Nighttime poses the biggest risk of wildlife related accidents as it’s harder to see when a deer will suddenly appear from the trees. Accidents also occur when wildlife animals such as opossums, armadillos, dogs, cats, foxes, birds and squirrels suddenly jump in front of your vehicle. A person’s natural instinct is to swerve from hitting the animal. And sadly, if the animal is large like a deer, the animal can force the car off the road before the driver has time to swerve. Wildlife causes many types of unfortunate accidents.
• Inclement Weather
  Severe weather such as thunderstorms, hail, snow, ice, and wind causes many car accidents. Such circumstances often lower the driver’s visibility or their ability to keep the vehicle on the road.
• Tire Blowouts
  Bad tires are another common incident that leads to car accidents. If the quality of your tire is compromised by something the car ran over or if the tire is slowly eroding, a blowout can happen unexpectedly. When they do, they often jerk the driver’s steering wheel hard and unexpectedly from their hands. Always do your best to maintain proper tire care for this very reason.
• Improper Vehicle Maintenance
  If you’re unable to maintain the health of your car, this can often lead to unnecessary accidents. Blown head gaskets, transmission problems and more can compromise a driver’s ability to maintain control of the vehicle and cause an accident.
• Road Work
  It happens far too often here in Houston: a driver leaves work and is in a rush to get home. They encounter road work on the interstate and compromise their safety driving habits. You get the point. Always slow down when you encounter road work. Not only for your safety, but for the safety of others as well.
• Dangerous Intersections
  Many serious car accidents happen at popular intersections. So many times, drivers will pull out in front of an unseen driver or they encounter confusion over who had the right of way.
• Improper Signs or Lights
  Sometimes, accidents are caused by improper signs or lights. Perhaps there’s a yield sign when it should be a stop sign. Regardless of the reason, these types of occurrences cause confusion and car accidents.
• Potholes and Pavement Cracks
  Many times, a huge pothole can be hit at just the right speed to cause a driver to lose control of the vehicle. These can appear expectantly or unexpectedly.

There are several different types of car accidents. Here are some of the most common:

• Single Vehicle Accidents
  These only involve your car and no one else’s Depending on the scenario, they can be very minor or very serious.
• Head-on Crash Accidents
  These are often devastating car accidents. You often see these type of car accidents on interstate highways.
• Rear-end Crash Accidents
  With these, you may be sitting at a stop light and minding your own business when a car from behind you crashes into your backside.
• Rollover Accidents
  These types of accidents are often seen with SUV vehicles and other high ride vehicles. They usually occur when there’s too much speed and a loss of friction from the wheels to the pavement. Making a turn with a high speed often causes rollover accidents.
• Fatal Crash Accidents
  These are the most heartbreaking cases that we deal with. These involve a driver or passenger that didn’t survive the accident.
• Hit and Run Accidents
  These types of accidents involve one driver hitting another and then escaping the scene before you can communicate with them. In these cases, it’s often hard to capture a description of the vehicle or even a tag number. However, it’s very helpful in your case to have any details that you possibly can.
• Uber Crash Accidents
  These type of accidents involve a stranger transporting you to another location in their personal vehicle. Due to this particular circumstance, it’s definitely important to not handle these type of cases on your own.
• Taxi Cab Crash Accidents
  These are similar to Uber accidents. You’ll want protection from the car accident attorney as the taxi cab company may do anything it can to refuse liability.
• Bus Accidents
  Public transportation is not always the safest form of transportation. If you were involved in a bus accident, be sure to have as many details as you can of the scenario. Even obtain information of the driver and other fellow passengers.
• Motorcycle Crashes
  These are often one of the most devastating forms of vehicular accidents. A motorcycle driver has little protection when he or she crashes into an oncoming car, truck or even a tree or power pole.
• Bicycle Accidents
  Bicycle accidents always require the help of an attorney. Far too often, these particular cases are devastating, if not fatal. Whether the bicyclist stayed in his lane or not, there’s no physical protection once hit by another vehicle.
• ATV Accidents
  These are widely considered fun vehicles, but they’re rarely taken as seriously as they should be. A vehicle is a vehicle whether it’s an on-road or off-road vehicle. ATV accidents can also be devastating depending on the scenario.

With any accident can come a variety of injuries and medical problems. Some are more common than others depending on the type of vehicle accident that occurred.

• Whiplash. This involves irritation to the neck muscles that’s caused by the sudden stop of the accident,
• Cuts, scrapes and bruises,
• Soft tissues injuries such as torn tendons, ligaments or muscles,
• Broken bones,
• Fractured bones,
• Spinal injuries of the neck and back,
• Brain or head injuries such as concussions, internal bleeding, skull fractures and more,
• Burn injuries from mild cases to severe cases.

If you had any of these injuries in a Houston car accident, there’s no doubt that huge medical bills can come along with it. Give us a call for your free consultation. There’s no reason to suffer needlessly. We can help you.

An attorney contingency fee is simply a fee that’s charged for attorney services only if the lawsuit was a success and worked out in your favor.  In addition, the attorney fees are usually paid out from the client’s settlement award so nothing actually ends up coming out of your own pocket.

Most lawyers charge 35 percent of the initial settlement if the case is resolved without the need of a lawsuit.  However, if a lawsuit is necessary, then the attorney fee can increase to 40 percent.  Keep in mind, however, that most cases are settled outside of court.  We will never file a lawsuit if we do not have the client’s permission to do so.

Here’s an example scenario: if we negotiated a $20,000 settlement on your behalf, $7,000 would be paid in attorney fees.  You will then receive the remaining $13,000.  From that $13,000, your medical bills and any other outstanding debts will then need to be paid and the remaining amount goes back into your pocket.  You can then use the remaining amount to cover any lost wages or otherwise recover from the accident.  Obviously, if no settlement is reached, then there would be no cost to you.

Settlements are almost always paid out by the insurance companies.  They are also almost always paid out in one large lump sum as they do not usually like to divide the amount into smaller payments.

Many people are misled into thinking that the insurance adjusters are your best friend when they are not. It’s easy to fall for their caring and sympathetic sounding words and become convinced that they’re on your side. In fact, most insurance adjusters WANT to convince you that they’re going to do right by you and give you the best deal. Never fall for this trick. Once you file your claim, the insurance adjuster will call you and start working on getting the lowest settlement for you. That’s the thing: their job is to offer you the LOWEST settlement while convincing you that it’s the best settlement.

They may tell you that you need to give them a recorded statement before you can receive a settlement. Unless litigation is in the works, they don’t have the right to obtain a recorded statement from you. Period.

It’s also a huge mistake to give the other party’s insurance company a recorded statement. This allows for them to deeply dig into every word you’ve spoken so as to find a loophole for not giving you what’s owed to you. It just takes one misspoken word or comment that can cost you a settlement. They are trained to find anything that you say that can work against you. It’s sad how deceptive they are in offering sympathetic vocal tones and words, but it’s a reality.

With this being said, it’s best for you to only give them your most basic information. Don’t carry on with casual conversation with them. Don’t cave into their seemingly caring comments. These are all designed to be a trap. They are looking for ways to prove that you’re either responsible for the car accident or that you’ve been dishonest in the amount of your losses or that your injuries weren’t as severe as you’re trying to claim. There are many things they search for to use against you. Thus, if they ask for a recorded statement, kindly tell them “no”. If they insist on a recorded statement, kindly tell them “no”.

This is why it’s best to let our attorneys handle the communications with the insurance adjusters. We have spent years studying and practicing the law and know how to navigate through tricky conversations with insurance adjusters. Too many times, victims of car accidents that have had no training in the law also become victims to these sneaky insurance companies. Don’t let that person be you. Give us a call today if you’ve been in a car accident and need help now.

Once the claim has been filed, the insurance company will contact you with a settlement offer; this is where it’s really important to have a car accident attorney on your side.

It can be a huge temptation to accept the first settlement that the insurance company has to offer you. They know that most likely, you have a lack of understanding in the law and what’s really owed to you. When you’ve been overwhelmed with stress, grief, financial loss and more, it can be a relief to hear that they’re going to send you a check. Don’t be that person that accepts the initial settlement offer! It will be a costly mistake for you, and it’s one that you cannot turn back from.

As we have stated previously, insurance companies want to do as much as they can to lower the amount of the settlement. Their main goal is to make a profit off of you. Yes, you read that correctly. They work to make money from your pain and suffering. Unfortunately, once an insurance company deceives a person into accepting their low payout, they then lock the doors on that person from being able to seek additional funds that are rightfully owed to them. It doesn’t matter how dirty their deal was – they will NOT waiver from their decision. This is because they are in it to make a profit. So many people lose out on what’s rightfully theirs, and that’s a shame.

If anything else, this is a huge reason to allow a car accident lawyer to handle all communications with these insurance companies. A car accident attorney will look over the insurance company’s offer and advise you on whether it’s a good deal or not. And if it isn’t a good deal, the lawyer will fight for you by convincing the insurance company to deliver a better settlement. It’s important that you have a high enough settlement that will cover your losses and suffering!

Keep in mind that insurance companies KNOW that lawyers understand their profit scheme and will not stop fighting them until the offer a fair settlement. With our team having this type of advantage over them, it gives us much higher success rates in winning that best settlement on your behalf.

Many people think that there’s no need to have a car accident lawyer when dealing with a claim. It’s not as simple as it seems and there are many reasons why you shouldn’t handle a case on your own. People that are not represented by car accident lawyers are targets for being wrongly treated. However, if an insurance company knows that you have a great lawyer working on your side, then they will likely change their tune very quickly. Our legal team does not stop until we get what is rightfully yours.