2010 May Archive

On Thursday, April 15, 2010, a man was killed in a motorcycle accident when he lost control on a Dallas freeway. According to an article on MyFoxDFW, the 31-year-old man had been riding a high-speed performance motorcycle northbound on Stemmons Freeway (I-35E) and lost control on a curve near the Oak Lawn exit. Investigators say that he crashed into the guardrail, causing the Suzuki Hayabusa to roll several times. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. No further information about the accident has been provided.

Suzuki Hayabusa is said to be one of the fastest motorcycles available on the market, being able to reach top speeds of 200 miles. Motorcyclists are 21 times more likely to lose their life in an accident than someone driving a car. Moreover, they are four times more likely to be seriously injured. This is because motorcyclists do not have the same level of protection as a car.

In 2006, nearly 5,000 people were killed in motorcycle accidents. In a study conducted by the University of Southern California and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the prevailing cause of motorcycle accidents is due to a failure to see or recognize motorcycles in traffic. Often times, drivers do not see a motorcyclist until it is too late to avoid collision. This is commonly considered negligence.

Victims in Dallas motorcycle accidents where a driver is deemed negligent are entitled to recover compensations for any financial losses sustained as a result of the accidents. In more serious cases, wrongful death suits may be filed against negligent drivers.

According to an article on Southeastern Record, the family of a minor, who was involved in a catastrophic personal injury accident on November 4, 2009, claims that General Motors (GM) is at fault. The accident occurred in Tyler, Texas when the driver of a 1998 Chevrolet Blazer swerved to avoid hitting a large dog in the road, causing the vehicle to rollover. One of the passengers in the car, a female minor, sustained serious injuries and had to have her right arm amputated above the elbow.

Her family is now suing GM, arguing that the vehicle did not have adequate protection for rollover accidents and is “unreasonably, dangerously defective,” causing unnecessary rollovers during normal operating conditions. The lawsuit was filed April 13, 2010, and the plaintiff seeks damages for lost wages, pain and suffering, punitive damages, medical expenses, mental anguish, costs of suit and interest.

Rollover accidents in Texas, like this one, can lead to serious and catastrophic injuries, leaving victims suffering for years. Here are a few tips on how to prevent a rollover accident:

• Do not drive erratically.
• Be aware of your surroundings, including pedestrians, animals, other drivers and road defects such as potholes and gradation changes.
• Do not drive intoxicated, tired or on medication.
• Obey all traffic laws.

If a vehicle is deemed defective, then the car manufacturer, designer and retailers may be held liable for any accidents incurred. Manufacturers are required to ensure that their products are safe for consumers. If they are not safe, victims of product defects are entitled to seek compensation.

Texas’ Department of Aging and Disability Services is planning to offer annual training for police officers to improve their ability to respond to cases of nursing home abuse, including abuse cases in veterans’ homes. The Department of Aging and Disability Services is responsible for overseeing nursing homes in Texas.

Based on a Dallas Morning News article, the training is intended to give officers a “clear picture” of what the agency does when it responds to allegations of nursing home and elder abuse in Texas. The agency’s commissioner hopes that the training will help Texas law enforcement officers and the agency work together more closely to investigate elder abuse cases.

The plan for additional training follows an April report about a 2007 case that stayed open, without proper investigation, for three years. Police had looked into the case initially, but had then passed the investigation on to the Department of Aging and Disability Services instead of working with the agency to address the allegations. The investigation lagged while the police and the agency struggled to find answers independently instead of working together.

Nursing home abuse in Texas is a serious problem. Many Texas nursing homes lag behind the rest of the nation in providing professional and appropriate care to their residents. Training Texas police to understand the details of nursing home abuse and work with the Department of Aging and Disability Services is an important step toward improving nursing home care.

A nine-year-old boy lost his leg while playing near a passing train, local news station WFAA-8 reported recently. The boy and his two brothers were playing on the train tracks behind their Garland home when the boy decided to try grabbing onto the side of a passing train. He slipped, and his leg fell underneath the train’s wheels. His brothers pulled him out and carried him home.

The boy’s parents, while admitting their sons should not be playing on the train tracks, continue to wonder why the tracks are so accessible. A sidewalk in the neighborhood runs directly to the tracks, and a large hole in the fence at the tracks’ edge makes it easy for neighborhood children to get into the railroad right-of-way. Many neighborhood children are often seen playing on the train tracks.

The city is investigating whether it has a responsibility to block access to the tracks, since the sidewalk that leads to them appears to be city property.

Only three other Texas children since 2007 have survived being hit by a train. According to the Federal Railroad Association, since 2001, Texas has seen 110 railroad accidents resulting in death and 884 non-fatal railroad accidents, including accidents involving railroad employees. Since 2007, there have been 18 fatal train accidents in Texas involving trespassers on the railroad right-of-way. Despite careful precautions, trains remain dangerous, especially to people who wander into a train’s path, and train accidents continue to occur.

In Texas, until recently, the law has been that if a property owner knows about a hazardous condition on their property, the owner can protect against liability for injuries by warning others about the dangerous condition. However, the Texas Supreme Court recently held that, in some cases, not even the strongest warning is enough to protect a property owner.

In Del Lago v. Smith, Smith was at a fraternity party held at the Del Lago resort. Over the course of the evening, the fraternity got into a verbal argument with a wedding party also celebrating at the resort. Both the fraternity and the wedding party got increasingly drunk as the night wore on, and eventually the argument turned into a physical fight. Smith got involved and suffered a fractured skull.

The Texas Supreme Court held that, because Del Lago was aware the argument was likely to turn into a fight and had over an hour and a half to break it up before the fight started, Del Lago was therefore liable for not taking a “reasonably prudent” action to prevent the fight from hurting Smith or other patrons. The Court stated that “in some circumstances, no warning can be adequate,” but it did not explain how to recognize situations in which no warning could be enough.

Protecting patrons from injury is part of a business’s duty under Texas law. When a business’s negligence or carelessness leads to a patron getting hurt, the business may be liable under Texas premises liability law for medical expenses, lost wages, and other damages. This rule reminds businesses yet again to watch out for their patrons to avoid a Texas premises liability case.