The Costs of Motorcycle Accidents

Motorcycles are a fun form of recreation and an efficient method of transportation. A motorcycle can provide a relaxing scenic ride, and not much parking room is required. They are also extremely fast and sometimes difficult for vehicle drivers to see. When there is a collision, the motorcycle and its rider usually end up in the worst condition.Physical injuries may be long term and costly. There will also be expensive motorcycle repairs and lost time from work. When motorcycle accidents occur, an experienced Lufkin injury lawyer can assess your legal claims and provide aggressive representation.

Physical Injuries and Repair Bills

Careless riders, poor road conditions or vehicle drivers who fail to watch for motorcycles can cause motorcycle accidents. Motorcycles can sneak into a car's blind spot because it can be hard for vehicle drivers to hear an approaching motorcycle.Even protective gear such as a helmet, gloves and a heavy jacket cannot fully protect a rider in a high-speed accident. Gear can mitigate injuries to a certain extent, but an ejection from the motorcycle can result in a harsh impact. Emergency rooms commonly deal with head injuries, spinal cord injuries, broken limbs and internal organ damage.Motorcycle accident injuries may require extended hospital stays, which means time away from work. In addition to lost wages, there are insurance claims and liability issues to handle. There are also long-term costs such as physical rehabilitation and therapy. The extreme injuries can result in death and a subsequent wrongful death action.In addition, there will be damage to your motorcycle. The repair bills can run into the thousands of dollars and require a lot of time to fix. There is also the possibility that the motorcycle could be a totaled. You want to make sure that you and the other parties have adequate insurance coverage.Motorcycles are fun and represent a certain lifestyle to many people. There are also inherent risks that the rider should not take lightly. Responsible riding at safe speeds is crucial. Be aware of your surroundings and the road conditions. Taking a motorcycle rider safety course, either for the first time or as a refresher. If you are in a motorcycle accident, contact a Lufkin injury attorney to receive answers to any questions you will have.

Tractor Trailer and Commercial Truck Accidents in Texas

Large, tractor-trailer trucks account for a disproportionate amount of traffic deaths in the United States. Their involvement in fatal accidents is 50% greater than all other types of vehicles. One of the main reasons is the size of the trucks. Legally, they can only weigh up to 80,000 lbs, or 40 tons, but some trucks may exceed that weight. Tractor-trailers in general are 70 to 80 feet long.When these extremely large vehicles become involved in crashes with smaller, passenger automobiles, occupants of the automobiles almost always suffer the worst injuries. 98% of the fatalities in accidents between tractor-trailers and automobiles are the people in the automobiles. Despite making up just four percent of all registered vehicles and seven percent of all miles traveled, tractor-trailers are involved in eleven percent of all fatal accidents. Victims of negligent truck driving should consider speaking with a Lufkin injury lawyer about obtaining compensation for their injuries.

Texas Tractor-Trailer Accidents

Because trucks have a high center of gravity and carry a great deal of weight, they may overturn in the event that a driver has to maneuver suddenly. A big rig truck overturned near the Texas Motor Speedway, closing westbound traffic on a highway. The truck had been carrying rocks when it rolled over into a ditch. The accident trapped the driver in the cab, as diesel fuel spilled out from the truck. Emergency responders were able to free him from the cab and take him to a hospital.Like all drivers, tractor-trailer drivers sometimes drive too fast or make decisions that put their own lives or others' lives in danger. With tractor-trailers, however, the margin for error is less, as their size makes it difficult to stop or maneuver as quickly as automobiles.A Texas grandfather and grandson died when a truck slammed into the back of a car that had slowed down upon entering a construction zone. The tractor-trailer did not slow down in time and caused a chain reaction of car accidents, resulting in the deaths.Just weeks after the accident and four miles from where it occurred, three others died when another tractor-trailer failed to slow down for the construction zone. Family members from the first accident have since sued several truck companies and the Texas Department of Transportation for providing inadequate warning signs in the construction zone.

Tips to Avoid Commercial Truck Accident

In many cases, automobile drivers are at fault in tractor-trailer accidents, and here are several tips that they can take to avoid becoming victims in a truck accident:

• Treat trucks differently than automobiles. Try to avoid driving next to them for any extended period of time. Leave plenty of space between you and tractor-trailers.
• Stay out of their blind spots by passing trucks quickly and not remaining alongside of them. Trucks may also have blind spots directly in front of them if the vehicle is small.
• If you have to pull over on the side of the road, pull as far away from the road as possible. If you cannot pull the car far off the road, you may want to exit your car and walk further away from traffic.

 To learn more about obtaining compensation for you or a loved one for injuries suffered from negligent truck driving, contact a Lufkin injury attorney at Mike Love & Associates, LLC.

Dangerous Products and Injuries They Cause

The world's third largest pharmaceutical company, the United Kingdom's GlaxoSmithKline, had to pay $750 million in order to settle a lawsuit that an American whistleblower initiated in 2004 regarding the sale of defective drugs. The lawsuit accused Glaxo of selling misidentified drugs. The mix up affected popular prescription drugs like the antidepressant Paxil CR and the diabetes drug Avandamet.In investigating Glaxo, the Department of Justice found serious deficiencies in the quality assurance processes at a plant in Puerto Rico. Mixed up drugs led to misidentifications on the labels. Additionally, some pills split inappropriately, and others lacked an active ingredient.Texas, along with sixteen other states, joined in the original lawsuit out of fears that problems at the plant would harm patients. Fortunately, there are no reports thus far that the problems led to any injuries.The whistleblower who initiated the lawsuit received nearly $100 million of it under a law that gives whistleblowers a portion of money that the government recovers for his or her cooperation in the lawsuit. A Lufkin injury lawyer can advise you on your rights if a dangerous product has caused injury to you or a loved one.

Examples of Dangerous Products and Injuries They Can Cause

Drugs are often the subject of dangerous product lawsuits because they can have serious and life-threatening effects on a large number of people before any problems come to light. Recent lawsuits have involved drugs such as: Hydroxycut (a weight loss supplement), Accutane (an acne treatment drug), Heparin (an anti-coagulation drug) and Vioxx (an anti-inflammatory drug).Many other products that consumers come across daily can also pose dangers to them or their family members. The following are the types of claims and other products involved in product liability lawsuits:

• Design defects. Defects relating to design are ones that exist from the beginning, before the product even exists in tangible form. For example, some lawsuits have targeted SUVs because of design defects that make them prone to roll over. Toyota's recent problems concerning stuck accelerators are also design-related.
• Marketing defects. These dangers pertain to things like labels, instructions or safety warnings on a product. Many drug lawsuits concern marketing defects because the drugs and their labels have inadequate warnings regarding side effects and their dangers.
• Manufacturing defects. These problems are a result of the physical creation or manufacturing of the product. Recently, tires have been the target of these sorts of product liability lawsuits. Tire manufacturers may create tires with poor components, poor quality assurance or treads that are likely to come apart. All of these problems have the potential to be disastrous for consumers who end up with the defective and dangerous product.

Dangerous product lawsuits often entail legal battles against large and wealthy corporations, and the testimony of multiple experts is usually necessary. Such cases require experienced and talented legal assistance. Contact a Lufkin injury attorney at Mike Love & Associates, LLC if a dangerous product has harmed you or a loved one.

Preventing Construction Site Accidents in Texas

Numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics regularly confirm what construction workers already know - the construction industry remains one of the more dangerous jobs in the United States. Construction is typically first or second amongst jobs with the most fatal injuries. One out of every ten construction workers will be hurt every year.A recent study by a Texas labor advocacy group found Texas to be the deadliest state for construction workers. It usually leads the nation in all workplace injuries each year, and construction accidents comprise the largest portion of such injuries. In 2009, nearly 500 workers died in Texas, with 133 of those deaths occurring in construction.The study concluded that poor and dangerous working conditions occurred throughout the construction industry in Texas and that the state failed to ensure even basic safety protections. The group found that many workers labored in unsafe conditions, such as working in temperatures up to 112 degrees. Many worked overtime without rest breaks, and nearly two-thirds of workers reported that they did not receive basic safety training before beginning work. A Lufkin injury lawyer can help you hold employers responsible for dangerous work conditions if such conditions have harmed you or a loved one.

Ways to Prevent Construction Accidents

The most common construction accidents involve falls, electrocutions, heavy machinery accidents, or falling objects. Below are several ways that both employers and employees can prevent such accidents from occurring:

• Regularly check and service equipment
• Make sure stairs have rails
• Anytime scaffolding is in use, use fall prevention systems
• Workers should use helmets and eye and ear protection whenever there is the slightest risk of damage
• Use insulated, rubber gloves when working with wiring and electricity
• Workers and managers at the job site should regularly receive training in accident prevention and safety on the job
• Keep holes and weak spots in floors marked off
• Use covers when any energized cables or power lines are nearby

 When accidents do occur, employers and employees should report them promptly. Without prompt and accurate reporting, government agencies and statistics do not adequately account for the dangers that construction workers face. Injury reports can put state and federal agencies on alert as to problems with a particular company. The Texas study mentioned above found that workers and their employers regularly violate workplace regulations, but that they do not do anything about it and government agencies never find out about the violations.Contact a Lufkin injury attorney at Mike Love & Associates, LLC to learn what options you have if a disregard for workplace safety has harmed you.

How to Handle an Opposing Party's Insurance Company

A famous United States Supreme Court case demonstrates the difficulties that people can have in dealing with insurance companies. In State Farm v. Campbell, Campbell caused a car accident that killed one person and permanently disabled another. State Farm was his automobile insurance carrier. Despite offers to settle from the family of the people Campbell injured, State Farm refused to settle for the policy limit of $50,000.The company ignored its investigators' advice and took the case to trial. Campbell had considered getting his own lawyer, but State Farm assured him that it would defend his best interests and that he would have no liability. At trial, Campbell ending up losing and the jury returned a judgment of nearly $200,000. State Farm at first refused to cover the amount over the $50,000 policy limit. A State Farm lawyer told Campbell he might want to put up "for sale" signs on his house to get things going.Campbell consequently joined the victims' family and sued State Farm for its bad faith acts. A Utah state jury awarded Campbell and the others $2.6 million in compensatory damages and $145 million in punitive damages. The US Supreme Court described the insurance company's conduct as "reprehensible". A Lufkin injury lawyer can help you fight for your rights if you have had difficulties with an insurance company following an accident or claim.

Guidelines to Deal with the Opposing Side's Insurance Company

• The first guideline that you should remember is, if you have an attorney, simply direct the opposing insurance company to speak with your attorney. Let him or her handle all communications with the other side.
• Remember that the other side's goal is to pay you as little as it can to make the problem go away. A settlement that the opposing insurance company offers you that seems reasonable may not in fact be reasonable. Consult with an experienced attorney before accepting it because acceptance may limit your legal options down the line.
• Avoid speaking with an opposing insurance company's representatives, particularly their insurance adjustors. Though they may appear nice, remember that they do not work for you. They work for the insurance company, which is trying to minimize its costs. What you say to an insurance adjustor for the other side can significantly impact your case. Insurance adjustors usually record your statements too.
• Get all statements and agreements that the other side's insurance company makes to you in writing. For example, in a car accident, there are typically many hoops to jump through for the other insurance company to authorize repairs. It has to find a car shop of which it approves, and it has to ensure that the work is cost effective. In some states, the company cannot force you to take your car to a specific shop. An experienced attorney can advise what your rights are.
• Do not give up hope if the other insurance company refuses to pay. The person at-fault may have told his or her company that you were the person to blame for the accident. Insurance companies use this as a tactic to avoid paying claims. They know that they can continue to drag their feet as long as you do not have a lawyer.

If you have been having difficulties dealing with another side's insurance company, contact a Lufkin injury attorney at Mike Love & Associates, LLC to learn what rights you have.