Blog

Texting While Driving Can be as Dangerous as Drunk Driving

The word is getting out there, and people know the dangers but are they really taking it to heart? Thousands of innocent lives have been lost. Set an example by waiting to read and reply to that message, or by pulling over to take that call. If you or someone you know has been injured in a Houston car accident caused by a distracted driver, you should call our office today at (713) 921-4171 or (800) 232-3711.

Bad Numbers for Houston on New Years Eve

From the Houston Fox affiliate website:

HOUSTON  --  Police were out in full force on New Year's Eve to make sure drivers were safe during the late night celebrations.

Houston Police say they made about 45 drunken driving arrests late Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

This is very disheartening news.

It continues to boggle the mind as to how otherwise reasonable citizens of Houston don’t see the dangers of driving drunk, or, even worse, see the dangers but choose to ignore them.

As a law firm that helps the victims of those who have been injured by drunken drivers, we can tell you from experience that the dangers of getting behind the wheel after you have been drinking are very real. Drunk drivers in Houston and all over the country have ruined lives and destroyed families, and the real shame of it all is that these incidents could have easily been avoided if the driver in question had simply exercised restraint, caution and responsibility.

If you or a loved one has been injured due to the actions of a drunken driver in or around Houston, Texas, contact Attorney Steve Lee for a free legal consultation today.

Car Inspections Should Never Be Put Off

Getting your car inspected is usually viewed by most Texans as an inconvenience. You have to wait in line and fork over money that you could be spending on groceries, rent, or anything else. And they always seem to get you on something, so you have to set up an appointment to fix whatever it is that the inspectors found wrong, which means more money and more time.

But believe it or not, getting your car inspected wasn’t something that Texas thought up to torture you. If you had a one lane personal highway that only you were allowed to drive on, then Texas probably wouldn’t care if you failed every safety inspection criteria that exists. But since you have to share the road with the hundreds of thousands of other drivers in Texas, the state government (as well as everyone in the state) has a vested interest in making sure that your car is as safe as it can possibly be.

Don’t forget, your car is made up of thousands of moving parts, and any part of any machine can and will wear down. The last thing anyone wants is for your brakes to give out, or for your turn signals to short out, or for your tires to be incapable of providing you with traction.

Imagine causing an accident because you failed to get your car inspected, or failed to get something on your car repaired when you knew it was broken. That counts as negligence, and that can prove very costly if you end up in court. If that prospect doesn’t move you, then simply reverse it: Imagine if someone else failed to get his car up to inspection standards and then got into an accident with you.

Get your car inspected. Don’t delay.

If you or a loved one has been in an accident in Houston, contact Houston car accident attorney Steve Lee for a free legal consultation today.

Are Your Teens Wearing Their Seatbelts?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration just released a particularly disturbing report.

It says that 68% of those killed in nighttime accidents between the ages of 16 to 20 weren't wearing their seatbelts.

You have to wonder what the outcome of these wrecks would be if teenagers were taught to automatically put on their seatbelts.

Follow the link for more information about the reports.

Houston Does Not Rank Very Well In Driver Safety

Allstate Insurance recently commissioned a study on the safest cities to drive, and the Houston area did not place very high on the list. According to the study, drivers in Houston are around 25% more likely to have an accident than other drivers.

To read the whole report, follow the link below.

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080701005659&newsLang=en

 

Event Data Recorders for Your Car

Here is an interesting article from Slate, which describes new technology for cars.

It seems that many cars are currently carrying the automotive equivalent of "black boxes," which are those data recorders that are used in airplanes and are used by the NTSB to help determine what happened when there is a plane crash.

We believe that these event recorders could prove invaluable to car accident injury cases, as these recorders can help prove in court exactly how fast each individual car was going, and we can use that data to find out all sorts of information that is pertinent to the case.

If you have been in an accident, having an attorney to subpoena that information could be the difference between getting fair treatment from the insurance company and getting nothing at all.

If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, contact Houston attorney Steve Lee for a free legal consultation today.

Brazoria Car Accident Takes One Life

If you or a loved one has suffered a serious personal injury, you have the right to the legal expertise of a Houston personal injury attorney to help you fight for fair compensation. Contact the law offices of Steven Lee, P.C. today at 713-921-4171 or 1-800-232-3711. Help is available 24 hours a day and the initial consultation is always FREE. We are also able to provide transportation options as well as home and hospital visits.

The Anatomy of a Refinery Accident

Anyone who works in an oil refinery knows that it is dangerous work, and there was no better illustration of that fact than the explosion at the Texas City BP refinery in 2005, in which fifteen people were killed.  

We recently came across an article in Popular Mechanics that gave a thorough and complete account of what went wrong that day in March, and we think it should be required reading for any refinery employee. It lets you know exactly what could go wrong amidst all the oil, fumes, electricity and moving parts at an operating refinery.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a refinery or offshore oil platform, contact Houston injury attorney Steve Lee for a free legal consultation today.

Any Questions About Texas Workers' Compensation Insurance?

Workers' compensation is not a requirement for private employers in Texas, but there are still plenty of businesses that are required to have coverage for their employees.

Anyone in Texas who works for a living should know everything that they possibly can about workers' compensation insurnace. If you get injured on the job, knowing as much as you can about the basics can help you establish a successful claim.

By following this link:

http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/pubs/consumer/cb030.html

you will be provided with the basics on workers compensation insurnace coverage in Texas.

If you or a loved one has been injured on the jo in the Houston area, contact the law offices if injury attorney Steve Lee for a free legal consultation today.

How Does Your Insurance Company Perform?

You should always bear in mind that the cheapest insurance is not always the best insurance.

Those companies that offer such cheap rates are often able to do so because of the way that they treat their policyholders when they file a claim.

A company called AM Best bases ranks insurance companies, but does not base the rankings on their profitability, or the amount of money that they spend on advertising. Rather, AM Best ranks insurance companies based on their willingness and ability to pay out claims.

This is the best way for you to figure out which insurance policy is the best for you. Go to their site and see where you insurance company is on their lists.

As always, if you have been injured in a Houston car accident, contact Attorney Steve Lee for a free legal consultation today.

 

Again, The Problem is Not Doctors or Lawyers, It's Insurance

A great article in The New York Times outlines one of the major obstacles to quality healthcare in America.

It isn't the lawyers, or the doctors that people have to worry about. It's the insurance companies micromanaging and denying perfectly reasonable prescriptions, tests and procedures in order to save a buck.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/health/views/17essa.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1214579785-WPnNSyO0eNOhEfVFAY/6oA

Texas Tort Reform: Two Views

The article linked above is from the Wall Street Journal, and it is describing how doctors can't wait to come down here to practice medicine. The reason? Tort reform.

In case you weren't aware of it, the State Legislature in Austin placed caps on non-economic damages to $250,000. So no matter how egregiously a doctor screws up and no matter how much of a loss that costs your family, the highest amount that you can get is $250,000.

Dead child? $250,000.

Husband ends up in a wheelchair? $250,000.

It's also interesting to notice that now the doctors are complaining about the medical board that has increased scrutiny of medical practicioners as a compromise for enacting caps. Which begs the question: Are the doctors that are in such a hurry to get down here coming because they want to, or because they know that they will get sued for less?

There is another side to these caps, as well.

An attorney from Dallas named Bob Kraft gives a perfect example of how the rights of victims have been completely trampled upon thanks to the new rules. Follow the link to the article below.

http://www.injury-and-disability.com/2008/05/yes-it-really-i.html

Medical Helicopters: Are They Really Worth It?

An article in the Houston Chronicle recently brought up an interesting point. It turns out that an ambulance can get an injured patient to the hospital just as fast as a medical helicopter. This is something worth thinking about considering that there have been three medical helicopter crashes this year.

If time isn't necessarily a factor, then maybe the use of these helicopters should be reserved for when they are truly needed, such as when the accident occurs in an out of the way place.