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Houston Auto Accident Involves School Bus

A Houston auto accident involving a school bus sends 12 to the hospital. There were a total of four vehicles involved in the crash.

How Deadly Are Houston Drunk Driving Accidents?

Drinking and driving is a serious matter. A Houston drunk driving accident can lead to a permanent disability including death. If you or someone you know has been injured in an alcohol-related car accident, you should contact Steve Lee, an experienced Houston car accident attorney at (713) 921-4171 or (800) 232-3711.

Reducing Injuries in Houston Car Accidents

Read this blog to learn about recommendations that were given to reduce the risk of serious injuries in car accidents. In Houston and throughout the state of Texas, countless lives are lost in auto accidents.

How to Avoid a Car Accident this Holiday Season

Follow these travel safety tips to help you avoid a car accident this holiday season. Contact Houston Accident Lawyer Steve Lee if you have been injured in an auto accident.

Many Fatal Car Accidents Involve Young Drivers

Young drivers are involved in one-fifth of car accident fatalities around the country. If you have been injured in a Houston car accident caused by the other driver, you may be able to recover compensation.

Does Cell Phone Use Increase the Chance of Being in a Car Accident?

We see it almost everyday. People talking on their cell phones while operating a vehicle. Is it that surprising, though? A recent study by the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association revealed that as of February 2008, over 254 million people had cell phones.

The problem with cell phones is that studies are showing that there are links between cell phone use and car accidents.

We have all seen it. Drivers become distracted while talking on the phone and are not paying close enough attention to the road. The same studies show that the distraction of a cell phone while driving can impact driving performance and can increase reaction times and travel speeds. How many of us have been behind someone traveling in the fast lane going well under the minimum speed limit? It’s not only frustrating, it is also dangerous.

As a matter of fact, a 2005 study in Australia revealed that drivers using their cell phones while driving were four times as likely to be involved in car accidents injuring themselves or others.

If you or someone you know has been involved in a car accident caused by a distracted driver, you should contact Steve Lee, an experienced Houston car accident attorney at (713) 921-4171 or (800) 232-3711.

Drunk Driving Accidents Claim Thousands of Lives

Getting behind the wheel when you are drunk is dangerous.  Most of us already know this fact, but still, every year thousands of people die in drunk driving accidents across the country. 

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 8,027 drivers died in drunk driving accidents nationally in 2008.  Driver with blood alcohol levels of 0.08 percent and above were involved in these DWI accidents.

It doesn’t take a lot to reach a 0.08 BAC.  For some people, as little as three drinks can cause them to be too drunk to drive.  Intoxicated drivers are a hazard not just to themselves, but to the other people on the road.  The sad truth is that many deaths could have been prevented.  Alcohol impairment is still a major factor in many car accidents.

Researchers have found that when a person with a BAC of 0.15 or above gets behind the wheel, his or her chance of dying in a collision is extremely high. 

If you or a loved one has been injured in a Houston car accident caused by a drunk driver, you have legal rights and can hold that person accountable.  Contact Attorney Steve Lee at 713-921-4171 or 1-800-232-3711 for more information.

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.

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.

A Texas Truck Accident Can Cause a Deadly Broken Pelvis

A Texas truck accident is especially devastating since the outcome of such an accident is often fatal.  Serious injuries have been associated with truck accidents, including pelvic fractures.  A broken pelvis can be deadly.

If you or someone you know has been injured in a car accident and has a pelvic fracture, don’t discount the seriousness of this injury.  Since the pelvis cradles numerous organs and many blood vessels and nerves pass through it, a fracture can lead to a significant amount of bleeding.  Not only is a pelvic fracture painful, but it can also cause internal damage.

Truck accidents happen for many reasons and the fault can often lie with either driver.  However, if the crash was caused by the trucker or had to do with negligence by the trucking company, the accident victim can and should hold them accountable.  Expenses from a pelvic fracture can add up quickly and the trucking company should be responsible for these costs, in addition to other damages, including pain and suffering, lost wages and so on.

Contact Steve Lee, an experienced Houston car accident attorney, for legal advice at 713-921-4171 or 800-232-3711.  If you have been injured, you shouldn’t delay in talking with an accident attorney.

NHTSA Offers Safety Recall Text Message Notices

The NHTSA is offering a service that will automatically text message your phone or PDA with information regarding tires or child car seats.

We recommend signing up for this service as soon as possible, especially if you have children.

Practical Ways to Save Money on Car Insurance

According to an article at Insurance.com, insurance rates have risen 1.05% this quarter, and will probably be rising even more for the rest of the year. Since we're all paying more at the pump, higher insurance rates are the last thing any of us need.

If you follow the link, you will find a USA Today article that gives you six different ways to save money on your car insurance.

Just bear in mind that skimping on your car insurance costs can come back and haunt you if you have to file a claim. And as always, if you find yourself injured in an accident and the insurance company is denying your claim unneccesarily, contact our offices 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

State Farm Wants Whistle Blowers Fined

The two sisters who exposed State Farm's behavior in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina are coming under fire by the insurance giant.

The Rigsby sisters were State Farm employees who made copies of internal memos, and then handed these copies over to an attorney. These memos described in detail State Farm's plan to deny Hurricane Katrina claims by blaming the majority of the damage on flooding (which is not covered) as opposed to winds (which is covered.)

While it appears that there was some unfortunate conduct by the attorney that was initially representing the Rigsby sisters, it pales in comparison to the conduct by State Farm, who made blanket denials of claims without even bothering to really see what caused the damage.

A judge that allows the financial punishing of whistleblowers is setting a dangerous precedent. Lets hope that the judge who is presiding over this case comes to the same conclusion.