Perlmutter & Schuelke, LLP » Trucking Accidents

Injured? Learn About Your Condition

brooks — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:05:57 +0000

A constant issue I hear from personal injury clients is that doctors often do a poor job communicating with patients about the patients’ injuries and their course of care.

But with the internet, there are a number of ways for clients to learn about their injuries and treatment themselves. It is the internet, so some of the information is horrible, but much of it is quite good.

One source that I have found helpful is Up To Date (www.uptodate.com).

Up To Date is an online medical encyclopedia. It is written and edited by doctors, updated frequently, and footnoted very well so you can follow up on studies. It is designed to be used by medical professionals — hospitals, clinics, doctors, etc. It is set up so that it provides basic information about conditions and then answers many of the most popular clinical questions about conditions. When you look at the website, you’ll see that it receives good reviews from doctors and medical facilities from all over the world.

But it also markets to patients. Up To Date currently has a subscription option where you can have unlimited access to the website for 7 days for $19.95 or 30 days of unlimited access for $44.95.

If you have a condition that you want to learn more about, you might consider paying these fees so that you really understand your condition and your future.

Big Rig Accidents Continue to Occur on Roadways

jferris — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 17:22:30 +0000

Despite the desire to reduce the number of 18-wheeler accidents on the highways, it does not seem to be happening.

Unfortunately, even with the latest push to improve big rig safety, there are still far too many devastating accidents taking lives, and often taking them in a grisly fashion. The difficulty is that many passenger vehicles do not seem to understand or appreciate that driving a huge commercial truck is not like driving a smaller car. They are far more difficult to maneuver, do not stop quickly, and cannot see you in certain blind spots.

Most commercial trucks easily weigh more than 80,000 pounds. On the other hand, passenger vehicles may weigh about 3,000 pounds. It does not take too much imagination to realize that 80,000 pounds slamming into 3,000 pounds means a disaster, often one in which someone loses their life. Their enormous weight is why it takes them longer to stop. The forward momentum of that much weigh just keeps going until the brakes kick in.

Another factor that most do not think about is that many truckers are hauling hazardous cargo such as flammable material, making how they drive much more of a safety issue. A truck loaded with gas or other highly flammable materials stands a good chance of exploding if it is involved in an accident. This may mean death in a fire or severe burns and respiratory issues.

But these wrecks are not accidents. Most are caused by decisions made months or years earlier by trucking companies trying to maximize profits. The pressure of an employer breathing down their necks is often another reason why truckers get into accidents. The truth is that many truckers drive for too long, are tired, distracted and not fully alert and aware. So they may drift off behind the wheel.

Truckers are often expected to do their deliveries as fast as they can to make the company money, skip proper maintenance checks to make their trips quicker and falsify log books to show they had the requisite number of sleep breaks, when they did not. Similarly, trucking companies often shirk their responsibility to properly train their drivers or to hire experienced drivers in efforts to save costs. These conditions virtually guarantee an accident waiting to happen.

Even with the latest move in the trucking industry to ban cell phone usage, and calling and texting while on the road, accidents caused by these very actions are still happening. Some truckers, feeling like nothing will happen to them, are still driving while distracted. This is a recipe for an accident.

Trucking accidents may become even more of a problem for residents of Austin and other Central Texas towns. The federal government recently began allowing trucks from Mexico to travel deep into the United States. Many of these trucks, which might pose an even bigger risk than domestic trucks, will be traveling through our area along I-35.

No matter what caused a truck accident that you may have been involved in and no matter where it happened, make the first phone call for legal help to a seasoned Austin personal injury attorney. With their help, you will be able to recover the compensation you need to cope with your injuries. An Austin personal injury attorney’s job is to help protect your rights and help you through the courts to get justice.

Brooks Schuelke is an Austin personal injury attorney with Perlmutter & Schuelke LLP. Contact an Austin injury lawyer at Civtrial.com or (512) 476-4944.

We Can Learn About Head Injuries From The NHL

brooks — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:09:01 +0000

Like many of you, I’ve never been to a hockey game. But despite that, we have much we can learn from the National Hockey League.

You see. The NHL has a concussion problem.

The NHL’s most recognizable player is young star Sidney Crosby. But last January, Sid the Kid took a high hit and sustained a concussion. His concussion caused him to miss half the 2010-2011 season, the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, and the first quarter of the 2011-12 season. He finally came back, but after eight games back, Crosby sustained another hit and symptoms of concussions and is again out indefinitely.

Crosby isn’t alone. In about a quarter of the season, 23 different NHL players have been limited by concussions.

What I take from this is that the NHL, unlike the NFL or some other sports, take concussions and head injuries seriously. And I think it’s important for all of us to learn that.

I frequently tell people that the thing that scares me the most about our car wreck or other personal injury cases are the potential head injuries. They are difficult to diagnose, and the consequences can be life-altering.

So if you or a loved one is hurt in an accident, make sure you’re on the lookout for potential signs of head injuries. Don’t dismiss those headaches, changes in temperament, feelings of confusion, nausea or vomiting, or fatigue. Take them seriously, and seek the care you need.

Auto Accidents: Is A Ban On Using Cell Phones In Cars Ahead?

brooks — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:09:57 +0000

Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board urged a complete ban on the use of cell phones while driving. The Board has recommended that all states adopt a complete ban on the use of cell phones while driving — including texting and emailing — except in emergency situations. It would include a ban on using phones even with hands-free devices. While the Board doesn’t have the authority to enact any legislation, its opinion does hold sway with federal and state regulators and legislators.

The impetus behind the suggestion is the increasing problem of distracted driving. According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration data, at least 3,092 roadway fatalities involved distracted driving, though it suspects the number is much higher. And cell phone use is one of the sources of distraction. At any given daylight moment, an estimated 13.5 million drivers are using their phones.

The proposal appears to have support among many Central Texas traffic enforcement officials. In an Austin American Statesman article this morning, Texas Department of Transportation spokesman John Hurt said he thought transportation departments would support the ban. Also, spokespersons for the Austin Police Department said they’d support a ban.

I can’t imagine such a ban passing, but I do hope that the proposal starts a discussion about the increased dangers of distracted driving. This is a serious problem that we see every day. One of the APD officers said in best in the Statesman article when he said that we need a culture change. Hopefully we can start moving to that change.

Personal Injury Claims: What Is Paid v. Incurred?

brooks — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:38:44 +0000

One of the most common fights we’re having in personal injury claims is known as the paid v. incurred fight.

In 2003, the legislature passed a law limiting damages in personal injury cases as follows:

In addition to any other limitation under law, recovery of medical or health care expenses incurred is limited to the amount actually paid or incurred by or on behalf of the claimant.

What does this mean?

In many cases, there are two different costs for medical care: there is the list price and the price that the medical provider accepts as full and final payment for the bill.

While it can come up in a number of different situations, the typical situation involves health insurance. One of the benefits of your health insurance is that the insurance company has negotiated reduced rates with various medical providers.

For example, a hospital may have a list price of $10,000.00 for a procedure, but the insurance company negotiated with the hospital so the hospital agrees to accept $5,000.00 as payment in full.

Sometimes this benefits the insurance company — they get to pay less for your procedure. But many times it benefits you. For example, I have a high-deductible insurance policy — my company doesn’t pay until we’ve spent $5,000.00 for a year to meet our deductible. But even when we haven’t met our deductible, the insurance company still processes the charge and reduces it so that I only have to pay the agreed upon reduced rate.

Before the 2003 law, injured people got the benefit of their insurance. When we asked the jury to award medical expenses, the jury was asked to award the entire $10,000.00.

But then the law was passed, and because it was worded so poorly, there was a great debate about what it meant. Finally, the Supreme Court issued a case in July of 2011 clarifying the meaning. And they held that an injured person can only ask the jury for the reduced amount that was actually paid to the medical provider. In essence, a defendant now gets the benefits due you because you had the foresight to obtain health insurance.

This ruling also has an effect on the value of your claims. In some cases, there is little we can do to avoid application of the rule, but in some cases, we can use some strategies to try and maximize your recovery.

If you’ve been injured, you should make sure your lawyer understands these issues and how to maximize your recovery in light of these issues.

What Personal Injury Victims Can Learn From The Military’s Brain Injury Debacle

brooks — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 20:16:31 +0000

The lasting legacy of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will be the amazing number of head injuries suffered by our troops.

Yesterday, NPR released a report detailing ways that we are failing those injured. One key component of the report was failed testing and diagnoses for the injuries.

The United States has spent $42 million trying to adminster test to members of the military to diagnose whether they have suffered any kind of traumatic brain injury. In theory, the program should work great. Every member is tested before deployment and then upon return from depoloyment, That way, the original tests can serve as a baseline to determine where the military member was before entering the conflict.

But it hasn’t worked out well. From the report:

We have failed. We have failed soldiers,” says retired Col. Mary Lopez, who used to run the Army’s testing program. She still works with soldiers in Germany. “It is incredibly frustrating because I can see firsthand the soldiers that we’ve missed, the soldiers that have not been treated, not been identified, misdiagnosed. And then they struggle.

The story about how the military got where it is, why they chose the test they did, etc are all interesting, but not what I want to write about today.

Instead, I think personal injury victims can learn from Col. Lopez’s summation — brain injuries are difficult to diagnose and when undiagnosed, the injured don’t get the help they need and then have problems.

That is a lesson that is important for those injured in almost every type of injury claim. Brain injuries from car wrecks or other accidents are hard to diagnose. Most of the time, doctors aren’t looking for brain injuries, and doctors usually don’t know their patients well enough to tell if there is a difference in the patient after an incident.

And if the doctors don’t make that diagnose, then the injured don’t get help.

That’s why I always tell my clients to be on the lookout for head injuries. Often, you or a loved one will be the only ones who notice that you have memory issues or a changed personality. So it’s important for you to look out for the symptoms.

It’s also important to get the help you need. When the head injury is severe, there are a number of different forms of cognitive therapies that you can undergo, but the problem has to be diagnosed first.

AAA On The Cost Of Car Wrecks

brooks — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 16:27:32 +0000

I’m sure most of us have heard studies complaining about America’s traffic and how much it costs Americans to sit in congestion. While that’s bad, it’s not nearly the cost of car wrecks.

Earlier this month, the American Automobile Association (AAA) released a study, Crashes v. Congestion — What’s The Cost To Society? The study found that the annual societal cost of car wrecks is $300 billion, more than three times the $98 billion cost of congestion. That comes out to $1,522 annually.

Some of the more detailed findings were even more surprising, particularly the findings regarding traffic fatalities. In 2009, traffic crashes killed 33,808 people in the US — 93 per day or nearly 4 every hour. While we’ve made improvements, motor vehicle accidents are still the leading cause of death among ages 5-34 and, in terms of years of life lost, rank third, behind heart disease and cancer. And based on Federal Highway Administration data, which assigns values to 11 components (including property damage, lost earnings, lost household production, medical costs, legal costs, and pain and lost quality of life), the average cost of a fatality is $6 million. These are huge costs indeed.

But we owe thanks to AAA for going further than just making the findings. The report is designed to bring awareness to the problem and to help advocate for increase traffic safety. That means helping encourage drivers to be more safe, but also advocating to our legislators and other government officials to quit ignoring how big a problem this is.

New Trucking Accident Danger?

brooks — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 22:23:58 +0000

Since I have represented a number of people in trucking accidents, I’ve written here about a number of different dangers of trucking accidents.

But this trucking accident danger is new for me.

Trucker Louis Holst and his wife had picked up a load that included 460 bee hives. When his load became unstable, the truck toppled over, and approximately 25 million bees were on the loose.

I don’t want to make light of it because Mr. Holst and his wife were both injured, but the case is a good example of two trucking problems. First, one of the more popular causes of wrecks is an overturned trailer. Those are typically caused by improper driving moves or improper securing of the load in the trailer.

Second, there are immense dangers acused by dangerous loads. While the bee swarm isn’t your typical type of dangerous load, it is a good reminder that hazardous cargo can pose a danger to truck drivers and to other motorists.

Personal Injury Cases: Types Of Information Kept From The Jury

brooks — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 15:57:15 +0000

I’m spending a little time today preparing for a jury trial in a couple of weeks, and due to some circumstances, it got me thinking about the things about a case that a jury doesn’t get to know.

These issues sometimes come up when talking to new clients. One of the common comments I hear is, “If the jury just gets to hear about X then that will really help our case.”

But many times, the jury may not get to hear about X.

There are a number of rules that limit what information we get to tell a jury. Sometimes the rules exist to prevent the jury from hearing information that courts believe is irrelevant, and sometimes it is to prevent the jury from hearing information that is deemed to be too prejudicial to one side or the other. Regardless of the reason for the rule, there are a number of limits. Some of the more popular limits are listed below.

1. Insurance. In most personal injury cases, the defendant (the party that did something wrong and is being sued) has insurance to pay for the lawyer and that will pay for any judgment rendered against the defendant. However, one of the most long-standing rules is that the parties can’t tell the jury that the defendant has insurance, that insurance might cover the jury’s award, or anything similar.

2. Attorneys’ fees. In most personal injury cases, the plaintiff (the party that is injured and filed the lawsuit) has to pay his or her attorney out of the jury’s award. And yet, we’re never allowed to tell the jury this fact.

3. The defendant’s history. In many cases, the defendant may have a history that our clients think is relevant. For example, if it is a car wreck case, the driver may have a bad driving record with prior wrecks or tickets. Or, the other side may have a criminal history or a history of alcohol or drug abuse. In most cases, the jury never gets to hear about these “prior bad acts” (as we call them).

4. Settlement offers or negotiations. Sometimes clients think that we can tell a jury about settlement offers from defendants and that the jury will use those as a “floor” for an award. But in most instances, we can’t tell a jury about settlement negotiations, mediation, or other settlement discussions.

5. Effect of jury answers. The way our system works, the jury doesn’t decide who wins or who loses. Instead, the jury is asked a series of questions. But the jury doesn’t get to know what their answers mean, and we’re not allowed to tell them how their answers might affect the ultimate award. This was really demonstrated in a case of ours a few years ago. In a business case, we obtaned a jury verdict that included an $8,000,000.00 punitive damage award. But due to tort reform legislation, that recovery was limited to $250,000.00. When we told the jury about it afterwards, they were floored. They had been trying to punish the defendant for their egregious conduct, but the result ended up being a drop in the bucket for this large company.

My list could go on and on. There are any number of additional things a jury doesn’t get to hear about, but these are a biggies.

And as I said, these are only the general rules, and in some cases, there might be ways for attorneys to legitimately get the right to tell the jury about some of thse items. In fact, I often tell people that one of the advantages of hiring an experienced personal injury attorney is that they might know tricks that increase the likelihood that you get to tell the jury these things. That is especially true for trucking accident cases.

Austin Ben White Car Wreck Is Another Deadly Wrong Way Crash

brooks — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 14:51:39 +0000

Another wrong way wreck for Austin.

Early this morning, Austin had its latest traffic fatality when a driver was driving the wrong way on Ben White Boulevard, resulting in a head-on collision with a Tombstone Pizza delivery truck. A passenger in the wrong way vehicle was ejected from the vehicle and immediately killed. The driver of the car was pinned in and suffered serious injuries. The driver of the delivery truck was largely unharmed, though the cab of his truck did catch on fire.

This seems like it should never happen — a driver driving down the highway the wrong way. But it’s much more common that people think. Nationwide, people are killed or injured in wrong way wrecks on an almost weekly basis. And Austin hasn’t escaped the problem. I’ve been writing about wrong way wrecks in Austin for at least the last two years. And last year, Austin had two wrong way car wreck fatalities within a couple of weeks of one another.

Most of these wrecks have several characteristics in common:

Most occur at night (today’s occurred at 4:00 a.m.);
Most of the wrong way drivers are either impaired by alcohol or drugs or, to a lesser extent, are elderly drivers (alcohol is suspected in today’s wreck); and
Many occur on roadways with confusing entrance/exit designs.

These wrong way wrecks are particularly problematic for several reasons. They often involve fatal or serious injuries. Due to the nature of the wreck, most of these are head-on collisions, which bring a tremendous amount of force.

They are also hard to avoid. When an innocent victim is traveling in the proper direction, they are usually at the mercy of the wrong way driver. And statistics show that wrong way drivers are often impaired, making it hard for a person traveling the proper direction to really anticipate the wrong way driver’s next move.

Finally, these wrecks are going to become an increasing problem. They often occur on highways that have confusing entrance and exit ramps. As Austin grows, we have more and more large highway intersections that are potentially confusing and offer opportunities for wrong way drivers to enter roads the wrong way.

For more information on wrong way drivers, you can read some of my prior posts on the problem:

You can also read the Texas Transportation Institute’s worksheet: Wrong Way Driving on Freeways in Texas: Problems, Issues & Countermeasures.