Automobile Accidents

• Austin Police Try to Reduce Fatal Car Wrecks

  Brooks Schuelke | November 07, 2007 9:18 AM | 0 CommentsAustin, TX

  The Austin Police Department has announced a restructuring intended to reduce the number of fatalities from car and truck accidents. The reorganization will put more motorcycle officers on the street.According to APD, 175 people died in Austin auto accidents between the beginning of 2005 and the end of October. The main culprits are speeding, inattentive driving and aggressive driving.For more...

• Incentives For Adjusters to Deny Accident Claims

  Brooks Schuelke | November 06, 2007 4:12 PM | 0 CommentsAustin, TX

  Under the Progressive Gainsharing program, Progressive Insurance provides bonuses to its employees based on how well the company performs. While this system may work in many industries, it provides an improper financial incentive for adjusters to deny or underpay car wreck and other claims. I'm surprised Progressive has made this information public. This type of information, once disclosed,...

• Teen Drivers At High Risk For Car Crashes

  Brooks Schuelke | October 31, 2007 9:41 AM | 0 CommentsAustin, TX

  Yesterday, the Texas Transportation Institute released the results of a study of teen drivers that concluded that teen drivers are not aware of the dangers that lead to most car wrecks. According to TTI, car crashes kill about 6,000 teens nationwide each year making car wrecks the number one cause of death for U.S. teenagers. The car accidents are primarily caused by driver inexperience...

• Hit and Run Victim Identified

  Brooks Schuelke | October 24, 2007 2:35 PM | 0 CommentsAustin, TX

  Police today identified a 16 year old victim of a weekend hit and run car wreck. It doesn't appear that they have many leads, but with any luck, someone with information will step forward.This latest incident follows two motorcycle hit and run wrecks in June, an August hit and run wrongful death, and an unusual stabbing hit and run earlier this month. For more information on this subject,...

• Progressive Spying on Car Wreck Victims

  Brooks Schuelke | October 19, 2007 8:50 AM | 0 CommentsAustin, TX

  In August, the Atlanta Journal Constitution broke a story about Progressive Insurance Company's use of private investigators in a shocking manner. The story, which is unfortunately no longer available online, stated as follows:When a new couple arrived at Southside Christian Fellowship in August 2005, members welcomed them with open arms. Soon, the new couple talked their way into private group...

• New Tactic To Reduce Car Wrecks

  Brooks Schuelke | October 12, 2007 8:00 AM | 0 CommentsAustin, TX

  Earlier this week, the Austin American Statesman ran a story detailing various insurance companies' efforts to reduce auto accidents by monitoring teen drivers. The story stated:Several U.S. auto insurers have begun offering in-car cameras or global positioning equipment to help parents monitor their teenagers' driving behavior, hoping to reduce the alarming number of crashes involving young...

• Lessons on Drunk Driving for UT Football Players

  Brooks Schuelke | October 06, 2007 8:00 AM | 0 CommentsAustin, TX

  The big news in Austin today is obviously the Texas-Oklahoma football game. And as even the most casual fan knows, our footbal team has had more than its share of legal woes this year. But Mack Brown has found a hopefully effective way of teaching the team about the dangers of drunk driving. His method:So after Texas players Henry Melton of Grapevine and Sergio Kindle of Dallas were charged...

• Rash of Train Wrecks in Austin Area

  Brooks Schuelke | October 05, 2007 4:53 PM | 0 CommentsAustin, TX

  For whatever reason, there have been several train wrecks in the Austin area over the last couple of weeks. On September 4th, a man was killed in an Austin train wreck. On September 26th there was another Austin train wreck, but fortunately no one was injured. On September 29th, a Seguin woman collided with a train and had to jump out of her car. And yesterday, a train derailment in East...

• Austin Man Convicted of Murder for Drunk Driving Death

  Brooks Schuelke | September 27, 2007 10:20 AM | 0 CommentsAustin, TX

  Not completely personal injury news, but for the second time in a month, an Austin driver was sentenced to prison based on a murder charge for a death caused by the driver's drunk driving. Earlier this month, in the first trial of its kind in Travis County, a jury convicted the drunk driver and sentenced him to fifty years in prison. Yesterday's case was a result of a plea bargain that...

• Video Showing Forces Imparted In Auto Accidents

  Brooks Schuelke | September 25, 2007 1:13 PM | 0 CommentsAustin, TX

  Marietta, Georgia personal injury lawyer Matt Flournoy has posted a video on YouTube that shows some of the forces that are imparted in even a "minor" car wreck. While you might find the editing of the video (and its numerous inserts of text) annoying, it does have some decent information.Thanks to Lowell Steiger's Los Angeles Personal Injury Law Blog for the link. For more information on this...