With thousands of miles of open roads in Texas, motorcycle riders can experience a profound sense of freedom and exhilaration that only a Texas road can provide. However, if history has taught us anything, serious injuries can transpire when we least expect them. This is especially true for motorcycle accidents. Motorcycles can be enjoyable, but they can also be exceedingly dangerous. Unlike driving in a car, where you are relatively protected by what is around you through the car's construction and airbags, a motorcycle leaves you much more exposed to what is around you.  

Since you are more exposed to what is around you, motorcycle accidents can lead to devastating injuries such as spinal cord injuries. Such injuries are often permanent and can be debilitating to the point where you can no longer work or do anything on your own. Rehabilitation for a spinal cord injury can be a lifelong process. This is often a devastating reality, especially if your injury was caused by the negligence of someone else. If you have been paralyzed in a motorcycle accident, contact an experienced motorcycle accident attorney who will protect your rights and help pursue the compensation you may be entitled to. 

The High Value of Spinal Cord Injuries 

The American Association of Neurological Surgeons reports that every year, 17,000 new spinal cord injuries occur in the United States. Few injuries are more severe than spinal cord injuries since they often completely inhibit a person from walking, working, and caring for themselves. As a result, the expenses of such injuries can be astronomical, with many families unable to afford the lifelong care expenses that come with taking care of someone with a spinal cord injury.

As anyone who has been hurt in a serious car accident can tell you, the impact of a car crash can be long-reaching and unpredictable. In addition to the medical treatment that the driver and passengers often need, people injured in car accidents often miss work, have long-term changes in their physical or cognitive abilities, and suffer from psychological trauma that requires professional intervention. 

Finding out that an insurance company has given you a lowball offer for your settlement can quite literally add insult to injury. The last thing you want to do as you recover from a car accident is to have to fight for fair compensation for your injuries, yet because of the enormous expense and long-term implications of your injuries, taking the time to get a fair offer is crucial. If you have been in a car accident and have received what seems like a low or unfair offer from the responsible driver’s insurance company, you do not have to manage the situation by yourself. Get help from a Texas personal injury attorney who is familiar with insurance companies and their tactics. 

Will an Insurance Company Always Give a Low Offer? 

While the person the insurance company hired and trained to talk to you on the phone about your accident may have sounded polite and even sympathetic, do not fall for it. They are specially trained to offer sincere-sounding apologies and sympathetic commiseration, but they do not know you or care about you. Instead, the job of an insurance company’s agent is only to work for the insurance company and help them be financially successful. 

As every parent knows, children–especially infants–cannot help but put everything in their mouths. While this behavior may be an important part of childhood development, it is also a major source of stress for parents who are constantly trying to keep their children from choking to death on small objects. 

Parents are responsible for making sure that toys with small parts and known risks, such as building blocks and marbles, are kept safely out of the reach of young children. But what about toys that are supposed to be safe for infants? What about toys that break into small pieces, or packaging that fails to notify parents of the toy’s hazardous potential? If your child has been injured or killed by a toy or broken piece of a toy, you may be able to take legal action. 

Non-Fatal Choking Accidents Can Still Cause Serious Injuries

News headlines stand as a warning to parents all over the country when a young child tragically chokes to death on a toy. But even when a child does not die in a choking accident, she can still suffer serious and even life-threatening injuries. Examples of such dangerous circumstances include:

No parent wants to see their child injured. If you were in the car with your child when you got hit and they got hurt, you were probably much more focused on your child’s injuries than your own. If you were not present during the accident, getting the call that your child was hurt in a car crash was probably one of the most frightening moments you have experienced as a parent. 

Once the dust settles, you will likely be wondering how you can go about recovering compensation for your child. They may have extensive medical bills from the emergency room, from physical therapy, and often, from counseling if the car accident harmed them emotionally. You, as their parent or legal guardian, can file a claim on your child’s behalf. An attorney can help you ensure that you are taking all the right steps to secure funds for your injured child. 

How Can I File a Claim on Behalf of My Child?

Because minors do not have the legal standing to file a lawsuit or insurance claim on their own behalves, you will need to do it for them. There are a few special rules when it comes to settling an injured child’s claim in Texas. Like in most car accidents, your lawyer’s first attempt at resolving the claim will involve negotiating with the responsible party’s insurance company. However, a minor cannot agree to a settlement - in most cases, a court will need to approve any offered settlement. 

Tire defects can be an insidious danger. To the untrained eye - or even a trained eye - your tires might have looked fine. Your tires may have felt perfectly normal while you were driving. Then, all of a sudden, one fails and you get into a serious car crash. While tire defects can cause blowouts or separation from the vehicle at any point, a failure event is more likely to happen when you are driving at higher speeds. This is part of what makes tire defects so dangerous. When your tire fails, you are probably going to lose control of your vehicle no matter what. Without four good tires, there is little you can do to steer away from a crash or recover from a loss of control. If you were injured in an accident that you believe was caused by a defective tire, you may need to speak to an attorney who has experience with tire defects. Your legal action may be based on product liability, so it may look a little different than a typical car accident claim.

Common Types of Tire Defects and the Evidence You Need to Prove Them

Defective tires can burst or fall off without warning. Some common reasons that this can happen include:

• Negligent repair - If you recently had a tire patched when it blows, it could be because your auto shop “fixed” it using an improper technique. Your lawyer will need to investigate the shop’s techniques for patching tires and determine whether the method used was appropriate.
• Tread separation - Tires have belts underneath the tread that hold the tires together. When they fail, the tread can separate from the tire leaving you with no grip on the road. Often, this is apparent when a trained attorney examines the pieces of the tire itself and sees that the tread is not attached to the belt.
• Missing components - Tires are more complicated than they look. There are multiple separate components, including the tread, the belt, and the steel center. If one part is missing due to a design or manufacturing defect, it will not be found in the wreckage.
• Wrong tire - Auto shops do sometimes sell people the wrong size or type of tire entirely. When a tire is not the right size or style, it can cause drastically uneven wear and lead to a blowout. Your lawyer will compare the tires that were fine with the tire that blew.

In most cases, the absolute most critical piece of evidence is the defective tire itself. If you suspect that a defective tire caused your accident, you must contact an attorney very quickly so that they can get to the crash site and find the tire.