After a car accident, one of the first things you do is ask for the responsible driver’s insurance information. The last thing you want to hear when you do this is, “I do not have any.” If you were hit and injured by an uninsured driver, you might be wondering who is going to pay for your medical bills, lost wages, and likely totaled vehicle. These costs can add up rapidly. Even if you use your own health insurance, you are still likely to end up with a huge hospital bill. If you do not have health insurance, getting the care you need can be challenging. You are not out of luck - there are ways to recover compensation even if the other driver failed to fulfill his legal obligation to carry insurance. The process for filing a claim and pursuing damages may look a little different in this case, but one of our attorneys can guide you. You may have multiple options.

How Can I Recover Compensation From an Uninsured Driver?

After an accident with an uninsured driver, you generally have two options for pursuing compensation. The first option is to file an uninsured driver claim with your own car insurance company. Or, you could pursue compensation directly from the driver who injured you. Simply relying on your own health insurance is an option, but it is not recommended.

Pursuing Compensation Through Your Insurance

In Texas, every car insurance policy automatically includes uninsured motorist coverage. Unless you took the step of completing a separate form to waive this coverage, you should be covered by your own insurance policy.

Commercial truck drivers must generally follow the laws that apply to regular traffic and then some. 18-wheelers can cause significantly more damage than a personal vehicle should they crash. They are also much more challenging to drive than a typical family car, requiring additional training to operate safely. It makes sense for there to be extra regulations that apply only to commercial trucks. One of the most important safety laws that truck drivers must abide by are hours of service regulations. Hours of service regulations are set out by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and apply to truck drivers in every state. An hours of service violation can have serious implications after a truck accident.

What Are Hours of Service Regulations?

These laws control how long a driver can keep going without a break, and how long that break must be. Their main purpose is to ensure that truck drivers are well-rested and alert. Operating such a large vehicle on public streets requires a lot of focus. Fatigued or sleepy drivers are much more prone to mistakes. Drowsy driving can lead to accidents - possibly including yours. If you were hurt in a truck accident, it is certainly worth investigating.

Hours of service rules can be a little confusing to keep track of. Generally, a truck driver cannot drive for more than 11 consecutive hours after a ten-hour break or more than 14 consecutive hours after first coming on duty. A thirty-minute break is required after driving for eight hours. There are also regulations pertaining to the total amount of hours a truck driver can work each week.

Defective tires put everyone on the road in danger. They can burst without warning, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle. Defective tire crashes are more likely to happen at higher speeds, so they can be particularly serious. Multiple vehicles are often involved especially when these accidents happen on the highway. If you were hurt in a car crash caused by a defective tire, the maker or seller of the defective tire can be held liable. They had a duty to put only reasonably safe tires on the market, and their failure to do so resulted in injuries. The difficult part may be proving that your accident was in fact the result of a tire defect. To do so, you will probably need to enlist the help of an experienced tire defect attorney. Multiple types of evidence may be needed, and a thorough investigation will need to be performed.

What Types of Evidence Might I Need to Prove a Defective Tire Case?

Tire companies and stores are no more keen on paying out a fair settlement than insurance companies are. The more proof of the defect you have, the better. Your attorney may seek out evidence like:

• Accident scene photos - Photos of the exploded tire and any tire tracks on the road may help show where and how the tire burst.
• Expert testimony - As it can be difficult for a layperson to discern what caused a tire to burst, lawyers often bring in expert witnesses in tire defect cases. These individuals are highly knowledgeable about tires and tire defects, so their assessment can go a long way toward convincing everyone.
• Witness testimony - The majority of car accidents are witnessed by someone. If a witness or even better, multiple witnesses, say they saw your tire explode for seemingly no reason, you are much more likely to win. The word of neutral, third-party witnesses with no interest in the outcome of the case is typically taken seriously.
• Tire pieces - If possible, tire fragments should be collected after the crash. The pieces can be examined to determine whether the tire was punctured by an object on the road, or simply burst on its own.
• Cameras - Cameras are absolutely everywhere these days. Drivers have dashcams. Quite a few traffic lights have cameras. Businesses have security cameras. People often film themselves in public. Many homes have cameras. Your lawyer may be able to locate video footage of the accident.

Multiple types of evidence are often used in a tire defect case. If you suspect that a tire defect caused the accident, it is best to call an attorney as soon as possible. The sooner they can begin investigating, the easier it may be to locate strong evidence.

Commercial trucks, including semi-trucks, flatbeds, and delivery trucks, are much larger than most of the vehicles on the road. This means that crashes involving commercial trucks often cause significant property damage and serious injuries. Sadly, many commercial truck accident victims do not survive. If you were hurt or a loved one died in a truck crash, you may be interested in taking legal action against the trucking company.

Bringing a successful injury or death claim against a trucking company or carrier is no easy feat. To win the case and recover damages, the plaintiff and his or her attorney must prove several elements, including the cause of the crash and the party at-fault for the crash. Accident reconstruction can be a valuable tool in truck accident cases.

What is Accident Reconstruction or Crash Reconstruction?

Accident reconstruction is the process of understanding what series of events led to a crash and representing these facts through models and simulations. Experts in the field of accident reconstruction often have an advanced understanding of physics, mathematics, and engineering. They evaluate evidence and witness testimony to understand how and why a crash occurred.

Seeing your child get hurt in a car accident can be a traumatic experience for a parent. You probably do everything you can to keep your child safe. Having another driver carelessly harm your child can feel like a real-life nightmare. After you have gotten your child to safety and had their injuries treated, you may start to wonder how you can hold the negligent driver accountable for what happened to your child. Since minors cannot file a lawsuit on their own behalf, you will need to act on their behalf. As a parent or guardian of a minor, you can pursue compensation for your injured child. An attorney can help you determine what the best next steps are.

What Damages Can a Minor Recover?

Calculating damages owed to a minor who has been injured in a car accident can be a little more complicated. Minors are not responsible for their own medical bills, and any income they earn technically belongs to their parents. This does not mean that recovery for these damages is impossible - rather, it must simply be sorted out who is owed what. Minors can recover most of the same damages that adults can, like:

• Pain and suffering - Children may not cope with pain, injuries, and medical procedures, as well as an adult, can. Fortunately, you can pursue damages on behalf of your child that will compensate them for their pain and suffering.
• Emotional trauma - Many children need counseling after going through the trauma of a car accident where they were injured. Your child may have troubling emotional symptoms like being afraid to ride in a vehicle, or being unable to stop thinking and talking about the car accident.
• Medical bills - While minors are not responsible for their own medical bills, these economic damages are recoverable by the parents, who are responsible for these bills.
• Lost future income - If the accident was severe enough that your child will have permanent disabilities that could impact their future earning potential as an adult, they can receive compensation for their lost future wages. However, calculating and proving the amount of lost future income for a child can be quite challenging. A skilled attorney will need to approximate the amount your child would have earned as an adult before and after the accident.

If the child reaches the age of majority before a parent or guardian files a claim on their behalf, the child then has a period of two years to file their own claim. However, at this point, certain expenses that the parents became responsible for often cannot be recovered. It is important to file a suit as soon as you are able.