Personal Injury

In Texas in 2017, 3,721 people died as a result of motor vehicle traffic fatalities. There were 14,299 serious injury crashes, with 17, 546 people sustaining a serious injury. Based on reportable crashes: (i) 1 person was killed every 2 hours, 21 minutes (ii) 1 person was injured every 2 minutes, 4 seconds; (iii) 1 reportable crash occurred every 59 seconds. 254, 853 people were killed in car crashes, 501 people were killed in motorcycle crashes and 614 pedestrians were killed.

The most common causes of these accidents were:

1. Distracted driving: Distracted driving has been the number one cause of motor vehicle accidents for the last decades. In addition, the number of distracted drivers continues to grow as people are busy texting, eating, talking on the phone, reading, putting on makeup and talking to other passengers.
2. Speeding: Speeding is the second leading cause of serious car, truck and motorcycle accidents. People continue to drive at recklessly high speeds.
3. Drunk Driving: Just one drink can impede your reaction time and lead to the fatality of an innocent driver. It is estimated that there are more than 300,000 incidents of drunk driving in the United States every day.
4. Fatigued Driving: You should never get behind the wheel if you are tired. Nodding off at the wheel is unfortunately common and exceedingly dangerous.
5. Reckless Driving and Road Rage: Tailgating, changing lanes too quickly and acting otherwise aggressively on the roads are all examples of reckless driving and can lead to disastrous results.

Thornton Esquire Law Group, PLLC has one of the most successful personal injury practices in the Houston area. Personal injury generally refers to mental and physical injuries to a person’s body that are caused by someone else’s negligence. These injuries may be minor or may be so severe that they result in the loss of a life. Personal injuries can occur in a variety of ways, but often include car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents and pedestrian accidents. If you suffered personal injuries and it was someone else’s fault, you may be entitled to compensation for your medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering.

Our Houston personal injury lawyers work tirelessly to ensure that our clients receive the compensation they deserve. To collect money stemming from a personal injury claim you must prove that another party was negligent. To prove negligence, you must demonstrate that the party who caused your injury failed to live up to his/her “duty of care.” “Duty of care” is a legal term that refers to the obligation one party has to avoid causing harm to another. If you can establish that the offending party has breached his or her duty of care, you must then prove that such a breach was the cause of your damages (damages can be physical, financial, emotional or all of the above). If your own negligence contributed to your injuries, the court can reduce the total amount you will recover.

If it is determined that another party’s negligence caused your injuries, you may recover compensation for:

1. The repair or replacement of any property damaged or destroyed in the accident;
2. Medical expenses (including, among other things, hospital stays, doctor visits, prescription and over the counter medicine costs);
3. Loss of earning capacity;
4. Permanent disability stemming from the accident;
5. The repair or replacement of any property damaged or destroyed in the accident;
6. Lost wages for time off from work; and
7. Emotional distress stemming from the accident. These can include, among other things, anxiety, trauma, and loss of enjoyment of life.

Texas law gives you two years from the date of your injury to file a bodily injury claim against the party. The vast majority of cases settle without the need to resort to litigation. That said, if you are in an accident that is not your fault, you should contact a reputable personal injury immediately. The Houston personal injury lawyers at Thornton Esquire Law Group, PLLC will advocate strongly on your behalf to maximize your likelihood of recovery.