Sugar Land Car Accidents Are on the Rise
Unfortunately, there is a bit of bad news for drivers nationwide, and especially in the greater metro area. The rate at which drivers get involved in accidents is going up everywhere. Nationally, the NHTSA estimates that 37,461 persons lost their lives on U.S. roadways in 2016, an increase of 5.6 percent over 2015. The Texas Department of Transportation found 3,773 deaths from car accidents in 2016, an increase of 5.45 percent from 2015. And in the metro region, things aren’t looking much better. The Houston-Galveston Area Council found 713 deaths due to traffic accidents in the area in 2016, a disturbing 16 percent increase from 2015. Sugar Land itself had 1,623 accidents reported in 2015! In those crashes, there were 388 possible injuries (status unknown), 200 non-incapacitating injuries, and 32 incapacitating injuries. Sadly, four fatal crashes changed the lives of those families forever. If you were injured in a car accident Sugar Land, consult with a Sugar Land car accident lawyer as quickly as possible to explore your options. The sooner you contact an attorney after an accident, the sooner we can begin collecting and preserving essential evidence for your case. For a free case evaluation to see if Texas law entitles you to compensation for your injuries, contact the lawyers of Stewart J. Guss, Injury Accident Lawyers, at (281) 664-6500, or send us an email through our online contact form.Why Do Car Accidents Occur in Sugar Land?
Most traffic accidents are caused by human error rather than weather conditions or technical malfunctions. A few of the most common causes of car crashes include:- Distracted driving: Distracted driving is a common reason why drivers end up crashing their vehicles. In the few seconds it takes to apply makeup, send a text message, or find something at the bottom of a bag, the traffic conditions in front of you may have changed—and it’s too late to avert disaster.
- Speeding: Roadways are designed for safety only at certain speeds. The time and distance it takes to stop a vehicle that violates the speed limit on a particular roadway is much longer than for those that follow the speed limit. Higher rates of speed also usually equate to more severe injuries, since the force of impact increases the faster the vehicle is traveling.
- Driving under the influence: Driving under the influence of any drug—including alcohol, marijuana, and even prescription sleeping pills—presents serious danger, as many of these substances put their users in a state of mind that is not ideal to the quick reaction times necessary for safe driving.
- Texting and driving: Studies have shown that people who text while they are driving are 23 times more likely to crash than drivers who pay attention to the road. Texting takes a driver’s eyes off the road for an average of five seconds, which is more than enough time for the car in front to have come to a complete stop before the texting driver even realizes it. Texting and driving is one of the leading causes of accidents in today’s hyper-connected world.
- Running red lights or stop signs: You’ve probably heard the old joke “no cop, no stop.” Well, that flippant attitude can be responsible for accidents, since red lights and stop signs are there for a reason. Drivers who attempt to get ahead by ignoring traffic signals frequently strike other drivers who have the right of way in the intersection.
- Wrong-way driving: A momentary lapse of judgment due to distracted driving (possibly texting), can lead a driver to make a turn onto a one-way road in the wrong direction. Head-on collisions are the most common type of accidents that occur with wrong-way driving, which can often cause the most severe injuries of any crash.
- Tailgating: Tailgating usually occurs because an impatient driver in the back is trying to intimidate the driver in front to speed up. With only a few inches between two bumpers, it is almost impossible to stop in time if the lead driver slams on the brakes. A distracted tailgating driver can confound the problem.
- Reckless driving: It goes without saying that driving recklessly can cause accidents. Street racing, sudden lane changes, and improper turns are all examples of reckless driving.
Types of Sugar Land Car Accidents We Handle
Our team of personal injury attorneys has seen it all—from accidents caused by speeding and those caused by teenagers texting and driving to those caused by road rage and just flat out bad driving. We are confident in our ability to handle any type of car accident that may have injured you. After all, personal injury law is the only type of law we practice.Although every accident is different, some of the most common ones we see include:
- Head-on collisions
- Rear-end accidents
- Side-impact crashes (also known as T-bone accidents)
- Rear-end accidents
- Single-vehicle accidents
- Rollovers
- Multi-vehicle pileups
- Drunk driving accidents
- Truck accidents
- 18-wheeler accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
Tips for Defensive Driving
If you’re reading this, then chances are pretty good that a car accident has already injured you and you are looking for advice. While our main goal is to help you get the compensation that you deserve after an accident, we also want to make sure that you aren’t ever injured in a car accident again. To that end, below we’ve outlined a few tips for defensive driving.- Minimize distractions: Driving is primarily a thinking task, so you want to make sure that you’re devoting all of your thinking power to the task at hand without distractions. This means no texting, no applying makeup, and no eating.
- Stay alert: Driving requires you to often make split-second decisions to avoid an accident. If you’re not completely alert, you increase the chances that you will cause an accident. Never drive if you are tired or under the influence of any substance.
- Check your blind spots and stay out of others’: Are you 100 percent sure that there’s not a car hiding in the lane you’re about to change into? The only way to know is to physically turn around and check rather than relying on your mirrors alone. Also, stay out of other drivers’ blind spots, especially trucks’.
- Maintain your vehicle: Vehicle maintenance is as important as good driving. If your tires are bad or your windshield wipers don’t work like they should, these defects can put you at serious risk of an accident.
Should You Hire a Personal Injury Attorney in Sugar Land After an Accident?
The following accident scenarios necessitate an attorney:- Someone died in the accident
- Someone suffered severe injuries in the accident (especially if the injuries caused the victim to lose income)
- Fault is at issue
- Your insurance company refuses to pay or offers an unreasonably low amount
- How much experience do you have representing clients with cases like mine? Ideally, your attorney should have experience representing cases that are similar to yours. So, for example, you wouldn’t want to hire a personal injury attorney who primarily handles pedestrian accidents to handle your drunk driving accident. Personal injury law is a broad practice area, so make sure you hire an attorney who is well-practiced in accidents like yours.
- How often will you communicate with me and can I speak directly to you if I need to? Neglect is the number one complaint filed against attorneys in Texas, and the number one reason attorneys are sanctioned by the state bar. Make sure the attorney you hire has an established way to update you on your case. Also make sure that you can communicate with your lawyer directly, rather than support staff, if necessary.
- Can you provide me references from some of your past clients? Good lawyers leave behind a trail of happy clients who are willing to speak to prospective clients about their experiences. Ask your potential attorney for a list of references who are willing to speak to you, especially references who were in a similar accident to yours.
- Was your bar license ever suspended or have you ever faced sanctions? Bar license suspensions and sanctions by the state bar’s ethics committee are red flags. If you find a lawyer you like, but who has faced one or more of these problems, ask for an explanation so you can get a better idea of what happened. However, in these situations, always trust your gut.
Did a Sugar Land Car Accident Injure You?
Contact the Attorneys of Stewart J. Guss, Injury Accident Lawyers
If you were injured in a car accident in Sugar Land, consult a Sugar Land personal injury lawyer as quickly as possible to explore your options. For a free case evaluation to see if Texas law might entitle you to compensation for your injuries, contact the lawyers of Stewart J. Guss, Injury Accident Lawyers, at 281-664-6500, or send us an email through our online contact form. Remember, you pay nothing at the time we take your case, and you pay us nothing unless and until we’ve won financial recovery for your damages.Don´t Take Chances - Let Us Help You!
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