What Do I Need to Know About Traffic Accidents in Houston?
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Traffic Accidents in Houston
Houston is the most populated city in Texas. As it is commonly referred to, Space City is home to at least 2.3 million residents. Given the increasing population, it makes a lot of sense that there are more car accidents in this city than anywhere else in Texas. According to the Texas Department of Transportation, there were at least 58,167 Houston traffic accidents in the city in 2020.
To put this into perspective, San Antonio, the city with the second-highest population in Texas, had 33,381 car accidents in 2020. What's even more shocking is the fact that more than 263 people lost their lives on Houston roads in 2020 alone.
Common Car Accidents in Houston
The shocking numbers aside, let's now look at some of the most common traffic accidents in Houston and why they occur.
Semi-Truck Accidents
Houston is home to many trucking companies, and it's not uncommon to come across semi-trucks transporting all kinds of goods and raw materials on the city's major highways. While trucking companies significantly contribute to Houston's economic growth and provide numerous employment opportunities for the locals, the same can't be said about accidents involving semi-trucks.
Such accidents are often fatal, given the weight of a semi-truck compared to a passenger car. And they come in all forms; from slippery roads, distracted driving to speeding, the list of causes of semi-truck accidents in Houston is endless.
Rear-End Collisions
Rear-end collisions, especially those involving semi-trucks in Houston, can be fatal. Such accidents are often caused by bad weather, distracted driving, sleepiness, drunk driving, speeding, among other reasons.
And, if you're lucky to survive, you'll probably suffer from whiplash and other trauma to your spinal cord, neck, back, and other parts of your body, depending on the nature of the accident.
Head-On Crashes
Head-on crashes often lead to severe injuries and sometimes even death. In addition, survivors of such accidents often suffer from partial or complete paralysis, brain damage, or permanent scarring due to surgery. In some cases, amputation might be necessary to save the life of the victims, which means permanent disability.
T-Bone Crashes
T-bone crashes occur when a driver fails to stop at a stop sign, red light, or ignores a yield sign. Given that this crash targets the side of the vehicle, it leads to severe, lifelong injuries or even death.
Sideswipe Accidents
Houston roads are often crowded with trucks 24 hours a day. And the truth is, not all truck drivers are as careful as you'd hope them to be. Trucks are usually driven under strict laws because of their size and the amount of damage they can cause to property and lives in the event of an accident.
However, despite all the risks involved, some semi-truck drivers aren't usually keen enough on the road, causing serious accidents as a result. Sideswipe accidents occur when a truck driver switches lanes without observing traffic.
When that happens, the semi-truck could ram into other vehicles, sending them spinning out of control, eventually landing into a ditch or even under the semi-truck itself. What follows is a trail of destruction, life-changing injuries, and even worse, death.
Individual Vehicles
According to a report, Houston was named America's largest party city for three years in a row. While this makes the city one of the best to visit for parties and getaways with your friends or family, it could also mean risking your life every time you drive around.
Single vehicle accidents are pretty common in this part of Texas and mostly involve drunk driving, vehicle defects, potholes, distracted driving, street racing, and so on.
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What to Do When Involved in a Traffic Accident in Houston
Now that you know how dangerous it can be to drive in Houston, there's no need to panic. Instead, the best thing to do is to be prepared in the event of an accident. Knowing what to do when involved in a traffic accident in Houston could make a huge difference weeks or months later.
Call 911
It's always advisable to call 911 when involved in a car accident and request a police officer to examine the scene. The officer will write a report stating how the accident occurred, individuals involved, type of injuries, any witnesses present, date and time of the accident, location, individuals at fault, etc.
The accident report comes in handy when filing a claim with the other driver's insurance company. This is because insurance companies will most likely trust a police report than your own account of the accident.
Collect Evidence
Insurance companies won't approve your claim if you have insufficient evidence to prove that the accident actually happened. Secondly, such companies will send their claims adjusters to evaluate the accident and your injuries, if any.
The role of these claims adjusters is to minimize your claim, preventing insurance companies from compensating victims of such accidents.
Therefore, to build a strong case against the insurance company, you'll need to collect evidence of the accident scene.
Here's how to gather crucial evidence after the accident:
- take as many pictures of the accident as you can;
- talk to witnesses if possible and ask if they would be willing to testify on your behalf when the need arises;
- record the contact information of the witnesses, the police officers who responded to the scene, passengers, driver, and any other party involved;
- record the other driver's insurance information and also take pictures of their driver's license.
Call Your Insurance Company
It's always advisable to inform your insurance company about the accident right after it happens. The insurance company will most likely contact the other driver's insurer to notify them about the accident. Be sure to provide details about the accident but don't accept responsibility.
If the other driver's insurance company contacts you about the accident, do not provide unnecessary information. Instead, stick to facts such as the location of the accident, date, time, and individuals involved.
Remember, anything you say during the initial conversation with the insurance company or claims adjusters could be used against you when filing a car accident claim. This explains why you need to be as brief and precise as possible.
Additionally, do not lie about the accident. Lying to obtain insurance benefits is considered insurance fraud.
Seek Medical Attention
Many people downplay the importance of seeking medical attention after an accident until it's too late. Even if you don't feel any pain or discomfort right away, it's important to undergo medical screening.
For instance, if you bump your head on your car's dashboard but don't feel pain right away, it could be a case of your adrenaline overworking to absorb the pain. But this is only temporary; once the adrenaline settles down and things go back to normal, you'll probably experience severe pain, leading to other serious health-related problems.
Secondly, having a doctor's report is the only way to prove the injuries caused by the car accident. If you wait until days, weeks, or months later to seek medical attention, the other driver's insurer can easily dismiss the claim on the grounds that the accident didn't cause the injuries.
When you find yourself in such a situation, it'll be more difficult to link the accident to sustained injuries. Unfortunately, this could also mean paying your medical bills from your own pocket, and you probably know how expensive that can be.
Contact an Experienced Traffic Accident Attorney in Houston
Given that Houston is the most populated city in Texas and one with the highest number of car crashes, it's understandable that there are so many car accident attorneys in the city. But this doesn't mean that every attorney you come across on Google or directories for lawyers is the right choice to handle your case.
Instead, you need a competent, experienced, and reliable Houston car accident lawyer who'll do whatever it takes to fight for your rights and ensure you receive the compensation you deserve. You also need a lawyer with more than enough legal resources to fight for your rights and not give up halfway through the claim.
The truth is, insurance companies are not the easiest to deal with; they'll do whatever it takes to avoid being held liable for your damages. When you file a claim with the other driver's insurance company, they'll most likely send a claims adjuster to evaluate the extent of damage, hoping to find any loopholes to dismiss the claim or reduce the amount you're entitled to as compensation.
For this reason, you need a car accident attorney in Houston who's familiar with different tactics insurance companies use against claimants and how to beat them at their own game.
That's where Morgan & Morgan comes in to provide the best car accident attorneys in Houston and its surroundings.
Reasons to Contact Morgan & Morgan Car Accident Lawyers in Houston
Morgan & Morgan is the largest personal injury law firm in the United States; insurance companies know this fact. When they find out that you are being represented by the largest injury law firm in the country, insurance companies would rather settle the claim out of court than watch us file a lawsuit against them in court.
This is because they know we have an incredibly high success rate in winning lawsuits. In fact, we have a solid record of winning up to 20 times more than the initial offer when we take the matter to court.
Additionally, Morgan & Morgan has been in the business for over three decades and won over $20 billion in settlements. So when you work with a car accident attorney from our law firm, you'll be sure that your case is being handled by a lawyer with a solid history of winning. And, not just winning; we don't settle for anything less than what you deserve.
Despite being the largest injury law firm in the country, we don't charge our clients any fees unless we win the claim. So if you're thinking we're probably too expensive to work with, we get that all the time. The good news is you can have an experienced Houston car accident attorney assigned to your case with just one phone call!
Speaking of experienced attorneys, Morgan & Morgan has an army of over 1,000 attorneys all over the US, including Houston. These attorneys are experienced in various components of personal injury, meaning you'll be working with specialists, not just general personal injury attorneys who'll use your case as an experiment.
Lastly, given that we're the largest injury law firm in the country, we have unlimited resources to fight for your rights. As mentioned before, we have won over $20 billion in settlements for our clients over the last three decades and invested heavily in resources needed to keep fighting for Houston residents involved in car crashes caused by someone else's negligence.
Contact Morgan & Morgan Houston Office
Don't wait till it's too late to file a claim with your insurance company; such claims are usually time-barred, and you risk losing what you're entitled to with each passing day. Instead, contact Morgan & Morgan Houston office at 346-214-4324 or drop us a message online for a free case evaluation! One of our legal representatives will get back to you within 24 hours and provide the next step forward. Remember, when you contact Morgan & Morgan, you don't have anything to lose but so much to gain when you win the claim.
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