Injuries Can Happen in Midland
Midland, Texas, is known as The Tall City, and it’s the business HQ of Permian Basin, which is the nation’s largest oil production region. Midland sees its fair share of traffic and traffic accidents, and some of the most accident-prone intersections include:- Loop 250 and 191 are busy day and night
- Andrews Highway at Golf Course Road
- Loop 250 at Midland Drive
- Wadley at Big Spring Street
- Wadley at Midland Drive
Common Personal Injury Claims
No two personal injury claims are ever precisely the same—each has unique circumstances and trajectories—but most fall into these basic categories:- Car accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Truck accidents
- Bike accidents
- Drunk driving accidents
- Slip and fall accidents and other premises liability claims
Driver Negligence
Driver negligence causes most car accidents, and—unfortunately—such negligence comes in far too many life-threatening varieties.Distracted Driving
In a recent year, distracted driving claimed the lives of 3,142 people. Motorists owe their entire attention to proceeding safely, and failing to meet this responsibility can lead to deadly accidents. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) calls texting the most alarming distraction of all—in a long list of disturbing distractions. When a motorist is driving at highway speeds, they travel about the length of a football field in about five seconds, which is about the amount of time it takes to read or type the average text.Impaired Driving
It is well established that drinking and driving are deadly, but this fact does little to curb the dangerous practice. The alarming NHTSA statistics show:- In the United States, someone loses their life to a drunk driving crash every 45 minutes.
- This amounts to 32 lives a day.
- Last year, more than 11,500 people lost their lives in alcohol-related accidents, which is a full 14 percent higher than the previous year.
- It leaves motorists less attentive to the road ahead
- It slows motorists’ reaction times, making it more difficult to adjust one’s steering or brake suddenly
- It leaves motorists less well prepared to make safe driving decisions
- In a recent year, drowsy drivers caused about 91,000 traffic accidents.
- These accidents led to about 50,000 injuries.
- Eight hundred people lost their lives in these drowsy driving accidents.
Aggressive Driving
The Insurance Information Institute (III) reports that aggressive driving is a significant factor in U.S. traffic crashes. Aggressive driving typically refers to drivers who engage in a combination of aggressive practices that put everyone on the roadway at increased risk. Some of the hallmarks of aggressive driving include:- Driving far too fast for the driving conditions at hand
- Tailgating
- Weaving in and out of traffic
- Leaving one’s lane without any concern for safety
- Attempting to engage other drivers through obscene gestures, verbal taunts, incessant honking, headlight flashing, and more
- Driving erratically
- Ignoring traffic lights, signals, and signs
- Passing illegally, including passing on the right—or even on the shoulder
- Refusing to yield the right-of-way
Speeding
Speed requires a category of its own. Speed plays a primary role in far too many of the accidents on our roadways and is the primary killer. III shares these statistics:- In a recent year, speed alone was the primary driving behavior in fatal traffic accidents at 17.2 percent involvement (impaired driving took second place with 10.1 percent involvement).
- Excess speed has played a role in about a third of all fatal car accidents for the last two decades.
- Premises Liability Claims
- Slip and fall accidents
- Swimming pool accidents
- Dog bites
- Electrical accidents
- Carbon monoxide exposure
- Negligent security
Your Injury-Related Losses
You have suffered an injury by another party’s negligence and obtaining the compensation that fairly addresses your covered losses is essential to your recovery. Below are common losses in an injury claim.Property Damage
Car accidents mean property damage to your vehicle, which generally plays a role in every car accident. The damage to your vehicle is typically easy to pinpoint and to put a price tag on, which may not be the case for your other losses.Medical Expenses
If you suffered an injury in an accident, you will face steep medical bills. The severe nature of injuries that occur in many accidents, however, means that you may also face secondary health concerns and ongoing healthcare needs. Ensuring that your claim represents your entire range of medical expenses, including potential future needs, is paramount to your ability to recover fully. Some of the medical costs that are commonly involved in accident and injury claims include:- Emergency care
- Surgical care
- Hospital stays
- Care from doctors, specialists, and other medical professionals
- Occupational therapy
- Physical therapy
- Rehabilitation
- Prescription medications
- Pain management
- Holistic healthcare approaches, such as chiropractic care
Lost Income
While you recover from your physical injuries, you may need to take time off work and lose income. While this is challenging enough, things can become even more so if it affects your earning potential or your career trajectory.Physical and Mental Pain and Suffering
While your lost earnings and medical bills are easily verifiable, your pain and suffering from a car accident are impossible to see, which makes them more challenging to address in your personal injury claim. In fact, the pain and suffering accident victims experience is well verified, all too real, and can be one of the most challenging setbacks to overcome. In other words, you should not minimize or ignore these losses.The Insurance Company
Regardless of the kind of accident you suffered an injury in, you will file your personal injury claim with the at-fault party’s insurance provider. While it is true that the insurance provider collects premiums specifically to cover accident claims like yours, it is also in the business of turning massive profits, which tends to get in the way of it making fair settlement offers to claimants like you right out of the gate. Often, it takes professional legal counsel for claimants to obtain just compensation to cover their complete losses. Some of the tactics that insurance companies like to employ in their efforts to keep settlements as low as they can get away with include:- Denying claims from the very beginning, hoping to discourage claimants from proceeding
- Making meager settlement offers early on, hoping that claimants will accept out of desperation
- Attempting to shift fault toward claimants and away from policyholders
- Denying the extent of claimants’ losses
- Artificially prolonging and complicating the claims process
How a Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help
Personal injury claims are complex legal matters, and the insurance companies that field them have a lot of experience in offering less-than-adequate settlements to vulnerable claimants like you. Having a savvy personal injury lawyer on your side can help in all of these ways:- Your lawyer will help you better understand the claims process and will help you make the right decisions for yourself and your claim throughout.
- Your lawyer will gather all the relevant evidence and will compile it into your most substantial claim. This may include eyewitness testimony, accident recreation models, expert witnesses, and much more.
- Your lawyer will communicate with the insurance company on your behalf, so you won't have to. Insurance representatives are skilled at obtaining statements from claimants that they ultimately use to harm their claims. There is no requirement that you make a statement, and it's in your best interest not to.
- Your lawyer will skillfully negotiate with the insurance company for a settlement that fairly addresses all of your covered losses.
- Your lawyer will carefully prepare for trial (if the insurance company refuses to negotiate fairly or in good faith).
Turn to an Experienced Midland Personal Injury Lawyer for the Help You Need
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