A wrong-way driver collided with a vehicle Sunday morning, killing a man on West Loop 820, police said.
The name of the 35-year-old victim had not been released pending notification of relatives.
The suspect was arrested and faces intoxication manslaughter charges, police said.
So, you had surgery a few days, or weeks ago and it didn’t take long but you started to feel very weak and ill. You noticed that an incision was not healing correctly. Then the fever started.
These are some of the more common symptoms that we hear about from our Rockwall, Dallas and Kaufman county clients who have had what is called a “retained foreign object” after surgery. Retained foreign objects can lead to infection and sepsis. If the infection does go septic, it can be deadly in a very short period of time.
WHAT IS A “RETAINED FOREIGN OBJECT”?
As Rockwall and Kaufman counties continue to see record growth and our roads become increasing clogged with traffic, we are seeing more and more accidents that involve catastrophic injuries resulting in the death of a loved one. When these types of accidents occur, the family is often left wondering what to do now. Most people have heard the term “wrongful death” and maybe some have some familiarity with what a “survivor” action is, but they are often confused about the difference between the two types of claims. We understand that the differences can be a little convoluted and that is why we aim to better inform you of the different types of claims if you or a loved one is killed in an accident.
It is really important to understand that wrongful death and survival actions are two separate causes of action when a loved one has been killed in a Texas auto or truck accident. The family may have the ability to file both types of actions in Texas, but they have a similar effect, which is where the confusion typically lies. The purpose of this article is to provide you with a better understanding of the types of claims that may be made and how the claims may be brought and administered by the family and their representatives. Here are the basics:
What is a Wrongful Death Claim?
At Guest and Gray, we understand that customer service and client satisfaction is key to our success. Keeping clients happy is business 101. However, it is easier to do that when you are genuinely happy to provide the service. It is easier when you have a top notch team in place that has been working together for years. It is easier when you care about the service you are providing. When people come to my office, they are hurting. They are worried about their medical bills as well as their light bills and putting food on the table for their family. Here at Guest and Gray, we do not lose sight of that fact. We focus our personal injury practice locally in the Rockwall, Kaufman and Dallas county areas. Why? because we care about this community and the people in it. We care because we live here. You are our neighbors. What a cool job to get to fight for your neighbors when someone has negligently harmed them!
It is a job with a lot of responsibility. Many local Rockwall, Terrell, Forney and other local residents come see me every week and tell me the story of how they have been injured and how that has affected them and their families. Accidents don’t just hurt the person, it hurts their families too. It effects everything they do. Spouses and parents have to spend additional time caring for an injured family member. Watch them receive treatments in the hospital. The worst is when a loved one has been lost due to an accident. That is truly a life-changing event for that family.
It is our goal to show this community the other side of personal injury attorneys. Not the side you see on TV that brags about cherry-picked cases where the clients have received large sums of money. Yeah, we have those but you are not just a dollar sign to us, and we hope we are not that for you either. The law only provides so much remedy to an injured party and the end result of each case is a cash-payout, but our goal is to make sure that you are brought back to where you were or as close to that as possible. We look at every avenue of recovery. Every angle.
Via the Fort Worth Star Telegram- A motorist who drove in front of another vehicle on a city street faces charges in the weekend traffic death of his passenger, police said Tuesday.
The passenger has been identified as Silvia Hernandez, 48, of Fort Worth who was pronounced dead at the scene Sunday morning, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner’s website on Tuesday. A ruling on her death is pending an autopsy.
Rockwall and Kaufman counties are major trucking routes with highways such as Interstate 30, Interstate 20 and Highways 80 and 175 passing through those counties respectively, along with other major highways intersecting them. Commercial trucking accidents are some of the most severe and potentially fatal types of accidents imaginable. An 18-Wheeler truck loaded with thousands of pounds of cargo can weigh upwards of 40,000 tons, or 80,000 pounds. That is a massive amount of destructive force which is why trucking accidents often result in debilitating, life-altering injuries and even death.
Data from the US Department of Transportation shows 2,485 passenger vehicle occupants died in “large truck accidents” in 2014. The most deaths happened in 1979, when 4,226 people in passenger vehicles died in large truck accidents. That’s a 41.1% drop from 1979, which represents good progress, however, the number of deaths per accident has risen. This is true despite increased federal regulations on trucking companies and truck drivers, respectively. Quite often the cause of trucking accidents is due to a trucking company forcing drivers to violate federal regulations and drive for longer periods of time without sleep than allowed by law, truckers going against their own companies rules and regulations to meet strict delivery deadlines, and driver fatigue or equipment failure.
Have you been injured in an accident in Rockwall or Kaufman county? At Guest and Gray, P.C., we take all of our Rockwall and Kaufman county personal injury cases on a contingency basis. This means that there is no fee until we recover. We feel that this is the best possible way to ensure that all of our clients are able to receive the same great legal service regardless of ability to pay. Additionally, we know that our personal injury clients have often been severely burdened by the cost of their injuries, loss of income, or the loss of a loved one.
We also feel a deep sense of connection to our community. We want to protect the citizens of Rockwall and Kaufman county from negligent drivers and deep-pocketed insurance companies who do not have the victim’s best interests at heart.
DO NOT SETTLE FOR LESS
Guest and Gray, P.C. is the largest full service law firm in Kaufman and Rockwall counties. One of the main areas of our practice is personal injury and wrongful death. Our very own Scott Gray is a Texas SuperLawyer in personal injury and is the highest rated personal injury lawyer in Kaufman and Rockwall counties with a perfect 10.0 rating on AVVO.
Wrongful death cases are some of the most procedurally complex and emotionally difficult cases to handle. Our wrongful death attorneys know that this is a very personal and difficult time for a family who has lost a loved one in an accident. We handle each wrongful death case with a personal touch and a dedicated attorney and staff is assigned to each case. At Guest and Gray, our clients are not just another number or file and our clients know that we are truly here for them. Why? Because the case represents the loss of human life and it is our goal to provide justice in the only way that the civil law provides: monetary relief. That fact, can seem very impersonal by simply trying to obtain money for the life of a lost loved one. However, often times the person who has died is a family provider, a young person who had a long life ahead of them, or a caretaking mother and because of that, the family that remains often will suffer a financial hardship as a result of their loss. Medical bills and loss of income are some of the main causes of financial hardships and it should not be left to the family to bear the brunt of those burdens. The responsible party should be made to pay for those losses and it is the goal of Guest and Gray, P.C. to help put the family back in a place where they can continue to focus on their own recovery during this difficult time.
If you have lost a loved one in an accident that was not their fault, you need the help of an attorney to help secure the financial relief that you need during this very difficult time. It is often quite difficult for a family member to make insurance claims with each responsible party and then try and negotiate a settlement because, lets be honest, how do you assign a value to a loved one’s life? At Guest and Gray, we know that it is impossible. Life is priceless. However, insurance companies may try to take advantage of the fact that you are not able to push hard for your recovery and try to pay you the least amount possible. You may not be a number to Guest and Gray, but to the insurance company, this is just another claim to add onto a pile of other claims and their goal is to pay the least amount possible. Do not let them get one over on you. That is insult to injury. Literally.
Between Soap Operas and the Price is Right, the other consistent day-time TV you see are personal injury attorney’s yelling at you about they will “get them the compensation they deserve” for their injuries in between scenes of car crashes and people looking strangely well groomed to be in a hospital bed after the aforementioned accident. I love those commercials. The acting is about as good as the Soap Opera episode it runs in between.
All jokes aside, the biggest hiccup that occurs between clients and attorneys is the concept of compensation. Many clients expect that since the accident was clearly not their fault, they should just get the money. Although that is quite often how it works, you have to “prove up” your damages, either during the claims process with the insurance company or by introducing admissible evidence of damages in court once a case has been filed.
Once a case has been filed, a party seeking recovery of past medical expenses must pay very close attention to Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code (TCPRC) §41.0105 that says, “in addition to any other limitation under law, recovery of medical or health care expenses incurred is limited to the amount actually paid or incurred by or on behalf of the claimant.” Easy enough, right? Actually paid and incurred means expenses that have been or will be paid and excludes the difference between such amount and charges the service provider bills but has no right to be paid, e.g., amounts that have been written off. Ahmed v. Sosa, 514 S.W.3d 894, 895-896 (Tex. Ct. App.–Fort Worth, 2017).
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