If you or your loved one suffered injuries in a car accident on one of Houston’s many highways, the Houston car accident lawyers at Domingo Garcia can help you get back on your feet. If a negligent driver or another wrongful party caused your collision, we can pursue your losses with an insurance claim or lawsuit.
A Houston highway accident lawyer from our team can investigate your crash to determine its cause and fight to hold those responsible financially accountable. We will work to recover your medical expenses, lost wages, and more while you focus on your health or caring for your injured family member.
Damages Our Lawyers Can Help You Seek After a Houston Highway Accident
Accident victims can face significant medical bills, extended time off work, and other expenses that can jeopardize their financial stability and economic future. If your accident was not your fault, you or your family should not have to shoulder the financial burden.
Our Houston personal injury attorneys can help you identify and pursue highway accident damages. In general, compensation may include the following:
Medical Treatment
We want to ensure you have the resources to pay for your current medical care and necessary future treatment. We can review your bills and work with doctors, economists, and other experts to obtain an estimate regarding your ongoing care needs.
Recoverable medical costs may include ambulance transportation, emergency services, medical procedures, hospital and doctor fees, mobility aids, medications, physical therapy and rehabilitation, long-term nursing care, and more.
Lost Income
Our lawyers can pursue your back pay and lost benefits, bonuses, tips, and other earnings. In addition, if you cannot return to the workforce or must change jobs or reduce your hours due to injury, we can seek compensation for your lost earning potential.
Pain and Suffering
Also known as noneconomic damages, this category of awards compensates victims for the physical, mental, and emotional consequences of their injury. For example, you may qualify for monetary recovery for severe and chronic pain, scarring, disfigurement, debilitating and catastrophic injuries, depression, stress, anxiety, mental anguish, inconvenience, and diminished quality of life.
Vehicle and Property Damages
We can seek vehicle repair costs or compensation for your car’s fair market value if it is a total loss. We can also aim to recover the value of fixing or replacing other personal items damaged during your highway accident, including cell phones, laptops, and jewelry.
Miscellaneous Expenses
We will review your receipts, invoices, and other proof of expenditures to identify various out-of-pocket expenses, such as rental car fees, case-related travel expenses, modifications to your home or vehicle to make them injury-accessible, and household services (cleaning, childcare, lawn care, etc.)
Wrongful Death
Our Houston wrongful death lawyers can seek financial justice for your family if your loved one died because of a motor vehicle accident injury.
We can assist qualifying family members or the deceased’s personal representative (executor) with recovering medical bills, funeral and burial expenses, and the deceased’s lost income (including wages they would have earned had they lived), support, and services.
Eligible survivors can also seek awards for their mental pain and anguish and loss of their loved one’s companionship, society, love, and comfort.
Punitive Damages
In rare cases, car accident victims (or a deceased individual’s family) can seek punitive (exemplary) damages. These awards punish the liable party for acting with gross negligence or intentional malice. They intend to deter future bad behavior.
What Is the Value of Your Houston Highway Accident Case?
The value of your recoverable compensation depends on factors unique to you and your case, including:
- Your age at the time of the accident
- Your current wages
- The severity of your injuries
- The extent of your pain and suffering
- Your medical treatment and length of recovery
Insurance coverage is another variable that can influence your case’s worth. According to the Texas Department of Insurance, drivers must insure vehicles with $30,000 in bodily injury liability per person/$60,000 per accident and $25,000 in property damage liability. If an at-fault driver only carries these minimums, the most their insurer will pay is $55,000 for an accident involving one party or $85,000 for a collision involving multiple injury victims.
If the liable driver’s policy does not satisfy your losses, we can seek a settlement under applicable policies you may hold, such as Med Pay, collision coverage, or uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) protection.
In addition, your Houston highway accident lawyer will not back down from seeking compensation in civil court. We are ready, willing, and able to prepare your case for litigation and see it through to trial if necessary.
Our Houston Highway Accident Attorneys Can Build Your Personal Injury Case
Securing compensation for a highway accident is usually not as simple as filing a claim and getting a check. Insurance companies want to make a profit, and keeping settlements as low as possible benefits their bottom line. The same is true when taking legal action – the opposing party will likely not just hand over the settlement or verdict you seek.
You will need to prove your case, and this can be a complex process involving paperwork, evidence, negotiations, and more. Fortunately, Attorney Domingo Garcia and his team have over 35 years of insurance and legal experience they can apply to help you seek the compensation you need and deserve. Our Houston car accident lawyers can:
- Investigate your accident to determine its cause and who is liable
- Identify and calculate your damages
- Collect evidence, including police reports, medical records, eyewitness accounts, physical data, available surveillance, cell phone or dashcam video, and photographs of your injuries, vehicle damages, and the accident site
- Hire and consult with subject matter experts, including doctors, economists, vocational experts, and crash reconstruction specialists
- Prepare and file your insurance claims or lawsuits, as well as all other case paperwork
- Track and adhere to deadlines
- Communicate with insurance agents and defense attorneys on your behalf (saving you the effort and protecting you from making an unintentional misstep that could hurt your case)
- Represent you during meetings or court appearances and attend for you when possible
- Tirelessly negotiate for a fair settlement
- Provide you with frequent and timely case updates
- Maintain open lines of attorney-client communication
- Represent you at trial if necessary
We Handle a Wide Range of Motor Vehicle Accidents
Our firm can assist with highway accidents involving:
- Cars, trucks, buses, and motorcycles
- Pedestrians and bicyclists
- Rideshare vehicles (Lyft and Uber)
- Aggressive drivers
- Drunk drivers
- Uninsured motorists
- Hit-and-runs
- Head-on collisions
- Broadside (“T-bone”) accidents
- Rear-end collisions
- Rollovers
- Multi- and single-vehicle crashes
We Have a Winning Record
Our award-winning team boasts members of The National Trial Lawyers Top 100, the Best of the Best Attorneys Top 10, and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an organization only open to lawyers who have won multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements. Our case results include:
- An $8.75 million 18-wheeler truck accident settlement
- A $3 million settlement for a motorcycle accident victim
- A $1 million settlement for a truck accident resulting in wrongful death
- A $100,000 verdict for a car accident victim
We Take Cases on Contingency
We are so confident in our abilities that we are willing to assume our clients’ financial risk. Therefore, we charge nothing upfront or out of pocket for our services. Instead, we work on contingency, meaning our payment comes from a percentage of your case winnings. You do not owe us attorney fees if we do not obtain compensation for you.
In addition, our Houston highway accident attorneys can arrange to have your insurers pay your medical bills and other expenses while we work to resolve your case.
Who Is At Fault for Your Houston Highway Accident?
A party is liable for your auto accident damages if they caused your collision due to their negligent, reckless, or wrongful actions. Depending on the circumstance of your crash, those at fault may include:
- Another driver. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that driver error is the critical reason for more than 90 percent of auto accidents. Another motorist may be liable for your crash if they were speeding, driving intoxicated, driving distracted, illegally passing, or breaking any other Texas traffic laws (outlined in Texas Transportation Code Chapter 545). Furthermore, you may have a case against a third-party motorist if their negligence caused you or another driver to make a defensive maneuver that resulted in your crash.
- A commercial vehicle operator (or their employer). According to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Harris County had more than 5,700 commercial motor vehicle accidents in 2021. If you suffered injuries in a highway collision with a commercial driver, they may be liable for your damages. In addition, their employer may also bear financial responsibility under a legal principle known as vicarious liability.
- A manufacturer. Sometimes, accidents occur due to vehicle or auto part defects or negligent inspections, maintenance, or repairs. If these issues contributed to your highway crash, we can seek damages from a liable manufacturer, mechanic, or service garage.
- The entity in charge of the roadway. Government and private roadway owners must maintain the streets under their control. You may have a case against the entity in charge of the highway where your crash occurred if it involved broken or obstructed road signs or traffic signals, poorly designed on and off-ramps, negligent highway maintenance, or another problem with the road.
How Long do You Have to Seek Damages from a Liable Party?
You should report your accident to your insurer immediately and file a claim with the liable party’s insurance company as soon as possible. You want ample time to work through the insurance process and secure a fair settlement before the statute of limitations expires and you can no longer take legal action.
According to Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003, you generally have up to two years from your accident or your loved one’s passing to file a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit. However, circumstances exist that can alter the deadline. Our Houston highway accident lawyers can tell you more and help you get started before time runs out.
Houston Highway Accidents Can Be Severe and Fatal
Houston has thousands of miles of interstate, highways, and freeways. Interstate 610 (The Loop) encircles the city, while U.S. 90 (Beaumont Highway), Texas 99 (Grand Parkway), and Interstate 45 are just a few of the roadways that traverse the metro. Houston is also home to the Katy Freeway, which is one of the widest highways in the world, according to Conde Naste Traveler.
So many highways mean a lot of cars traveling close together and at high speeds (TxDOT reports highway speed limits ranging from 70 to 85 mph). Therefore, when collisions occur, the force of impact can be significant, and the accident can affect vehicles traveling nearby, leading to multi-car pile-ups. The resulting injuries can be severe and catastrophic, including but not limited to:
- Spinal cord injuries (SCIs)
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
- Broken, fractured, or crushed bones
- Loss of limb
- Internal organ damage
- Back and neck injuries
- Facial injuries
- Loss of hearing or vision
Furthermore, TxDOT statistics show that most fatal accidents in Texas happen on highways. In 2021, there were 4,489 reported crash fatalities statewide. Of these, 2,573 occurred on an interstate or U.S. or state highway, as opposed to a county road, city street, or another type of roadway.
Contact Domingo Garcia for Help With Your Highway Accident Case
A Houston highway accident lawyer from Domingo Garcia can be your voice if you or your family member suffered an auto accident injury. You do not have to stand alone. Our firm will be your advocate and ally, and we will work tirelessly to ensure the person responsible for your highway collision pays – not you or your loved ones.
To learn more about how our Houston highway accident lawyers can serve you, contact us today for a risk-free, no-cost consultation. A team member can answer your questions and connect you with a lawyer near you.
