Texas Injury Lawyer Blog

Texas continues to have one of the worst drunken driving problems in the nation. According to a 2009 Texas study approximately 40% of all fatal crashes involved alcohol. The National Transportation Safety Board recently reported that Texas falls in a group of ten states that have done the least to address the problem of alcohol related fatalities. Texas' drunken driving problem is a long standing problem that gave birth to Texas based Mothers Against Drunk Driving. MADD has called significant attention to the problem which nonetheless persists.

Texans' love affair with drinking and driving has a long history and old habits die hard. Up until about 20 years ago it was perfectly legal in Texas to drink and drive as long as the operator of a motor vehicle was not legally intoxicated. Although the consumption of alcohol beverages while operating a motor vehicle on a public roadway is now illegal and the level for legal blood-alcohol levels has been reduced from 0.10 to 0.08 many Texans continue to drink and drive. Lowering the legal blood-alcohol level will have no appreciable effect upon the problem. Many of the alcohol related fatal crashes are caused by drivers with blood-alcohol levels of greater than 0.15%.

Texans drink and drive because they don't believe that they will be caught. Likewise, increasing the penalties for drinking and driving is unlikely to have any appreciable effect. Drivers that do not believe that they will be caught are not concerned about the severity of potential punishment because they simply don't believe that they will face punishment.

Certainty of punishment is more likely to have a deterrent effect. Measures that are reasonably calculated to apprehend, charge, and convict more drunken drivers are needed to curb this growing problem.

For more information contact a Tyler Car Wreck Lawyer today.

Most Texas automobile liability insurance policies include a family member exclusion which excludes liability coverage for any claim made by a family member against a family member. The insurance companies argue that providing coverage for claims by family members against family members would encourage fraud and collusion. Insurance companies suggest that a parent might intentionally cause an accident and injure their child in order to give their child an opportunity to make a claim under their insurance policy. However, the more likely motivation for the family member exclusion is simple greed. Far and away the most likely person to be injured by a family member while operating a motor vehicle is another family member. In typical fashion the insurance companies have attempted to avoid coverage for the single largest group of persons who might need coverage.

The family member exclusion is in direct conflict with the Texas Motor Vehicle Safety-Responsibility Act which requires all drivers to have public liability insurance in the minimum required amounts. The current minimum required amounts are $25,000.00 per person, $50,000.00 per accident, and $25,000.00 in property damage coverage. The Texas Supreme Court in National County Mutual Fire Insurance Company v. Johnson saw through the insurance industry's claimed justification for the family member exclusion and held that the family member exclusion conflicted with the Texas Motor Vehicle Safety-Responsibility Act, had no rational justification, conflicted with Texas public policy, and failed to serve the interests of the citizens of Texas. The Texas Supreme Court held that the family member exclusion was void to the extent that it reduced the available coverage below the minimum required by Texas law.

The fact that the family member exclusion is invalid has not stopped insurance companies from including it in their policies or insurance adjusters from telling claimants that there is no coverage for injuries to family members. It is important that Texans be knowledgeable regarding their insurance in order to combat fraud by insurance companies.

For more information contact a Tyler Car Wreck Attorney today.