Laredo Car Accident Attorney
Driving is a significant responsibility. When you get behind the wheel, you accept that responsibility and you do your best to help keep our roads safe for everyone. Laredo car accidents, nevertheless, happen, and they’re often the result of driver negligence. When you head out on the open road, always make driving safely your priority.
If you’ve been injured in a Laredo car accident, you need an experienced Laredo car accident lawyer. The legal team at George Salinas Injury Lawyers are here to help navigate your claim toward the compensation to which you’re entitled.
Laredo Car Accidents and Causes
Negligent drivers can cause Laredo car accidents in a variety of ways, but there are several conditions that stand out:
Driving is a complex activity that necessitates a driver’s full attention. When drivers fail to pay appropriate attention to the important task at hand, they endanger everyone on the road. With the technological advent of the nearly ubiquitous smart phone, distracted driving has become so prevalent that the federal government has devoted a website to the topic, distraction.gov. The website characterizes distracted driving as driving when your attention isn’t fully focused on your primary task of driving, and it breaks such distractions into three classifications:
Texting is – for obvious reasons – the king of all distractions. When you text, you engage your vision, your hands, and your thoughts. As such, when drivers choose to text and drive, they render themselves terribly distracted – and dangerous – drivers.
At this point, there’s not a driver out there who doesn’t know that drinking and driving is both dangerous and illegal, but many drivers simply won’t give up the habit. A drunk driver experiences increased reaction times, poor judgment in general (making the decision to drive in the first place, for example), and diminished coordination – all of which inhibit his or her ability to drive safely.
Aggressive driving – also known as road rage – is always dangerous, and because aggression is prone to escalation, aggressive drivers are some of the most dangerous drivers on our roads. Aggressive driving can come in many different forms, but – aggression being what it is – it often involves more than simply one aggressive act:
- Following another vehicle too closely;
- Operating a vehicle unsafely;
- Driving off the roadway to pass a vehicle on the right;
- Stopping or slowing unsafely;
- Speeding;
- Failing to yield appropriately;
- Honking incessantly or unnecessarily;
- Flashing headlights repeatedly; and
- Failing to obey traffic signs and/or signals.
Aggressive drivers typically engage in systemic aggressive behaviors that are often precipitated by what the aggressive driver perceives to be another driver’s slight. An aggressive driver, for example, may speed up, repeatedly honk at the offending driver, and tailgate the other car all at the same time. We all know what aggressive driving looks like.
Although speeding is a form of aggressive driving, it’s so prevalent and so dangerous that it’s worth taking a closer look. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety reports that speeding is one of the most common forms of aggressive driving and that it plays a substantial role in almost a third of traffic fatalities. If an aggressive driver’s speed is making the road dangerous for everyone, employ the safest means possible to stay away from that vehicle. Speed kills.
Avoiding Aggressive Drivers
Because we all know an aggressive driver when we encounter one on the road, it’s important to know how to avoid the dangers such drivers represent. There are several steps you can take to help deescalate an aggressive driver:
- Allow aggressive drivers plenty of space on the road – never engage with an aggressive driver;
- Resist any urge you may have to retaliate against a driver’s aggressive actions, which would almost certainly escalate an already dangerous situation;
- Avoid making eye contact with aggressive drivers, which can be interpreted as a challenging behavior;
- Report aggressive drivers to the authorities; and
- If you’re ever in a situation in which an aggressive driver leaves his or her car and approaches you, remain in your car.
Your Laredo Car Accident
If you’ve been involved in a Laredo car accident, it’s natural to feel overwhelmed and uncertain about what to do next. There are, however, some steps that you can take (if you’re able) to help mitigate the damage:
Texas statute states signifies that it’s your duty – if you’re involved in a car accident – to move your car out of the flow of traffic (if possible) and to attend to anyone who may have been injured in the accident. This, of course, isn’t just your legal duty but is also the right thing to do.
Once you’ve ensured that your vehicle is completely stopped, get out of your vehicle as soon as you can safely do so (employ your hazard lights and implement safety flares if possible).
If anyone’s sustained a significant injury, immediately call 911. If someone’s injured in the accident, that person should always be your priority until medical help arrives. Even seemingly minor injuries should be attended to.
Once you’ve ensured that concerns of safety are attended to, it’s important to document the scene of the accident in preservation of your car accident claim. This documentation should include using your phone to take a full set of photos (and/or videos) of the accident scene and collecting contact information and testimonies from eyewitnesses.
Contact Our Skilled Laredo Car Accident Attorneys Today
If another driver’s negligence has left you injured in a car accident, the experienced car accident lawyers at George Salinas Injury Lawyers are here to help. We have the skill and determination to aggressively advocate for your claim’s just resolution, so please contact or call us at 210-225-0909 to schedule an appointment today.
