Accident on 80

Published on: February 12, 2016

18 Wheeler Accidents on the Rise in Texas

According to Tx Dot, in 2014 there were 508 fatal crashes involving commercial vehicles, including 18 wheelers, killing 588 Texans statewide. But that only tells half the story, there 1,155 accidents that caused debilitating injuries to over 1,500 Texans statewide. There were over 3,100 confirmed injury accidents injuring over 4,600 Texans and up to over 11,000 more that are unconfirmed.

The numbers are simply staggering. Texas is a very large state, with thousands of miles of highways and roads. With Texas’ strong economy and high population, accidents between commercial vehicles and standard vehicles are bound to happen.

The trucking industry is large and powerful. Some profit-driven trucking companies place unfair demands on their drivers. Most truck drivers are only paid for moving a product from one location to another. This financial incentive for truckers encourages truckers to engage in negligent and dangerous behaviors on the road. Driver fatigue, driving at excessive speed, using dangerous drugs to stay awake at night while driving and failing to adjust their speed for adverse weather conditions, or a combination of things listed above, can become incredibly dangerous for other driver’s on the road.

Published on: February 8, 2016

Statute of Limitations About to Run on Your Kaufman or Rockwall County Personal Injury Claim?

by Guest and Gray Law Firm

Statute of Limitations 101

Good Question. Here at Guest and Gray, we have many potential clients coming into our Forney and Rockwall offices that, without realizing it, find themselves up against the statute of limitations by the time they come speak with an attorney about filing a lawsuit. So, to better inform our clients and the public, here is a Statute of Limitations 101. Class is now in session.

What is the Statute of Limitations in Texas?

Published on: February 2, 2016

A Quick Overview of Personal Injury Cases in Texas

by Guest and Gray Law Firm

Damages: What Kind of Compensation is Available?

Most personal injury cases seek financial damages to compensate for an injury. This will compensate for medical costs, lost wages, future lost pay, and pain and suffering both physically and mentally, disfigurement and disability as a result of the negligence of another, as well as for loss of consortium.

Statutes of Limitations

Published on: January 28, 2016

What is Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Coverage and Why Do I Need it?

by Guest and Gray Law Firm

What is PIP Coverage?

Personal Injury Protection is an optional coverage that is available for a minimal extra cost to your monthly bill. It is a useful safeguard that covers medical costs in the event of an accident. Many people reject the coverage for the simple fact that it adds cost to your monthly bill. However, that should not be the only reason you decline a coverage. Especially one that can be such a great benefit to you in a time of need. There are good reasons to get the PIP coverage, and good reasons for not getting it. But as a personal injury attorney, I can tell you that more often than not having the PIP coverage can help you in many more ways than it can hurt you. The hope is that you never need it, but when you do, it has been a very effective way for our clients to get extra cost for medical bills that seem to build up after an accident happens.

How Can PIP Help You?

Published on: January 26, 2016

Contractor Do a Bad Job? Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Help

by Robert Guest

Shoddy craftsmanship is one of the biggest concerns people have when they search for contractors to do repairs or upgrades to their home. The person you hire should be reliable and you should be able to rely on the fact that you paid them money to do a good job. Unfortunately, that is not always how it goes. When you are the victim of a bad construction job, what can you do? Well, Texas answered that question by passing the Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

The Deceptive Trade Practices Act is a consumer protection law that holds people and businesses accountable for using false or deceptive trade practices in the State of Texas. Construction work typically and most squarely falls under the DTPA through the breach of express or implied warranty claims. An express warranty is one that is included in the contract with the contractor when you signed it, and an implied warranty is one that is implied by law, such as the implied warranty of good and workmanlike manner.

Warranties are a great tool for attorneys who wish to use the DTPA and are standard tools in any DTPA suit against a contractor. These implied warranties fit very nicely next to the standard breach of contract claims that you will want to bring. They fit nicely because the difference between a breach of contract and a breach of warranty, which are separate causes of action, but the warranty usually springs into play as a result of the contractor breaking some part of the agreement that produces shoddy workmanship or a finished product that is different from what was explicitly agreed upon. In order to determine which warranties come into play, we must look at the contract you signed (if you signed one).

Published on: January 12, 2016

1,400 Jurors Called For Hearings as Trial of Terrell Man Accused of Killing Five Draws Near

by Robert Guest

Via inforney.com-Terrell, Texas- Over 1,400 potential jurors were summoned to jury selection hearings for the capital murder trial of a Terrell man.

Charles Brownlow is accused of shooting to death five people, including his 61-year old mother and 55 year old aunt during an overnight killing spree in Terrell, Texas in October 2013.

Trial is set for April 11, 2016 for the murder of Leal-Carillo, a 22-year-old who lost his life on that night in October of 2013.

Published on: January 12, 2016

Crandall PD: Borden Driver’s Erratic Behavior led to Chase, Crash, and Arrest.

by Guest and Gray Law Firm

According to inForney.com, this past Friday afternoon, a Borden delivery driver was acting erratically at a local gas station, which caused them to investigate. The driver fled from the gas station in the large Borden delivery truck. This led to him driving across the grass of several businesses located across the street from the local First Baptist Church. Interestingly enough, just a few years ago, an erratic driver drove through the gym, the gym’s kitchen, and several classrooms of church gym.

According to David HagEstad, a member of First Baptist Church, and a member of our friendly staff here at Guest & Gray, told us here at the office that he was doing some cleaning at the church at the time that the arrest was made. He said he heard the sirens and saw the Borden truck parked in the grass across the way and several police vehicles behind the Cotton Gin just up the road.

He said that he is just glad that everyone is safe, and the driver was caught before he really hurt somebody. He also said that he is “very glad” it wasn’t the church this time.

Published on: January 3, 2016

Auto-Brewery Syndrome and DWIs in Texas Courts

by Robert Guest

A woman in New York recently beat drunken-driving charges in New York State based on an extremely unusual defense: Her body brews alcohol in her stomach.

You read that right. Her body is a brewery. I know, I know. Lucky her. But it is caused by a real disease known as Auto-Brewery Syndrome. For people who have the disorder, when they eat high-carbohydrate meals, the yeast in their stomach ferments the food and turns it into alcohol. That alcohol is then absorbed into the blood stream and they become, for all intents and purposes, intoxicated.

As for the New York woman, she registered an impressive .33 BAC with a breathalyzer after she was pulled over because of her erratic driving. According to nbcdfw.com, she claims she only had three drinks in the hours before her stop, but the cops didn’t believe that story. But that is when she discovered she had auto-brewery disorder and the town judge dismissed the drunken-driving charges after she presented evidence of the condition.

Published on: December 28, 2015

Excessive Force and the Police

by Guest and Gray Law Firm

Incidents where a private citizen’s constitutional rights are violated by police officers happen with relative frequency here in Texas. You here about it all the time in the news and the attorneys here at Guest and Gray know this because we see it in our practice. Here at Guest and Gray, many of our clients facing criminal charges are quite often subjected to constitutional violations during their arrest or the investigatory stop that led to their arrest. Constitutional violations occur in many ways, but due to increased news coverage of such violations, police officers around the country are experiencing increased scrutiny related to their alleged excessive use of force, and for good reason.

If you feel like your rights have been violated, then you need to know what your options are and where you can turn for help.

One of the many common complaints is that the police officer used too much force, or “excessive force” during the stop. So, what is “excessive force”? The phrase “excessive force” is often used to refer to people who have had an incident with the police where the police officer, or officers, used more force than necessary and it caused you harm.

Published on: December 19, 2015

The Dram Shop Act

by Robert Guest

The Dram Shop Act

In 1987, just a few days after the Texas Supreme Court ruled in El Chico v. Poole, the Texas Legislature enacted the Dram Shop Act. It was established to hold bars liable for over-serving patrons who then went out into public and got into a car accident and injured someone else.

In a standard Dram Shop Case, there is a victim who is injured by another person. The victim in those cases are truly innocent. But the truth is that many people walk into our office here at Guest and Gray and they’ve received a DWI as a result of getting into an accident after leaving a bar where they were served alcohol to excess. These people may have a Dram Shop Case too, even though it was them who became intoxicated and only they were injured.