While the national trend is fewer traffic fatalities every year, in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Mississippi, the number of highway deaths remains flat, reports the Houston Chronicle.

Nationwide, in 2011 highway deaths declined. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated the 2011 traffic fatalities to be at 32,310, which was a 1.7 percent drop from the year before and the lowest number of deaths in more than 60 years.

Experts attribute the nationwide decline to a variety of reasons: less driving because of high gas prices and a weak economy, more people wearing seat belts, safer cars, and efforts to curb drunk driving.

Attributing the state’s stagnant numbers to the influx of workers in Texas’ oil and gas industry, Trooper Richard Standifer, spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said, “In other states, their economies have been really hit hard, affecting the job market severely. In Texas, we have the oil and gas industry, and it’s drawing more people to the state and keeping the economy in a little bit better state.

“You have a rich source of folks in the oil and gas industry going to and from work, so you don’t have less people driving here like you see in other states.”

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What portion of the population would be most likely to text while driving? You might think that it would be teens.

At a medical conference in Boston, two new studies were presented that report texting or even “thinking about” texting or receiving texts distracts young drivers, reports ajc.com.

Some states have passed laws banning texting while driving. Other states say that such laws may increase the dangers by causing drivers to conceal their phones from view. This was proven incorrect by the first study.

The first study looked at whether the position of the cell phone while texting affected teen drivers’ performance. The drivers drove while texting in their preferred position or with their cell phones hidden from view.

The results were the same in both cases: teens texting while driving were up to eight times more likely to drift between lanes and twice as likely to be involved in a near crash with other cars and pedestrians.

Overall, teens who were texting while driving made up to four times more driving mistakes, and they were unaware of these potentially dangerous mishaps.

A second study found that teens who even anticipated a text or a call on their cell phones were more likely to be involved in a car crash.

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Dozens of times a day in every state, dog bites occur and are becoming more common, according to Click2Houston.com.

Here are some statistics from the American Humane Association: Of 4.7 million dog bites in the U.S. every year, 800,000 of those require medical attention. The U.S. insurance industry pays out $1 billion each year in dog bite claims.

According to this article, “Dog attacks can happen with many breeds, and they can happen anywhere. In fact, most dog attacks happen with dogs you know and close to your property.”

In one Houston neighborhood, U.S. mail service has been suspended after a dog attacked three different postal carriers in the last two years.

Half of the dog attacks occur among children younger than ten. A young Indiana girl lost her nose in a dog attack in 2009.

Dog bite victims do have rights. Most states make dog owners liable for their dogs.

Unfortunately, many dog attacks go unreported and uncompensated, so it is a good idea for victims to contact an attorney.

“In most cases, an insurance adjuster will offer a victim who has no legal representation only 20 percent of what would be offered if that victim has a lawyer,” according to the article.

Have you or someone you know been injured by a dog bite or attack?

The Texas and Houston accident and injury lawyers at Terry Bryant Accident & Injury Law may be able to help.

If you were given evidence that a seat belt would save your life or would save you from severe injury, would you buckle up each time that you got into a car? Here are some facts and statistics from car-accidents.com that may help you to decide.

Failure to wear a seat belt contributes to more roadway fatalities than  any other single-traffic safety-related behavior. Sixty-three percent of people who were killed in car accidents were not wearing seat belts.

Only 68 percent of us–drivers and passengers–wear seat belts regularly even though it is estimated that seat belts save as many as 9, 500 lives each year.

It is believed that if 90 percent of Americans buckled up, we would prevent more than 5,500 death per year.

Seat belts are the most effective safety devices in vehicles today. Nearly 132,000 people are injured annually from not wearing seat belts. Their hospital care costs is 50 percent higher on the average than for someone who was buckled up.

Have you or someone you know been injured in Texas or Houston car accident?

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The research proves time and again that talking on a cell phone while driving is dangerous.

Recently, a woman who was hit by a Coca-Cola truck driver who was chatting on the cell phone was awarded $24 million, reports theeagle.com.

On Friday, a Corpus Christi jury decided to give the 37-year-old victim $10 million in actual damages and $14 million in punitive damages, which are damages awarded by a court against a defendant as a deterrent or a punishment to redress a wrong.

“We really need better rules, regulation, and laws; and corporations need to have a no-cell phone policy while operating a vehicle,” said the woman’s lawyer.

The 30-year-old Coca-Cola truck driver testified that she was not aware of the risks involved in using a cell phone while driving. The driver of the truck says that she was using a headset, as is the company’s policy.

“Not only does Coke need to change its policy, but when other companies hear the verdict, they will take a look at their policies,” said the lawyer. “The jury is trying to tell Coca-Cola Enterprises to change its policy.”

Cola-Cola said in a statement that the damages awarded had no connection to the woman’s injuries and that it is appealing the jury’s decision.

Have you or someone you know been injured in Texas or Houston car accident?

The Texas and Houston car accident lawyers at Terry Bryant Accident & Injury Law may be able to help.

In Texas, in 2000 there were 180,345 registered motorcycles. In 2010, there were 419,722 motorcycles registered, according to The Orange Leader.

Now here is another, more sobering statistic: In 2000, there were 196 motorcycle fatalities; in 2011, there were 470 fatalities from motorcycle accidents and 5,770 motorcyclists were seriously injured.

A person riding on a motorcycle has five times a greater chance of being injured and 25 times a greater chance of dying in a crash, says the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Springtime often brings out more motorcycles on the roadways. Local Texas municipalities have proclaimed May as Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Month. Launching its Share the Road campaign, the Texas Department of Transportation (TDOT) aims to reduce motorcycle accidents.

Eighty-five percent of motorcycle fatalities in Texas in 2010 happened to people between the ages of 13 and 26, and one-third of those accident happened at intersections.

TDOT recommends these three things:  (1) Look twice at intersections; watch out for motorcyclists and clearly signal your intentions.  (2) Give motorcycles space on the roads; do not follow a motorcycle too closely.  (3) Anticipate a motorcyclist’s next steps; motorcyclists must watch out for road obstructions that would not affect a car.

Have you or someone you know been injured in Texas or Houston motorcycle accident? The motorcycle accident lawyers at Terry Bryant Accident & Injury Law may be able to help.

In Corpus Christi, 2011 was the deadliest year for pedestrians, according to Caller.com. Fourteen people were struck and killed in the city that year, one fewer that the number of homicides. In the last 14 years, 113 people have died after they were struck by a vehicle.

After the final accident that year, the captain of the Corpus Christi Police Department said that the woman’s death “made us realize that there are some mistakes pedestrians are still making, and they are paying for it with their lives.”

Thus the department is making a concerned effort looking at ways to curb what appears to be a growing problem in Corpus Christi and in Texas. It is encouraging walkers to wear light colored clothing, to walk against traffic, and to cross only at crosswalks.

Other findings concerning this problem are the following:

(1) Pedestrians are making poor decisions.

(2) Driver are unwilling to share the road, and they are distracted.

(3) There is a lack of adequate sidewalks and crosswalk in some areas.

Tackling the pedestrian problem will require a multifaceted approach, the captain said.

Rumble strips and pedestrian signs have already been installed and plans have been made to line the edge with a white line with ridges, designed to keep a driver inside the roadway.

The Houston car accident lawyers at Terry Bryant Accident & Injury Law extend our condolence to the family and friends of pedestrians killed in accidents.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 20 percent of fatal and injury crashes in 2009 involved reports of distracted driving.

The most common distractions include:

• texting,
• using a cell phone,
• eating and drinking,
• talking to passengers,
• grooming,
• reading,
• using a navigation system,
• watching a video,
• and adjusting a radio,CD player, or MP3 player.

Nearly a year ago in West Texas, it was the last distraction on this list that caused a horrible accident.  The crash killed a woman in one car and two people in another car, reports the Houston Chronicle.

While on their way back from a family vacation, a wife was behind the wheel of a minivan.  She was driving her family south on U.S. 285. An SUV was approaching them.

The man driving the SUV reached into the back seat of his SUV to get a  DVD. He swerved, crossed the center stripe and hit the minivan in a high speed, head-on crash.

Both people in the minivan were killed.

The driver in the SUV survived, but his 28-year-old wife died in the accident.

The Houston car accident lawyers at Terry Bryant Accident & Injury Law extend our heartfelt condolences to everyone who was involved in this accident.

Texas now has the toughest DWI laws in its history, according to Yahoo! Voices. In Texas, felony level offenders may receive as many as 20 years for an intoxication manslaughter charge.

In Galveston on Wednesday evening, two men in their early 20s and a dog were struck and killed by a car, reports Galveston Daily News. The men were walking on Galveston’s Seawall Boulevard.

The two men died at the scene and apparently lived in the neighborhood near the seawall.

The police ordered a blood sample from the driver to determine if intoxication factored in the incident.

A witness to the accident said that the speed at which the car traveled toward Seawall Boulevard was excessive, “They tried to make the turn and slid sideways.”

Galveston interim police chief said that “Officers recovered a narcotics pipe at the scene.”

Officers were working Wednesday night to reconstruct the incident, the chief said.

Driving while intoxicated not only puts offenders’ lives at risk, but they also risk the lives of those with them and those that are in their paths.

The Houston pedestrian accident lawyers at Terry Bryant Accident & Injury Law send our condolences to the families and friends of the two men who lost their lives in this accident.

A new survey has indicated that a majority of drivers would keep quiet if they collided with someone’s vehicle by accident, according to PR Urgent.

Of the 2,000 people surveyed, just 25 percent said they would tell a friend or a neighbor in the event of a collision with their vehicle.

Only one in eight said that they would tell a stranger that they had crashed into their vehicle. A third said that they would come clean with a boss or colleague at work.

The poll also suggests that there was some variation in honesty between motorists of different age groups. Of those age 55 and older, 72 percent say that they would track down the owner of the car that they had hit regardless of who they were. Only 40 percent of those ages 18 to 24 said they would.

Is money what’s making people dishonest?

“Any claim you make could mean your insurance goes up when you come to renew your policy,” said one of the surveyors. “…It can be tempting to ignore minor scrapes or faults with your car.”

Read more.

Have you or someone you know been injured in a Houston car accident?

The Texas personal injury lawyers at Terry Bryant Accident & Injury Law may be able to help.