According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, there are around 6 million motor vehicle accidents every year. Approximately 2.5 million people are injured and over 40,000 are killed. Approximately 5,000 are pedestrians or bicyclists. In Texas, there are approximately 3,500 deaths per year due to motor vehicle accidents – that’s about 10 people per day.

These accidents occur due to various causes including driver inattention, speeding, aggressive driving, aged or disabled drivers, young and inexperienced drivers, drowsy drivers and intoxication. Each year, there are approximately 17,000 fatalities in alcohol-related crashes, approximately one alcohol-related fatality every 30 minutes. NHTSA estimates that alcohol was involved in approximately 40 percent of all fatal crashes. About 1.5 million drivers were arrested last year for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics - 1 of every 140 licensed drivers in the United States.

Most motor vehicle collisions are caused by the negligence of an operator of a vehicle. Usually, that involves a violation of a civil or criminal statute, ordinance or regulation. Most common are violations of the Texas Transportation Code “Rules of the Road” and Texas Penal Code Chapter 49 regarding driving while intoxicated. The applicable standard of care is defined by the statute, and a violation of the statute is negligence as a matter of law.

In addition to my personal injury practice, have over ten years experience in defending people charged with crimes, and have an extensive knowledge of the Texas Transportation and Penal codes. One of the most common charges I defend is Driving While Intoxicated charges. I have an extensive knowledge of the techniques described in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s publication DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing. My wealth of experience in defending these cases gives me a unique ability to “flip the script” and “prosecute” a civil suit against the intoxicated driver who caused the motor vehicle accident.