In San Antonio Texas many automobile drivers have only the minimum required statutory liability insurance. The minimum required automobile liability insurance is in the amount of $25,000.00.
The minimum auto liability policy is insufficient in circumstances where there are serious injuries. In cases with serious injuries the personal injury attorney should investigate the availability of underinsured motorist coverage. In cases where combining the liability coverage with the underinsured coverage will not provide sufficient insurance coverage the personal injury attorney should investigate other sources of funds to compensate the injured driver.
Other sources of compensation include personal assets of the at fault driver; however, the at-fault driver usually will not have assets beyond the Texas homestead exemption. Other areas that can be investigated in cases with severe injuries include: roadway geometry, drainage design, tire and vehicle defects and driveway design.
Driveway design is often overlooked by attorneys as the source of serious injuries. Driveway design can play a major role in causing accidents. Often driveways from private property do not have acceleration lanes. The lack of an acceleration lane often causes vehicles to merge into traffic at too slow of speed. The large difference in speeds of vehicles traveling on a roadway compared with those vehicles entering the roadway from drives without acceleration lanes causes large disruptions to the traffic flow.
Plans for shopping centers or other commercial developments should include acceleration lanes for those patrons leaving their establishments; however, occasionally those lanes are not constructed. The failure to construct parking lots and driveways without acceleration lanes can be the cause of serious motor vehicle accidents and those parties responsible for the faulty construction or design should be held accountable.
