Approximately every 15 seconds, a house is robbed somewhere in America. A few simple precautions can make your home a less‑inviting target and can convince burglars to try their luck elsewhere.

• Install deadbolt locks on all outside doors, and make sure that all windows (not just those on the ground floor) have good, strong locks;

• Keep your property well lit and consider installing outdoor lights hooked to motion sensors—thieves hate it when they can’t hide;

• Keep trees and shrubbery cut back from windows so thieves do not have a place to hide;

• If you are leaving town for several days, suspend mail and newspaper delivery, and ask a trusted neighbor to keep an eye on your home;

• If you are not at home, keep a light on so the house looks occupied;

• Consider an alarm system monitored by a reputable security company;

• Keep a car parked in your driveway. Like lights, it makes the house look occupied and stops burglars from backing up a van and cleaning you out.

Finally, remember that even the best precautions do not work if you don’t use them! So give your home a security checkup, keep those doors and windows locked, and beat burglars at their own game.

A Dallas motorcycle accident that happened the first week of the year has left one man dead. On January 3, a 26-year-old man was driving his 2009 Harley Davidson motorcycle north on Independence Parkway when he suddenly lost control and hit the curb. He wound up flipping the motorcycle many times and was thrown into the street.

The driver of the motorcycle spent until January 13 in a hospital, where he died of injuries sustained in the Dallas motorcycle accident. According to witnesses, the  man was not wearing a helmet and may have been speeding.

Don’t Be a Dallas Motorcycle Accident Victim

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has put out some statistics on motorcycle accidents, and it’s clear that motorcyclists are far less likely to be killed in an accident when they’re wearing a helmet. The statistics also noted that these same motorcyclists are less likely to suffer from traumatic brain injury or serious head injuries when they’re wearing a helmet.

A Dallas motorcycle accident can occur any day at any time. When other vehicles are involved, the outcome is most often extremely tragic. Serious injuries and even wrongful death can result from a Dallas motorcycle accident. If you or a love one have been involved in a Dallas motorcycle accident, don’t hesitate to get help from an experienced personal injury lawyer at the law firm of Street & Ragsdale.

It’s the end of the year, and that means it’s time for the Winter 2008/2009 Texas Law Alert! This table-of-contents article and the following short blog entries are all part of this winter’s Alert. Easy-to-read tips and articles on common legal questions make up each Texas Law Alert, a free service from Street and Ragsdale, your Fort Worth/Dallas personal injury lawyers.

WE PREFER YOU TO REFER!

The period of time following an accident is one of confusion and uncertainty. There are many things to take care of. Hiring a good lawyer is one of them.
Many times, people don’t know where to go when they need legal help. If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, call us. We will vigorously represent you and make sure that you are justly compensated for your injuries. That’s our job.

ATVS: ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, approximately 136,000 injuries and 700 deaths occur from ATV accidents every year.

CHILDREN AND ATVS

Amazingly, 95% of children between the ages of 12 and 15 who are injured on ATVs (and 65% of younger children) are injured or killed while riding a full-size ATV intended for an adult.

BE ALERT FOR MEDICATION ERRORS
While more and better drugs are usually considered a good thing, the increase in the number of drugs available and in the number of drugs the average person takes has led to an explosion in the number of errors made in prescriptions.

UNSAFE LOAD = BIG RECOVERY
The company’s president told him he could either drive the company’s truck or drive his own truck home. The trucker refused to take the unsafe load and was fired the same day.

BALANCE YOUR CHECKBOOK
Although no one would argue that balancing your checkbook is a fun way to pass an evening, balancing it every month is important for several reasons.

INSURANCE COMPANY HITS
When it’s time for an insurance company to pay you a settlement because you were injured in an auto accident, does your insurance company sing a different tune?

Children are involved in over 45,000 ATV accidents every year. Amazingly, 95% of children between the ages of 12 and 15 who are injured on ATVs (and 65% of younger children) are injured or killed while riding a full size ATV intended for an adult. These full size machines are dangerous for children because they are too big and powerful for kids to control.
Alarmed by the number of injuries and deaths suffered by child ATV riders and passengers, neurologists who conducted a study of ATV accidents involving children issued a call for a number of common sense guidelines, including banning children younger than 16 from riding ATVs and requiring all ATV riders to wear a helmet. Such common sense would reduce the profits of ATV manufacturers, who oppose any such regulation and continue to market ever more powerful ATVs to children.
Regulations or not, if parents allow their children to ride ATVs, they should insist that their children safely ride ATVs of an appropriate size while wearing a helmet. This is not a cure all but should help reduce what is becoming an epidemic of ATV related injuries.

Rarely a year passes without the announcement of some new wonder drug to treat another disease. While more and better drugs are usually considered a good thing, the increase in the number of drugs available and in the number of drugs the average person takes has led to an explosion in the number of errors made in prescriptions.
These errors can take all kinds of forms and can occur in many different ways. Sometimes a drug other than the one prescribed is provided, or the correct drug is provided in the wrong dosage. Sometimes a drug is prescribed that interacts negatively with another drug the person is taking and the patient is not warned of the danger. Sometimes the mistake is made by the doctor prescribing the drug, sometimes by the pharmacist filling the prescription, sometimes by the person administering the prescribed drug. Mistakes can occur in hospitals, nursing homes, and the corner drugstore. Regardless of the many different ways that prescription problems can occur, they all share one thing: They can be serious and potentially deadly.
A recent study concluded that out of 3 billion prescriptions filled each year, 51.5 million of them contain some kind of error. Although reliable statistics are hard to come by, these errors lead to thousands of unnecessary hospitalizations and hundreds of unnecessary deaths.
Interestingly, many consider the primary reason for the rise in errors to be financial—the doctors who write the prescriptions, the pharmacists who fill them, and the nurses who often administer them are pressured to serve more patients in less time, increasing profits, but also increasing the risk of an error. Others point to the rise in the marketing of drugs directly to patients. Patients are more likely to go to their doctors and demand a prescription for some drug they saw on television, leading to more prescriptions and more chances for error.
Several solutions to this problem have been suggested. The first is also the easiest: Slow down and make sure the prescription is correct. The second is to install more safeguards, such as having another person check the prescription. Another solution is to make sure that different drugs or different dosages don’t look similar, reducing the chance that the wrong bottle will be used. Yet another suggested solution is to make sure that pills are always available in many dosages, which will prevent people from having to break their pills into halves or quarters, possibly exceeding the intended dosage.
Cases involving prescription errors, which can involve claims of negligence, medical malpractice, and products liability, and which require a great deal of expert testimony, can be very complicated to pursue. If you or someone you know has been injured due to a prescription error, call us. We would be happy to discuss your case with you.

It is worth remembering that sometimes things do work out for the best if you do the right thing. This point was driven home by a recent case involving a Texas truck driver and an unsafe load.
The truck driver was fired because he refused to take to the highways driving a load of steel that was not properly secured and was therefore dangerous. The company’s president told him he could either drive the company’s truck or drive his own truck home. The trucker refused to take the unsafe load and was fired the same day.
The trucker sued, claiming that he was fired solely for refusing to perform an illegal act. At trial, the jury agreed. Contributing to its verdict were a number of facts, including the following:

•    This was not the first time the driver had complained about having to drive a dangerous load.
•    The company admitted that it knew next to nothing about the federal regulations governing trucks and their loads.
•    The driver had previously received a ticket for transporting an unsafe and illegal load, about which he had complained.
•    When another driver took the same unsafe load the trucker had refused to take, part of the load came loose and slammed into the driver’s cab.

The trucking company tried to discredit the trucker’s stance and to portray him as being in it for the money, but the jury credited his testimony that he had been trying to do the right thing and be a good role model for his kids. The jury awarded the trucker $267,000, even though he had suffered only $7,500 in lost wages. Those of us who drive on Texas highways can only hope that the trucking company got the message.

Although no one would argue that balancing your checkbook is a fun way to pass an evening, balancing it every month is important for several reasons.

Bouncing Checks Is Expensive

Banks make much of their profit on bounced check charges and overdraft fees, and these charges and fees keep going up. They can also have a negative effect on your credit rating, making borrowing for everything from a house to a car to a vacation more expensive. Balancing your checkbook every month (and keeping good records of ATM withdrawals, fund transfers, etc.) helps make sure you don’t write checks you can’t cover, saving money.

Mistakes Happen

Although not common, banks sometimes make mistakes on your statement. If you balance your checkbook every month, you can find these mistakes early, when they are easier to correct.

Stop the Bad Guys

Finally, as much as we hate to think about it, fraud and identity theft are on the rise. While rare, it is possible for others to siphon off funds from your bank account without your knowledge. If you go over your records every month, you can discover this kind of problem before you lose too much of your hard-earned money.

Sadly, a Dallas motorcycle wreck is becoming more of a common occurrence. This year, there have already been 10 Dallas motorcycle wrecks, and four motorcycle deaths in Richardson, which is north of Dallas. Still, the year isn’t yet over, and police are expecting more fatalities.

Figuring out just why there have been so many Dallas motorcycle wrecks this year wasn’t difficult. Simply stated, there are just more motorcycles on the road. So more motorcycles mean the chances are greater for more motorcycle wrecks and car wrecks.

The increase of motorcycles on Dallas roads, along with roads all over the nation, can be explained by higher gas prices. People are trading in their cars for motorcycles since they get much better gas mileage. The Texas Department of Public Safety’s motorcycle safety unit warns that this surge in motorcycle use means there is an increase in Dallas motorcycle wrecks.

The growing Dallas motorcycle wreck death number is not unique to Texas, though. Across the state, 405 people died in motorcycle wrecks last year. That’s up from 295 motorcycle wreck deaths in 2004. Some suggest that perhaps motorcycle riders aren’t getting enough training, and they are unprepared to be on the roads on a motorcycle. With the surge in popularity of motorcycles because of soaring gas prices, there’s often a wait of several months to get into a motorcycle safety class.

If you or a loved one has been in a Dallas motorcycle wreck, you no doubt know the pain and suffering that comes along with it. So don’t hesitate to get help. Dallas motorcycle wreck lawyers at The Law Offices of Street and Ragsdale are experienced in dealing with these cases. The initial consultation is always free, so be sure and contact a personal injury lawyer at Street and Ragsdale as soon as possible to discuss your Dallas motorcycle wreck and what steps should be taken next.