Legal Question in Personal Injury in Texas

Re: Motorcycle Wreck

Republicans are always harping that we have an "insurance crisis" in Texas due to "frivolous lawsuits." In truth, the real insurance crisis is caused by uninsured motorists, which now number 27% of all drivers in Texas by most estimates. You have become a victim of our poorly-enforced mandatory liability insurance laws. And, unfortunately, your only recourse is to hire a lawyer and spend money filing a lawsuit against the uninsured motorist, get a judgment against her, and then spend more money trying to collect on the judgment--not a likely prospect. What we need in Texas instead of blather by Rick Perry and his mentor, George Bush, is real tort reform in the form of legislation that will insure that ALL Texans carry liability insurance--and at a level that will pay for the damage they cause (a $50,000 minimum instead of the current $20,000). Of course, the insurance lobby will oppose this vociferously because they make more profits at minimum limits than they do at higher limits. Texans need to wake up and elect leaders who will protect US and not just their contributors at the insurance companies. In the meantime, about all you can do is file a "blue form" with the Department of Public Safety to have her license suspended for six months (although a person who will drive without liability insurance will almost assuredly also drive without a license).

Re: Motorcycle Wreck

Luckily you have UIM which will help with some of the problem. You might be able to go after any other assets that the other driver has. Considering her lack of liability insurance, it is not likely she has anything. Your other alternative is to investigate whether or not the car itself was insured (ie was she borrowing someone else's car), as there may be a policy covering it. Additionally, you can seek to have her driver's license suspended.