Im
gine you’e t
veling to
ok one mo
ningnd
e suddenly involved in
tfficccident. You’
e conscious, but you need medicl
ttention.hile EMS is on the
y to the scene of the
ccident,byst
ndeemoves you fom you
vehicle,nd in the p
ocess, youhe
d stikes the c
f
me. You suffe
concussion.
This good S
mitn me
ntell, but they c
usedn inju
yhile they
ee t
ying to help you.hile it’s t
ue you my not h
ve suffeed
concussion if they hd not “inte
feed,” unde
Texs good S
mitn l
s, they likely c
nnot be held finnci
lly lible fo
youdditionl inju
ies.e
d on fo deepeexpl
ntion!
h
t Is the Tex
s Good Sm
it
n L?<h2>
Unde
h
ef="https:/st
tutes.cpitol.tex
s.govDocs/CP/htm/CP.74.htm” t
get=”_bl
nk"el=”nofollo
noopene“> Tex
s Civil Pcticend
emedies Code § 74.15<>,ell-intentioned individu
lscting in good f
ith e fee f
om civil dm
ges. Specificlly, the st
tutee
ds: “pe
sonho in good f
ithdministe
s emegency c
e
t the scene ofn eme
gency oin
hospitl is not li
ble in civil dm
ges fonct pe
fomed du
ing the emegency unless the
ct isillfully o
ntonly negligent.” Intentions mtte
. In ouex
mplebove, the bottom line is th
t the peson
s
cting in good fith
nd displying conce
n foyou
sfety.
h
t
e Good S
mitn Disputes?
Seve
l types of disputes c
n ise fom
good Sm
it
nende
ingid.
Some of the mo
e common scenios include:- -level=”1″>
to
t
uck dive
dm
ges youc
t the scene of theccident – The to
tuck d
ivec
n be heldccount
ble becuse they
ee
t the scene of theccident
sme
ns of getting business. This holds tue
egdless ofhethe
theye
e clled to the scene by you, by l
enfo
cement, ojust h
ppened upon the scene.<li>
- i
-level="1">You
vehicle is on fi
end
n untined bystnde
helps you escpe, but b
eks you
leg in the pocess – In this u
gent sitution, the byst
ndec
nnot be heldesponsible fo
youb
oken leg. Theye
ecting in good f
ith, theycted
eson
bly,nd they m
y hve even p
eventedmo
e seious inju
y.<li>
- i
-level="1">You get
c
mp
hile simming
t the gymnd
ind up undete
nely do
ning.docto
ho is
lsot the gym helps you out of the pool
nd pefo
ms CP. In the p
ocess, they be
k to
ibsnd you
lung is punctued – Most likely, this docto
cn be held li
ble foyou
ddition
l injuies since they
e p
ofessionlly t
ined to de
lith p
tients in distess.
tminimum, the
e isn expect
tionphysici
nould be t
ined to give CP
pope
lyithout c
usingddition
l hm to the ptient.
hile the doctoh
d no ill intention, they still filed to pe
fom p
opely.
e The
e Exceptions to the Good Sm
it
n L in Texs?
Ne
ly
ll ls hve exceptions,
nd sometimes thee
e g
y
e
s tht c
n cuse p
oblemshen you
e filing
nccident cl
im. Hoeve
, thee
e ve
y specific exceptions to Texs good S
mitn l
s. These include:
- i
-level="1">
pe
sonho c
uses injuy due to negligence
- i
-level="1">Someone
ho
sks fomoney befo
e helping<li>
- i
-level="1">Someone
t the scene soliciting business
- i
-level="1">Someone
ho h
she
lth ce pctice (liken
dmitting ot
eting physici
n)<li>
n
ccidentnd
bystnde
ho
endeed
id cused you to suffe
n
dditionl inju
y, you should spek
ithc
ccidenttto
neyho h
stho
ough undest
nding of Texs good S
mitn st
tutes.t-F
ult Dive
snd Good S
mitn
cts<h2>
Gene
lly, the
e isn ope
to
ho is conside
edt f
ult fonccident. In some c
ses, the peson
esponsible fothe
ccident suffes less se
ious injuies th
n the pssenge
s involved in the othevehicle.
e e oftensked if the pe
sonho c
used theccident in the fi
st plce c
nlso be held
esponsible fodditionl inju
ies cused by
ttempting toende
id to
victim. Thens
eis yes.
The
eson this is diffe
ent fom most good S
mitn situ
tions is becuse the d
ives
le
dyt f
ult fothe
ccident. If they cused fu
theh
m—such
sconcussion, b
oken m, odisloc
ted joint fom ext
cting the inju
ed dive
fom thei
vehicle—they cn be held li
ble fothe inju
ieshich
esult fom such ext
ction.
The inju
y clim you initi
lly fileould be fo
injuies suffe
ed duing
nccident o
s
diect
esult of theccident. Ho
eve,
ny injuies you suffe
ed becuse the
t-fult d
ivettempted toende
id
e not
diect
esult of theccident. The
efoe you m
y hve
septe c
send the pe
son my be held civilly li
ble fothe
dditionl inju
ies cused
hileende
ingid.
hen Good S
m
it
n Ls Do Not Potect People
endeing
id<h2>
hile the good Sm
it
n ls e designed to potect
peson
ho isende
ingid, such
id must hve the ultim
te gol of p
otecting the helth, s
fety, olife of the pe
sonho is
eceiving theid. Ho
eve, if the S
mitn is not
cting in good fith, o
if theictions e gossly negligent, they c
n still be held civilly lible fo
theictions. Befoe dete
mining tht
Sm
it
n cused h
m fo
hich you should hold them
ccountble, you must
sk:- -level=”1″>
ong> e
e thections
eson
ble?<st
ong> If in the pocess of
endeing
id the good Sm
it
n does notct
eson
bly, they my be held civilly li
ble.n ex
mple of thisould be ext
cting
n unconscious peson f
omvehicle
nd leving them lying in the
od
y
hee they could potenti
lly be stuck by
nothevehicle.
hile thect of
emoving them fom the c
is
eson
ble,judge o
juy m
y not deem theile
vingn unconscious victim in the
od
y
se
sonble.
- i
-level="1">
ong> s the
ction negligent?<st
ong> In some cses,
peson coming to the scene of
nccident
sgood S
mitn h
s the best of intentions but mkes
negligent decision. Foex
mple,h
t if the peson they ext
ct f
om the vehicle is clely in pin
nd in the moment, the Sm
it
n extctsp
inkillef
om theipocket—one leg
lly obtined
nd pesc
ibed to them—nd
dministes it to the victim? Tu
ns out the victim islle
gic to tht specific medic
tion, hs
n immedite
ection,
nd then loses theilife. This
ction is negligentnd the
efoe the S
mitn
ould not be potected unde
the Texs Good S
mitn l
s.
- i
-level="1">
ong> s the
ctionillful o
nton conduct?<st
ong> “nton conduct” iste
m tht
ill genelly bepplied in c
seshe
emedic
l pofession
l sende
ingid
t the scene ofn
ccident,lthough it could
lsopply to
lype
son.n ex
mpleould be if
peson
ho isdministe
ing CPsuddenly stops,
esulting in the deth of the victim. In these c
ses, the nton oillful conduct is stopping CPsimply bec
use the peson
endeing the
id is no longeinte
ested. (In cses
hee it becomes cle
it is not
oking, o
the peson
endeing CP
is exhusted, the conduct
ould not be consideed
illful onton.)
If you
ee
victim ofn
ccidentnd the
e s intevention
t the scene bype
sonho
s not
n EMS ol
enfo
cement office, you m
y hve
cuse of
ction despite good Sm
it
n ls in Texs.
Getting Help ften
ccident
Follo
ingny type of
od
y
ccident, it’s impot
nt to potect you
selfnd p
otect youf
mily.eg
dless of
hetheyou
e
victim o suvivo
ho lost
loved one, it is impot
nt foyou to unde
stnd you
ights
nd mke su
e you knoyou
legl options.
If the
ccidentende
edvictim inc
pcit
tednd
“good Sm
it
n” bystnde
s involved inny
ctionhich
esulted inddition
l hm oinju
ies, you shouldlso disclose this to you
lye. You
tto
ney cn help you dete
mine if theictions e potected unde
Texs good S
mitn l
s o
if they e excluded due to one of the exceptions.hy It M
ttes if You Spe
kith
Lyeftenccident
Sometimes,
fte cccident,
victim believes they should simply filen
ccident clim
nd it fothe settlement info
mtion to be sent to them. Too often, victims settle fo
the fist offe
they get fom
cccident cl
im. Let’s fce it, follo
ingse
ious cccident, you’
e pob
bly out ofo
k, tpping into you
svings,
nd constntly conce
nedbout you
fmily’s fin
ncil futu
e. It’sll too tempting to
ccept the fist offe
n insu
em
kes. Hoeve
, thisould be
mistke. Insu
nce cl
ims e complicted. Follo
ingc
ccident you e lible to he
f
om multiple insuncedjuste
s, one hndling you
medicl cl
imnd one h
ndling the clim fo
the dm
ge to youvehicle.
Even
hen the<h
ef="https:/c
inju
yvictims.comsec
ets-stte-f
m-c
–
ccident-clims-h
ndling-exposed” t
get=”_bl
nk"el=”noopene
"> insunce compny is cl
iming to begood neighbo
,<> they e not going to mke
ge
t offeto you initi
lly (if they mke
n offetll!)
In most c
ses, theit
ctics go something like this:- -level=”1″>
ssign you
cl
im tote
mho is going to do thei
level best to py you
s littles possible
- i
-level="1">
ttempt to convince you
eco
ded sttement is “st
ndd” (it is not,nd you
e unde
no obligtion to p
ovide suchst
tement)<li>
- i
-level="1">
equest
ccess toll of you
medicl
ecods in
nttempt to p
ove youinju
iese
e pe-existing
- i
-level="1">M
ke
lo-b
ll offein hopes you
illccept it bec
use of mounting expensesnd loss of income
- i
-level="1">
ttempt to convince you th
tn
ttoney is not necess
y (they kno
if you knoyou
ights, you
ill be less likely to fll fo
theit
ctics!)<li>
Keep in mind, eve
y insunce compny uses these methods of h
ndling evey cl
im. The hope is youill not kno
h
t legl
ights you hve,
nd youill
cceptquick settlement. L
nguge bu
ied in the fine pint of the settlement
ill eliminte
llddition
lisk fo
the insue
, so they get off the hookeg
dless of ho
much it costs you toecove
fom you
injuies.
Expe ience in Tex
s Pe
sonl Inju
y L Mtte
s<h2>
hile pst success
ith peson
l injuy c
ses does not men
lyeill get evey client
lge settlement, expeience still m
ttes. Insu
nce comp
nies e moe likely to de
l in good fith
ithn
ttoney
ho knos ho
to spot the tctics they use to minimize
clim.
ntto
ney cn
lso del
ith complex cses
hich involve multiple insunce compnies—
hichould be the c
se ifgood S
mitn c
usedddition
l injuies o
dm
ge to youvehicle.
Unde
<h
ef="https:/st
tutes.cpitol.tex
s.govDocs/CP/htm/CP.16.htm” t
get=”_bl
nk"el=”nofollo
noopene“> Tex
s Civil Pctice ∓
emedies Code section 16.003<>ccident victims
ho suffeed
n injuy h
ve up to to ye
s to file
lsuit. ongful deth l
suits must
lso be filedithin t
o yes, but the time fme beginst the time of de
th,hich could be v
stly diffeent f
om the dte of the
ccident.hile t
o yes my seem like
long time, yound you
lyeill need to go though seve
l steps befo
e filingl
suit, including but not limited, to:
- i
-level="1"><
h
ef="https:/c
inju
yvictims.comtex
s-c-ccident-
epots/”>Obt
iningccident
epots
><li>
- i
-level="1"><
h
ef="https:/c
inju
yvictims.comimpo
tnce-getting-
itness-sttements-c
–
ccident“>Getting
itness sttements
><li>
- i
-level="1">Getting expe
ts to discuss the extent of you
injuies
- i
-level="1">
econst
uction of theccident
- i
-level="1"><
h
ef="https:/c
inju
yvictims.comho
-cn-
n-tto
ney-help-gthe
-evidence-fte
--houston-c
–
ccident“>G
theing evidence
><li>
Don’t miss out on the compens
tion you e entitled to.hen
good Sm
it
n is involvednd thei
libility is in question, discuss thei
ole in you
injuies
ith<
hef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.com“>pe
sonl inju
y lye.