GM recalls three big crossover models over bad wipers

General Motors is recalling about 50,000 large crossover SUVs to fix a windshield-wiper problem.

The recall affects 2011 and 2012 Chevrolet Traverse, Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia vehicles registered in 28 cold-weather states and Washington, D.C. Federal safety regulators say ice and snow can build up and restrict movement of the wipers. That can make the wiper arm come loose and malfunction.

GM says dealers will fasten the wipers tighter than factory specifications to stop the problem from happening. The company says the loss of wipers hasn't caused any crashes or injuries. GM will send letters to owners and start the recall later this month.

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source: USA Today (Woodyard, 4/13)



If you've been in an automotive accident due to adverse visibility conditions caused by the manufacturer's defect in your GMC wipers, call the experienced Texas Personal Injury Attorneys at The Cole Legal Group. We make sure that every opportunity is taken to get you what you deserve for the injuries incurred as a result of the negligence of another.


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Texas paper urges increase in cap on government liability

San Antonio -- Public employees, like everyone else, have accidents in the course of their duties. The public has a right to recover damages for property, physical injuries or loss of life when those accidents occur. Tort law is supposed to protect the public in cases of loss or harm.

That was the idea behind the Texas Tort Claims Act, a measure passed by the Legislature in 1969. Prior to the act, Texans could not recover damages in cases in which government employees were performing their duties.

Lawmakers also recognized that taxpayers deserve protection from frivolous and excessive lawsuits. So, additionally, the act limits the circumstances in which a governmental entity is liable for compensatory damages and caps those damages.

As Express-News staff writer John Tedesco reported, however, the caps — now $250,000 per individual — often don't allow members of the public to fully recover actual damages. That shouldn't be the case.

In one incident cited by Tedesco, a police officer answering a non-emergency call and driving 80 mph on Blanco Road without his siren or lights activated struck Vanessa Samudio. Samudio suffered major injuries, including permanent brain damage.

Samudio's medical bills alone totaled $235,500. That doesn't take into account intangible losses, such as a decreased quality of life or pain and anguish. Yet with the force of the Texas Tort Claims Act behind the city, she agreed to settle the case for $227,500.

The current $250,000 cap has been on the books since 1987. To keep up with inflation, the cap would need to be more than $500,000 to have the same purchasing power in 2012.

One solution would be for lawmakers to raise the cap to an appropriate level. Another would be to treat tort cases involving governmental liability in the same way as medical malpractice, with no limit on actual damages, but with caps on non-economic damages.

Such reforms would not burden taxpayers — the vast majority of governmental liability cases are settled well below the cap. They would, however, give Texans the opportunity to seek the compensation they are due in those rare cases where the actions of a government employee cause an extraordinary economic loss.

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source: My San Antonio (4/7)



As San Antonio personal injury lawyers, we here at The Cole Legal Group can try just about any accident or injury case under Tort law - which includes civil wrongs, and economic or non-economic damages to a person’s property, reputation, or rights.

The Cole Legal Group’s approach creates a cooperative effort between you and the Law Firm. We make sure that every opportunity is taken to get you what you deserve for the injuries incurred as a result of the negligence of another.

As Texas personal injury attorneys, our job is to fight for your rights and what you are entitled to. This is accomplished by contacting a lawyer as early as possible after an injury occurs, to give your attorney the best chance to preserve any and all evidence needed to navigate the complex legal landscape of your case.

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OSHA fines Magnablend $45,000 for violations related to fire

WAXAHACHIE - The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited Magnablend Inc. with seven serious safety and health violations Friday related to the October 2011 fire at the company's blending plant, which burned to the ground.

The penalties total $45,000.

According to a press release, OSHA's Fort Worth office found violations including failing to conduct a hazard assessment, install a sufficient ventilation system, train workers in specific hazardous chemical protection procedures, evaluate respiratory inhalation hazards, ensure that the fire sprinkler system was adequate, use electrical equipment in accordance with its labeling, document the classification of hazardous locations for electrical purposes and ensure that electrical equipment was considered safe for the location where it was used.

The release goes on to explain a serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

Magnablend, a company that specializes in blending and manufacturing chemicals for industrial and consumer markets, is now operating at a new location in Waxahachie.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with the area office or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

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source: WFAA (AP, 3/30)




If you or a loved one has been affected by the Magnablend Chemical fire of October 2011, please contact the Cole Legal Group immediately.  We will stop at nothing to get the compensation you deserve for the pain and suffering you have endured.

Only Underwater Traffic Tunnel in Texas Closes for Repairs Two Years After Accident

The big state of Texas has all kinds of stuff when it comes to infrastructure but there’s one thing you won’t find in abundance, and that’s underwater traffic tunnels. There’s only one in the entire state, the Washburn Tunnel east of downtown Houston.

The toll-free tunnel goes under the Houston Ship Channel, connecting the communities of Galena Park and Pasadena (the refinery town made famous in the 1980 movie “Urban Cowboy”.) Officials say during the week it carries up to 27,000 vehicles a day.

Built in 1950 at a cost of $7 million, the Washburn Tunnel is just under 3800 feet long, taking drivers 68 feet below the ship channel. Atop the tunnel’s entrance there’s a large midcentury structure containing high-speed blower fans that provide ventilation. Because of its unique trench design, the Washburn Tunnel was included on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

Also in 2008, all large vehicles were banned from the tunnel including 18-wheelers. But in September 2010, that didn’t stop a big rig driver from trying to enter. Gail Miller is with Harris County Precinct 2, the governmental entity that operates the tunnel, and she tells what happened next.

“We had an 18-wheeler, about 3:30 in the morning, drive by the guard shack. The guard was out, the flags were out, he drove right around then and headed into the tunnel. Well, he’s too big to get into the tunnel, and he hit the north portal wall, damaging the brick and the metal behind it.”

Once inside the tunnel, Miller says the truck collapsed and it took about seven hours to remove the wreckage. The driver wound up going to jail. Now two years later, crews are at work repairing the damage.

Miller says at the time of the accident, the damage wasn’t considered severe enough to close the tunnel to traffic. As for why it’s taken so long to do the repairs, Miller says they had to settle insurance claims, and because of the tunnel’s historic status, they had to find the proper materials to make the repairs to the tunnel’s entrance.

“Any changes to a historic building have to be run by the Texas Historical Commission, and they have to be matched in terms of brickwork.”

The tunnel will be closed to traffic on weekends through April 2 to make those repairs. So what does that mean for drivers? Traffic will be funneled onto several other ship channel crossings, including the East I-610 Loop, the Sam Houston Parkway toll bridge and the State Highway 146 Fred Hartman Bridge (which replaced another tunnel, the Baytown Tunnel, in 1995). Drivers also have the option of using the Lynchburg Ferry, which will have expanded hours during the Washburn Tunnel’s closure.

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source: Transportation Nation (Delaughter, 3/20)



The Cole Legal Group has a proven track record of obtaining substantial insurance settlements and jury awards for people hurt in all types of motor vehicle accidents in Texas.

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Texas man crushed by big-rig makes miraculous recovery

DALLAS -- They may be small, and gingerly taken, but Greg Meece isn't taking baby steps as he walks out of UT Southwestern's Zale Lipshy hospital.

For everyone involved in his recovery, every step forward is a giant leap.

"When I was brought in here two weeks ago," says Meece, "I was an incomplete quadraplegic. And I'm going to be walking out of the hospital today."

Two weeks ago, Meece was driving on the Dallas North Tollway when an 18-wheeler lost control. The truck slammed into the concrete divider -- and landed on-top of Meece's car.

Other drivers rushed to help. But Meece was so badly crushed, doctors didn't know if he would ever walk again.

A surgery, fusing one of his own ribs to his neck, stabilized his spine.

"Never. I never doubted," says Donna Meece of her husband's recovery.

Still, she is astonished her husband rehabbed to quickly.

"I was thinking, 'We'll be here for months,'" she says, "Two weeks? I'm shocked at 2 weeks, I really am. But every day I knew he was getting better and better.

"It's a miracle," says Greg, "It's amazing. It's almost beyond words."

Greg Meece was in a rental car the day of the accident.

He says he is very frugal -- and always pays for a small, compact car. That day, he says he splurged an extra four dollars for a mid-sized car. As he walked out of the hospital, upright and able-bodied, he says it was the best four bucks he ever spent.

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source: WFAA (St. James, 3/9)



The Cole Legal Group has a proven track record of obtaining substantial insurance settlements and jury awards for people hurt in all types of motor vehicle accidents in Texas.


Let our experience, commitment and fight work to get you the money you deserve to rebuild your life. Our commitment to you: We will not be out worked!


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AGs decide not to object to Honda hybrid class-action settlement.

The AP (3/1, Spagat) reported, "Attorneys general in California and four other states said Wednesday that they won't oppose a class-action settlement between Honda Motor Co. and owners of its hybrid cars over inflated claims of fuel efficiency. The five states had asked a judge for more time to consider after Honda owner Heather Peters won $9,867 in a California small claims court this month – much more than the couple hundred dollars cash that the settlement offers. The judge reluctantly granted a two-week extension for them to declare objections." Just hours before that extended deadline, attorneys general for California, Iowa, Massachusetts, Texas and Washington announced they would not oppose the proposed class-action settlement.

        The Chicago Tribune (3/1, Hirsch) noted the issue "rose to prominence this month when a Los Angeles County court commissioner ruled that American Honda Motor Co. negligently misled Civic owner Heather Peters when it said the hybrid could achieve as much as 50 miles per gallon." Opting out of the class settlement, Peters was awarded almost the $10,000 small claims maximum, well above the several hundred dollars provided under the settlement. Honda says it's gearing up to appeal the Los Angeles ruling, which it called "a radical and unprecedented departure from California and federal law."

-- source AAJ News Brief

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Nissan recalling 79,000 Nissan and Infiniti vehicles to fix potential gasoline leaks

Nissan says it is recalling more than 79,000 vehicles in the U.S. to fix possible gasoline leaks.

The automaker is recalling certain Nissan Juke small crossover SUVs, Infiniti QX large SUVs and Infiniti M sedans from the 2011 and 2012 model years.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says on its website that fuel pressure sensors on the vehicles may not be tight enough and gasoline could leak and cause a fire. Nissan says no fires have been reported.

Dealers will tighten the sensors or replace gaskets free of charge to take care of the problem.

The vehicles were made between Oct. 5, 2009 and Dec. 27, 2011.

The recall is scheduled to start on March 19. Owners with questions may call Nissan at 615-725-1000.

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source: Washington Post (AP, 2/27)