These are not good statistics.  I’ve represented a number of victims of dog attacks, ranging from the run-of-the-mill attacks to a horrific case where a dog attacked and killed a young child.

These are often terrible cases for those involved.  With aggressive dogs, there is usually significant pain and trauma relating to the original attack.  Many serious attacks have long-term physical consequences, including physical limitations and scarring.  And almost all involve permanent psychological scarring.

Legally, there are a number of different avenues of claims that may be made.  The obvious claim stemming from a dog attack is against the dog owner.  In Texas, dog owners have various responsibilities to help protect the public from unsafe dogs.

If the dog owner was a renter, there may be a claim against the home or apartment owner, depending on the specific facts of the attack.  Additionally, if the dog owner was a renter and a property management company was involved, the property management company also has duties and responsibilities that it must follow.

The more difficult situation in these cases is finding funds for a recovery.  Traditionally, homeowners’ insurance companies have provided coverage for these claims.  Now, as insurance companies are becoming more aware of how serious these claims are, many companies are starting to exclude coverage for dog attack claims.  This is important information to know not only for the victim of attack, but also for dog owners.  If you own a dog, talk to your insurance company and make sure that you’re covered should something go wrong.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a dog attack, please call us for help at (512)476-4944.

Unfortunately, I might have had my hopes too high.  Over the weekend, the Austin American Statesman ran a wonderful project by Jeremy Schwartz that outlined many of the problems facing researchers who tried to launch an expensive brain injury research program in Waco.

If you’re interested at all in brain injuries and brain injury research, I urge you to spend some time with the resources at the project.

Even if you’re not particularly interested in brain injuries, I think the project is still a good example of what journalism could be.  In addition to his written articles, which also appeared in the paper, the project includes video stories and links to the actual documents used to substantiate the article.  It is extremely well done.

The premise of the article, which was written by a Dallas doctor,  is that kids and parents’ increasing focus on some sports is dangerous for our kids.

There are a number of issues.  Kids now are much more likely to play one sport year-round, leading to over-use injuries.  Kids now engage in weight-training that is far superior to anything a few years ago, which leads to kids being bigger, stronger and faster, but also over-taxing their bodies, particularly their weaker growth plates.  And, the doctor argues, more and more parents and kids are trying to force themselves back into action before the kids are fully healed.

The doctor also focuses on two things that have been an emphasis for us.  One is the rise of competitive cheerleading.  The United States Sports Academy finds that cheerleading is responsible for the most catastrophic female sports injuries in the US (second only to football overall).  The USAA reports that many cheerleading injuries and falls do more damage than being tackled by a professional football player.

The second issue is the rise in head injuries.  According to the Centers for Disease Control, almost half a million kids visit emergency rooms each year for traumatic brain injuries — many from sports.  The doctor said that in the week before writing the article, she had treated a volleyball player with a head injury and two dancers who sustained head injuries as a result of a head-to-head collision.

We are unwittingly hurting our kids, and that shouldn’t be acceptable.

Even worse, we may be destroying their love of the various games.  The doctor cites a study that finds that by age 13, 70 percent of kids drop out of youth sports.  As the doctor says, “What could have been a lifelong source of exercise or fun competition is discarded due to injuries, stress and burnout.”

The article hits home with me.  I have a 13 year old daughter who is passionate about her dance team, and I have a 10 year old son who loves to play baseball.  I hope to take the article to heart and make sure that we’re not making the same mistakes as others.

The best quote of the story was from Lt. Troy Officer, who works in the Austin Police Department vehicular homicide unit.    Lt. Officer stated:

If we had people being killed in these numbers, if we had gun violence that was taking lives like we have the vehicle violence, people would be outraged.  People should be outraged by the loss of life from these vehicles because it’s preventable.

I couldn’t agree with the officer more.  We see the tragedy caused by careless drivers on a daily basis.   I think we understand it.  But most people don’t know how significant these problems are.

I also agree with the officer that these wrecks are preventable.  I often tell my kids that the one excuse I don’t want to hear from them when something happens was, “It’s an accident.”  In most instances, it’s not an accident.  Car wrecks, pedestrian injuries and bicycle wrecks usually result from a choice.  A driver chooses to text and drive.  A driver chooses to not pay attention.  A driver chooses to not check a cross-walk or to try and beat a pedestrian through a cross-walk.  A pedestrian chooses to not cross at a cross-walk or to try and beat a car.  A driver chooses to not look for bicyclists.  A bicyclist chooses to only slow-down at a red light.

These are not accidents.  These are preventable.  And right now, with record deaths, Austinites are doing a poor job of preventing these incidents.