The Dallas area had the rainiest two-month period in history in May and June. It has rained most days so far in July, and more rain is predicted in the extended forecast. We are sick of the rain, and the flooding it has caused.

But on every one of those rainy days, I've been amazed at the number of people who drive in the rain with their headlights turned off. This is extremely dangerous. Every time you turn on your windshield wipers, you should also turn on your headlights. Remember that headlights are not there just so you can see, but also so others can see you. I really wish auto makers would wire cars so that this happened automatically.

There really should be no exceptions to this rule -- always use your lights when you use your wipers!

I've complained frequently about the consumer-unfriendly Texas Legislature and our governor (who was re-elected with only 39% of the total votes). The legislative session ended a few weeks ago, and now the deadline has passed for the governor to veto bills passed by the Legislature.

Only a handful of consumer-friendly bills were passed, as usual. And, as usual, some of those that did pass were vetoed by Governor Perry.

One extremely important bill, that sought to clarify the omnipresent "paid vs. incurred" medical bill problem was vetoed. In a nutshell, the Legislature in 2003 completely confused everyone by their sloppy wording in the medical malpractice "reform" bill, which has now essentially ended medical malpractice claims in Texas. The question is whether an injured Texan can recover the full amount of medical bills, or only that portion not paid by health insurance. In other words, should the defendant tortfeasor receive the benefit from the plaintiff's having paid for health insurance? Of course the insurance companies always argue this, and it can reduce total damages to an amount not worthy of litigation.

This legislative session, the lawmakers passed a bill 162-2 saying the "paid vs. incurred" issue was meant only to apply to medical malpractice claims, since that was the bill in which it was included. Naturally, Governor Perry wasn't satisfied with a vote of 162-2, and decided to take the advice of his insurance company contributors, and veto the bill. So now we'll have to wait until the nine Republican judges on the Texas Supreme Court decide the issue. What suspense...

Another bill vetoed by the governor would have stopped chiropractors from phoning or visiting accident victims immediately after an auto collision, offering them free exams, and then referring them to lawyers. I guess the chiropractors who do this also gave lots of money to the governor.

The one bill that survived, and that is actually good for Texas consumers, will raise the minimum limits for automobile liability insurance coverage. The last time the limits were raised was in 1983 -- how many of you were even old enough to drive back then? The per-person limit has been $20,000 for almost 25 years now. In that time, it's estimated that inflation has increased by 85%. So the Legislature decided to increase limits by 25%, to $25,000 for policies sold after April 1, 2008. A ridiculously low percentage, and a ridiculously long time for the increase to take effect, but at least it's something. And they also said the limit will increase to $30,000 after another three years.

So the auto liability limits will now be $25,000 per person, $50,000 per incident, and $25,000 for property damage. We always advise our clients to purchase more than minimum limits, and to also add Uninsured Motorist coverage and Personal Injury Protection to their policies -- very inexpensive additions.

If you would like to have a helpful pamphlet about saving money while buying automobile insurance in Texas, please contact our firm and we will be glad to put one in the mail to you. We don't sell insurance, so this advice is completely impartial. We just want our clients and other Texans to get the best coverage they can, at the lowest possible cost.

The name of the pamphlet is "Lower Your Automobile Insurance Rates." If you would prefer to read the pamphlet online rather than receive one in the mail, you can just click on the title to be taken to the appropriate page on our firm's Web site. While you're there, look around -- you'll find many helpful legal articles, and you can read about our firm and all the Team Members who are here to help you with your legal questions and problems.