Houston Personal Injury Attorneys – Smith & Hassler

Houston news services are reporting what appears to be yet another drunk-driving fatality on Houston’s roads.

22-year old Jonathan Lacier Davis has been charged with intoxication manslaughter in connection with a terrible crash on the Beltway 8 feeder near Harwin Drive at around 3:00am Thursday August 4, 2011. Davis was driving a Chrysler PT Cruiser southbound on the Beltway 8 feeder when he ran a red light at the Harwin Drive intersection and crashed into a Honda Civic car. According to witnesses the Civic violently spun out, hit a pole and broke in half before catching on fire. The female driver of the Civic was trapped inside her vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to investigating police officers Davis had alcohol in his vehicle. Davis’ wife was riding as a passenger in the PT Cruiser – she was taken to Memorial Hermann Southwest in stable condition. The identity of the deceased driver of the Honda Civic has not been released yet.  According to KHOU’s report a witness to the wreck said he observed Jonathan Lacier Davis swerving across all lanes of travel and running numerous red lights to the collision, and in fact spoke to Davis at an intersection immediately before the wreck. This is not Davis’ first brush with the law: he has several prior convictions for drug offenses in Harris County.

Click2Houston.com’s coverage of the Jonathan Lacier Davis wreck is here.
KHOU’s coverage of the Jonathan Lacier Davis wreck is here.
Channel 13’s coverage of the Jonathan Lacier Davis wreck is here.

The female driver of this Honda Civic was pronounced dead after the collision: Jonathan Lacier Davis has been charged with intoxication manslaughter in connection with the 04/02/2011 wreck.

Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) car accidents seem to happen every single night in the Houston area and throughout Harris County.  Sadly Harris County Texas ranks among the highest counties in the nation for drunk driving fatalities and drunk driving accident injuries year after year.  Drunk driving car accidents often create even more complications for the victim than a regular car accident: insurance companies usually won’t pay a claim or provide a rental car until they speak to their insured driver and get their version of what happened. The insurance company can’t do that if their insured was charged with DWI and is in jail. Call Smith & Hassler if you have been injured by a drunk driver’s gross negligence and ask for speak to one of our personal injury attorneys right now.  Smith & Hassler aggressively pursues claims against drunk drivers.

At around 11:00pm on Tuesday August 2, 2011 a Mercedes traveling on the East Freeway near Maxey lost control and skidded off the freeway. The gold-colored Mercedes crashed into another car and then crashed into a power pole, splitting the pole in half. The driver and passenger in the Mercedes was taken to hospital, so was the driver of the second car struck by the out of control Mercedes.

This gold Mercedes lost control on the East Freeway, hit another car then struck a power pole

If you, a friend or a family member have been injured in a car accident, Smith & Hassler’s experienced personal injury attorneys are available to give you a free consultation either in-person or by phone.  Sometimes people injured in car accident wait before consulting an attorney. They have good intentions: not wanting to seem “sue happy,” waiting to see if their injuries will get better or because aninsurance adjuster is discouraging them from seeking legal advice (that happens).  It is better to know your rights early in the process and have an experienced Houston personal injury attorney explain the steps involved in car accident injury claim and what you can do NOW to increase the chances of a good outcome.

Smith & Hassler filed a lawsuit in Harris County Civil District Court this week on behalf of a Houston couple who were injured in a November 2010 collision caused by a fleeing felon.  The car accident happened as the couple drove through an intersection on a green light.  The at-fault driver, who was traveling at a high rate of speed while being pursued by an HPD patrol car, ran a red light and smashed into the couple’s Ford Explorer SUV, causing the severe damage shown below. The wife riding in the Explorer was 33-weeks pregnant with the couple’s fourth child at the time of the accident and was transported from the scene by ambulance. The insurance carrier for the at-fault driver was offered an opportunity to settle the claim outside of a lawsuit by offering their insured’s policy limit, but declined to do so.

Damage to Smith & Hassler's client's Ford Explorer SUV

You have just been involved in a car accident. Your vehicle is damaged and you are injured. The other driver suggests you just exchange information and that the police don’t really need to be involved. You don’t want to seem like a bad guy but you think a police report might be a good idea.  What should you do?

GET A POLICE REPORT!

Pursuant to Texas Transportation Code Section 550.062, a police officer investigating a motor vehicle accident in the regular course of his/her duty shall make an accident report when the accident resulted in the death of injury of a person OR there was damage to any one person’s property that appears to amount to $1,000 or more. If you call to request police assistance for your car accident, you should state on the phone whether someone is hurt or if there appears to be more than $1,000 in damage to one or more vehicles, you should say so.

A police crash report of the type used by law enforcement officers in Texas records a lot of information. The report will include information about the drivers involved, their insurance information and usually the statements of the parties involved and the officer’s opinion as to who was at fault. Texas law enforcement agencies are now able to determine at the scene of an accident whether the vehicles involved are covered by valid liability insurance. Requesting the police respond to your car accident may help save hours of frustration on the phone later trying to determine if the other driver had valid insurance.

Another benefit of getting a police crash report for your car accident is that it will help reduce the “he said, she said” factor later on. While the other driver may seem remorseful and ready to accept responsibility at the scene, that may change later. Having a police report documents who said what. A police crash report can also document the identities of passengers in your vehicle, the other vehicle and also witnesses who remained at the scene.

Particularly in Houston, the fourth largest city in the United States, police departments are kept very busy and often stretched pretty thin. The prospect of having to wait an hour or more in Houston heat for an officer to respond and make a report may seem miserable, but when compared to the misery of fighting the other guy’s insurance company because there is a dispute about how the accident happened, waiting for a police officer is an hour well spent.

Remember that the officer has up to 10-days from the date of the accident to finalize the crash report and submit it to his/her department. You should do everything you can to get the other driver’s insurance information before you leave the scene, either by asking the other driver for it or asking the police officer to give it to you. Sometimes police officers will tell people that the other driver’s insurance information is in the report: while that may be true, you may have to wait 10-days to get it.

Sec. 550.062.  OFFICER’S ACCIDENT REPORT.  (a)  A law enforcement officer who in the regular course of duty investigates a motor vehicle accident shall make a written report of the accident if the accident resulted in injury to or the death of a person or damage to the property of any one person to the apparent extent of $1,000 or more.

(b)  The report required by Subsection (a) must be filed with the department not later than the 10th day after the date of the accident.

(c)  This section applies without regard to whether the officer investigates the accident at the location of the accident and immediately after the accident or afterwards by interviewing those involved in the accident or witnesses to the accident.