Houston Personal Injury Attorneys – Smith & Hassler

A man is extremely lucky to be alive after crashing into steel girders being carried on the back of a big rig that was backing out. Channel 13 reports that the wreck happened on FM 529 near Paddock Bend Drive. The impact ripped apart the driver’s side of the man’s white-colored SUV, possibly an older model Suburban. The man was critically injured. Most likely the 18-wheeler will be faulted for the collision, since a vehicle backing onto the main travel lanes would have a duty to do so safely and without interfering with traffic that has the right-of-way.

Photo credit: Channel 13 News

If you have been seriously injured in an accident with an 18-wheeler, large truck or other commercial vehicle, it is very much in your interest to have an excellent understanding of your legal rights and how the injury claims process works. Insurance companies dedicate tremendous time and resources to investigating what they call “large loss claims”: bad accidents where the injured person is seriously hurt, and the insurance company has a large policy covering the at-fault vehicle. Make no mistake: they are investigating to see if there is a way to avoid paying some or all of the claim. Smith & Hassler has an excellent track record of handling major injury and wrongful death claims involving commercial vehicles that dates back to 1989 when the firm was founded. Visit us here to learn more.

A car and a pickup truck collided early this morning in a major accident at an intersection on Bennington Street in Houston. The crash happened around 2:30 a.m., there were two men in each vehicle. Police found beer bottles at the scene but it is not reported whether drunk driving was believed to be a cause of the wreck. The driver of the pickup truck was seriously injured.

Photo credit: ABC Channel 13

Several people were injured in a four vehicle accident that involved a METRO bus. Around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon a METRO bus rear-ended a black colored car on Almeda Genoa, pushing the car into two other vehicles. The car’s driver and two passengers were transported by ambulance. The commentary to Channel 2’s story on the accident makes for some interesting reading.

A two vehicle accident on Almeda Genoa Road in Houston claimed two lives over the weekend.  Around 2:45 a.m. on Sunday morning a car pulled out from a stop sign on Martin Luther King Boulevard and attempted to turn right onto Almeda Genoa Road. The car apparently interfered with the right-of-way of a red or maroon-colored pickup truck heading westbound on Almeda Genoa, causing a collision. The car was knocked in a ditch by the impact and the pickup rolled over, coming to rest on its roof before catching fire. Tragically the driver and passenger in the pickup were unable to exit the vehicle and were trapped inside: both were killed. The car driver was taken to Ben Taub in serious condition and police are continuing to investigate.  Channel 2 Houston’s story is here.

Photo credit: Channel 2 houston

A police officer was injured and a handcuffed female passenger in the police car was killed in a two vehicle accident early this morning in downtown Houston. The crash happened at the intersection of Chartres Street and Texas Street at around 3:35 a.m. when a red-colored Chevy Cobalt compact car driven by a 21-year old woman crashed into the side of the police car. The officer suffered minor injuries and was taken via EMS to the emergency room to be checked out. The woman who was handcuffed and detained in the police car was thrown out of the vehicle and died at the scene.

H.P.D. Sergeant Ignacia Izaguire told Channel 11 News that police department policy requires detainees be belted while they are being transported (which makes sense, because if they are handcuffed they can’t fasten their own seat belt). An investigation will be conducted to determine if that policy was followed by the 15-year veteran officer who was driving the police car. Typically police patrol units have a camera inside the car that records occupants riding in the back seat, so presumably a review of that camera footage will be a big part of the investigation. It is difficult to imagine how the detainee could have been completely ejected from the police car if she were properly seat belted. The woman had been taken into custody earlier in the evening on the grounds of Hobby Airport because she was determined to be a hazard to herself: she was being transported to a facility to sober up.

Photo credit: KHOU

Photo credit: KHOU

Channel 11 reports that an accident on I-45 North this morning involved more than a dozen vehicles. The crash happened in the northbound lanes near Little York around 6:32 a.m. Of course, traffic in both directions ground to a halt.

A pedestrian was injured after being hit by a dump truck while crossing the street, Channel 2 is reporting. The collision happened today at around 7:30 a.m. on HIghway 134 near Miller Cut Off Road in La Porte.  The pedestrian was flown to Memorial Hermann Hospital. The photograph below from Channel 2’s web site appears to show where investigators have marked the location of the dump truck tires.

Photo credit: Channel 2 News Houston

Related content: Houston truck accident attorneys

A lady was killed early this morning in a two car accident on Bammel N. Houston Road, and police say the driver responsible for the accident was driving drunk.  Harris County Sheriff’s told Channel 11 News that a man driving a Honda Accord was traveling eastbound on Bammel N. Houston Road near Kleinbrook Drive around 1:30 a.m. when he rad a red light and smashed into a woman driving a Nissan Maxima.  The woman in the Maxima died at the scene, and the alleged drunk driver was transported to hospital in stable condition.  The driver of the Honda has been charged with intoxication manslaughter.

Photo credit: KHOU

Photo credit: KHOU Houston

A motorcyclist was critically injured and the driver of a car transported to hospital last night around 9:00 p.m. after a collision on W. Little York and Plantation Crest. Investigators told Channel 2 News Houston that the man riding the motorcycle pulled out of the Wal-Mart parking lot and accelerated away at a high rate of speed.  A woman who had just pulled onto W. Little York didn’t see the motorcycle, and the bike crashed into the side of the woman’s car, throwing the man from his motorbike.  The woman’s arm was injured and the motorcyclist was taken via life flight to Memorial Hermann.

Photo credit: Channel 2 News Houston

The morning commute ground to a halt today due to a three vehicle accident.  According to KHOU, an 18-wheeler rear ended a small car, causing the car to spin out and collide with a METRO bus.  The accident happened around 7:08 a.m. on the Gulf Freeway southbound near the exit for Monroe Road. The driver of the car was transported to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Photo credit: TranStar Houston