Houston Personal Injury Attorneys – Smith & Hassler

A 13-day old baby boy died as a result of a pit bull attack at his grandparents’ home in Cypress.  The newborn’s name has been released by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences: his name was Braydon McCollen.  According to Harris County Sheriff’s Department investigators, Braydon was asleep in a cradle in the office of his grandparents’ Cypress home when the dog, described by neighbors as a 100lb pit bull, entered the room.  Braydon’s mom was outside using the phone and watching him through the window: the dog sniffed Braydon and then attacked him. A neighbor ran inside and called 911 while Braydon’s grandfather applied pressure to the wounds, but unfortunately the wounds were too severe: Braydon was taken by life flight helicopter to Memorial Hermann Hospital where he died a few hours later. The dog is currently in the custody of animal control and is subject to a 10-day quarantine. Channel 2’s story is here.

Our hearts go out to Braydon’s family. What a terrible tragedy.

A lot of times we find ourselves empathizing with clients who have had a BAD experience with their own insurance company or more frequently, the insurance carrier of the third party who caused the car accident. Any seasoned Plaintiffs personal injury attorney can tell plenty of stories of insurance companies treating people unreasonably or unfairly. Every now and again a client will ask: “Are there any GOOD insurance companies in Texas that you’d recommend?” Actually, there is.

Most of us are guilty of shopping for car insurance: (a) purely based on price, the lower the premiums the better; and (b) without really thinking too much about what expectations we would have of our car insurer if we call upon them to handle a claim. Obviously nobody wants to pay a dollar more than is necessary for car insurance, but there’s a lot to the old saying “You get what you pay for.” Notwithstanding the television commercials that talk about how much you save if you switch to a particular insurance company, premiums probably don’t vary as much as they’d like you to believe.

There are a number of claims scenarios that may cause you to call on an automobile insurance to handle a claim. You may have caused an accident and need your insurer to handle damage to your vehicle, the other driver’s vehicle and injuries to one or both of you. You probably don’t want to get sued, so ideally you’d like your insurance company to handle the other person’s claim in a reasonable way. Alternatively the other driver was at fault and now you are making a claim with their insurance company to take care of your vehicle damage and medical bills: you don’t want to sue the other driver and turn a car accident into an 18-month long lawsuit, so you hope the other driver’s insurance company treats you fairly.

It has been the repeated experience of our attorneys that Texas Farm Bureau Insurance stands out as one of the most reasonable automobile insurance companies we regularly deal with in reference to claims made on personal automobile insurance policies. Cynically people might say: “Well they must pay more and that’s the reason you like them” but that’s not it. Unlike some automobile insurers that seem to have a revolving door with employees constantly leaving to work elsewhere, typically Farm Bureau claims adjusters have been with the company for ten years or more. It usually speaks well of a company that they are able to hang on to their employees for the long haul. It has also been our experience that Farm Bureau adjusters genuinely want to handle their customers’ claims fairly and efficiently.

This is not to say that all other automobile insurance companies that write policies in Texas are bad, just that over many years of experience and handling thousands of clients’ claims, we’ve noticed that Texas Farm Bureau does a good job of handling first party and third party claims for its customers. If you’re shopping around for car insurance you might give them a look.

A Saturday one car crash severely injured a teenage passenger in Freeport, Texas according to Freeport police.  A 13-year old was driving the vehicle while 22-year old Andrea Cantu, the owner of the vehicle, sat in the passenger seat. 22-year old Rodney Harris sat in the back seat along with a 16-year old passenger. Police said the four were drinking alcohol and taking pills while at a party at a home in Freeport and when they left the 13-year old was driving. The underage driver backed into a pickup truck at a Bucees gas station but left the scene: the pickup truck owner followed and called police. The teen driver then crashed into a pole at Avenue A and Fisher. The 16-year old rear seat passenger was admitted to the Intensive Car Unit at Memorial Hermann – her arm was nearly severed in the collision but fortunately doctors were able to reattach it. Channel 11 story is here.

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.

An off-duty Missouri City Police Officer was injured Saturday August 27, 2011 when he was struck by a vehicle driven by suspected car burglars. The officer was working a side job providing security for a jewelry store in the Post Oak Plaza shopping district not far from the Galleria. He was escorting a customer to their car when he saw two black males in a silver four-door pull into the parking lot: the immediately got out and started peering in the windows of a parked Chevrolet Tahoe. Concerned that the men were about to break in to the Tahoe the officer approached and the men jumped into their vehicle and sped off, hitting the officer in the leg with their vehicle. The officer responded by drawing his pistol and opening fire on the vehicle. Several bullets found their mark and hit the car but it is unknown if either of the occupants were hit. The silver-colored vehicle also struck a parked car as it fled and should have obvious damage in addition to the bullet holes. Fortunately the officer is expected to recover from his leg injury. Anyone with information to share about the identity of the men or their vehicle should call HPD or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS. Here is Channel 13’s coverage of the incident.

The Southwest Freeway was backed up Friday evening after a freak accident left a motorcyclist dead. The motorcycle was found standing upright leaning against the HOV exterior wall: its not clear at this time how the rider of the Suzuki lost control. At around 4:00pm the motorcyclist was heading southbound on the US59 South HOV lane near Edloe when the rider was ejected from the motorbike and fell 50 feet to the roadway of the lower freeway below, crashing through the windshield of a Toyota Camry. The poor motorbike rider was killed instantly authorities say. Despite what have must have been an incredible shock, the driver of the Camry was able to maintain control of his vehicle and came to a stop, suffering only cuts to his hands and arms. David Lee Cothran, Jr. aged 28 of Louisiana has been identified as the deceased motorbike rider. Mr. Cothran was wearing a helmet. Channel 13’s story is here. Channel 11’s story is here.

Update: The injured driver of the Toyota Camry has been identified in a subsequent story as Mr. Kelvin Wesley. In an interview with Channel 11 News Mr. Wesley expressed his sympathy for the family members of the deceased motorcyclist and also expressed his thanks for his own family’s safety: apparently he had dropped his son off at University of Houston shortly before the accident. Mr. Wesley’s son had been sitting in the front passenger seat beneath the portion of the roof that sustained the most crush damage. Mr. Wesley is a high school football coach and was on his way to a game at the time of the tragic accident.

Channel 2 is reporting a motorcyclist died early Wednesday August 24, 2011 in a motorcycle crash. Investigators said that the 50-year old man appears to have made a last minute decision to take a different exit ramp at the 610 Loop and North Freeway and hit a center median that divides the two ramps. The man was ejected from his motorcycle and died at the scene. His name has not been released.

Monday August 22, 2011: an off duty METRO employee died last night in a wrong way collision on Highway 59 near I-10 and two METRO employees were injured. Police say a Cadillac (the wrong way vehicle) and a METRO truck crashed head-on at around 9:30pm. The off duty METRO employees in the Cadillac was killed. Channel 2 News’ report is here. The METRO employees in the truck were taken to Ben Taub Hospital.

KHOU is reporting that drunk driving is suspected in a terrible crash that claimed four lives over the weekend. The two vehicle collision happened early Sunday morning in Brenham, Texas which is approximately 65 miles northwest of Houston. Roberto Castillo (19) of Brenham is currently in Washington County jail facing four counts of intoxication manslaughter with a motor vehicle. Police say that Castillo was driving a pickup truck that allegedly crashed into a car carrying the four victims who died in the wreck. Ironically it always seems to be the intoxicated driver who leaves a drunk driving accident with little or no injury. Investigators say Castillo ran from the scene of the accident but was apprehended at a nearby mobile home. A report in the online Brenham Banner newspaper shows a disturbing picture portraying devastating damage to a silver-colored Ford Mustang. According to the Banner’s report, Castillo is an undocumented alien who only a few weeks before the deadly crash was detained by law enforcement for another alcohol related offense. The collision happened at the intersection of Highway 36 South and FM 109. Castillo was driving a Dodge Ram pickup truck.

Four occupants of this 1998 silver Ford Mustang perished in what is suspected to be a drunk driving 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.

A woman died in a single vehicle accident last night when her Toyota Sequoia sports utility vehicle crashed and rolled over on Space Center Boulevard. The wreck happened at around 9:00pm near the intersection of Space Center Boulevard and Pearhaven. According to Houston police the woman was traveling at a high rate of speed northbound on Space Center when she lost control of the vehicle, veered to left and crossed over a grassy median into the oncoming lane before the vehicle flipped on its side and hit a concrete wall. The SUV rolled onto its roof and the roof collapsed, causing the woman to be trapped inside. Sadly she died at the scene. The medical examiner will determine whether drugs or alcohol were a factor in the car crash.

The roof of this Toyota Sequoia collapsed when the woman driving it lost control and crashed on Space Center Blvd, August 20 2011.