Early Sunday morning a man died in Houston when his car crashed through a bridge and into the bayou below. The man was driving a Chevrolet Impala in the 6800 block of Lawndale around 2:45am when he left his travel lane. The car crashed through the guard rail and fell more than 20 feet into the water below. The man’s body was recovered by a police dive team.
BP has issued a statement that two workers at its Texas City plant were admitted to hospital after suffering burns caused by steam. The accident happened at approximately 4:00pm on Tuesday September 21st as the workers were working at Pipestill 3B. One injured worker was life-flighted to UTMB Galveston and the other taken by ambulance to Mainland Medical Center in Texas City. The beleaguered BP Texas City plant is the site of the 2005 explosion that killed 15 workers and injured 170 more. The refinery is currently under investigation for an apparent 41-day release of Benzene that occurred at the same time as the explosion on the Deep Horizon rig.
The Transportation Department is reporting that traffic deaths fell 9.7 percent in 2009 to 33,808 fatalities, the lowest number since 1950. In 2008 an estimated 37,423 people died on the highways. A total of 41 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico saw reductions in fatalities, lead by Florida which had 422 fewer deaths, and Texas which was down 405 deaths. Economic downturns are often accompanied by a reduction in motor vehicle fatalities because people are out traveling the roads less in a bad economy, but last year’s reduction in the number of fatal accidents on roads came at a time when the estimated number of miles traveled by motorists increased by 0.2% over 2008 levels. The annual highway safety report also found that:
* Motorcycle deaths broke a string of 11 years of increases, falling 16% from 5,312 motorbike accident deaths in 2008 to 4,462 in 2009
* Alcohol impaired driving deaths declined 7.4% in 2009 to 10,839 deaths due to drunk driving, compared with 11,711 in 2008.
A collision occurred early this morning in midtown Houston when a police officer’s patrol car collided with a white-colored Chevrolet Impala driven by a 19-year old man suspected of drunk driving. The two-car collision occurred at Gray and Louisiana at approximately 2:20am. The injured officer was rushed to Memorial Hermann–Texas Medical Center with complaints of neck and back pain, and fortunately he sustained no broken bones. The suspect, who was arrested at the scene, t-boned the officer’s patrol car in an intersection. The Impala had two passengers who reportedly told officers that they had just left a nightclub and their driver had been running red lights prior to the collision. A wrecker driver witnessed the collision and stated the officer had the green light in the intersection. The Houston Chronicle’s story is here.
Unfortunately experience tells us this will probably be one of many injury accidents caused by drunk drivers in the Houston area this weekend. Harris County leads the nation in drunk-driving injury accidents. If you have been injured due to the gross negligence of a drunk driver, call the attorneys at Smith & Hassler for a free consultation.
Brianne Haltom was involved in a one-car accident in Liberty County last November when a previously undiagnosed medical condition caused her to have a seizure and veer off the road. Her car slammed into a tree causing her head to strike the steering wheel: her airbag did not deploy. Brianne suffered facial fractures and a brain injury that required her to be put in a medically induced coma. She also suffered an eye injury.
Despite the severe front end impact to Brianne’s pickup truck, while the passenger side airbag did deploy, Brianne’s steering wheel airbag did not. This phenomena is referred to as a “split deployment.” The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that 22,500 lives have been saved by airbags since 1998 and that in 2006 airbags deployed in 1.1 million crashes nationwide.
After Local 2 aired a story about 2-years ago on airbag failures the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety published the findings of a study in a March 2009 status report. Looking at a sample of fatal front end car crashes it was determined an estimated 50 to 100 deaths occur per year involving potential airbag failures, which is 1 to 2 percent of all deaths of person riding in the front seats in frontal crashes.
The you-kn0w-what hit the fan yesterday when an 18-wheeler transporting human waste crashed and rolled onto its side on I-45 in Houston. The apparent cause of the wreck was a tire from a tanker truck that rolled under the big rig. Houston police report that the tire went over the central divider and into oncoming traffic at which time the tire got lodged under the 18-wheeler, the driver lost control, hit a guardrail and the rig went onto its side. Fortunately nobody was seriously hurt in the accident, and the freeway was closed for approximately 4 hours as the scene was cleared. Luckily for those involved in the cleanup operation, no human waste was spilled. Click2Houston’s report is here.
An independent accident reconstruction expert has reviewed information related to a collision between a Baylor medical scientist and his wife and a City of Houston Police Department patrol car driven by a first year officer. Professor Estela Medrano (67) was killed in the collision and her husband Jorge Medrano (71) was seriously injured. The collision occurred when the couple’s Toyota Scion turned left in front of Officer Kyle Dozier’s police car in the dark. Houston attorney Richard LaGarde who represents the Medranos has stated that HPD told him accident reconstruction expert that Officer Dozier was driving 57MPH, 22MPH over the speed limit, when the car accident occurred. Officer Dozier was responding to an emergency call but had not activated his flashing lights or sirens. Mr. Medrano remained in Ben Taub General Hospital where he is being treated for a serious head injury. The Medranos four adult children are calling for a review of the HPD’s policies for officers responding to emergency calls and the use of sirens and emergency lights. The Houston Chronicle’s story is here.
A Dr. Pepper delivery truck flipped over a guardrail and crashed to the freeway below on Monday September 6th. The 18-wheeler had been traveling on Highway 288 when it fell to Highway 59 below. The big-rig fell about 40 feet and burst into flames when it crashed to the ground. Unfortunately the truck driver sustained serious injury when he was burned over almost half his body; he also suffered two broken legs. Tex DOT will ensure both roadways are structurally sound before traffic is allowed back in the area. Click2Houston.com story is here.
Bellaire police are reporting a wreck on the West Loop near Evergreen Street at about 11:00pm. The collision was shortly after the Houston Texan’s game ended Thursday night and caused a two-mile backup of traffic. Two vehicles were involved in the collision and two injured people were taken to Ben Taub Hospital — the extent of their injuries has not been released. The cause for the collision is under investigation. Click2Houston.com story here.
From the Texas Department of Insurance’s web site:
Texas law requires people who drive in Texas to be able to pay for the automobile accidents they cause. Most drivers do this by buying automobile liability insurance. Liability insurance pays to repair or replace the other driver’s car and pays other people’s medical expenses. It does not pay to repair or replace your car or for your injuries.
The minimum coverage amount required by the state’s financial responsibility law increased on April 1, 2008, to $25,000 for each injured person, up to a total of $50,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property damage. (The limits prior to April 1 were $20,000 for each injured person, up to a total of $40,000 per accident, and $15,000 for property damage per accident.)
The limits will increase again on January 1, 2011, to $30,000 for each injured person, up to a total of $60,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property damage per accident. Drivers will be required to comply with the new limits as their policies are issued or renewed on or after the effective dates.
This is good news for automobile accident victims. All too often the insurance coverage carried by a negligent driver is not sufficient to cover the injured person’s damages.