Houston Personal Injury Attorneys – Smith & Hassler

The inbound Gulf Freeway was closed this morning after a collision involving an 18-wheeler and a pickup truck. The 18-wheeler was hauling concrete barriers when the driver noticed the big rig was starting to catch fire. He attempted to pull over onto the shoulder, but when he did, struck a pickup truck parked in the shoulder lane. The 18-wheeler then traveled an additional 1/4 mile or so according to Channel 13, before it stopped and was engulfed by flames. The injured driver of the pickup truck was taken to Clear Lake Regional Medical Center.

Crews work on the burned 18-wheeler

12-year old Brein Bullock was tragically killed and her 35-year old mother Leah Bullock was seriously injured when a Texas Disposal Systems truck struck a highway overpass bridge in Sealy, TX yesterday.

The truck was traveling on Highway 36 around 10:00 a.m. with the trailer boom raised when it struck an Old Highway 90 bridge. The rubble fell onto the Bullock family’s white-colored car. Brein, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was dead at the scene. Leah was transported by helicopter to Memorial Hermann Hospital. Also in the vehicle was 9-year old Breanbon Gardner who was riding in the back seat and appears to have been uninjured.

There is a bridge height warning sign in place that the truck passed through prior to hitting the bridge. A witness driving behind the Texas Disposal Systems truck saw the vehicle hit the warning sign and keep going, and was filming the truck with a GoPro camera when the incident happened. The truck driver has been identified as 72-year old Carl Weige.

A Jaguar sedan and a Chevrolet Camaro were involved in a major crash on Interstate 45 North at Ritchey Road early this morning. A third vehicle, an 18-wheeler Dr. Pepper truck, was also involved when the big rig’s trailer was hit in the back by one of the two cars. Both the Jaguar and the Camaro sustained major damage in the accident, particularly the Camaro. The crash happened around 3:30 a.m. and temporarily shut down all of the northbound lanes. The drivers of both cars were transported to the hospital and the truck driver was apparently unhurt.

The damaged Camaro

Two people were killed on US 290 in Houston this morning when an 18-wheeler crashed into a stalled vehicle.

Harris County Sheriff’s Office reported that a 1997 Ford Probe broke down in the right lane of the westbound lanes near Mason. A 32-year old woman who had been driving the Ford Probe got out and tried to signal to the approaching big rig without success. The big rig and the Ford Probe caught fire, killing the big rig driver and a male occupant of the Ford Probe.

A woman was killed in a collision with an 18-wheeler at the intersection of McCarty Street and Mesa Drive. KHOU’s report says the woman, driving a pickup, disregarded a red traffic light and hit the side of the 18-wheeler as it was turning through the intersection. The woman’s pickup truck traveled under the 18-wheeler, severely damaging the passenger compartment. The woman died at the scene. The picture below, from a story on KHOU’s web site, shows a trailer that appears to belong to Central Freight Lines, Inc.

The HOV lane for Houston’s Eastex Freeway was shut down this morning due to a multi-vehicle crash that included an 18-wheeler. At around 7:30 a.m. the 18-wheeler crashed through the concrete barrier that separates the main lanes from the HOV lane. News media pictures show an SUV lying on its driver’s side.

20-year old landscape worker Edson Alanis Manzano was fatally struck by an out-of-control 18-wheeler as he worked alongside Highway 146 in Bacliff, Texas. The accident happened Monday June 30th as Edson was trimming back weeds at Highway 146 and FM 646. The big rig, pulling a tanker trailer, veered off the roadway on its way from La Porte to Texas City, striking Edson. Witness Jacob Cortez, who saw the accident, said he thought perhaps the driver had fallen asleep, and said that when the driver exited the truck after the accident the driver looked stunned. Edson was working for a company called BIO Landscape and performing a contract for the Texas Department of Transportation.

Victim Edson Alanis Manzano

The driver, 55-year old Glendall Bickwenhert from Kentucky, was cooperating with the police investigation. The 18-wheeler is owned by Indiana-based Time Dedicated DC Carriers, whose U.S. Dept of Transportation profile states the company operates 45 trucks.

Scene of the fatal accident

At least two people have been killed and numerous other hurt in a multi-vehicle crash near the small town of Weimar, Texas.

The crash happened Wednesday June 3rd, 2015 around 12:40 in the afternoon on Interstate 10. Weimar is approximately 75 miles west of Houston. Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) officials said the commercial bus operated by a company called Turimex crashed into the back of an 18-wheeler, causing that 18-wheeler to rear-end another 18-wheeler in front of it.

Houstonian Susan James was interviewed by Channel 2 News Houston about her involvement in the wreck as she drove home from Hallettsville.  Ms. James was fortunate to be able to walk away from her wrecked Cadillac SUV. The two deceased people were both on the Turimex bus. One was the bus driver, 31-year old Miguel Angel Tobalina-Gonzalez, the other was 34-year old Roman Juan Domicillio, a passenger. According to DPS, the bus was transporting migrant tobacco workers from Laredo to North Carolina.

Turimex, the bus operator, is based in Laredo, Texas but has several Houston locations. According to current information posted to The U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration web site, Turimex, LLC operating under US DOT # 650034, carries $5,000,000 of liability insurance under an insurance policy issued by Commercial Alliance Insurance Company.

Two women in a white-colored SUV were trapped in their vehicle yesterday after a collision involving an 18-wheeler. The accident happened on the Southwest Freeway near Buffalo Speedway. Houston Fire Department’s technical rescue team responded to release the entrapped women, both of whom were transported from the scene by ambulance.

HFD’s technical rescue team removing an injured driver

Eight people were sent to hospital when an 18-wheeler struck a pickup truck and an SUV on Sunday. The accident happened on Highway 59 in Cleveland, Texas. Police say the SUV had broken down and the pickup had stopped to help when both vehicles were hit by the big rig. The gold-colored SUV, which appears to be a Chevy Suburban or Tahoe, came to rest perched on a guard rail. Two people in the pickup truck were taken to hospital by helicopter.

The pickup truck hit by the 18 wheeler

Houston truck accident attorneys, Smith & Hassler.