Houston Personal Injury Attorneys – Smith & Hassler

Early in the morning of Thursday January 20, 2011 Clayton Sieverton was heading southbound along FM484 near Ferris Green Road in Porter, Texas when his Ford F-350 pickup truck crashed into a Toyota Celica head-on, according to DPS Troopers. Sieverton is suspected of being intoxicated at the time of the crash. Alicia Sanchez, 43-years old, was riding in the passenger seat of the Celica and was killed on impact. Sanchez’ injured 20-year old daughter was transported to an area hospital in critical condition. Sanchez and her daughter were driving to work at a donut shop at the time of the collision.

Both vehicles sustained very heavy damage in the crash; according to DPS Troopers after the collision Sieverton got out of his vehicle and ran away. Shortly after the accident a man drove up to offer help to Sanchez and her daughter and when he did so he recognized Sieverton’s vehicle: the two men had been out drinking together the night before and Sieverton had dropped the man off at his own car shortly before the collision. Montgomery County Sheriff’s deputies were able to use tracker dogs and a DPS helicopter to track down Sieverton 3 miles north of where the crash happened.

Sieverton suffered minor injuries and is now facing multiple serious charges, including intoxication manslaughter, intoxication assault, and failure to stop and render aid. He remains in the Montgomery County jail.

Drunk driving collisions, deaths and injuries are an epidemic in the Houston area and have been for years. The selfishness of those who choose to get behind the wheel of their vehicle while impaired by drugs or alcohol causes families to experience unimaginable tragedies on a weekly basis. If you or a loved one have been injured by a drunk driver, talk to an attorney at Smith & Hassler about your legal rights and remedies.  Insurance companies know jurors take a hard line with drunks who injure others and try to settle DWI-related claims quickly and for much less than the claims are worth.

Channel 13 eyewitness news is reporting that a suspected drunk driver rear-ended a Houston Police Department cruiser on the East Loop last night. Police say the officer was standing outside his cruiser at the time of the collision while he worked to clear an accident scene. The driver of a pickup truck then slammed into the back of the patrol car: the pickup truck driver failed a field sobriety test and was arrested at the scene on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. A picture of the wrecked police cruiser is below:

You have to wonder how intoxicated a person has to be to slam into the back of a stationary police car with emergency lights flashing. A very similar incident occurred in December 2008 when an intoxicated driver of a tow truck rear-ended a Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy working an extra job providing security to a construction road crew working on the US-290 service road. Smith & Hassler represented the deputy who sustained a low back injury in the collision. After a lawsuit was filed against the intoxicated driver and the towing company, the case settled for a confidential amount.  If you have been injured due to the selfishness and gross negligence of a drunk driver, consider calling Smith & Hassler right away: insurance companies realize injury accidents involving drunk drivers have a higher value and try to settle these claims quickly, and for less than the true value of the claim.

Houston police are trying to figure out a bizarre incident that occurred yesterday afternoon. It appears that an SUV driver used his vehicle to repeatedly push a woman’s car into the side of an apartment building. The woman told officers she was sitting in her parked car at the Woodway Square Apartments on Wood Hollow near Winrock. Allegedly the suspect rammed her Lexus pushing it up over a curb and into the side of the apartment building, then continued to push her vehicle. Although a lot of damage was done, fortunately nobody was hurt.

Hopefully the owner of the Lexus has full coverage auto insurance. It appears the driver of the SUV that rammed her Lexus did so intentionally. If that proves to be the case, the SUV driver’s automobile insurance carrier would be within their rights to deny the woman’s claim for damage to her Lexus. Automobile insurance policies only cover unintentional acts of negligence, but do not provide coverage for damage caused intentionally such as purposeful ramming .

Smith & Hassler recently filed a lawsuit against a drunk driver who injured a Houston area woman in a three car collision last August. The drunk driver crashed his Honda Accord into the rear of an Acura, the Acura was in turn pushed into the rear of our client’s Ford Mustang. All vehicles were damaged, the drunk driver’s Honda had to be towed from the scene. The drunk driver was arrested by a Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy and registered a BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) of .201.  That is approximately two-and-one-half times the legal limit for intoxication in the State of Texas (anything at or over .08 BAC is legally intoxicated under Texas law). The drunk driver pleaded guilty and was convicted of DWI a month later.

Our client was checked by an ambulance at the scene because she was complaining of back and neck pain, but she chose not to be transported to the hospital right away.  She later went to the emergency room, then followed up with physical therapy and an MRI to help determine the source of her neck pain.

An attempt was made to reach a fair and reasonable settlement with Amica Mutual Insurance Company, the liability insurer for the drunk driver. Amica received the settlement packet (which included the client’s medical bills and records) and, even though they had been given 30-days to evaluate the settlement packet, the very next day responded with an offer of $1,100 less than our client’s medical bills.

Smith & Hassler filed suit right away. Hopefully with an opportunity to re-evaluate, Amica County Mutual Insurance will reconsider their evaluation of the claim.

Sean Carter, a 27-year old Texas man, has become a uniquely qualified speaker on the subject of the dangers of drunk driving. Sean was a college student in North Texas when he made a fateful decision to ride home with some friends after a night’s drinking. An intoxicated friend drove and the pickup truck Sean was riding in left the road and slammed into a tree in Wichita Falls, Texas. Sean had cuts and multiple broken bones and Sean’s mother was told by doctors that Sean’s prospects looked bleak.

Sean sustained a traumatic brain injury that has taken away his ability to speak. He is also unable to walk.  With time Sean regained the ability to recognize letters and now is able to communicate via a computer touch screen. Through determination and perseverance he is also regaining some physical abilities too. Sean has formed a non-profit called When Sean Speaks, and he travels throughout the state speaking to various groups including DWI offenders.

On the night of Saturday December 11th a speeding Ford Mustang crashed into two other vehicles on the Eastex Freeway in Houston, killing one woman and seriously injuring two other motorists.  The 21-year old driver of the Mustang has been charged with intoxication manslaughter. Oscar Javier Sanchez was driving the white-colored Mustang southbound in the 7500 block of the Eastex Freeway when he smashed into a black Dodge Ram pickup truck, and then also crashed into a Dodge Avenger car, according to Houston Police Department spokesperson Keese Smith.  Tragically, a 21-year old female passenger of the Dodge Ram was ejected from the vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene.  Police arrested Sanchez at the scene.  The drivers of the Dodge Ram and Dodge Avenger were both taken to hospital with severe injuries.

Smith & Hassler extends its condolences to the family members of the deceased 21-year old passenger, whose family are no doubt devastated by this preventable tragedy.

You may be surprised to learn that the answer to this question is: YES.

Texas Penal Code Sec. 49.04(a) sets out the elements of the criminal offense of Driving While Intoxicated and reads as follows:

(a) A person commits an offense if the person is intoxicated while operating a motor vehicle in a public place.

Under Texas law intoxicated means: (a) not having the normal use of mental or physical faculties by reason of the introduction of alcohol, a controlled substance, a drug, a dangerous drug, a combination of two or more of those substances, or any other substance in the body; or (b) having an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more.

So in the case of a privately owned parking lot that is accessible and used by the public, if a person is operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, that person can be charged with DWI.

Many people wonder if they have to or should get a police report made when they are involved in an accident.  The answer to the question “Should I get a police report if I am in an accident?” is usually yes.  The purpose of a police accident report (sometimes referred to as a crash report) is to document who was involve, record important information and to document the officer’s investigation and conclusions as to who (if anyone) was at fault. In no particular order, a police accident report will include the following information:

* names of the drivers involved, driver’s addresses, driver’s license numbers, date of birth, driver’s license status (valid, invalid, etcetera), any restrictions (e.g. corrective lenses)
* year, make, model, color, license plate, VIN of the vehicles involved
* street(s) where the accident happened and applicable speed limits
* insurance company for each driver
* the road conditions, weather conditions, lighting
* witness information (if any)
* location and severity of the damage to the vehicles, where the vehicle were towed and the towing company
* who was injured and the apparent severity of their injuries
* statements of the drivers and witnesses
* not-to-scale diagram of the scene of the collision
* the officer’s opinion on who was at fault
* who was issued a citation, and what they were cited for
* the officer’s patrol area, badge number and name

The list above is not exhaustive, there is other information within a police report that is not included here.  Police officers are trained to investigate accidents and gather information that is important, so having a police officer make a report for your accident saves you the worry of trying to get all the necessary information yourself. Police officers should also investigate the accident in a neutral way, not favoring one side over the other, and witnesses may feel more comfortable telling the neutral police officer what they saw rather than telling their story to the drivers involved.

Police officers in Texas now have the ability to verify at an accident scene whether a particular vehicle has valid liability insurance. Having a police report can also speed up the claims process and give the other driver’s insurance company information they need to make a liability decision and decide whether they will pay a claim.

While people often want to be nice to the other driver and feel hesitant to get the police involved, particularly when the other driver is at the scene saying they are at fault, unfortunately sometime people who have caused an accident get home, have a chance to cool off and start rethinking whether they were really at fault. If there are no witnesses and no police report, you may be faced with a swearing match situation (your word against the other driver) which can get messy.

Some clients have told us in the past then when they called the police to request a report be made, they were told that if the vehicles can be moved from the roadway the drivers should swap information and go on their way.  You may need to politely push to have an officer sent to make a report, and it may mean you have to wait. Section 550.062 of the Texas Transportation Code says that an officer who investigates an accident resulting in injury to or death of a person or damage to property to the apparent extent of $1,000 or more must make a report and file that report with their department within 10-days of the date of the accident.

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.

News Channel 2 is reporting that Gina Wiggins has been accused of driving drunk and causing a car accident in Houston that resulted in the death of another driver. Harris County Sheriff’s Office states that Wiggins was driving a Nissan Xterra SUV southbound in the 21000 block of FM2100 in Houston at about 6:15pm on Wednesday August 25, 2010. Detectives say Wiggins failed to stay in her lane and hit a Ford Escort coming from the other direction nearly head-on.  Angela Maxwell, driving the Escort, sustained injuries that proved fatal. Wiggins was transported to hospital where a blood sample was drawn, and she was subsequently charged with intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault.  Wiggins is being held in the Harris County Jail in lieu of $60,000 bail. The Houston Chronicle’s report is here.