Houston Personal Injury Attorneys – Smith & Hassler

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.

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.

A 56-year old La Marque woman fended off an attempted robbery by a man in a Wal-Mart parking lot when she pulled a concealed handgun and opened fire. The woman struggled with the man shortly before 3:00pm as he apparently attempted to take her car. The woman, a concealed handgun holder, was able to grab the pistol from the console of her car. She pointed her gun at the man who fled toward a silver or gray SUV driven by an accomplice. The woman fired several shots at the fleeing SUV as it sped away, one of the bullets struck the rear of the vehicle. The attacker was armed with a pistol. Police are looking for a silver or gray SUV with a bullet hole and Texas license plate number NMG 714. The Houston Chronicle’s story is here and has drawn many reader comments, which are overwhelmingly in praise of the woman’s actions.

CNN is reporting that an oil rig owned by Mariner Energy has suffered an explosion this morning. The rig is located off the Louisiana coast. The site is 80 miles south of the Vermilion Bay and coast guard helicopters are responding. The Coast Guard is reporting that 12 oil rig workers are overboard. There was a total of 13 people aboard the rig at the time of the explosion and 12 have been accounted for thus far. It is unknown at this time if there are any injuries.

Former Texas Supreme Court Justice Tom Phillips (and his family) were sued yesterday over an automobile accident that followed a party last year at the Phillips’ home in Bastrop, Texas just outside Austin.  A 17-year old girl became intoxicated at the party, held in the garage apartment of the Phillips’ son.  Mrs. Phillips ordered everyone attending the party to leave when the noise level rose: the car accident happened as the girl drove away.  The Phillips’ are being sued under social host liability: that they knowingly permitted alcohol to be served to a minor at their home, and that the minor became intoxicated as a result.

Houston lawyer Dax Faubus contends in the lawsuit on behalf of the parents of Audrey King, the 17-year-old who died in a drunken car crash shortly after leaving the party, that Tom and Lynn Phillips were “well aware that minors were getting drunk in their back yard.” Through their attorney, the Phillips say they didn’t even know a party was taking place in their son’s quarters in a carriage house behind their home.

Ford has issued a recall for Ford Windstar minivans, model years 1998 to 2003. A total of 575,000 vehicles are affected. The recall is due to possible corrosion problems with the rear axle.  Because cracking problems or axle failure affect vehicle handling, corrosion problems or defects could lead to accidents or injuries. People who own a 1998-2003 Windstar are advised to take their vehicle to a Ford dealership for inspection. Ford states that if the axle shows signs of cracking, owners will be offered a repair and alternative transportation while the repair is performed. If there is no cracking, owners will be offered a reinforcement bracket for the axle. A story is available here, including a Youtube video highlighting the problem.

Ford Motor Company’s official recall notice is here and reads as follows:

Ford is voluntarily recalling older, high-mileage Windstar minivans produced between mid-1997 and early 2003 for rear axles. In a very small number of cases, the axles have fractured in certain locations on the right and/or left side, and affected vehicle handling. We will notify affected owners in the very near future and ask them to bring their vehicles to their local dealers for inspection and any necessary repairs. As always, Ford is committed to responding quickly for our customers.

The recall for the Windstar – which is no longer in production – applies to vehicles in 21 states, the District of Columbia and Canada where road salt corrosion is more common.

Ford dealers at no charge to customers will reinforce the axles of the affected vehicles as parts are available. If it’s determined the axle can’t be reinforced, it will be replaced as soon as parts are available. Ford will provide for rental vehicles for customers until the rear axle of their vehicle has been replaced.

Former Houston-area hand surgeon Michael Glyn Brown, owner of the Brown Hand Center, currently stands accused of assaulting his fourth wife by twisting her arm behind her back.  He was arrested Tuesday August 24th.  Mr. Brown pleaded guilty in 2002 to assaulting his third wife. Mr. Brown is free on $40,000 bail, must surrender his passport and is to have no contact with his wife Rachel Brown.  Mr. Brown has retained high-profile Houston defense attorney Dick DeGuerin. Mr. Brown’s television commercials for his carpal tunnel surgery center are frequently seen by Houston residents: the commercials feature Mr. Brown with his wife and daughters telling viewers that he will care for his patients just as he cares for his own family. Mr. Brown’s medical license was revoked in 2006 after he tested positive for cocaine.  Mr. Brown’s marketing materials state that he personally trains the physicians at the Brown Hand Center. In the 2002 incident, Brown pleaded no contest to an aggravated assault charge for beating his then-pregnant wife Darlina with a bed post. A year before Mr. Brown admitted guilt in the assault on Darlina, a jury hearing the facts of the couple’s divorce awarded Darlina $5.4 million for her injuries, including pain and suffering.

The Houston Chronicle’s story is available here and in less than 24 hours has already drawn 447 comments.

It is a common perception that in a rear-end car accident, the rear car that collided with the car in front is always found to be at fault.  While that makes a certain amount of common sense, there is no law in Texas that says the rear vehicle is always at fault, and there are different accident facts where it would be unfair to hold the driver of the rear car responsible in a rear-ender car accident.

Texas Transportation Code Section 545.062 is the statute that speaks most directly to rear-end accidents.  The statute says: “An operator shall, if following another vehicle, maintain an assured clear distance between the two vehicles so that, considering the speed of the vehicles, traffic, and the conditions of the highway the operator can safely stop without colliding with the preceding vehicle or veering into another vehicle, object, or person on or near the highway.” Tex. Transp. Code Sec. 545.062(a).

In plain language this means that everyone driving on public roads in Texas has a duty to keep enough distance from the vehicle in front that, considering speed, road condition, traffic, and so on, the rear vehicle can stop safely without hitting the car in front. This does not mean however that simply because a vehicle hits the vehicle in front, the rear vehicle is 100% at fault for the accident.

We have all had the experience where we are driving on a busy freeway and traffic backs up near a heavily used exit.  Sometimes people will ride the lane next to the exit lane and then cut in at the last minute, usually because they don’t want to wait in the lane that is backed up. If another driver cut in front of you at the last minute and locked up their brakes, causing you to rear-end their vehicle, the other driver would probably be found at fault because they cut you off and interfered with your stopping distance.  Put another way, you were driving at a safe and reasonable speed in your lane and the only reason the accident happened is because the other driver cut in front of you and braked suddenly.  Fact patterns such as this can make for difficult claims unless the driver who cuts you off is completely honest about what they did.  Unfortunately the person who did the cutting-off often seems to forget how they cut-in at the last minute when the police arrive, and will just tell the officer they were rear-ended.  In a situation such as this, an independent witness can be extremely important: the witness can state that they saw the front car cut-off the rear car and cause the collision.

If you were involved in a rear-end collision, whether as the front car or rear car, you can consult with a Smith & Hassler attorney at no charge for advice on your specific case.

A “crash report” is a form filled out by the Houston Police Department officer who investigated your collision.  The report contains a lot of information, including the insurance company and policy number for the other driver (assuming the other driver was insured). The report will also include the officer’s opinion of what caused or contributed to the collision, and who got a citation (if anyone).  Police crash reports are filed with the central records division of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) in Austin, TX. Police officers are required to complete a report when there appears to be more than $1,000 in damage to one or more person’s property. Accident reports typically require 5-8 days processing time from the date of the collision until they are ready. A copy of the report can be purchased for $6.00 from the HPD records division or can be bought online from www.vectrareports.com for $7.50. Information on requesting a report from the records division is available on HPD’s web site here. If you are making a claim under another person’s automobile insurance policy, having a copy of the police report is extremely important: the other driver’s insurance company will have a copy, and you may be at a disadvantage if you don’t.

As part of representing injured clients, Smith & Hassler orders police accident reports for clients’ automobile accidents. If you have a question either about your accident or about the police crash report for your accident, you are welcome to call Smith & Hassler for a free consultation or visit us online at www.smithandhassler.com

Texas Transportation Code Section 545.413 sets out the law in Texas regarding the use of safety belts in motor vehicles. It is an offense for a person over the age of 15 to ride in a motor vehicle in a seat that has a safety belt available, but the person does not use the safety belt. In this situation the passenger who is not buckled would receive the citation.

It is also an offense for a driver of a motor vehicle to allow a person under the age of 17 (who is not required to ride in a child safety seat) to ride in a seat that is equipped with a safety belt, but is not wearing the belt. In this situation the driver of the vehicle would receive a ticket.

There are a few limited defenses to this law, e.g. if you have a doctor’s note excusing you from wearing a seat belt, or you are a mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service.  Smith & Hassler encourages everyone driving in Houston (or anywhere else) to wear their safety belt.  In a car accident a safety belt can mean the difference between a car accident that results in minor injury that quickly heals, versus severe, life-changing injuries or even loss of life.