Houston Personal Injury Attorneys – Smith & Hassler

ABC News Channel 13 is reporting that a driver crashed into the front of the Montrose area business in Houston on Friday January 21. The car accident happened at around 9:00am at West Alamaba and Cummins. Its not entirely clear what caused the driver to collide with the building, but from Channel 13’s video footage it appears a four-door Volkswagen sedan, either a Passat or a Jetta, mounted the curb in front of a Goodwill donation center and a convenience store and hit the front wall of the buildings. The driver was taken from the scene of the accident via ambulance to be treated for injuries. Fortunately there are no reports of injury to any pedestrians inside the store or on the sidewalk out front.

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.

Tuesday January 18, 2011: Metro rail service came to a temporary halt when a pedestrian was hit by a car and pushed into the side of a moving metro rail trial near Reliant Park.  The collision happened at around 4:40am at Holly Hall and Fannin according to a spokesperson for Houston‘s Metropolitan Transport Authority. Fortunately the train immediately stopped when the male pedestrian hit the side of it. The man was taken to a nearby hospital, his injuries and condition have not been disclosed. A vehicle traveling southbound on Fannin hit the man and he fell into the side of the northbound train. Houston police are still investigating.

Yesterday morning a bicyclist was killed when a truck accidentally hit him as he tried to cross a road in northeast Harris County. Jeremias Santis has been identified as the deceased bicycle rider by the Harris County Sheriff’s Department. The collision was at 8500 East Mount Houston Road neat Nanette at approximately 5:30am. A GMC pickup truck was traveling westbound on Mount Houston Road when Santis tried to cross, failing to yield the right-of-way to the truck. The driver of the truck stopped to check on Santis and when he did, another truck hit Santis’ bicycle that was lying in the roadway. The second driver moved Santis’ bicycle from under his truck and then drove away.

Click here to watch a video of a rear-end collision between two cars on a Chinese freeway.  The video footage shows the collision as it happens from inside the vehicle that hit the car in front.  What’s interesting about this footage is that even though the impact looked to be quite hard (certainly the kind of impact that could cause injury to the unwary occupants of the front vehicle), there was not much visible damage to the rear of the front car. Injuries resulting from collisions that did not cause much damage to the vehicle are often the hardest claims to resolve outside of a lawsuit.  Insurance companies have convinced themselves that nobody can be hurt in collisions that involve minor property damage.

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.

A 19-year old man has been charged with intoxication manslaughter in a crash in September 2010 that killed 62-year old Sulema Rosas.  Stephen Hubbard in in the Harris County Jail on $30,000 bail.  According to investigators, an accident reconstruction of the wreck shows that Hubbard was speeding when his Chevrolet Impala crashed into Rosas’ Mazda 626 on September 30, 2010.  Hubbard’s vehicle struck the right side of Rosas’ car; at the time of the collision Rosas was westbound and was trying to cross eastbound lanes to enter an apartment complex.

Houston police are reporting that a teenager took a pit bull dog from a neighbor’s apartment in Houston on Thursday; while the teenager was playing with the dog, a 4-year old boy shot a cap pistol at the dog.  The dog became agitated and bit the 4-year old on his face. The 4-year old was taken to a hospital and is expected to recover from his bite injury. The teenager who took the dog was arrested but police are not saying what charges he faces. Animal control took the dog into custody and will determine whether the dog can be returned to its owner or is too dangerous and needs to be euthanized.

Smith & Hassler is pleased to announce a trial victory yesterday in an automobile accident injury case. The case is Cause No. 2009-38849; Pedro Arroyo v Jennifer Fares, In the 165th Judicial District Court, Harris County, Texas (Judge Josefina Rendon presiding). Some details of the case are discussed here: no attorney-client privileges are violated because the trial and the trial transcript are a matter of public record.

Smith & Hassler’s client, Mr. Pedro Arroyo, is a 40-year old self-employed construction worker with 3 children. On December 12, 2007 Mr. Arroyo was driving a Chevrolet van on the beltway 8 feeder road. When he reached the intersection of the beltway 8 feeder and Gulfbank, his van was struck by a 2006 Dodge Magnum station wagon driven by the defendant, Jennifer Fares, who was 19-years old at the time.

The impact was significant: both vehicles were badly damaged and had to be towed. Many of Mr. Arroyo’s construction tools that were in his van were damaged. The police investigated and Ms. Fares was issued a ticket for running the red light. An ambulance checked Mr. Arroyo out at the scene but he did not want to be transported because he was concerned about the safekeeping of his tools. After the collision Pedro had pain to his left knee, left elbow, neck and his low back.

The next day Mr. Arroyo saw a chiropractor at Houston Spine & Rehabilitation Center on FM1960. He was diagnosed with headaches and lumbar and cervical sprains/strains. Pedro left for his annual Christmas vacation to Mexico at that time and resumed treatment with Spine & Rehab on January 4, 2008 when he returned to the United States. Mr. Arroyo’s additional treatment consisted of an MRI of his neck, an MRI of his low back, a consultation with a pain management specialist (M.D.) and two visits to a board-certified orthopedic surgeon. Doctors suggested Mr. Arroyo get an epidural steroid injection (he never have the injection). He had a total of 14 visits to Spine & Rehab for physical therapy and chiropractic care.

Pedro’s medical bills came to $8,046.  Before a lawsuit was ever filed, Smith & Hassler presented Pedro’s claim to Allstate, Ms. Fares’ automobile insurer, hoping to negotiate a fair settlement and avoid a lawsuit.  Allstate initially offered Pedro an amount under $6,000 then finally made their “top offer” of $6,800.  Despite Smith & Hassler’s efforts to negotiate, both before and after the lawsuit was filed, Allstate never offered more than $6,800 (which is less than Pedro’s medical bills). The last settlement offer Smith & Hassler made to Allstate before trial was $15,000.

After hearing the facts and evidence during a one-day trial, during which the only witnesses were the Plaintiff and Defendant, Smith & Hassler attorneys Daragh Carter (lead) and Roger Sullivan asked the jury to award the following:

Past medical expenses: $8,046
Past physical pain: $2,500
Past physical impairment: $2,500
Past mental anguish: $1,500
Total: $14,546

Here is what the jury actually awarded:

Past medical expenses: $8,046
Past physical pain: $3,000
Past physical impairment: $3,000
Past mental anguish: $1,500
Total verdict: $15,546 (not including taxable court costs and pre-judgment interest).

It was very gratifying that the jury saw fit to award MORE than was asked for, and this speaks to the justice of Pedro’s case.  The case was defended at trial by the law firm G. Patrick Collins & Associates, who is Allstate Insurance Company’s in-house law firm.

This was a fair verdict for a deserving client. Smith & Hassler thanks Mr. Arroyo for trusting us with his case. At our firm we believe it is important a personal injury attorney be prepared to take a case to trial when necessary: if you are currently searching for a personal injury attorney to represent you, you might ask attorneys you are considering when they last tried a case to a jury and what the outcome was.

Here is a link to an interesting article that sets out the 6 most common causes of car accidents.  Here are some highlights from the article:

• The first automobile crash related fatality occurred in London, England in 1896; since then the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates 25,000,000 people have died in automobile related accidents
• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says that automobile accidents are the leading cause of death in persons aged 3 to 33 years
• Worldwide close to 1,200,000 people die each year on the roads.

The six leading causes of automobile accidents are:
1. Distracted drivers
2. Driver fatigue
3. Drunk driving
4. Speeding
5. Aggressive driving
6. Weather