Houston Personal Injury Attorneys – Smith & Hassler

Two people were killed and several others injured in a four vehicle accident at the intersection of Beltway 8 feeder and Antoine. According to media accounts of the accident, it started when a 17-year old driving a Dodge Ram pickup truck ran through a red light, colliding with an SUV occupied by a family of four. A 34-year old woman and a 15-year old boy in the SUV lost their lives; the father, driving the SUV, and a daughter, riding in the rear seat, were transported to hospital.

After it was struck by the pickup truck the SUV rolled onto two other vehicles causing additional injuries to those occupants.

An article that recently appeared on the Houston Chronicle’s web site states that Houston leads the entire nation in red light runner fatal accidents. T-bone type crashes have perhaps greater potential to cause serious injury or death than any other type of motor vehicle collision because of the proximity of the point of impact to the occupants of the vehicle.

Running a red light to try and get where you are going a few minutes sooner is simply not worth the risk and, as in his tragic case, endangers the lives of other innocent drivers.

The victim’s SUV and the Dodge Ram that ran the red light

The victims’ Tahoe where it came to rest

Five people were sent to the hospital when an attempt to tow a disable vehicle ended with a car accident. Channel 2 reports that some folks were using a Ford Explorer SUV to tow a car when the towing strap became dislodged. A nearby security guard tried to assist a man and woman involved in the towing effort to reconnect the tow strap, and as he was doing so a car crashed into them. The security guard was thrown up onto the car’s windshield. The accident happened off Beltway 8 on Wednesday April 29th.

Emergency responders help the injured

At least five people were killed this morning in a collision on Beltway 8 at Wilson Road: one of the drivers involved was driving the wrong directions on the freeway. HCSO deputies said a sixth person was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital and the wrong-way driver was taken to Ben Taub. Click2Houston’s report is here. KHOU’s story is here and reports that the wrong way driver’s vehicle was a flatbed pickup truck; a photograph on KHOU’s web site appears to show a logo on the passenger door of the pickup, indicating it is a commercial vehicle. ABC Channel 13’s report states the victims were four adults and one child. The victims’ vehicle, a white-colored Ford F150, caught fire after the crash.

UPDATE: the wrong-way driver has been identified as Efraim Carmona – Carmona has been charged with five counts of intoxication manslaughter and one count of intoxication assault.

UPDATE 2: Efraim Carmona’s blood alcohol content was reportedly .23, almost 3 times the legal limit of .08, according to an article on Channel 2’s web site. Carmona reportedly did not cooperate with the police investigation and would not answer question, although there were multiple alcohol containers in his vehicle. TABC is investigating to see if Carmona was drinking at a bar before the crash. The sole survivor of the crash aside from Carmona was an adolescent girl who is in critical condition at Memorial Hermann Hospital.

Photo credit: KHOU

Photo credit: KHOU

Police say a woman was speeding around 1:00 a.m. this morning when she slammed on her brakes, losing control of her Nissan car before striking a concrete barrier, spinning out then rear-ending a Houston Police Department patrol car. Both vehicles are totaled. The officer in the patrol car was watching for speeders at the time of the accident on the Southwest Freeway near Beltway 8. KHOU said neither the officer nor the driver of the Nissan were injured in the accident; the driver faces two traffic citations.

Photo credit: KHOU

Photo credit: KHOU

Car accident injury attorney in Houston; contingency fee attorney in Houston

A man was killed in a rear-end collision yesterday around 3:00 p.m. The man’s Jeep Cherokee had broken down on the East Beltway 8 feeder road near West Lake Houston Parkway. The man had called a family member for assistance and was waiting in his vehicle when it was struck from behind by a wrecker, causing the Jeep to catch fire. The wrecker driver and one other person pulled the man from the Jeep and attempted CPR but the man died at the accident scene.

Photo credit: KHOU Channel 11 News

Photo credit: Channel 11 News Houston

Houston personal injury attorneys since 1989: Smith & Hassler law firm.

Channel 2 is reporting that a HPD officer was injured in a car accident around 5:00 a.m. this morning at the intersection of Beltway 8 and South Post Oak. The officer was responding to an emergency call to assist another officer with lights and siren activated when another driver hit the officer’s car. The car driven by the other person caught fire a few blocks from where the accident happened and the driver fled the scene on foot. Houston Police Department said the officer suffered minor injuries. Hopefully she will recover soon and be back to work.

Photo credit: Channel 2 News

If you have been hurt in a car accident and you’re thinking of hiring a personal injury attorney to protect your interests, visit Smith & Hassler’s web site to learn more about our highly experienced attorneys’ backgrounds. The Smith & Hassler law firm has focused exclusively on representing injured people since 1989 and has the resources to prosecute injury claims of all sizes. Also run a Google search for “smith and hassler reviews” to see what former clients have been saying about our work.

Channel 2 is reporting that 91-year old Relva McCarty passed away days after a May 13 motor vehicle accident in Houston. Mr. McCarty was a passenger in a Mercury Mariner SUV that collided with a Toyota Camry around 8:30am on May 13th at the intersection of Beltway 8 and Hammerly. Mr. McCarty was rushed from the accident scene to Memorial Hermann Hospital, and from there transferred to Kindred Hospital where sadly he died on May 17th.  Police have said that both drivers involved were at fault for the collision.