Houston Personal Injury Attorneys – Smith & Hassler

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.

One person was killed in a two vehicle accident on the FM 1960 bridge over Lake Houston. The crash happened around 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday January 7th, 2014.  It appears a dark colored SUV, possibly an older model Ford Explorer, struck the passenger side of a black car. Channel 2’s report is here.

A person posting a comment under the username Trishia left the following comment to the Channel 2 story: “My brother was driving the suv,,,,,,,, the car went into oncoming traffic my brother slammed on breaks but ended up hitting her,,, lady of car had a seizure while driving and that’s she was in oncoming traffic,, she died unfortanally thankfully my 9 family members are ok. 4 of them were young kids…”

Photo credit: Channel 2 News Houston

Houston, Texas Personal Injury law firm for car accidents: Smith & Hassler

Around 5:30pm Sunday 12-year old Eddie Teran was riding on a golf cart with his uncle James Teran, 36, at the River Plantation golf course in Conroe. When they went to cross a bridge the golf cart hit an ornate wooden railing on a covered bridge, the railing gave way and the boy, his uncle and the golf cart went over the side of the bridge, falling about 30 feet. Channel 13’s story is here. The Houston Chronicle’s story is here. The Montgomery County Courier article is here. Channel 11’s story is here.

The Chronicle’s article indicates James Teran suffered serious injury, including a badly broken leg and a fractured skull. The Montgomery County Police Reporter states this was the second time such an accident has happened in the part few months: previously a teenage boy in a golf cart transporting soft drinks at a golf tournament crashed through the railing.

Given that the bridge is intended for golf cart traffic one would think the would be fall protection in place for open-sided golf carts passing over such a high bridge. The Montgomery County Police Reporter article describes the railing as “not much more than a porch railing,” which is clearly unsuitable for a bridge designed to carry golf carts because it is not a question of if a golf cart would hit the railing, it is a question of when. Jim Teran, Eddie’s grandfather and James’ father, told the Montgomery County Courier that it is easy for the tires of a golf cart to become stuck in the boards on the bridge, causing the driver’s ability to steer to be affected.

Jamie Teran is tended to by paramedics after his golf cart crashed through an ornamental railing

The golf cart fell about 30 feet to the stream below, seriously injuring Jamie and his nephew

A wooden railing to the side of this covered bridge gave way allowing the golf cart to fall