Two drivers were injured in a car accident early this morning. The accident was at the intersection of Pierce and Dowling in Houston. According to police the driver of a Toyota was traveling at a high rate of speed eastbound on Pierce and was running red lights. On reaching the intersection of Pierce and Dowling, the Toyota was struck by a Chevrolet Impala heading southbound. Police said the Impala had the green light when it entered the intersection. Both drivers were injured and were taken to the hospital in stable condition. The driver of the Toyota was pinned inside his vehicle and had to be extracted by heavy rescue. Channel 11’s report of the accident is here.
Channel 13 News is reporting a police chase last night involving a 7-year old and 3-year old child. The sequence of events began just before 9:00pm at an apartment complex on Blackhawk. According to investigators, a husband and wife were arguing so the wife went to a friend’s house to escape the situation, but she still felt threatened by the husband so she called for help. When police approached the husband in his SUV he took off with his three and seven year old children in the back seat. Instead of stopping for deputies, the man fired shots at them. This then turned into a vehicle pursuit on the Gulf Freeway: during the pursuit the man was on the phone with his wife, threatening her. After briefly evading police the man’s black Chevrolet Tahoe SUV was spotted about 20 minutes later. The man had flipped the SUV at the Gulf Freeway and Clear Lake City Boulevard. The news report indicates the children were not seriously injured in the rollover accident.
Did you know…? In a single-vehicle accident where one family member is driving and another family member is injured, the injured family member can still make a claim under the insurance policy on the vehicle, however under the terms of the insurance policy, the amount the injured family member can recover is typically limited to the state required minimum liability limits for bodily injury. In the Texas the current minimum liability insurance all driver’s must carry for bodily injury or death caused to another person is $30,000. If you have been injured while riding in a family member’s vehicle and your family member was at fault, call Houston injury attorneys Smith & Hassler for an explanation of how such an insurance claim against a family member works.
An early morning
crash Tuesday on Boone Road at Beechnut Street nearly took a turn for the worse but for a guardrail preventing a pickup truck from plunging into a bayou. The white-colored Ford Ranger pickup truck was hauling a trailer and traveling southbound on Boone Road when the driver veered the truck into oncoming traffic and caused it to
crash into the rear of another pickup truck. The truck then
crashed into a guardrail that was over a bayou. Firefighters had to cut through the truck to rescue the driver. Both drivers involved in the accident were taken to hospital for treatment.
FOX News’ story is here.
Smith & Hassler’s experienced personal injury attorneys have collectively handled thousands of automobile accident injury claims. If you would rather not take the chance of going it alone in dealing with the other driver’s insurance company, call Smith & Hassler for a no-cost consultation.
An elderly woman died after a crash between a United States Postal Service 18-wheeler and a minivan the afternoon of Friday May 11th. The accident happened at around 3:45 p.m. at the intersection of Misty Willow and Willowplace Court in Northwest Houston. Two people were pinned inside the minivan after the accident and were freed by rescue crews. An elderly woman who was an occupant of the minivan later died at Methodist Willowbrook Hospital. FOX News’ story is here.
Alexander Moreno (24), Jose Aurelio Cantaerero Benitez (48) and David Mejia Bonilla (22) were pronounced dead at the scene of a major car accident at around 7:00 am on Saturday May 12th. The three men were passengers in a Honda Civic driven by 19-year old Misael Esquibel. Investigators say the Honda Civic pulled up to a stop sign at FM 3083 at Butler in Conroe, but then failed to yield the right-of-way to a 1998 Dodge Ram 2500 pickup truck. The pickup crashed into the side of the Honda Civic, tearing open the side of the vehicle and ejecting one passenger into the woods. Investigators say the intersection where this accident happened is dangerous: two crosses nearby mark the scene of other fatal accidents. The driver of the pickup truck was essentially unhurt and the driver of the Honda Civic was taken to Conroe Regional Hospital in critical condition. Channel 2’s story on the deadly accident is here. ABC Channel 13’s story is here. The Houston Chronicle’s story is here.
Ashton Craven, 38, has been identified as the suspected drunk driver involved in a two vehicle accident in Houston that injured a pregnant woman and claimed the life of her unborn child. The accident happened the afternoon of Saturday May 12, 2012: witnesses say Ashton Craven, driving a green-colored Ford Taurus, ran a stop sign around 1:10 pm while driving on Bataan at Jutland in south Houston. The Taurus crashed into the pregnant lady’s Toyota Corolla that was traveling on Jutland. The woman was rushed to Memorial Herman in the Medical Center, and it was determined her unborn child had died as a result of the crash. Ashton Craven was taken to Ben Taub by paramedics: the District Attorney’s office may upgrade Craven’s charges to intoxication manslaughter. The Houston Chronicle’s story is here.
Channel 13 News posted a brief report this morning of a collision involving an HPD police cruiser. The accident happened around 3:00 am on West 34th Street at Ella Boulevard near Houston Heights. There was heavy rain at the time of the crash. The officer was alone in her police cruiser heading westbound when another driver in a white-colored Toyota sedan made a u-turn in front of her. The officer was unable to stop in time and rear-ended the Toyota. The driver who pulled out in front of the officer said the heavy rain made it impossible to see the police cruiser. The officer’s airbag deployed and injured her arm, she was transported to nearby Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital to be treated.
One of the frustrating aspects of
drunk driving is that first time
drunk drivers often face fines and probation but relatively soon after causing a
drunk driving accident they have done everything the criminal law system required them to do and can move on with their life. Many times the people they injure continue to suffer from the effects of the accident, physically and psychologically, for many years.
A Galveston judge has ordered a
drunk driver who crashed into a woman’s car, seriously injuring her, to pay the woman $862,118 in restitution to cover her medical expenses.
Sarah Hrachovina Coreas, age 21, was seriously hurt in the crash that happened 18-months ago, and was present in court when the
drunk driver’s punishment was decided. Omar Santana Ortiz, 31, pleaded guilty to
intoxication assault for the accident. The
crash happened at the Gulf Freeway frontage road and 61st Street on October 18, 2010 – Ortiz was more than twice the legal limit for
intoxication. Three cars were involved in the
accident.
The restitution payments will be broken up into monthly payments of $7,184. Ortiz’ 10-year prison sentence was probated and he was ordered to do 10-years of community supervision. Who knows if Ortiz will ever repay anywhere near the $862,118 the judge ordered him to repay
Sarah Coreas, but having the debt hang over him will hopefully serve as a reminder and go some way to deterring him from
driving drunk and hurting someone else in another accident.
Channel 2’s story is here.
Under the
Texas Tort Claims Act (TTCA), there are limits placed on the amount of financial liability of a unit of government for death or injury caused to another person. Depending on the type of governmental unit, the maximum damages that may be recovered in a claim for personal injury or death may be either $100,000 or $250,000. In March 2009 a lady named Leigh Boone was involved in an intersection collision between two City of Houston fire trucks in the Montrose area. Ms. Boone was standing at the corner of the intersection with her
bicycle when one of the crashed fire trucks rolled onto her. She died after spending two weeks in the hospital. The
City of Houston settled with Ms. Boone’s family members for $225,000, just under the $250,000 maximum damages that can be recovered from a municipality under the TTCA.
