Houston Personal Injury Attorneys – Smith & Hassler

49-year old Aurora Garcia and her 17-year old son were driving eastbound on Hardin Store Road north of Tomball when their vehicle was struck head-on by a Chevy pickup truck. Ms. Garcia was driving a 1996 Toyota Sedan and her 17-year old was her passenger.  Trooper Kenneth Hebert with the Texas Department of Public Safety told Channel 2 News that a 2000 model Chevy pickup truck was heading westbound on Hardin Store Road when it failed to maintain its lane in a curve, crossed the center line and struck Ms. Garcia’s car head-on. It appears that the pickup fled the scene, rather than the occupants fleeing the scene as earlier reports had indicated.  Although a perimeter was set up, police have not yet caught the culprits.  Ms. Garcia’s son was rushed to hospital in critical condition; Ms. Garcia herself was pronounced dead at the scene.

Photo credit: Channel 2 News Houston

A Houston Fire Department Captain was injured over the weekend when his fire truck was hit by a suspected drunk driver. At 10:30 p.m. on Saturday a fire crew was on their way to a call on US 290 and was making a turn onto West 34th Street in Houston when their fire truck was hit by a pickup. The Captain was taken to the emergency room, fortunately not for life-threatening injuries. The driver who caused the accident was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. The fire truck had lights and sirens operating when it was hit by the pickup truck.

Photo credit: Channel 2 News Houston

Police arrested 29-year old Anthony Adam Garcia for allegedly driving drunk and crashing into the back of a HPD patrol car that was conducting a traffic stop (ironically on another suspected drunk driver). The three car accident happened on the I-45 feeder road near Aldine Bender at around 3:00 a.m. on Monday. The stopped police car had its lights on at the time, but Garcia apparently didn’t slow down, and obviously didn’t move over. Garcia’s vehicle flipped over in the  wreck and the impact was enough to push the police car forward into the pickup truck stopped ahead of it, shattering the back window glass of the cruiser. According to Channel 2’s report nobody was injured, including a police dog sitting in the back of the cruiser.

A motorcycle rider was injured in an accident this morning when he was hit by a wrong-way driver in the HOV lane of the Southwest Freeway (US 59) during this morning’s rush hour.  The accident happened around 8:30 a.m. at 59 and Hillcroft.  METRO officials say the wrong-way driver was elderly, and that after the motorcycle was struck by the wrong-way vehicle it then hit a third vehicle.  The motorcyclist was transported to Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston.

Photo credit: Tim Wetzel / KHOU 11 News

According to police investigators a 51-year old woman was transported to the emergency room with a possible broken leg after a hit-and-run accident in front of the Michoacan Restaurant in the 2300 block of Wirt Road in northwest Houston.  The woman and her mother were standing on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant when a white SUV struck the woman and also crashed into the front of the building.  Per Channel 2’s news article, witnesses saw a Hispanic female climb into the driver’s seat while it was occupied by a Hispanic male, at which point it appears one of them hit the accelerator causing the SUV to shoot forward.  The SUV took off without stopping to provide information or render aid.  Hopefully there is surveillance footage available from the nearby businesses, though it will probably require someone coming forward to identify the hit-and-run driver or the SUV.

A Cardinal Coach Line bus en route to a casino overturned on State Highway 161 today killing two people on board and injuring dozens more. The bus tipped onto its passenger side just east of Dallas Fort Worth airport in Irving, Texas.  Dan Risik, a passenger on the bus, told KXAS that passengers in the bus were screaming and had been thrown on top of one another during the crash.  The bus was heading to Choctaw Casino Resort in Oklahoma; Risik reported that many of the injured passengers on the bus were elderly folk. According to a report in the Mail Online, the Texas Department of Public Safety has not yet determined the cause of the bus crash.

Cardinal Coach Line is based in Mansfield, Texas near Dallas. According to the safety page on Cardinal’s web site, the company “…regularly inspects their coaches to insure (sic) on time schedules.”  The company web site also states that: “Cardinal Coach Line carries $5,000,000 of liability insurance for your group’s protection.”  The page goes on to state “No accidents, no moving violations, no D.O.T. driver or vehicle out of services orders, no D.O.T. out of service violations.”

Photo credit: Associated Press

Photo credit: Associated Press

An early morning accident involving several vehicles and at least one death in blocking several southbound lanes of US 59 this morning.  Last night’s severe thunderstorms in the Houston area may have been a factor, but Channel 13’s article doesn’t state a cause for the wreck.

Update: Channel 11 is reporting that this was a wrong way accident. The accident happened near the George R. Brown convention center when a pickup truck entered the Eastex Freeway heading the wrong way and hit a car head-on, after which a third car hit both those vehicles. The driver of the wrong-way pickup truck, a woman, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver hit head-on was in critical condition.

Channel 2 News is reporting that 3 people were injured in a 5 car accident last night, and Channel 13 is reporting that at least one person was killed: as is typically the case with serious motor vehicle accidents on a Friday night, drunk driving is suspected.  Apparently at around 11:30 p.m. a black-colored SUV was weaving in and out of lanes when it clipped a car, causing the car to spin out and collide with the SUV.  After the initial accident, a pickup truck stopped for the crash and was then struck from behind by two additional vehicles. Channel 2 says 3 people were transported to hospital in stable condition.

Photo credit: Channel 2 News Houston

Two adults and three children were hospitalized after a serious car accident at 1:15 a.m. on the Southwest Freeway feeder at Grand Parkway in Sugar Land. According to Channel 11’s report a white Ford pickup truck crashed into the side of a small, black-colored Nissan hatchback traveling northbound on Grand Parkway. Life Flight was called for at least one patient, others were transported by ground ambulance. The driver of the pickup was treated at the scene for minor injuries: the news story did not indicate which driver ran the red light.

Photo credit: Channel 11 News