Houston Personal Injury Attorneys – Smith & Hassler

A fatal crash early this morning shut down all lanes of Interstate 45 at the North 610 Loop. According to Channel 2 News, a black car was stopped in the fast lane of I-45 to change a flat tire. A white-colored Honda car stopped behind the black car to assist. One of the drivers was standing behind the white Honda when a white-colored Dodge Ram pickup slammed into the back of the Honda, killing the person who was standing between the two vehicles.

A chain reaction car accident injured two drivers in the Cypress area last night, including a Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy. According to KHOU the crash started around 10:20 p.m. when a red Toyota Camry traveling eastbound on FM 1960 crashed into the rear of a Chevy Cruz. The Chevy was left disabled with its lights off in a travel lane when seconds later the HCSO patrol vehicle struck the Chevy from behind, knocking it into opposing lanes.

Both the driver of the Chevy and the Deputy were taken to hospital, the Deputy with possible broken bones. At Smith & Hassler we always advice against persons without legal representation giving statements to insurance companies, but that is particularly true of chain reaction collisions like these.

A major car accident on Houston North Freeway totaled several cars last night and sent a number of people to the hospital. According to KHOU’s reporter at around 11:30 p.m. a blue-colored Toyota Scion was stopped in the travel lanes, occupied by two men. An SUV approaching from behind was unable to stop in time and rear-ended the Scion. The freeway was closed down as emergency crews worked the accident, which of course caused traffic to back up and that resulted in another accident at West Mount Houston, when an SUV driver didn’t see the stopped traffic until it was too late, hitting the divider wall and several vehicles. A woman was extracted from a seriously damaged Toyota (pictured below); fortunately her injuries were not life-threatening.

A woman was cut from this Toyota by the fire dept.

Injured driver

SUV damaged in last nights chain reaction accident

Deputy Robert Layman with Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office remains hospitalized after he and a colleague were struck by a vehicle on Interstate 45 North two days ago. Deputy Layman and Sergeant Jack Valenzuela were hit by a Jeep Cherokee SUV Wednesday morning as they walked back to their patrol car, having stopped to assist a motorist whose vehicle became disabled in a travel lane. Sgt. Valenzuela was released from hospital that day, however Deputy Layman suffered serious injuries and will probably be off the job for quite some time. The driver of the Jeep, a 50-year old male, is cooperating with the police investigation of the accident.

The Montgomery County Law Enforcement Association has established a benefit fund to help Deputy Layman and his family with the costs of an extended time in hospital and out of work. Donations can be made at any Woodforest National Bank, and the check should be payable to the “Robert Layman Benefit Fund.” Hopefully Deputy Layman will recover in time to be home with his family for Christmas.

Hopefully the Jeep was covered by a large automobile insurance policy that will compensate Deputy Layman for his injuries and lost time from work. Claims involving serious injury and an extended hospital stay frequently involve dealing with negotiating large health insurance liens, and sometimes liens from short term or long term disability insurers.

The MCSO cruiser damaged in the wreck

The wrecked Jeep Cherokee

Just after 9:00 p.m. Wednesday September 3rd a man was killed when his gray pickup truck crashed into the rear of a highway construction barricade truck. The westbound lanes of the Katy Freeway were closed for several hours. The cause of the accident remains under investigation. News coverage here.

Photo credit: Marvin Suggs

A man was arrested on suspicion of driving drunk after a three vehicle accident early this morning.  Around 1:30 a.m. a Chevrolet Tahoe traveling northbound on the Gulf Freeway struck the driver’s side rear of a silver BMW 3-series, causing the BMW to then hit a third vehicle.  The back of the BMW shows extensive damage.

The driver of this Tahoe was arrested

Occupants of this BMW were injured

Car accident personal injury claims | car accidents caused by drunk drivers | getting your medical bills paid

Paramedics were treating a patient early Saturday morning when a truck slammed into the back of their ambulance on the North Freeway feeder road in Houston.  The truck driver and the paramedics’ patient (a dancer from Fantasy Plaza) were not injured in the crash; the two paramedics were taken to hospital in stable condition. While HPD were clearing the accident scene, traffic backed up on the opposite side of the freeway. A motorcycle rider approaching the stalled traffic was unable to stop in time and lost control of his motorbike before hitting a retaining wall. Two cars traveling behind the motorcycle then ran over the downed rider: one driver stopped and waited for police, the other kept going. The ambulance crashed happened around 2:30 a.m.

Several people were injured in a four vehicle accident that involved a METRO bus. Around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon a METRO bus rear-ended a black colored car on Almeda Genoa, pushing the car into two other vehicles. The car’s driver and two passengers were transported by ambulance. The commentary to Channel 2’s story on the accident makes for some interesting reading.

The morning commute ground to a halt today due to a three vehicle accident.  According to KHOU, an 18-wheeler rear ended a small car, causing the car to spin out and collide with a METRO bus.  The accident happened around 7:08 a.m. on the Gulf Freeway southbound near the exit for Monroe Road. The driver of the car was transported to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Photo credit: TranStar Houston

A Houston Police Department officer was injured this morning in a crash on the Eastex Freeway at the North Beltway. The officer was attempting to block part of the freeway at the scene of a previous accident that left debris in the roadway; a car hit the vehicle that spilled the debris, pushing that vehicle into the officer.  The officer’s condition was unknown at the time of Channel 2’s report: he or she was transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital.  Police say the driver who knocked the vehicle into the officer will be cited for failure to control speed.  The crash happened around 11:00 a.m. and the freeway was reopened at 1:10 p.m.

Rear-end car accidents