Houston Personal Injury Attorneys – Smith & Hassler

ABC Channel 13 eyewitness news made brief reports of two accidents in the Houston area over the weekend.  In one accident on Sunday March 27th a 6-year old child pedestrian was struck by a car outside a Houston church at around 5:00PM. Churchgoers took the child in a private car to Fire Station 59 on Post Oak Boulevard. From there the firefighters took the child to Texas Children’s Hospital where the child was reported to be in stable condition.

Around 7:30PM on Saturday March 26th a man in his 50’s died in a motorcycle crash after it was claimed he took a curve at too high a speed. Harris County Sheriff’s Office investigators say Burl Alsbrooks was driving a 2000 model Honda Shadow motorbike and traveling at a high rate of speed northbound in the 7400 block of the Texas Spur 330. He took the exit ramp to the I-10 east freeway, westbound, at which time he lost control of the bike, left the roadway and hit the metal guardrail. Mr. Alsbrooks was wearing a helmet at the time but it was not a full face helmet, and he struck his face on the guardrail sustaining fatal injuries.  Our sympathies to Mr. Alsbrooks family and friends.

ABC Channel 13 news briefly reported a balcony collapse at an apartment complex in Kaufman, Texas that caused the death of 37-year old Jose Martinez-Hernandez. Kaufman is about 30 miles southeast of Dallas. Investigators say an engineer will inspect all of the balconies in the complex. The accident happened Saturday March 26th; Mr. Hernandez fell 12 feet. Reports from WFAA-TV indicate that residents of the complex say crews had been working on several balconies. That report identified the complex as Windtree Apartments in Kaufman.

Under Texas law, just because a person is injured on another’s property does not make the property owner automatically responsible for paying the injured person’s damages. There must be evidence of negligence on the part of the property owner and/or the person responsible for maintaining the property. Often in the context of an apartment complex a property management company is contracted by the owner of the complex to manage the apartments, including safety and maintenance. If you have been injured in a trip and fall or slip and fall incident on another person’s property and suspect the negligence of the property owner was the cause, call the experienced premises liability attorneys at Smith & Hassler for a free consultation.