Houston Personal Injury Attorneys – Smith & Hassler

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.

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.

The video below shows a collision between a passenger car and a man walking on a freeway: the video was shot in Russia. The man was walking close by a vehicle that appears to have broken down in a freeway travel lane. He was not looking in the direction of approaching traffic when the car came from his right side and struck him, throwing him many feet into the air. Despite how severe the accident looks, the man was fortunate to escape with only a broken leg. This video provides a powerful reminder of why Texas has a “steer it and clear it” law. Chapter 550.022 of the Texas Transportation Code governing accidents involving damage to a vehicle says: “If an accident occurs on a main lane, ramp, shoulder, median or adjacent area of a freeway and each vehicle can be normally and safely driven, each vehicle operator shall move the operator’s vehicle as soon as possible to a designated accident investigation site, a location on the frontage road, the nearest suitable cross street or other suitable location to complete the requirements of Section 550.023 and minimize the interference with existing freeway traffic flow.”

Sometimes there is a tendency for people involved in an accident not to move their vehicle from a travel lane until the police arrive so the police can determine who was at fault. If your vehicle is still driveable and there is a lot of traffic passing by, the safer approach would be to move the vehicles out of the roadway. If you have a cell phone with a camera, as almost everyone does these days, you can always take a couple of quick pictures to show the position of the vehicles before you move them.