Archive for February, 2015

Fatal car accident on Eastex Freeway when Honda Ridgeline rolls

A driver was ejected from his vehicle and fatally injured last night in a single vehicle accident on the Eastex Freeway. For reasons unknown, the silver-colored Honda Ridgeline pickup truck left the roadway around 11:45 p.m. on the Eastex Freeway near Keeland, striking some signs and poles before beginning to roll over.  The crashed pickup came to rest on the feeder road; the driver died at the scene.

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One killed in intersection crash Crosby Freeway at Normandy Street

A car accident early this morning at Crosby Freeway at Normandy Street has killed one person and injured another. Sergeant J.R. Roberts with Houston Police Department told local news that the driver of a Chevy Tahoe SUV was traveling on the U.S. 90 (Crosby Freeway) frontage road when the driver ran a red light and crashed into a Nissan Sentra passenger car on Normandy. The driver of the Tahoe was killed when the vehicle flipped and struck a pole; the driver of the Nissan was injured and transported to hospital.

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Driver of this Tahoe was killed

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Driver of this Nissan was injured

Galveston seawall crash kills driver and passenger

A Sunday morning crash on the Galveston seawall has killed a passenger and driver. A 2006 PT Cruiser, driver by 19-year old Kendall Reed from Crosby, left the roadway and struck a concrete pillar around 3:00 a.m. Sara Santana, age 20, was pulled from the vehicle by bystanders before it burst into flame with the driver still trapped inside. Mr. Reed died at the scene, despite emergency responders’ efforts to save him. Galveston P.D. are working to determine the cost of the fatal accident, including whether alcohol was a factor.

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Scene of the Sunday morning car accident

Josey Scott killed while jogging by hit-and-run driver

19-year old Josey Scott of Shepherd, Texas was fatally struck by a hit-and-run vehicle while jogging eastbound on FM 2666, about four miles west of Shepherd. Texas Department of Public Safety investigators say there was minimal debris left at the scene of the accident, which happened around 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday February 11th. Troopers think the hit-and-run vehicle may have been a teal or green-colored Chevrolet pickup truck, late 80’s model, with significant damage to the front of the vehicle. Anyone with information that may help law enforcement track down the driver who killed Josey and callously left her in the roadway should call Lufkin DPS at 936-699-7340.

Texas considers statewide ban on texting and driving

15 Texas families who have lost loved ones to motor vehicle accidents involving texting while driving appeared at a briefing at the Texas capitol building to show their support for the Alex Brown Memorial Act. The bill prohibits drivers from using a cell phone to type, read or send a text message while operating their vehicle, though it would allow a driver to text if they were outside a travel lane and the vehicle was stopped. Fines would range from $25 to $200. The proposed ban on texting and driving would be statewide. There are already some localized bans on using cell phones in school zones. This is the fourth time that Senator Judith Zaffirini has proposed the ban.

Texas Dept. of Transportation data shows that cell phone use causing distracted driving killed 52 people in Texas in 2014, and in 2013 there were 459 fatal crashes involving a distracted driver, of which 56 deaths were caused by cell phone use.

A bill previously passed both chambers in 2011 but was vetoed by Governor Rick Perry. Critics of the proposed ban say that it won’t be effective and people will text and drive anyway. That’s not a very effective argument. You could say the same about speed limits on roads: why have speed limits when people are going to speed anyway. If speed limits were removed some people would drive dangerously fast because there would be no consequences to doing so. Perhaps if there was a consequence to driving distracted by texting, less people would do it and we’d all be safer.