Houston Personal Injury Attorneys – Smith & Hassler

Houston Fire Department responded to a one-alarm fire that broke out at an apartment complex on Burgoyne near Nantucket around 4:15am. The only injuries reported at this time are burn injuries to a man who was apparently a resident at the complex: he was rushed to a nearby hospital and his condition is unknown. Officials from HFD are working to determine what caused the fire. ABC Eyewitness News on Channel 13 is reporting the apartment complex is called Oaks of Cypress Station, and that the resident was taken to hospital for what is being described as an asthma attack. The same Channel 13 report also quotes firefighters as saying the apartment complex was built in the 1970’s before codes were in place that required fire hydrants, so the nearest fire hydrant to the complex was 600 feet away.

Some fires are simply accidents that are nobody’s fault, others are preventable tragedies due to the negligence of one or more people. Unfortunately (particularly early in the process) it is difficult to determine which you are dealing with: accident or negligence. If you have been injured in a house fire, apartment fire or other type of fire, call or email Houston personal injury law firm Smith & Hassler for a free consultation.

Chrysler has announced that it will be recalling 250,000 2010 model year minivans and SUVs because of an ignition problem that can lead to sudden engine stalling. Apparently the stalling problem occurs because the ignition in the vehicles can be too easily bumped or shaken into the “accessory power” position: when that happens the vehicle’s engine will immediately shut off. Obviously that’s a big problem if you are in the midst of passing an 18-wheeler when it happens and there is a vehicle coming toward you from the opposite direction. The sudden loss of power also presents a danger of a rear-end collision. In fact at least two rear-end crashes have been blamed on the problem according to a letter sent by Chrysler to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The specific vehicles involved in the recall are the Chrysler Town & County minivan and the Dodge Journey SUV manufactured between June 3, 2009 and August 17, 2010. Chrysler dealers will replace the ignition modules on the affected vehicles with replacements that are less likely to cut off.

If you have been seriously injured in an accident resulting from a sudden loss of power in a 2010 Chrysler Town & Country or Dodge Journey, call the experienced personal injury attorneys at Smith & Hassler for a free consultation regarding your potential products liability case.

Wednesday March 2, 2011: a man identified by Channel 2 News as homeless was hit and killed by a suspected drunk driver while attempting to cross Highway 6 near Piping Rock in southwest Houston. According to the Houston Police Department the car versus pedestrian accident happened at around 11:20PM. The pedestrian died at the scene. Police said the pedestrian was not using a crosswalk when he was hit by the red Mitsubishi Outlander. Police said the 26-year old driver of the Mitsubishi hit and run and fled the scene after the collision but was caught in a nearby neighborhood and police brought him back to the accident scene. The driver was given a sobriety test and then taken into custody on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. According to Channel 2’s report, the driver admitted to police that he had been drinking since 11:00am that morning. The victim has not been identified and may have been leaving The Dam Ice House on Highway 6. The driver of the Mitsubishi has not been identified either.

Update: The Houston Chronicle is reporting that the driver of the Mitsubishi has been identified as Carlton Jay Eberle. Eberle has been charged with an accident involving injury and it is expected he will be charged with driving while intoxicated. The Chronicle’s report says the deceased pedestrian was 53-years old, but did not identify him by name.

Carlton Jay Eberle, 26, driver of a Mitsubishi that struck and killed a 53-year old pedestrian on Highway 6 in West Houston

If you or a loved on have been victimized by an automobile accident, motorcycle accident, pedestrian accident, bicycle accident or truck accident caused by a drunk driver, call the experienced Houston personal injury attorneys at Smith & Hassler for a free consultation. The earlier in your case you call, the better: the insurance company will want you to settle for a small amount as early as possible and have you sign a release. This will limit the insurance company‘s liability and prevent them from having to pay more later. Smith & Hassler‘s personal injury attorneys have aggressively represented injured people in the Houston area and throughout Texas for more than 20-years, including bereaved family members bringing wrongful death lawsuits.

This poster of 20-year old Jacqueline Saburido, victim of drunk driver, is a grim reminder of the danger drunk driving poses.

Frederick Gustav Mueller, a 17-year old from Bellaire, was charged with intoxication manslaughter in a motorcycle versus pickup truck collision that killed a Jamaica Beach volunteer firefighter. Mueller was released on bond on Sunday. The police account of the fatal accident is that Mueller was driving his truck along the seawall near 83rd Street when he moved over into the right hand lane. Chris Norregard, the volunteer firefighter driving behind him, moved over to his left to go around Mueller’s vehicle, but then Mueller suddenly made a left turn causing Norregard to crash into the side of Mueller’s truck. Sadly Norregard was pronounced dead at the hospital. For 25-years Norregard had volunteered him time as a firefighter for Jamaica Beach. His colleagues remember him as a very giving and kind person who had helped many after Hurricane Ike hit, and even housed people at his home. Norregard was married and leaves behind two sons, both of whom volunteer with Jamaica Beach F.D.

Update: A Houston Press article on the accident written by George Flynn and published February 2, 2012 is available here. The detailed article examines the circumstances surrounding the accident, the eventual dismissal of the felony charge brought against Mueller, and the revelation that both drug and alcohol screenings revealed the teenager was not under the influence of any intoxicants at the time of the accident. According to the article, samples taken by the medical examiner from Norregard showed alcohol levels of .153 and .188, well above the legal level for intoxication of .08.

Bellaire teenager Frederick Gustav Mueller

February 28, 2011: three school buses crashed on Monday afternoon sending ten students to the hospital to be checked out and treated for injuries. The collision happened on Bellaire Boulevard at Synott around 4:30PM in southwest Houston. This was a chain reaction style collision: Alief Independent School District said one of its buses stopped suddenly, the second bus ran into it and the second bus was then rear-ended by the third bus. The students taken to the hospital attend Killough Middle School; fortunately none of the injuries to the students were described as serious.

Every automobile accident injury claim (or lawsuit) has two components: liability (who was at fault for the accident) and damages (what losses does the injured person have, e.g. medical bills, lost wages, physical pain). People sometimes think that there is a law in the State of Texas that says that in a rear-end collision, the car behind is always at fault. That’s not true, which makes sense because there are occasions when the car in front is at fault, e.g. in the case of a sudden lane change where the front car unexpectedly switches lanes and slams on its brakes, cutting off the rear car and causing an accident.

Generally speaking though, rear-end collisions are more straightforward when it comes to liability, and insurance companies are more likely to fault their insured in a rear-end collision. The Texas Transportation Code includes a statute saying all drivers have a duty to maintain an assured following distance from the vehicle in front, such that the rear vehicle can safely stop in an emergency. If a police officer investigates a rear-end collision and issues a citation, the driver of the rear car is usually cited for “failure to control speed.”  This does not necessarily mean the driver of the rear car is driving over the speed limit, what it means is the collision occurred because the driver of the rear car was not able to reduce their speed in time to safely come to a stop.

If you have been injured in a rear end car accident, call the experienced Houston personal injury attorneys at Smith & Hassler for a free consultation and advice on your insurance claim. Even if your accident does involve clear liability, that doesn’t guarantee the other driver’s insurance company is going to offer you a fair settlement!

10 students were injured in a 3 school bus crash on Bellaire in Houston

News Channel 2 is reporting that an 18-month old little boy was fatally struck by a pickup truck in an apartment complex parking lot on Sunday February 27, 2011.  According to Houston police, the boy wandered outside an apartment in the 12200 block of Sapling Way at around 1:30PM. Somehow the child found his way to the parking lot and the driver of a pickup truck traveling through the complex hit him. The boy was transported to Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital where he died.  The boy has not been identified and no charges have been filed against the driver of the pickup truck.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2009 4,092 pedestrians died in traffic crashes. And estimated 59,000 were injured in 2009, 13,00 of those injured were age 14 and younger.  If you or your child have been injured in a pedestrian accident, contact the experienced Houston personal injury attorneys at Smith & Hassler for a free review of your case.  The insurance company for the driver that injured you will be working hard to protect their interests: wouldn’t you like the reassurance of a personal injury law firm working hard to protect you?

Sunday February 27, 2011: a 3-car crash in northwest Harris County early Sunday has killed a 20-year old college student and injured six other people. According to investigators, the driver of a 1996 Chrysler Sebring was traveling east in the 7900 block of Spring Cypress when he changed lanes to pass another vehicle but lost control of his car which caused him to cross over into the westbound lanes. The Sebring was then hit by a 2007 GMC Yukon traveling westbound on Spring Cypress. The Sebring was then struck by a third vehicle, a 2007 Lexus RX350 also traveling west. The driver of the Sebring died at the accident scene and four passenger from the Yukon as well as a passenger from the Lexus were taken to Houston Northwest Medical Center. Today Martina Morgan identified the driver of the Sebring as her 20-year old son David James Morgan, a neuroscience major at the University of Texas at Dallas: David had just left his family’s home and was returning to Dallas when the collision happened.

Smith & Hassler has 20+ years experience handling claims and lawsuits associated with automobile accidents.  If you have been injured in a car accident, contact the Houston personal injury attorneys at Smith & Hassler for a free consultation.

One-year old Elias Castillo died Friday evening, the fourth young child to die due to injuries from the Jackie’s Child Care fire in Houston earlier this week. Two other children remain in critical condition in Shriners Hospital for Children in Galveston where they are being treated for smoke inhalation and burns. One child has been released from Memorial Hermann Children’s Hospital. Jessica Rene Tata, the 22-year old operator of the day care, has been accused of leaving the children home alone at the time of the fire, but has not yet been charged with any criminal wrongdoing. Ron Tata, Rene’s brother, says that she has hired a lawyer.

19-year old John Chestnut, who watched the tragic scene unfold Thursday afternoon, says he thinks Tata may have left something cooking on the stove when she went out to the grocery store. He said he watched Tata pull into the driveway of the home day care and calmly carry groceries to the front door. Chestnut said when she opened the door smoke came pouring out and Tata ran toward himself and others screaming for help and saying the children were inside.

Chestnut’s friend Geoffrey Deshano saw a little boy through a window on the daycare. Chestnut said Deshano then broke a window to try to get to the boy but was forced back by heavy smoke. Chestnut went in to the daycare through the back door, crawling and squinting as he went. He said he saw flames coming from the stove and could hear the children screaming. Chestnut quickly was overcome by the smoke and said he had to retreat. “I keep hearing kids screaming in my head when I’m sleeping” Chestnut told the Houston Chronicle.

God bless these poor little children and their families.

Local News Channel 2 is reporting that fire investigators suspect the 22-year old owner/operator of a West Houston day care left the kids along before a deadly fire broke out, ultimately killing 3 of the children and seriously injuring 4 other children. Jessica Tata, owner of Jackie’s Child Care, has not yet been charged with a crime, but police and fire investigators said a criminal case was building as evidence of what lead to the deadly fire is gathered.

Sources within Houston Fire Department told Local 2 Investigates that a neighbor states they saw Jessica Tata returning from a shopping trip to the grocery store, during which she left the kids alone at the home. That neighbor, Geoffrey Deshano, told Local 2 he saw Tata pulling up, frantically calling for help as she repeatedly stated she left the kids alone. Deshano told HFD investigators that he watched Tata fumble for keys, unable to get into the day care center. HFD spokeswoman Assistant Fire Chief Lisa Campbell said HFD is waiting to speak to Tata and they have not yet had an opportunity to do that.

Ron Tata, Jessica Tata’s brother, said the claim that Tata left the children alone is not accurate. The Houston Chronicle quoted him as saying that those claims were “crap” and he appeared to fault neighbors who, he said, stood by watching and doing nothing as Jessica Tata attempted to remove kids from the burning house. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, an investigator said that even the very cheapest of smoke detectors will sound an alarm before smoke is visible. In this fire smoke filled the entire home, so any adult would have had enough time to save all seven of the children had someone been in the house at the time of the fire.

Deshano said that once he and Tata were finally able to open the back door, smoke poured out and a crying and choking child emerged. He said they couldn’t reach the other children because the smoke was so thick and choking. The Houston Chronicle reported that as the tragic scene unfolded Jessica Tata, who had burns to her hands, turned to her mother and told her to call a lawyer, a Houston Chronicle photographer said.

If the Houston Fire Department investigation ultimately reveals that Jessica Tata did leave the seven children alone in the house before or at the time of the deadly fire, her doing so almost certainly goes beyond ordinary negligence and rises to the level of gross negligence. These vulnerable children, none of whom could probably even reach to open a door knob to escape the deadly smoke and fire, depended on the protection and good judgment of those charged with caring for them. If they were left alone in the house, even for a short amount of time, that is totally unacceptable and has resulted in a terrible, preventable tragedy.

If you or a loved one have been injured in a house fire, call the experienced Houston personal injury attorneys at Smith & Hassler who have aggressively represented injured Texans for more than 20-years.

13-year old Giovanni Moreno died yesterday evening in a pickup truck versus bicycle collision on Clay Road in Houston at around 7:20PM according to Harris County Sheriff’s Department. The accident occurred in the 16700 block of Clay Road near Glennale: deputies said the teenager died at the scene. Deputies said Moreno was riding a bicycle when he rode through a ditch and into a traffic lane on Clay Road when he was struck by the eastbound pickup truck. The driver of the truck told investigators that when he saw the bicycle in the travel lane ahead of him he slammed on his brakes and attempts to swerve but was unable to avoid striking Moreno.

Smith & Hassler currently represents a young girl from the Houston area who suffered a compound fracture of her leg when the driver of a car speeding through an apartment complex parking lot lost control of his vehicle and collided with her as she sat on her bike on a sidewalk. If you or your child has been injured in a bicycle accident, call the experienced Houston personal injury attorneys at Smith & Hassler for a free consultation.