Houston Personal Injury Attorneys – Smith & Hassler

The inbound Gulf Freeway was closed this morning after a collision involving an 18-wheeler and a pickup truck. The 18-wheeler was hauling concrete barriers when the driver noticed the big rig was starting to catch fire. He attempted to pull over onto the shoulder, but when he did, struck a pickup truck parked in the shoulder lane. The 18-wheeler then traveled an additional 1/4 mile or so according to Channel 13, before it stopped and was engulfed by flames. The injured driver of the pickup truck was taken to Clear Lake Regional Medical Center.

Crews work on the burned 18-wheeler

One person is dead as a result of a head-on crash early this morning between a Chevy Suburban and a Chevy Silverado pickup truck. The accident caused authorities to shut down FM 1960 in both direction near Farrell Road as they worked the scene. There’s no indication in the news media at the moment about what caused the crash.

The afternoon of Wednesday January 4, 2017 a Cleveland ISD school bus traveling on FM 1050 near Highway 105 left the roadway and entered a ditch. According to Channel 2’s story, the bus driver swerved to avoid an incident ahead involving other vehicles. The bus was carrying 4th and 5th graders from Eastside Intermediate School at the time. While many children were taken to the hospital to be evaluated, it sounds like, fortunately, serious injuries were avoided.

An early Sunday morning crash in Tomball claimed the life of a motorcyclist when a woman driving a Mercedes G Wagon SUV pulled in front of the biker.

HCSO lists the time of the crash as around 2:00 a.m. The woman’s SUV was traveling eastbound on Spring Cypress Road near Highway 249 when she commenced a left turn in the path of the westbound motorcycle. The motorbike struck the passenger side rear door of the Mercedes causing extensive damage. The motorcyclist died at the scene.

Damage to the Mercedes SUV

KHOU’s news story indicates that HCSO believe alcohol was a factor in the crash for the woman driving the Mercedes. If she is determined to have been legally intoxicated at the time of the collision she could face a charge of intoxication manslaughter.

The male driver of a white colored Mazda Miata was seriously injured when he crashed into a Hyundai SUV after losing control of his car on Westheimer. The Mazda was eastbound on Westheimer before crossing the median and striking the westbound SUV. According to Channel 13 News, the driver of the SUV was not injured in the accident. Last night’s heavy rain in Houston may have contributed to the crash.

A pedestrian was killed in an accident in downtown Houston the afternoon of Tuesday October 4, 2016. The accident happened on Commerce Street near North Hamilton Street. The truck, which belonged to Texas Outhouse, hit the pedestrian at around 3:30 p.m. First responders were unable to revive the pedestrian using CPR. A witness named Charla Pickett interviewed by Channel 13 News said the victim was a homeless man and the truck driver didn’t realize he had run over the man until she told him.

Friendswood Police Department investigated a motorcycle accident around noon yesterday on W. Bay Area Boulevard in Friendswood. Aerial photographs taken by Channel 11 News’ helicopter showing a collision between the motorcycle and a red-colored Ford Mustang. The motorcycle appears to have t-boned the Mustang on the driver’s side front fender. A wider camera angle of the vehicles suggests that the Mustang pulled out of a driveway and was attempting to cross the motorcycle’s lane of travel, and the motorcyclist swerved to his or her left to try and avoid the crash.

A pickup truck driver somehow ended up driving into oncoming traffic on the Hardy Toll Road in Houston last night, eventually crashing head-on into a tow truck. The pickup was driving northbound in the southbound lanes, the crash happened right around midnight. Fortunately both drivers are injured but expected to survive.

The alleged wrong-way driving pickup

Houston Police Department Officer James Combs remains jailed on a charge of intoxication manslaughter after a head-on collision claimed the life of single father Brian Manring.

Investigators say that Combs’ blood alcohol content was more that twice the legal limit when he crossed the center line on Beechnut in Fort Bend County and his white Chevy Tahoe SUV struck Manring’s silver Corvette. The crash happened around 6:30 a.m. on Friday August 12th. After the crash Combs refused to take a field sobriety test. Combs’ blood was later drawn at a hospital and his BAC was reported to be 0.17. In Texas a person is legally intoxicated in they operate a motor vehicle with a BAC of .08 or greater.

Brian Manring’s Facebook page is populated with pictures of his young daughter. How sad that this little girl is now forever without her Dad.

Brian Manring’s wrecked Corvette

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.