Houston Personal Injury Attorneys – Smith & Hassler

The future of cycling safety in Houston hinges on fully funding and implementing the city’s bike plan, making it vital that elected officials keep their promises and voters hold them accountable.

The Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University reports that mapping recent Houston bicycle crashes onto the Houston Bike Plan underscores the critical importance of following through with short-term and long-term cycling infrastructure projects to reduce the rising accident rates.

Cycling Safety and Houston Bicycle Accidents

A growing urban environment and the increasing popularity of cycling for transportation and fitness has pushed the number of serious and fatal Houston bicycle crashes to historic highs. Statewide, the Texas Department of Transportation reported nearly 500 bicycle crashes through the first six months of 2018.

The good news is the Houston Bike Plan looks to be targeting some of the area’s most critical cycling safety needs, according to accident data.

The study found 1 in 4 crashes happened on local streets, along mostly residential areas. Safety advocates say this is due to a lack of dedicated bike lanes on main thoroughfares, which pushes riders into nearby neighborhoods. Some 60 percent of accidents were reported on or near streets marked for future projects, while 22 percent occurred on streets already targeted for short-term retrofit improvements, primarily low-cost projects like re-striping and adding signage.

Liability for Houston Cycling Accidents

Planners noted cooperation between Houston City officials and Harris County will also be critical. ABC13 reported a fatal Harris County bicycle accident as a rider attempted to pull into traffic near West Mount Houston and Ella Boulevard.

The bad news is the Houston Bike Plan remains little more than a promise. Adopted in March 2017 by the city council, the aim is to make Houston a gold-level bike-friendly city by 2027. But the city describes the plan as a  “guide,” and acknowledged future funds have not been earmarked or dedicated.

The Houston Chronicle series Dying to Ride examined the growing risks to riders on city streets, reporting that at least 23 riders have been killed on Houston streets in the past 5 years. The newspaper detailed several high-profile fatal hit-and-run bicycle accidents.

A rider’s first avenue of compensation will be a claim against an at-fault driver’s insurance company. However, in cases of hit-and-run, or in collisions where an at-fault party lacks insurance or does not have enough insurance to compensate a victim for all losses, a rider may pursue an uninsured (UM)/underinsured (UIM) motorist claim – if the cyclist has his or her own auto insurance with this type of coverage or is covered under another household member’s policy.

If you have been injured in a bicycle accident in Houston, an attorney at Smith & Hassler Attorneys At Law can help.

An accident this morning at the intersection of Barker Cypress and Spring Barker sent a 12-year old Goodson Middle School student to the hospital.  The young man was riding his bike to school when he was struck by a Ford Mustang.  A ground ambulance took the boy to Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center; his injuries were not listed in Channel 2’s article.

Barker Cypress and Spring Barker

KHOU says that a HPD bike patrol officer was knocked down and injured in an accident in Kingwood. A pickup truck was turning into a gas station on Kingwood Drive near W. Lake Houston Parkway when the officer, who was riding a bicycle, was hit. He was transported to hospital, fortunately with injuries that were not life-threatening. The article doesn’t say if the officer was on duty at the time, but presumably not given the accident happened in Kingwood.

Kingwood Drive and W Lake Houston Parkway

Harris County deputies are investigating a fatal accident involving a bicyclist to determine if the driver of the pickup that killed him was intoxicated at the time.  According to witnesses, the bicycle rider was proceeding on the shoulder of Highway 6 near Empanada Drive when he was struck by the red-colored Ford F-series pickup truck, which was also driving on the shoulder for some reason.  The bicycle was thrown about 75 feet onto the grass verge to the roadside and the pickup sustained front end damage to the passenger side.  The driver of the pickup truck remained at the scene and investigating officers performed field sobriety tests and will also order a blood draw to determine if the pickup driver was driving drunk. The victim of the accident has not yet been identified, but according to Channel 2’s report he was in his late 40’s.

Channel 2 and FOX News are reporting that a bicyclist was killed at 2:00 p.m. this afternoon when he rode in front of a car traveling northbound on Jensen near Collingsworth.  Driver Phyllis Broussard said the bicyclist came out of nowhere, and that she tried to swerve to avoid him but couldn’t. The bicycle rider rolled on top of her windshield.

A woman riding an adult-sized tricycle was struck and injured by a hit-and-run driver early this morning. At around 4:15 a.m. the lady was riding near the North Loop at Eastman in Houston when an unknown vehicle hit her: the driver fled the scene instead of sticking around to render aid. The woman was transported to hospital in stable condition. If you have any information on the identity of the hit-and-run driver, call HPD’s non-emergency number at 713-884-3131. Channel 11’s story is here.

At around 10:15pm on Tuesday February 14 a hit-and-run driver struck and seriously injured a bicycle rider who was crossing FM529 in northwest Harris County. The accident happened near FM529 and Log Cradle Drive. The victim was hit so hard by the car that he was knocked out of his shoes; the victim remained in the roadway until several minutes after the accident when he was discovered and someone called the Sheriff’s department. The unidentified white male bicyclist was taken to Memorial Hermann where he was in critical condition; unfortunately there is no description of the hit-and-run vehicle.

Smith & Hassler has represented thousands of injured Texans over our more than 20-years in business. If you have been injured in a motor vehicle accident you can speak to an experienced personal injury lawyer for a no-cost assessment of your case, either by phone or in-person.