Houston Personal Injury Attorneys – Smith & Hassler

Texas continues to be a deadly place for pedestrians. Pedestrian fatalities in Texas totaled 621 in 2018, six more than the 615 fatalities in 2017, according to Houston Public Radio and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).

The Lone Star State’s pedestrian deaths in 2017 accounted for 10 percent of America’s total.

The most dangerous roads in the nation

TxDOT reported that there were no deathless days on Texas roadways in 2018, meaning that each day saw a death or deaths of pedestrians or car occupants.

Estimates from state and local officials to the federal government project 635 pedestrian fatalities in Texas in 2020, 657 in 2021 and 680 in 2022, according to The Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

From 2008-2017, Texas was among the 20 most dangerous states in America in terms of pedestrian fatalities with 4,831, topped only in that period by California’s 7,127 and Florida’s 5,433. That’s according to the Pedestrian Safety Index compiled by advocacy groups Smart Growth America and the National Complete Streets Coalition.

Texas and four other states — Florida, California, Georgia and Arizona — accounted for nearly half of the 6,227 pedestrian accident deaths in the United States in 2018, said the Governors Highway Safety Association.

Among the factors that make Texas dangerous for pedestrians, according to the media and government reports:

• Drivers distracted by using cell phones, applying cosmetics, eating, petting dogs and performing other activities
• An increase of SUVs and other larger vehicles on the roads
• Population growth that has more people out walking
• Contentions from critics that projects to make roads, intersections and driver behavior safer for pedestrians are underfunded
• Pedestrians who themselves are walking distracted and sometimes step into traffic
• Speeding
• Alcohol impairment
• Too few crosswalks that make them too far a walk for some pedestrians. Research has found most people will walk only 300 feet to the nearest crosswalk

In Dallas, streets are dangerous for pedestrians because they often feature multiple lanes of high-speed traffic without a significant buffer. While most pedestrian accidents happen in places where high numbers of walkers, cars and trucks come together, pedestrian deaths are most likely when people on foot walk near cars moving at high speeds, according to the Dallas Observer.

TxDOT plans to dedicate $600 million for improvements along roadways for:

• Widening roads
• Adding rumble strips along center lines and shoulders to help drivers
• Adding and reinforcing shoulders along roadways
• Adding select turn lanes
• Making technological improvements

Pedestrian fatalities on the rise

From 2008-2017, pedestrian accident deaths in the U.S. increased 35 percent, to 5,977 from 4,414, according to a Governors Highway Safety Association report.

After adjusting for anticipated underreporting in some state data and considering trends in pedestrian fatalities, the report estimated the number of pedestrian accident deaths nationwide in 2018 to be 6,227.

That puts pedestrian deaths at a near-30-year high, given that 6,482 pedestrian accident deaths occurred in 1990, according to commonwealthmagazine.org.

Contact the car accident lawyers at Smith & Hassler Attorneys At Law in Houston, Texas today if you’ve been injured in a pedestrian accident.

A fatal crash early this morning shut down all lanes of Interstate 45 at the North 610 Loop. According to Channel 2 News, a black car was stopped in the fast lane of I-45 to change a flat tire. A white-colored Honda car stopped behind the black car to assist. One of the drivers was standing behind the white Honda when a white-colored Dodge Ram pickup slammed into the back of the Honda, killing the person who was standing between the two vehicles.

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.

A man in his early 20’s was killed in a hit-and-run accident in the Montrose area of Houston this morning. The man was crossing in a pedestrian crosswalk at the intersection of Westheiemer and Taft when a black-colored sedan ran a red light, hitting the man and fleeing the scene. The vehicle will have visible damage from colliding with the pedestrian; anyone who has information they think might help police should contact Houston Crime Stoppers at 713 222 TIPS.

Montrose fatal auto-pedestrian hit-and-run accident

20-year old landscape worker Edson Alanis Manzano was fatally struck by an out-of-control 18-wheeler as he worked alongside Highway 146 in Bacliff, Texas. The accident happened Monday June 30th as Edson was trimming back weeds at Highway 146 and FM 646. The big rig, pulling a tanker trailer, veered off the roadway on its way from La Porte to Texas City, striking Edson. Witness Jacob Cortez, who saw the accident, said he thought perhaps the driver had fallen asleep, and said that when the driver exited the truck after the accident the driver looked stunned. Edson was working for a company called BIO Landscape and performing a contract for the Texas Department of Transportation.

Victim Edson Alanis Manzano

The driver, 55-year old Glendall Bickwenhert from Kentucky, was cooperating with the police investigation. The 18-wheeler is owned by Indiana-based Time Dedicated DC Carriers, whose U.S. Dept of Transportation profile states the company operates 45 trucks.

Scene of the fatal accident

Five people were sent to the hospital when an attempt to tow a disable vehicle ended with a car accident. Channel 2 reports that some folks were using a Ford Explorer SUV to tow a car when the towing strap became dislodged. A nearby security guard tried to assist a man and woman involved in the towing effort to reconnect the tow strap, and as he was doing so a car crashed into them. The security guard was thrown up onto the car’s windshield. The accident happened off Beltway 8 on Wednesday April 29th.

Emergency responders help the injured

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.

A man driving a newer model BMW SUV struck two male pedestrians outside a Houston bar, then tried to flee the scene of an accident. A group of people kept the man there until the police arrived; he failed sobriety testing and was arrested. He will be charged with DWI and failure to stop and render aid. On man was treated at the scene and the other, a 57-year old, was taken to Memorial Hermann in serious condition. The location of the accident was Fairview at Congress near downtown Houston.

2 pedestrians hurt by alleged drunk driver

A black SUV crashed through DiMassi’s Mediterranean Restaurant on Kirby Drive just before 2:00 p.m. yesterday injuring ten people and sending four of them to the hospital. Police spoke with the driver of the SUV, who was uninjured in the accident. It appears she hit the gas instead of the brake. The injured people will no doubt look to the insurer of the SUV to cover their medical bills, however there may be a “limits issue” meaning there may not be enough insurance coverage on the SUV’s policy to pay all of the injury claims. People are often surprised to learn that even if they were a pedestrian (and not in their own vehicle), if they have Underinsured Motorist (UIM) or Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage on their own automobile policy, they can make an injury claim with their own insurer. Trying to figure out what to do after a car accident can be tedious and frustrating, particularly if you’re injured. The Smith & Hassler law firm has represented injured people since 1989 and has four attorneys who are Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Tuesday July 22, 2014: an SUV crashed into a Stripes gas station around 2:30 p.m. on Falvel Drive at Stuebner. A green-colored SUV heading northbound on Falvel Drive went through the intersection and into the Stripes parking lot. A 79-year old pedestrian was struck by the SUV, which then hit another vehicle head-on that was parked at one of the gas pumps. The elderly man was taken via helicopter to Memorial Hermann and two people in the parked SUV were taken by ground ambulance to Memorial Hermann in The Woodlands.

Update: 73-year old Carol Exley and her 81-year old husband Dale Exley are identified in a local news story as having been injured in the crash. Dale Exley, who was standing behind the couple’s Ford Escape SUV when the incident occurred, was thrown into the air. He is in hospital in critical condition and suffered a fractured vertebrae, broken ribs and a brain bleed. It is thought that the 65-year old woman who lost control of her vehicle may have experienced a medical event prior to the crash.

The Smith & Hassler law firm has represented injured people since 1988. The firm has four attorneys who are Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law. If you have been injured in a motor vehicle accident, call to arrange a no-charge consultation, in person or by phone.