Houston Car Accident Lawyer Blog

There has been the usual number of car and truck incidents in and around the Houston area. According to recent reports:

In one case the driver of a small truck was traveling at a high rate of speed when he lost control of the truck after he hit a curb. The vehicle rolled several times throwing both the driver and the passenger from the vehicle before it came to rest. Currently both people are in critical condition and the police are investigating whether alcohol played a role in the accident.

In another case a high speed police chase ended when the suspect was stopped as he literally attempted to escape by driving his vehicle ON the railroad tracks. Fortunately for all involved - no one was injured. The man is currently incarcerated in the county jail with several charges pending.

While I have written on a number of occasions about adults leaving children in a hot car (by accident) but in this case the opposite occurred. Allegedly a grandmother decided to leave two little boys in a very cold car while she took a baby with her to shop at a popular department store. The boys were only two and three years of age.

Police were called and the woman was arrested when she returned to the vehicle. She faces felony child endangerment charges. The children were cold but otherwise unharmed. The children's mother came to retrieve the three babies at the scene.

Continue reading "Recent Car Accidents" »

One of the regular topics of this blog is accidents that occur in and around the Houston area. What follows is information about recent collisions you may have missed.

*A suspected drunk driver finds himself in a lot more trouble than he probably bargained for after he lost control of his pick-up truck and slammed into the back of a police vehicle this morning. On the bright side though (if that's possible); he saved the officer the time and trouble of pulling him over and running him through a series of sobriety tests.

*In another unusual accident residents of a local neighborhood are puzzled as to why police that responded to a vehicle collision allowed the driver to leave the scene. According to witnesses, the driver hit a stop sign and parked vehicle before coming to a stop. They claim they saw empty beer containers in the vehicle and the driver smelled of alcohol. Police who responded to the accident may not have run any sobriety tests on the man before allowing him to leave the scene.

*Finally, a semi-truck accident joined the 'litany' of vehicle collisions on the Beltway early the other morning. The cause of the accident has yet to be determined but there were no serious injuries - an unusual occurrence when commercial trucks end up entangled with passenger vehicles.

Continue reading "Houston Accidents" »

What follows is a good news-bad news scenario. A major study done right here in Texas reveals that the amount of time Americans spend 'stuck in traffic' has been linked directly to the economy. With fewer Americans working - fewer of us are sitting in traffic jams right now.

That just makes sense. Conversely, the more people who are working - the more cars there are on the road during peak rush hours. Frankly, there are probably thousands of people who used to complain about rush hour traffic who would gladly return to those vexing times.

The researchers of the traffic study predict that rush hour traffic will return to challenging levels within the next 3 to 4 years (in other words, the economy should be on the upswing in the next few years). But the problem is a bit more complicated than returning jobs - it seems the transportation infrastructure is no longer adequate to sustain the projected levels of commuters. Not only are our roadways 'crumbling' but other 'components' are equally as troubling. For instance, there are currently tens of thousands of bridges across the United States that are in a state of deterioration - and with federal and state funding for repairs all but drying up - there seems to be little hope that this problem will disappear anytime soon.

Those involved in the 'transportation industry' have come up with a few suggestions - none of which seem honestly viable. First, reconfigure the work day so that the times people begin and end their job are staggered - which should thin out traffic or...

Use public transportation.

Continue reading "Congestion Leads to Auto Accidents" »

One of the most important things you can do at the scene of a car accident is to obtain witness information from any and all persons who may have seen exactly what has happened. The importance of independent witnesses cannot be overstated.

As numerous Houston car accident victims can tell you -just because the negligent party accepts responsibility at the scene does not mean that their insurance company will pay you. Further, as many victims can attest, often the negligent parties story changes from the accident scene to the time you make an insurance claim against their policy.

People who have admitted fault at the same sometimes turnaround and claim the accident happened completely the opposite way, and that responsibility lie with the innocent victim and not themselves. This is much more common than you could even imagine.

That is why the independent witness is so critically important in many cases. Sometimes obtaining independent witnesses name and address can't be done because the victim is being transported to the hospital with very serious injuries and is unable to gather the necessary information. Police officers are charged with the responsibility of obtaining witness statements, however in the hustle and bustle of the city and witnesses sometimes not sticking around, often no witnesses will be interviewed.

If you can, after Houston car accident obtain the telephone number and name of any and all witnesses to the accident. You'll be glad you did. Additionally, it is sometimes very helpful to take photos with your cell phone of the locations of the vehicles, before they are moved.

Whatever you can do to ensure that the story doesn't change usually is very helpful to your injury claim with the defendant's insurance company.

Continue reading "Houston Car Accident Tips" »

Houston stops Red light cameras

The Houston city Council recently decided to discontinue the red light camera program in Houston. The program seemed to be a controversy from the very beginning. Some people were very excited about the program given it was a big revenue producer for the city of Houston and that it would make some intersections safer.

Others, viewed the red light camera program as an intrusion into personal lives of Houstonians and unfair in issuing the ticket without a human eyewitness.

Houston traffic ticket attorneys and others opposed the program and led a fight to discontinue the red light camera use in Houston. While safety studies were inconclusive, there is no doubt that folks who were aware of the red light cameras at a particular intersection probably one more apt to stop at red light.

The red light program has been on and off recently given different developments in its implementation and also the results of a vote in Houston. One of the items of controversy is the potential for a Houston lawsuit by the managers of the red light program.

As a Houston injury attorney, my opinion is that the red light program was in fact a good thing for Houston. I believe that the cameras tend to help people decide to be safe and obey traffic signals which leads to a reduction in serious accidents.

There is some authority that suggests that some accidents are actually increased by the red light camera program and those are basically drivers to stop suddenly in an effort to avoid a ticket for running a red light. Those car accidents tend to be less severe than the alternative such as a T-bone accident at an intersection..