Houston Truck Accident Lawyer Blog

Sadly, a Conroe team lost his life Friday in a one car accident. The teen was a passenger in a vehicle in which the driver lost control and crashed through a fence and a board smashed through the windshield killing the young man.

Fortunately, the driver survived the crash which totaled the car.

Texas Department of Public Safety is investigating the accident and preliminary reports are that excessive speed may have played a role.

Continue reading "Teen from Conroe dies in one car accident" »

Thursday a 23 year old man from Pinehurst was convicted in a Montgomery County Court of manslaughter over the deaths of 5 people in a 2009 car accident.

Officers indicated that the man reached speeds as high as 117 miles per hour on Highway 249 north of Houston. The vehicle driven by the defendant slammed into vans which lead to the 5 deaths. The man was also convicted of aggravated assault for injuries to a survivor.

The plaintiff, a 39 year old woman who sustained fractures to her ankle; hip and knee sued a truck driver and his company over a truck accident that happened in 2008 when she hit the side of the truck. The woman argued that the truck made too wide a turn and also that the truck driver did not pay proper attention to the other traffic on the roadway.

The jury returned a verdict in the amount of $925,000 but that amount will be reduced by the judge because the jury found part of the fault rested with the plaintiff. The defense argued that the woman did not pay proper attention to traffic and failed to apply her brakes timely.

Driver inattention is the number one allegation in auto and truck accidents in Texas. And inattention is particularly important for professional drivers due to the sheer size of the tractor trailers.

Continue reading "Verdict against trucker in Brazoria County lawsuit" »

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A woman was killed when her Toyota Camry sped out of control and Toyota is to blame according to a recent lawsuit it has been reported.

The suit asserts that the electronic "drive by wire" system of controlling acceleration was a cause of the accident and not the floor mat explanation we have heard from Toyota.

The number of Toyota sticking throttle cases filed in the United States has been rapidly increasing since the Toyota recall.

As reports of unsafe products being recalled finally, after many instances of investigations both by the company and the NHTSA, I call for our current administration to strengthen the regulatory power of NHTSA and change policy to first protect the American consumer then deal with the consequences to the foreign manufacturers.

In Texas, one party's politicians passed "tort reform" giving overseas manufacturers making profits on Texans extra protections in product liability lawsuits, and absolute immunity once the car or truck is 15 years old.

Unfortunately for Texas taxpayers, many of those critically and permanently injured by a dangerous product, made abroad, require lifetime medical care and have no way to obtain it themselves, leaving only Texas taxpayers to pay for the medical care in place of the profit taking foreign company.

To have Texans denied their day in court against the foreign manufacturer due to numerous road blocks placed for one party's political gain, regardless of the callous actions of a foreign company, is offensive to me and does not, in my opinion, well serve citizens of our great State. I call upon Texans to repeal portions of the radical tort reform laws.

Continue reading "Another wrongful death lawsuit filed against Toyota" »

A Beaumont woman survived a wheel from an 18 wheeler smashing through her windshield on Interstate 10 outside of Houston.

Folks reported seeing a wobbly wheel on a tanker truck that came off, bounced around, then struck the woman's car going in the opposite direction. The accident totaled the car.

The trucker pulled over and was interviewed by police. The woman was taken to the hospital for tests and was visibly shaken up according to reports.

As previously reported, truck drivers and their companies are legally responsible for the dangerous condition of a rig, like a wheel coming off, that causes a truck accident. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations are designed to protect the public and improve truck safety by imposing minimum safety standards truck drivers and trucking companies must follow.

Continue reading "Wheel comes off truck on I -10 and totals car" »

A star of the hit series Boston Legal died in a car accident Monday. Mentell was only 27 at the time of his death and had a promising career ahead of him. Justin was also an accomplished speed skater.

It is thought that the actor fell asleep at the wheel of his truck when it left the roadway and smashed into a tree. Evidence also indicates that Justin was ejected from the vehicle and that he was not wearing his seatbelt.

As previously reported, people who are ejected in car accidents are much more likely to suffer fatal injuries.

Quite a few Texans were without power recently when a power line on Interstate 10 got knocked out. A big rig carrying construction equipment struck a cable strung across I-10 and then two 18 wheelers struck the cable and broke off the power pole, which shut off electricity kfox tv reports.

Power was out for quite a long time for an area of about a mile from the site of the truck accident. According to the power company a bill for the repair of the power line will go to the truck company responsible for the accident. The electric company said power was out for 4900 customers.

Continue reading "Texas 18 Wheeler Accident Knocks Out Power " »

Three children were ejected in a Houston traffic accident this weekend and miraculously walked away with only cuts and bruises. The children were riding with their father when he reports being cut off by another diver and losing control. The accident occurred on Houston's North Loop near Hempstead.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2006 sixty five percent of the passenger vehicle occupants 13 to15, 21 to 24 and 25 to 34 years old who died in traffic accidents were not using seatbelts. These three age groups had the highest percentage of deaths stemming from not using restraints of any age group.

Ejection is one of the most dangerous things that can happen to a person in an accident and according to one study by NHTSA seventy five percent of vehicle occupants who were ejected were killed.

Hundreds of children's lives can be saved each year by seatbelts and child safety seats for younger children. Airbags have also saved an estimated 22,000 lives between 1987 and 2006 according to estimates by NHTSA.

Continue reading "3 Children Ejected in Houston Auto Accident" »

The first fatality occurred when a car accident in Houston between a car and a pickup disabled the vehicles on the Eastex Freeway and a semi truck traveling over the overpass did not stop in time and hit the car, killing the woman driver and injuring a passenger who was transported to the hospital.

In another tragedy, a Conroe man's car apparently because disabled on the highway and he was attempting to flag down help when he was run over by the semi truck. Another driver had stopped to help and his vehicle was struck from the rear by an 18 wheeler which continued on to run over the Conroe man. The vehicles were traveling on I 37 outside of San Antonio.

Do to the sheer size of an 18 wheeler, stopping can take quite a bit longer than the typical passenger car and can be a factor in the investigation of a truck accident. Additionally, the condition of the brakes on the big rigs can be an important issue in wrongful death cases where truck braking is an issue in the lawsuit.

According to reports, an auto -truck accident off Highway 288 in Brazoria County resulted in two men being flown to a Houston area hospital.

Police report that a GMC truck was being driven south on Highway 288 when the vehicle left the roadway and struck a sign. Then the driver of the GMC truck attempted to correct the vehicle and cut over into oncoming traffic and striking a Nissan Sentra. Excess speed may have also been a contributing factor.

One of the drivers sustained a broken leg and the other driver was reported unconscious at the scene with a serious head injury.

The police department is investigating the cause of the car accident before issuing the official crash report.

Continue reading "2 Angleton Men LifeFlighted to Houston Hospital from Car and Truck Accident" »

A truck driver was killed after being run over behind a Houston brewery, it has been reported. The trucker was standing behind his semi trailer loading or unloading when he was run over according to the Houston Police Department. Police are looking for a Red Freightliner semi truck.
If anyone has information contact the Houston Police Department hit and run department 713-247-4965.

Given the record keeping required of Truck drivers and Trucking Companies it is much easier to track down semi trucks involved in accidents than of passenger vehicles.

Houston, more than a dozen early morning automobile accidents are attributed to the recent rain we have had in Harris County.

The first reported accident in Houston for the day, happened just after midnight when an 18 wheeler jackknifed at the U.S. Highway 59 Bridge. Also car and truck accidents were reported from the wet streets on Sam Houston Toll Road also know as Beltway 8, the Southwest Freeway, FM 1960, Highway 88 and Katy Freeway or I-10.

Another tractor-trailer accident was reported on the Southwest Freeway near Gessner and blocked 3 lanes of traffic until about 4:30 am when the truck wreck was cleared.

A two car accident was reported on North West Freeway or U.S. 290 and blocked traffic near the 610 exit.

The Texas Department of Insurance offers the following safety tips for dealing with Hydroplaning on wet roads.

1. Do not brake or turn suddenly;

2. Ease your foot off the gas until the vehicle;

3. Turn your steering wheel in the direction of the skid. As you recover control, gently straighten the wheels; and

4. If you need to brake, do it gently with light pumping action. If your vehicle has anti-lock brakes, then brake normally because the vehicle's computer will mimic a pumping action.

Two big rigs collided in a truck accident which resulted in the death of one of the truckers, it is reported. One of the trucks was attempting to pass the other truck when the accident occurred. The truck accident caused a fire which consumed the cab of one of the trucks. The truck accident happened just after 5 a.m.

A video showing the accident can be seen here.

With truck and car fires an analysis of the cause and origin of the fire is usually made by an dangerous product attorney representing the family of the victim to determine if a the design of the car or truck lead to the fire causing serious burn injury or wrongful death. In such cases, the burn injury attorney may file a lawsuit naming the manufacturer of the defective product.

Recently, a Texas woman started up FocusDriven a non profit organization that will model Mothers Against Drunk Driving, in a effort to "prevent injuries and save lives by eliminating cellphone use while driving". The groups goal of raising awareness of cell phone use as a distraction to safe driving looks to be a worthy one.

Jenifer Smith the founder of FocusDriven lost her mother in an automobile accident when she was hit by a driver talking on his cellphone. Texting and internet use and cellular telephones have been the subject of much discussion and some regulation.

New York recently passed a law making portable electronic devise use by drivers illegal.

The Texas Department of Transportation says one in four accidents involve driver distraction. According to NHTSA nearly 600 people died in crashes with distracted drivers in 2008 alone and 1.4 million auto accidents were cause by cellphone use.

Continue reading "Distracted Driving-An Accident Waiting to Happen" »