Low Seat Belt Use among Texas Police Biggest Cause of Accident Deaths-Houston Personal Injury Lawyers
More police officers in Texas are killed every year from failure to wear seat belts than in encounters with felons. In spite of those statistics, seat belt usage among cops in Texas is very low, and contributes to large number of deaths in motorcycle and patrol car crashes every year.
The Houston Chronicle has a report on the low seat belt use among our police officers, and a culture that officers insist, is not conducive to seat belt use. Most police officers who fail to buckle up when they are in their cars insist that the seat belts can be a hindrance when they have to get out of the car in a hurry to pursue a suspect. Others say the seat belt can get tangled in the holster. In any case, the culture of not buckling up is widespread, and it is a huge factor in the number of police officers in Texas killed on the job every year.
Over the past three years alone, we lost 16 police officers in Texas to shootings by felons. In comparison, the number of police officers killed in motorcycle and car accidents was 18. However, the widespread misconception is that the biggest danger facing Texas police is from criminals. As those statistics show, its failure to wear seat belts that places a Texas police officer’s life at major risk.
The Houston Police Department insists that in the 752 accidents involving police officers last year, all officers were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash. However in Harris County, out of the 392 officer-related car accidents that occurred last year, only 18 of the officers involved were wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident. We have no way of knowing whether those statistics are true, because seat belt use by officers is self reported, and there are no checks in place to make sure that they are buckling up.
Houston accident lawyers see some good news in this dismal scene. There is movement towards the development of technological aids like seat belts that would automatically unlatch when the car is in park mode, allowing a police officer to jump out of his car without wasting time fumbling with the seat belt.
This much is clear to Houston injury lawyers – in order to be able to enforce seat belt usage in the state of Texas, officers need to set an example, and for that, they need to buckle up at all times.
If you or a loved one has been involved in an accident or injury, contact the Husband & Wife Legal Team at The Kahn Law Firm today.
Call 713-226-9900 or toll free 1-877-226-9940 or fill out our “Get Help Now” form to schedule a meeting with a caring and experienced personal injury lawyer at our offices in downtown Houston. The case evaluation is free and we will not charge you attorneys fees on injury cases unless we secure a verdict or settlement for you.
Child Killed in Alcohol-Related Wrong Way Driving Accident in Houston-Texas Injury Lawyers
The destruction that a drunk driver can wreak was plain to see over the weekend when a nine-year-old child was killed in a fatal DWI accident in Houston.
The accident occurred on early Sunday morning. A mother and her four children had just spent the night at church at an all-night prayer session and were returning home. The children in the car were aged between 9 and 14. The car was traveling on Aldine Mail Route when the mother noticed a driver headed the wrong way and right towards them. She swerved hard to avoid hitting the pickup truck, but failed to avoid impact. The nine-year-old girl, who was sitting in the backseat, was killed. All the other occupants of the car had to be taken to the hospital for treatment of their injuries. The driver of the pickup truck, Anthony LeBlanc, 39, was found to be driving while intoxicated. He’s likely to have manslaughter charges filed against him.
Loss of a child is the most unimaginably dreadful thing that could happen to a family, and our hearts go out to the mother and siblings of the child here. They will remain in our prayers and thoughts.
As injury lawyers in Houston, it does not surprise us that the pickup truck driver was driving under the influence. Wrong way driving is an underestimated cause of accidents in the country. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that every year more than 300 people are killed in wrong way driving crashes. Most of these accidents involve a driver who is impaired. Driving drunk can affect your powers of judgment and increase the possibility of making errors while driving.
This accident reminds us of last year’s deadly wrong way driving crash in New York that killed eight people. That crash involved a female motorist driving under the influence of alcohol and crashing her car head on into another vehicle. The devastating head-on crash that resulted, killed eight people including the female driver, her daughter and three other children in her car.
If you or a loved one has been involved in an accident or injury, contact the Husband & Wife Legal Team at The Kahn Law Firm today.
Call 713-226-9900 or toll free 1-877-226-9940 or fill out our “Get Help Now” form to schedule a meeting with a caring and experienced personal injury lawyer at our offices in downtown Houston. The case evaluation is free and we will not charge you attorneys fees on injury cases unless we secure a verdict or settlement for you.
Police Seek Driver in Hit and Run that Kills 2 in Pasadena-Texas Wrongful Death Attorneys
Pasadena police are looking for a dark-colored car that was involved in a hit and run accident in Pasadena on February 20, 2010 that killed a grandmother and her 12 year old granddaughter. The accident occurred on Red Bluff Road near Genoa Red Bluff around 11pm.
Pamela Bryan was driving a Ford F-150 with her granddaughter Cloey Bryan as a passenger when a dark colored vehicle brushed up against the side of the Bryan’s truck causing it to careen off the road and roll several times, according to a witness. Both were unconscious at the scene. Cloey was pronounced dead at the scene and Pamela was taken to Ben Taub Hospital where she was later died. Both were reportedly wearing their seatbelts.
Cloey, a 7th grader at Needville Junior High, had been visiting her aunt and uncle in Seabrook and wanted to go spend the night with her “Nanny,” so Pamela went to pick her up. The two were heading towards Fairmont Parkway on Red Bluff when the dark car struck their vehicle causing the wreck. Casey Bush, a witness to the accident and also a Bacliff firefighter, stopped when he saw the accident and immediately called 911. He said the driver who caused the accident drove a little ways past the accident (near the Pasadena Fair Grounds) and got out of his or her car to view the wrecked truck. He or she then got back in the vehicle and drove off.
The family wants answers and they believe that only the driver who caused this accident can provide those answers. it is unknown why the dark car caused this accident or whether alcohol was involved. Police continue to investigate this fatal accident but need the public’s assistance.
Crime Stoppers is offering a $5000 reward for tips that lead to the arrest in this accident. If you have any information about the accident, please call 713-222-TIPS (8477). Also, keep an eye out for a dark vehicle with front left fender or side damage.
Our deepest condolences go out to this family in their time of grief and sorrow and they will be in our prayers. If you have been involved in a serious accident, contact the Christian lawyers at The Kahn Law Firm today.
Katrina Influx Caused No Lasting Spike in Crime -Houston Criminal Attorneys
A group of criminologists has published an interesting study on crime rates in Texas post-Katrina, and the results are very interesting to Houston criminal defense lawyers. The study by a group of criminologists says that the influx of evacuees from New Orleans post-Katrina has not, contrary to belief, resulted in a spike in crime in the Houston area. The study is bound to raise hackles among Houstonians who believe that the large number of people who came into Texas cities when Katrina threatened the Gulf coast, have been responsible for a higher crime rate.
The study has been published in the new issue of Journal of Criminal Justice. The five criminologists who conducted the study found that there had been just a “modest” increase in murder and robbery in Houston and Phoenix, and no difference at all in the crime rates in San Antonio. These three cities took in the maximum number of evacuees. Houston took in the most number with 240,000 evacuees, while San Antonio took in about 30,000 evacuees, and Phoenix took in about 6,000 evacuees.
The study says that there was a spike in crime soon after the evacuees began to pour in. In early 2006, after some of the evacuees began to arrive, the homicide rate spiked by 23 percent. According to Houston police, 23 homicides between September and December 2005 were committed by the evacuees. There were also spikes in specific areas of crime like homicides and robberies. However, there was no increase in the number of rapes, aggravated assaults and other crimes. According to the study, if there really had been a Katrina-related crime wave in the state after the evacuees started coming in, then there should have been an increase seen in all crimes, and not only in homicides and robberies.
Besides, the criminologists say that Houston, San Antonio and Phoenix had been struggling with high crime rates for years. They believe it’s simplistic to say that the evacuees came in, and magnified the problem.
Houston Police Officers Training in Blood Draws-Houston DWI Lawyers
Houston police officers are being trained in the art of drawing blood, quite literally at that. According to this report, seven officers are currently undergoing a training program that the Houston Police Department hopes will cut the time it takes to test suspects for alcohol use after an accident.
The program will run for 40 days. The officers will first practice on an artificial arm, before moving on to drawing blood from a person. Officers believe that with this training, they will be able to eliminate the need to go to a hospital for a blood draw after a crash. The officers will have to complete the program, and undergo testing before they can begin to draw blood. According to the Houston Police Department, they wants to make it harder for people to drink and drive.
We have no problem with the desire to reduct the number of people that drink and drive, but we have to hope that this enthusiasm for speed and efficiency in testing for BAC levels doesn’t end with flagrant violations of citizen rights, erroneous testing and other problems. As Houston DWI lawyers, we’ve noticed that in the quest to rid the streets of intoxicated drivers, law enforcement agencies tend to take extreme measures that ultimately end with the whole program turning into a sham or failure.
One example is the bill last year that would have allowed sobriety checkpoints back into Texas again. It’s common knowledge that sobriety checkpoints across many states have not worked the way they are meant to. Just like red light cameras in many cities have turned into cash cows, with little impact on accident rates, sobriety checkpoints have evolved into moneymaking exercises for local police departments. In states like California, many checkpoints focus harder on seizing vehicles belonging to unlicensed motorists, than on puling over drunk drivers. Millions of dollars are spent on these checkpoints, dollars that ultimately go into filling local coffers, with no impact on motorist safety or DWI rates.
If you have been charged with DWI, contact the DWI lawyers at The Kahn Law Firm today for a free consultation by calling 713-226-9900. Remember, you only have 15 days from the date of your DWI arrest to request a hearing with DPS to try to keep your drivers license from being suspended automatically.
Students Injured in Pasadena, Texas School Bus Accident-Houston Injury Lawyers
It seems like Houston injury lawyers are seeing a sudden rash of school bus accidents. The latest one has just occurred in Pasadena. The accident involved a bus carrying students of Bondy Intermediate School to their morning classes. The bus collided with a pickup truck. There were 44 students on board. Of these, 13 were taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure to rule out any serious injuries.
The accident comes just as the National Transportation Safety Board removed school bus safety from its most wanted list. In its recent wish list, the 2011 Federal Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements, the agency praised the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for passing a rule requiring lap shoulder belts on all Type A Buses manufactured after 2011. The new rules would apply to Type A buses which are typically smaller. Larger buses would be exempted from the lap shoulder belt rule.
As parents and injury lawyers in Houston, we believe it’s important to keep up the pressure on this important safety matter. The NTSB’s 2011 Federal Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements seems to focus harder on issues like truck and aviation safety, which are serious issues. However, injuries in bus accidents would be vastly reduced if we mandate seat belts on all buses, or at the very least, all school buses. Unfortunately, there are pricing issues to consider, and business interests that seem to place keeping costs in check at a higher value than children’s lives. Additional safety features like seat belts, would keep children in their seats during an accident and prevent them from turning into projectiles. But, these would be expensive and increase the cost of a school bus.
It’s sad, but we know it’s not exactly the kind of investment school districts in Texas will be willing to make in these tough economic times.
If your child has been injured in a school bus accident, contact the child injury lawyers at The Kahn Law Firm today for a free consultation.
Head-on Crash Kills 2 Angleton High School Students and Hallettsville Man-Texas Accident Lawyers
Feelings of disbelief and sorrow filled the halls of Angleton High School on Thursday when friends learned that two of their classmates were killed in a head-on collision the night before. According to the news story, siblings Hayley and Ross Wedelich, ages 15 and 16, respectively, were on their way to the San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo on Wednesday, February 17 where Ross was supposed to show a steer. Ross was driving a 2007 Toyota Landcruiser when a 2006 Peterbilt 18-wheeler driven by Jackie Lee Haley, 64, crossed the center median on I-10 near Columbus and crashed into their car and a 1996 Chevrolet pick up driven by Patrick Hrncir, 64, of Hallettsville. All three vehicles were pushed into the median between the freeway and the feeder and caught fire.
Hrncir, Hayley and Ross were all pronounced dead at the scene. Jackie Lee Haley was treated for minor injuries and released from a Columbus area hospital. No additional details of why the 18-wheeler crossed the median were not immediately released, including whether drugs or alcohol was a factor.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the victims of this horrible crash. As parents ourselves, I cannot imagine getting the phone call that we all dread that a child, much less, two children, have been killed in an accident. The teens were well-liked and always had a smile on their faces, according to classmates. Members of the Student Council at Angleton High School are selling t-shirts that display Hayley and Ross’ names on the front and “Wedelich Way” on the back to help the family pay for the funerals of their children. The Wedelich Way means happy and full of life.
There are far too many 18-wheeler accidents and sadly, they usually result in catastrophic injuries. If you or a loved one has been involved in an accident with an 18-wheeler or other large truck, contact the experienced Texas accident and wrongful death lawyers at the Kahn Law Firm at 713-226-9900 today.
Harris County Killer Roads are Some of the Most Dangerous in the Country–Texas Auto Accident Lawyers
As car accident lawyers in Harris County, we have long been aware of the fact that I-45 is one of the deadliest stretches of road in the state. Data from the Department of Transportation corroborates this fact.
The data shows that I-45 is the ninth deadliest stretch of road in the country. Between 1994 and 2008, there were a total of 320 fatalities in 288 accidents on this stretch. I-45 is not the only Texas road that finds a mention on the list. I-10 in Harris County is the 19th deadliest road in the country. There were a total of 271 deaths here in 249 crashes during the same period. .
We decided to drill down further into the data to see how many of these fatalities in Harris County were caused by speeding, failure to wear seatbelts and drunk driving. Here’s what we came up with.
- On both highways, failure to buckle up was the biggest factor in these fatalities. On 1-45, more than 71 % of the fatalities were not wearing a seatbelt. That’s a staggering 229 fatalities. Drunk driving and speeding accounted for 93 and 100 deaths respectively.
- On I-10, out of the 283 fatalities, more than 66 % were not buckled up. That’s 187 out of 283 who were not wearing a seatbelt. Drunk driving and speeding accounted for 89 and 78 deaths respectively.
Those statistics prove two things to Harris County injury lawyers – that seatbelts save lives, and that law enforcement agencies in Harris County should be focusing more on promoting such safe practices. Campaigns like” Click it or Ticket” should be undertaken more aggressively to get people to buckle up. The data also indicates that no matter how congested a highway, there are things you can do to increase the chances of getting home safe.
Buckle up, Texas! And buckle up your children! Make sure that everyone in your vehicle is buckled properly. It could save your life or the lives of your loved ones.
Houston Firefighter’s Daughter Killed in Harris County Drunk Driving Accident–Texas Injury Lawyers
It was a somber weekend over at Station 8 of the CyFair Volunteer Fire Department. The daughter of the fire captain was killed in an alcohol-related car accident last week.
Christa Rodriguez was in her boyfriend’s car, and they were pulling into a fast food restaurant when the car was struck by a pick up truck. The truck was being driven by Thomas Boyd, who has since admitted to police that he had been drinking “a lot” just before the accident. “A lot” happened to be a few pitchers of beer, some shots of liquor, followed by a few more beers. It’s enough to make us wish Boyd had passed out in the bar until the next morning when he could have sobered enough to go home. Not surprisingly, when you consider how much he had drunk, Boyd was driving at excessive speeds, and had not bothered to turn his headlights on. Christa and her boyfriend never stood a chance of seeing him. It was pitch dark, and the only time they noticed him was when he rammed his truck into their car. Boyd is now facing intoxication manslaughter charges in Harris County.
This seems to be the second time that Station 8 has had a tragic encounter with intoxicated driving. Last year, one of the firefighters at the station was involved in an accident caused by a driver under the influence of drugs. The firefighter lost use of both his legs in that accident.
To car accident lawyers in Harris County, it’s not surprising that we come across so many fatal accidents every year. Harris County has some of the highest rates for drunk driving not just in Texas, but anywhere in the country. As Houston injury lawyers, we believe that those sobering (no pun intended) statistics can be lowered, if we concentrate harder on curbing drunk driving among teens. There’s reason to believe that excessive and unrestrained drinking in teens can be carried over into adulthood, with serious consequences. We need to foster a culture that believes driving under the influence is both foolish and immoral, and we can start with the children.
Our prayers will be with the Rodriguez family and friends in their time of grief. If you or a loved one has been involved in a car accident, contact the Husband & Wife Legal Team at the Kahn Law Firm today.
7 Car Accident in Pearland Leaves 2 Dead–Texas Injury Lawyers
Pearland Police report that an older model Chevrolet truck drifted into oncoming traffic on Highway 35 around 6:30am this morning. He hit several cars and then hit another truck head on. Both trucks ended up in a ditch along the road and caught fire. The driver of the Chevrolet was trapped in his truck and died at the scene. The auto accident involved several other vehicles including a woman driving a Ford Explorer who also died at the scene. Police expect the highway to be closed for some time as the investigation continues.
We will keep the families of all of the accident victims in our prayers on this Ash Wednesday.
If you or a loved one has been involved in an accident, contact the Husband & Wife Legal Team at the Kahn Law Firm. We handle all types of Texas injury cases with care and compassion.
