Car Wrecks Archives | DENENA | POINTS

Victims of Mexican Fireworks Explosion Treated in Houston-Area Hospital

Several children were flown from Tultepec, Mexico, to Shriners Hospital in Galveston, Texas, for burn treatments following a horrific fireworks market explosion on December 20. That tragedy claimed thirty-four lives and injured more than sixty people, including other children who were in too-critical condition to be relocated to the American burn unit’s pediatrics division.

Shriners issued the following statement instructing caregivers of potential patients on how to speed admittance: “Their physician must contact Shriners Hospitals for Children–Galveston to make a referral and will speak directly to our physicians. After a quick review of the child’s clinical needs, our facility accepts the patient and will initiate planning for medical transport.”

A History of Problems

No one is sure where or why the explosions started, but at roughly 2:30 p.m., they thundered through the stalls of the open-air fireworks market with hundreds of people trying to escape. A witness said it felt like new explosions went off every three seconds. Another said, “Everything was catching fire. Everything was exploding . . . The stones were flying, pieces of brick, everything was flying.”

The BBC estimated that only eighty stalls of over 300 were left standing after the event, along with a sign that said, “no smoking.” Terrified family members and survivors wandered the site searching for their missing loved ones as police, firefighters, and the Red Cross worked on the scene.

The market has been plagued by explosions before, with scores of stalls being leveled in 2005, 2006, and 2007, even after they were fortified. It employs roughly 40 percent of local residents. Over the years, the market has been reconfigured with wider spacing between each structure to avoid this sort of tragedy. In fact, a statement released by the Mexico state government had said just a few days prior to the disaster that the San Pablito market in Tultepec was “The safest artificial fireworks market in Latin America.”

What if This Explosion Had Happened in Texas?

Texas regulations for this type of market are extremely strict due to the dangerous nature of fireworks. Our state’s administrative code has thirty-two pages relating to regulations about them, their sale, and their public display.

For vendor stands, it has very specific instructions on heat, light, power sources, and stock storage, especially regarding proximity to the customer space, as well as restrictions on product access by customers—unless they are interacting directly with the vendor. Our law has door requirements for certain larger stands and specifies that if a generator is present, it must be a certain distance from grass, trash, and flammable materials.

The Mexican market may have had these mandates as well. However, no amount of regulation will keep the public safe if individuals don’t live up to their end of the bargain. Failing to follow these guidelines could potentially result in fatal explosions that could make the owner or manager of the property liable for the consequences.

Negligence Must Be Considered

While we don’t yet know the cause of the Tultepec explosion or if anyone will be blamed or prosecuted, under Texas law, people harmed due to someone else’s negligent property conditions can file a personal injury claim. Potential areas to look would not only be the conditions of the stall, but also the area surrounding the market as a whole, the firework makers, and individuals working at or attending the market who may have done something that caused one of the fireworks to ignite.

When a business or another person behaves in a negligent manner or doesn’t take the proper steps required by law, they or their insurance can be made to compensate the victims of terrible accidents like this one.

Houston Premises Liability Attorneys

If you or someone in your family has been harmed by someone else’s wrongdoing, you may have a personal injury case. If you’d like to find out more, call Denena Points, PC for a free consultation to discuss your rights under the law. We help our clients win better insurance settlements and court cases. Contact us by calling 713-807-9500 or by submitting the form at the bottom of this page.

Drunk Driver Causes Fatal Multiple-Vehicle Pileup

One person was killed and more were injured after a multiple-vehicle Houston pileup that is being blamed on a drunk driver. On North Freeway in the early hours of the morning on December 10, the drunk driver’s truck either slowed or stopped in the road, causing a gray Nissan Pathfinder behind to crash into it.

When the Pathfinder’s driver got out of his vehicle and walked up to speak to the truck’s driver—possibly to see if he was harmed—he was tragically killed by a Honda Civic whose driver did not see him. Paramedics then arrived on the scene, found the truck driver passed out, and had trouble waking him. They saw signs that he was inebriated, and he is now being charged with intoxication manslaughter.

A passenger in the Civic was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. This case illustrates that drunk drivers not only harm others with deadly impact crashes, but that other types of accidents are caused by their erratic behavior as well.

Criminal Charges Could Help a Civil Case Later

Texas legal code differentiates between different cases of intoxication-related accidents, but it’s possible to face charges of more than one type at the same time. Some examples are as follows: driving while intoxicated, driving while intoxicated with a child passenger, intoxication assault (causing bodily harm to someone else because of drunkenness), and intoxication manslaughter. As noted, intoxication manslaughter is the charge faced by the drunk driver in question, which is most often a second-degree felony that can carry jail time, fines, loss of drivers license, and hundreds of hours of community service.

While all of these are criminal charges, a conviction could go a long way toward helping the victims and their families collect compensation through a civil personal injury lawsuit. The criminal conviction may be admissible as advice during a civil suit, helping to prove the at-fault party’s negligence.

Drowsy Driving Also a Menace

In addition to the scourge of drunk driving, a recent AAA study has proven that drowsy driving is a formidable menace as well. Their website states that “a Foundation study completed in November 2014 found that the impact of drowsy drivers on the road is considerable. Drowsy drivers are involved in an estimated 21 percent of fatal crashes, up from 16.5 percent from the previous 2010 study, as most drivers drift out of their lanes or off the road. Drivers themselves are often crash victims who die in single-car crashes.” Combining drunk and drowsy driving is catastrophic.

Houston Car Crash Attorneys

Many accidents that police respond to on and off the road are preventable and due to the negligence of others. If you feel you or a family member has been harmed because of something someone else did or failed to do, a personal injury attorney can help you determine if you have a case against the responsible party. You shouldn’t suffer senselessly at the hands of someone else.

Denena Points, PC is a law firm specializing in personal injury law. Since 2003, we have been battling insurance companies and representing clients from Houston and across Texas so that they can get the most compensation for their hardship. We urge you to never accept an insurance company offer without first learning what your case is really worth. Please contact us today to schedule a free consultation to learn what we think of your situation and how we can help.  Give us a call at 713-807-9500 or reach us through the contact form below.

Car Wash Exposes Defective Auto Brake Systems

Some things just need to work. Brakes are one of them. You need to be able to stop and stay stopped when necessary. It is possible for any product, including defective brakes, to make it through the quality control checks and find their way onto your car.

After the inevitable resulting accident, who do you hold accountable? The manufacturer of the brake parts? The assembler? The car manufacturer? The dealer? A Houston defective auto part lawyer from Denena Points, PC can help you fight a path through to the answer.

Car Wash Crashes

Recently, a pregnant mother and her two children were going through an automatic car wash when they found themselves speeding out of the car wash and into a concrete barrier. Thankfully, the barriers kept them in the parking lot instead of allowing them into the busy road. This has happened to several vehicles of varying makes and models, but it is something mechanics are asking the manufacturers to address before people get seriously injured.

These new instances of defective brakes involve the automatic braking systems found on many cars. When a vehicle enters a car wash, the sensors lock the brakes up because it sees the car wash implements as obstructions. This can happen in many automatic car washes but particularly to the kind where the driver must put the vehicle in neutral, turn off the ignition, and exit the vehicle. The kind of car wash that moves the car via a conveyor belt does not appear to cause these vehicles any trouble.

Product Liability and the Three Defects

When a component on a vehicle leads to an accident, it can be a long and arduous adventure trying to pin down a party and hold them accountable. Product liability laws help victims do this, but they are extensive and not exactly easy to understand. The basic three categories of product liability claims are defective design, defective manufacture, and defective marketing.

A product that is defective before it is ever manufactured has a defective design. If the product is designed correctly, but made or assembled poorly, then it suffers from defective manufacturing. If everything is designed and manufactured correctly, but they failed to provide adequate warnings or instructions concerning the proper use of the product, then that is defective marketing.

Free Legal Evaluation with a Texas Defective Auto Part Lawyer

To prove some of these you might have to find expert testimony. This isn’t the easiest thing to do, so it is prudent to seek the advice of someone familiar with product liability law. Your best option is a defective auto brake lawyer from Denena Points, PC. Together we can get you the support you need to keep living your life comfortably.

Please give us a call at 713-807-9500 to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation. You may also fill out the form below to set a time for one of our associates to call you back at your convenience. Please don’t hesitate to do what is right for your finances, family, and community.

Low Rollover Resistance: a Houston Car Impact causes an SUV to Flip Over

Wednesday evening on Tidwell Road in northwest Houston, the driver of an SUV pulled out of a Wal-Mart parking lot in front of an oncoming car. The car plowed into the side of the SUV, flipping it over. Firefighters extracted the SUV driver who was trapped in the wreckage. The man received transport to the hospital for his serious injuries. Two people in the car received treatment at the scene for minor injuries.

Accident investigators indicated that alcohol was not a factor in the collision. (Kelci Johnston, KPRC click2houston.com, 5/22/14) Reports did not specify whether speeding or failure to yield might have contributed to the wreck. The Houston SUV accident injury lawyers at Denena Points, PC wish the injured driver a safe and complete recovery.

SUVs and Low Rollover Resistance

Only about 3% of serious crashes involve a rollover, but those rollovers lead to more than 10% of traffic fatalities. Over the past 15 years, rollover fatality rates have decreased some due to improved safety technologies, new rollover-avoidance systems, improved vehicle designs, and new government safety regulations, as well as to increased use of seatbelts. But our Houston SUV accident injury lawyers note that more than half of those killed in rollover accidents still die because they weren’t wearing their safety belts.

From 1998 to 2009 for instance, the rate of rollover deaths among SUV drivers declined from 43 per million drivers to 12 per million. But the number of SUVs has grown enormously, so actual fatality numbers remain about the same. The rollover fatality rate for car drivers declined from 21 to 13 per million in that same time period.

SUVs have a lower rollover resistance than passenger cars due to their higher centers of gravity on a relatively narrow wheelbase. This makes them top-heavy, and loading cargo on the roof makes the propensity for rollover even greater. Lateral forces, such as from a side impact accident or from rounding a turn or curve, shift the center of gravity to the side, which can cause the SUV to flip over. Speeding and the gripping force of the SUV’s tires can also affect the likelihood of a rollover. Tire gripping force should be neither too weak nor too strong, a difficult balance to maintain.

Around half of the deaths that result from rollover accidents occur when the victims are either fully or partially ejected from the vehicle. Many of these people weren’t wearing their seatbelts at the time of the crash. But severe rollover accidents can sometimes defeat even your seatbelts. About 75% of people ejected from a vehicle in any type of wreck die from fatal impacts. So our Houston SUV accident injury lawyers emphasize that it’s better to reduce your chances of severe or fatal injury by wearing your safety belt.

Government crash tests could help you judge the rollover resistance and overall safety of the vehicle you’re thinking about buying. Consumer reports and other data could also help you decide. Generally speaking, vehicle safety continues to improve. But hidden defects that might lead to recalls sometimes cause hundreds of severe injuries and deaths before any recall or safety problem is announced. So always do your research when purchasing a vehicle, and keep an eye on safety.

Click the link to learn about how speed affects your risks of a crash.

The Relationship between Vehicle Weight, Road Damage, and You

We’re probably all familiar with the problems of driving on damaged roads. When your vehicle hits a particularly serious pothole, it can sometimes cause your tire to flatten or blow out or even cause an axle to break. And then you lose control of your vehicle and wreck. Click the link to read about a nasty 3-vehicle Houston wreck caused by a truck axle breaking and separating from an 18-wheeler.

Many roads and bridges have posted weight limits, but drivers don’t always heed those limits. And the weight of a heavy truck can cause a bridge to fail or a road to crumble, leading to crashes and severe injuries or fatalities. But our Pearland car accident attorneys point out that the damage works both ways. Vehicle weight leads to road damage, which leads to vehicle damage, which leads to accidents, injuries, and sometimes death.

18-wheelers, especially when fully loaded with cargo, cause more road damage than passenger vehicles due to their much greater weight. These trucks, like your car, under normal driving conditions only contact the road on the relatively small contact patches where the tires meet the road. That’s a huge amount of pressure exerted on these contact patches and the roads they travel over.

A study by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) determined that the road damage caused by a single 18-wheeler was equivalent to the damage caused by 9,600 cars. (GAO: Excessive Truck Weight: An Expensive Burden We Can No Longer Afford) The study seems to have based its calculations around the number of axles per vehicle. The study found that essentially, road damage was related to the 4th power of the relative loads. That means that if one vehicle carries a load of 1,500 pounds per axle and another carries a load of 3,000 pounds on each axle, the road damage caused by the heavier vehicle is not twice as much, but 2 to the 4th power as much (2x2x2x2 = 16 times as much road damage as the lighter vehicle).

Or where an 80,000-pound 18-wheeler full of cargo is compared to a 4,000-pound passenger car, the truck is 20 times heavier than the car. But taking the 4th power of the relative loads, the semi would cause 160,000 times more road damage than the car. (But my simple calculation is not taking into account the effect of any weight distribution caused by the greater number of axles on the big rig.)

So let’s compare a passenger car and a bicycle instead, both with two axles. Say the bike and its rider weigh in at 200 pounds, and the car at 4,000 pounds. The weight of the car is also 20 times greater than the bike and rider, and the road damage caused would be 160,000 times greater.

Based on their study, the GAO concluded that “[h]eavy and overweight trucks are a major cause of highway deterioration.” And that their damaging effects make it clear that trucks are the principle cause of traffic related deterioration of the highways. Because of the disproportionate impact of heavier loads on the roadways, just a small percentage of overweight trucks would significantly decrease the useful lifespan of U.S. highways.

The Pearland car accident attorneys at Denena Points, PC note that some truck traffic has already been shifted off the roadways. You may have noticed the long freight trains loaded with endless truck trailers and tankers full of cargo. We doubt that this shift is primarily due to concern for roadway damage. More likely, it is due to the perennial shortage of qualified truck drivers and the greater ease and speed of rail cargo transport. Traditional tractor-trailer trucks must still transport the cargo to or from the rail hub.

In an age of deteriorating highway infrastructure and declining budgets for road upgrades and repairs, the sensible thing to do in order to lengthen the lifespan of our roadways would be to shift even more cargo transport from truck to rail. And more human transport from passenger vehicle to bicycle. But I doubt that this will be happening anytime soon. We’re only just beginning to see a concerted effort to make U.S. urban landscapes more bicycle and pedestrian friendly. And outside of Manhattan, it is simply not practical to function without a passenger vehicle in U.S. cities and towns.

It is almost inevitable that population growth and increasing gridlock will require that we move more cargo transport off the roads and onto rails. The time to begin is now. Waiting to make the shift until it’s too late and the situation is dire only means that quick fixes and inadequate solutions will be put in place, resulting in an almost immediate need for further upgrades and solutions.

Why did it take 8 DWI Convictions to get this Man behind Bars?

Maybe that’s the wrong way to phrase it. Clearly, Richard Vollick was already at far too many bars already.

Everyone does realize that a drunken driver can kill you, right? They blow through stop signs and red lights as if they’re not even there. They routinely enter highways via the exit ramps and slam head-on into unsuspecting victims. Victims that could be you or me. And even if you’re somewhat impaired yourself, you’re not expecting it, and you can’t get out of the way in time.

The Houston DWI crash injury attorneys at Denena Points, PC caution that victims of these drunken drivers end up dead, permanently disabled, or seriously injured. So why do the authorities allow this to continue?

Just recently, a Corpus Christi jury finally sentenced 58-year-old Richard Vollick to 70 years in prison after eight (count ’em, 8) convictions for drunken driving. The sentence included a $100,000 fine. Which, our Houston DWI crash injury attorneys mention, won’t even begin to pay the hospital bills for anyone he has injured in his chronically intoxicated state. If he even has the capacity to pay it, which would be unusual for an 8-time convicted drunken driver.

Vollick’s most recent charge began with a December 2013 crash where his vehicle collided with metal signposts as he exited the Harbor Ferry. The collision punctured the gas tank of his vehicle. Some Good Samaritans who went to help him after the crash found him sitting in a puddle of gasoline smoking a cigarette. This illustrates the impaired decision-making capacity of drivers under the influence of alcohol or drugs and precisely why we need to keep them off the roads. Consider that, the next time you shrug off the impaired driving of a friend, relative, or colleague. The life their poor judgment claims could be yours.

Have You Witnessed a DWI Crash? Report It

Contact the authorities and let them know. Or if you prefer, contact us. Our Houston DWI crash injury attorneys could make sure your information gets to the right place. Reach us anytime by our simple online contact form. Or phone us direct at 713-807-9500. We could make sure your information gets to the right place.

Montgomery County Fatal DUI Crash a Hit and Run

Sunday morning about 1 a.m., a Mitsubishi SUV was stopped at a red light on Highway 105 at Navaho in Montgomery County. A white Dodge 3500 pickup truck came zooming onto 105 from Blue Heron and rear-ended the Mitsubishi at high speed. The force of the impact reportedly broke the frame of the SUV and popped the outer skin of the door off. The truck rammed into a utility pole after crushing the SUV. Photos of the crash show what appear to be multiple alcohol containers littering the scene near the white truck.

The SUV was found upside down and almost completely crushed on the edge of Lake Conroe with 4 people inside. One woman was killed in the horrific Montgomery County hit and run crash. The three others in the vehicle, including two teens, survived.

The driver of the Dodge pickup truck had injuries so minor that he was able to flee the scene. But he was later found at a Conroe hospital where he had checked in for a broken arm. That driver has been charged with intoxication manslaughter, intoxication assault with a vehicle causing serious bodily injury, and two counts of aggravated assault. (Heather Alexander, Houston Chronicle, 4/27/14) The Pearland personal injury attorneys at Denena Points, PC convey our condolences to the family and friends of the deceased woman, and we express our wishes for safe and complete recoveries from their wounds to the three injured victims from the Mitsubishi.

Penalties have Increased for Texas Hit and Run Drivers who Flee Fatal Wrecks

In September 2013, a new law (SB 275) took effect that increased the penalties for drivers who flee the scene of a fatal wreck. The new law made the crime a second-degree felony punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. The punishment is the same as for intoxication manslaughter. Our Pearland personal injury attorneys note that the increased penalty is intended to reduce the number of hit and run crimes. But as the horrific fatal crash in Montgomery County reveals, many desperate drivers will still run from the fatal wrecks they have caused if they can.

You have Rights after an Injury or Death Caused by a Drunken Driver

Texas law provides recourse to the victims of a drunken driver. The law allows you to pursue the driver to seek financial compensation for the needless harm and loss you’ve suffered. You might be eligible to pursue a personal injury, wrongful death, or survivor claim against the driver as well as a claim against the place that served him the alcohol that got him drunk and then let him get behind the wheel.

The Pearland personal injury attorneys at Denena Points, PC are experienced with the challenges of pursuing claims against drunken drivers and against alcohol-serving establishments under the Texas dram shop laws. Our Board Certified attorneys have the expertise to provide you with the legal help you need to get the justice and fair compensation to which you’re entitled.

Contact us for a free initial legal consultation where we could help you better understand your options and the potential obstacles you might face after a crash caused by a drunken driver. We’ll discuss the unique facts and circumstances of your case with you and help you evaluate your potential eligibility for a full financial recovery for your injuries and losses. Reach us at 713-807-9500 or fill out our online contact form to schedule your free consultation. We understand the suffering you’re going through, and we’re here to help you recover. Contact us and put our experience to work for your family’s benefit.

Liberty County Hit and Run Wrong Way Wreck caused by Unlicensed Driver

About 60% of wrong way wrecks are alcohol-related. And our Pearland personal injury lawyers note that between 20% and 25% are caused by unlicensed drivers. Unlicensed drivers, of which there are many in Texas, account for a large proportion of hit and run wrecks and serious and fatal injuries they cause.

On Saturday morning on CR 603 in south Liberty County, a 17-year-old unlicensed driver crashed a Ford Expedition, flashing newly purchased red and blue lights, head-on into a vehicle occupied by Liberty County Judge Craig McNair and his wife. The couple sustained serious injuries requiring a Life Flight to the hospital.

The teenager in the Ford Expedition fled the scene and was later found at home about a mile away, asleep in bed. In the meantime, a family member dropped off his 21-year-old brother, Edgar Mata, at the scene to take the blame. Edgar claimed to be responsible for the wrong-way crash after reportedly being coerced into doing so.

Edgar was charged with public intoxication and with making a false report to a peace officer. His younger brother was charged with failure to stop and render aid, lack of a driver’s license, and improper use of the flashing red and blue lights. (yourhoustonnews.com/eastex, 4/19/14)

When you or your loved ones suffer injuries in a wrong-way collisions, statistics show that the person responsible for the accident might be guilty of multiple crimes in addition to driving the wrong way. You will need experienced and aggressive legal help to get the fair compensation you deserve. Your attorney will need to be familiar with the processes of gathering strong evidence and uncovering hidden assets of the liable parties to the crash. A scenario like the one in Liberty County presents multiple challenges.

Get the Help You need for a Challenging Compensation Claim against a Wrong Way Driver

Contact the Texas Board Certified Pearland personal injury attorneys at Denena Points, PC. With more than 12 years of experience with complex personal injury and wrong death cases under our belt, we know how to conquer the challenges of a difficult case and help you obtain the compensation you deserve for your needless injuries.

There’s no excuse for wrecks like the one that occurred in Liberty County on Saturday. Hold the driver and his accomplices financially accountable for their crimes. Contact us at 713-807-9500 or reach us through our online contact form to schedule a free, no obligation initial legal consultation. We could help answer your questions after a serious injury accident and evaluate your potential eligibility for a fair financial recovery.

Deadly Houston Crash Example of Drunken Drivers’ Disregard for Others

A saddening example of the attitude many people take towards the chronic and deadly problem of drunken driving is revealed in a deadly DWI crash in northwest Houston early on Sunday morning. A disabled car was stalled by the side of North Sam Houston Parkway when Sergio Sanchez, Jr. reportedly slammed his white pickup truck into the rear of the car. The driver and the front seat passenger of the vehicle had been outside trying to fix it, while two women remained seated in the car.

One of the women died in the horrific crash. The other woman was taken to the hospital for her injuries. Our Houston parkway car accident attorneys express their deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Ms. Rocha, and we wish Ms. Reyes a safe and complete recovery from her injuries.

The stalled car had on its headlights, parking lights, and hazard lights. And at least one of the people from the disabled vehicle began waving and screaming at Sanchez to stop when they saw the white pickup truck bearing down on them. Sergio Sanchez, Jr. was charged with intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault after the deadly Houston crash. (Jayme Fraser, Houston Chronicle, 4/13/14)

News accounts say that he issued an apology to the victims when he appeared at the courthouse. Friends of the victims and survivors of the accident opined that the apology sounded insincere. A news report indicated that Sanchez’s real concern after abruptly ending a life was to obtain probation or community service for his crime so that he could get on with his own life. (Mary Benton, KPRC News, 4/14/14)

A self-centered concern with his own future and apparent lack of concern for anyone else’s future was exemplified by his act of getting behind the wheel drunk and then disregarding the warnings of the multiple lights on the disabled vehicle as well as the waved and shouted warnings of occupants of the car to ram into the rear of it with deadly force.

Giving a drunken driver probation or community service would simply indicate a failure to take his crime seriously. If the sentence for taking a life indicates that we as a society don’t actually value others’ lives, how can we expect drunks to consider others’ lives or safety before they get behind the wheel? The Houston parkway car accident attorneys at Denena Points, PC emphasize that every drunken driving death is avoidable if we make the effort to ensure that drunks don’t get behind the wheel and that those who do don’t get released back into society to repeat their crimes.

Click the link to learn about another recent local crash with multiple injuries caused by a wrong way driver. 60% of wrong way wrecks are also DWI wrecks, so police tested the driver for intoxication after the crash.

1 Driving Error Hurts Many: Texarkana Man dies in Chain Reaction Wreck

Authorities closed down part of Highway 67 to clear the scene of a fatal 5 vehicle wreck in Texarkana and reconstruct the accident. Monday around 8 a.m., Jerry Lamb was in a Saturn waiting to turn left into Daniels Tires for work that day when a Chevy Equinox struck the rear of his car. The Equinox then bounced off the Saturn and hit a freightliner truck reportedly belonging to Blue Bell Ice Cream.

The initial impact from the Equinox sent the Saturn into oncoming traffic where it collided with a Toyota. The Toyota then spun into another lane and got hit by a Chevy pickup. (ketknbc.com, 3/31/14) Jerry Lamb died at the scene of the terrible chain reaction wreck. Two other people were injured in the crash. And two drivers remained uninjured.

Mr. Lamb had only worked at the mechanic’s shop that leased space from Daniels Tires for about two weeks. The owner of the mechanic’s shop closed the business for the day. Troy Daniels of the tire shop said to KLTV that crashes had happened before at that same spot, and that they need a turn lane there. (Olivia Vidal, kltv.com, 3/31/14) Authorities are continuing to investigate the fatal 5-vehicle accident. The Texas highway crash attorneys at Denena Points, PC express their sincere sympathies to the grieving family and friends of Mr. Lamb.

Authorities did not yet disclose the specific cause of the crash. Our Texas highway crash attorneys agree, however, that it sounds as if the location probably does need a dedicated turn lane. Waiting to turn, or even waiting at a stoplight on a busy, but narrow, highway can be dangerous. Indeed, on Texas roads filled with drivers that don’t pay full attention to driving, and who drive too fast without leaving enough space between their vehicle and the car ahead of them, slowing to turn or stopping at an intersection can be dangerous for all drivers and their passengers.

In fact, I was rear-ended in this evening’s rush hour because one driver, apparently going too fast and not leaving enough space, failed to stop when the driver ahead of him stopped. I heard a loud impact as he crashed into that car, which had been stopped and which now has some serious damage. Then I felt an impact, as the stopped car was pushed into mine. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt in this chain reaction crash, unlike the one in Texarkana that tragically claimed the life of a man on his way to work.

Both of these accidents clearly demonstrate how one driver’s error can start a chain of reactions that leads to damage, injury, and even death for others. In Texarkana, the occupants of the vehicles hit after the Equinox first crashed had no control over subsequent events and could not avoid the chain reaction. It sounds rather miraculous that the wreck killed no other victims.

Let’s all try and take a lesson from these two crashes and:

Slow down; always drive at a safe speed.
Leave sufficient space between your vehicle and the one ahead of you so that you can stop if you need to.
Pay attention to the traffic around you so that you can slow and stop as other traffic stops.

Unfortunately, Texas traffic has become much heavier than it used to be. And drivers, plagued by delays and gridlock, have become more impatient and seem to take more reckless chances than ever before. Morning and evening rush hours in our cities and towns see multiple crashes. The vehicles stopped or slowing ahead of you may in fact be doing so because of a prior crash. Don’t add to the chaos. The Texas highway crash attorneys at Denena Points, PC urge you to take your time and drive carefully. It’s better to arrive somewhere late than not at all.

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