The Alpha Kids Center 15-passenger van involved in the 4-vehicle Harris County wreck on Monday that left 16 kids injured was of a type banned by the federal government from use by school districts across the nation. Our Harris County injury lawyers note that the 15-passenger van is banned because, according to the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board), they are 3 times more likely to suffer rollover wrecks than other vehicles when filled with over 10 people.
The Alpha Kids Center van contained 18 people, 2 adults and 16 children, at the time it crashed on Monday. The NTSB has specifically warned that the 15-passenger vans should not be overloaded because of the high danger of rollovers. (Source: Scott Noll, KHOU 11 News, khou.com, 7/11/12.)
The Alpha Kids Center van did not contain enough seatbelts for all of its occupants, presenting additional dangers in the event of a wreck. Our Harris County injury lawyers emphasize that the type of van used by the Center is particularly vulnerable to rollovers. And rollover wrecks are notorious for ejected un-seatbelted passengers. Approximately 75% of vehicle occupants ejected during rollover wrecks receive fatal injuries.
The NTSB has also recommended that drivers of the vans receive additional driver training in order to be able to handle the vehicles. The driver of the Alpha Kids Center van involved in the wreck, Concepcion Coronado, reportedly did not have a valid driver’s license, so we suspect she might not have obtained the recommended extra training either. In addition, today’s news accounts of the wreck report that Coronado ran a red light before a pickup truck crashed into the van on Gulf Bank in Harris County.
Our Harris County injury lawyers reiterate that while federal law bans school districts from using the 15-passenger vans to transport students, the government does not ban the vans’ use by day care centers. And local day care centers in Texas continue to use them to transport their young charges. The injured kids from the Alpha Kids Center were on their way back from a field trip when the van crash occurred on Monday.
We’re greatly relieved that the Alpha Kids Center van did not suffer a dangerous rollover wreck during the 4-vehicle accident on Monday. Some of its un-seatbelted passengers could have been ejected from the van and killed in the dangerous crash.
Read more about the criminal charges relating to Monday’s 4-vehicle van crash in this articlefrom our Harris County injury lawyers.
Texas truck driver Jim Harville of Waskom, 56 years old, died Wednesday in a tragic head on truck crash caused by a Louisiana trucker’s reckless driving. Sheriff’s deputies cited Larry D. Gatson II of Shreveport for reckless driving and following too closely. (Source: Associated Press, 6/21/2012.)
Larry Gatson, driving for Frac Tech International Services in a convoy trucking oil field equipment, rear-ended the company’s tractor-trailer ahead of him. That crash caused the truck ahead of Gatson to veer into the southbound lanes of U.S. Highway 79 and impact head on with Mr. Harville’s rig. Larry Gatson received serious injuries from the truck crash caused by negligent, reckless driving. But it was Mr. Harville who paid the ultimate price.
A tractor-trailer in motion has tremendous momentum and requires some distance to stop. The faster the truck’s speed, the more space needs to be maintained between the truck and the vehicle ahead of it in order for the truck to be able to avoid a rear-impact crash in the event it needs to stop or slow suddenly.
Responsible truckers know to always keep a safe distance between themselves and the vehicles ahead of them, to observe a safe speed in relation to traffic, and to keep their attention on the road in case drivers ahead of them slow or stop suddenly.
As this tractor-trailer collision on U.S. Highway 79 reveals, a rear-impact crash can cause the driver of the impacted vehicle to lose control and the vehicle to veer off course. A moment of recklessness or inattention in the following driver can injure not just the drivers and occupants of those two vehicles, but other innocent parties as well.
You could help protect yourself from injury by maintaining safe speeds on the road, avoiding distractions while behind the wheel, and following the vehicles ahead of you at safe distances. For passenger cars, the traditional rule is to add one car length of distance for each additional 10 mph you add to your speed. Of course, maintaining a safe gap between vehicles is not always possible in heavy traffic. Other rushed drivers will just jump into the gap you create. But in those situations, it’s more important than ever to keep your focus and reduce your speed.
To learn what you could do to protect your rights and interests in the event you suffer injury in a truck collision, feel free to download our book on the essential steps you need to take to make a successful truck accident claim. The book is available free on this web page for your convenience. Just click and download.
The Pearland truck accident lawyers at Denena & Points realize that those who try to represent themselves in a truck accident injury compensation claim stand almost no chance of winning their cases. Truck accident claim cases are convoluted, involve multiple contending factors, and require the use of highly technical matters of evidence to prove a claim. Those who are not attorneys and even practicing attorneys that lack experience with complex truck accident injury claims just won’t have the in-depth knowledge required to successfully address all of the legal hurdles they’ll face on the way to a full financial recovery award.
To win your injury compensation claim, our Pearland truck accident lawyers remind you that you must carefully prove four essential elements of civil liability and damages against each negligent defendant that you have named in your legal action. You’ll need to clearly prove the roles of each of the defendants in causing your accident injuries and the existence and fair value of each of your claimed items of damages.
As you present your case, you will face fierce opposition from defendants who don’t want to pay you what they owe for the losses they’ve caused you. Trucking companies and insurance companies have decades of experience defeating even the most solid claims of inexperienced claimants who try to represent themselves against highly paid defense strategy teams.
With a determined opposition team arrayed against you, you’ll need the services of a Pearland truck accident lawyer that knows when to be aggressive, when to let clear proof speak for itself, and how to combat the underhanded tactics you could face from the defense.
Knowing the law is not enough. You will need a skilled attorney with the practical experience and legal training to correctly apply the laws to the unique facts and circumstances of your individual case. If you fail to prove even one of the four core elements of your claim, your entire claim could be dismissed.
If you fail in a small matter of proof regarding a single item of your claimed monetary damages, that item would be stricken from your list of claims. Following an 18-wheeler accident, you may be counting on the financial compensation you could get from your injury claim to help you meet the heavy financial burdens resulting from the accident and its attendant injuries. You probably need the money from a fair compensation award to help you get back on your financial feet again and to help make you and your family financially whole again. Don’t waste your one chance to claim the compensation you need to heal financially following your accident.
Don’t make costly mistakes trying to represent yourself in pursuit of a truck accident claim. Hire the experienced legal professionals you need to make a successful truck accident injury claim. The Pearland truck accident lawyers at Denena & Points have built a solid reputation for aggressive client advocacy, thorough case investigation, detailed claim preparation, skillful settlement negotiations, and convincing trial presentations that both our clients and our opponents respect.
Let our reputation and experience work for you and your financial future. We’ve dedicated our professional lives to helping unjustly injured accident victims obtain the financial compensation they deserve from the negligent defendants who injured them. We could help you too. Contact us today toll free at 877-307-9500 for a free legal consultation/case evaluation or use our convenient online contact features to schedule your free initial consultation.
Houston school bus injury lawyers note that you might recall news of a fatal school bus crash with a truck near Gray Summit, MO in August 2010. Two school buses carrying students to a MO amusement park were involved in a multi-vehicle chain reaction wreck after a distracted driver crashed his GMC pickup truck into the rear of a Volvo semi truck. The Volvo tractor-trailer had slowed to stop within a line of vehicles as it entered a construction zone on I-44. Then the two school buses behind the GMC crashed into both the pickup truck and the Volvo semi truck. The driver of the GMC pickup truck and a 16-year-old student on the leading bus died in the crash.
Outcries and concerns stemming from the high profile school bus crash led the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to undertake an investigation of the circumstances surrounding the fatal wreck. Our Houston school bus injury lawyers point out that the NTSB investigation found several contributing factors to the fatal accident:
Following the fatal school bus accident and its investigation of the incident, the NTSB made a number of recommendations to the NASDPTS (National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services). The NTSB recommended that members of NASDPTS and the National School Transportation Association receive information on the circumstances of the fatal Gray Summit school bus crash and that safety discussions focus on driver solutions, vehicle inspections and technology, and pre-trip evacuations.
The NASDPTS has responded to the NTSB recommendations with a letter adopting the NTSB recommendations and outlining steps to inform the school transportation industry of the necessary safety and training lesson learned from the fatal Gray Summit school bus crash.
The Houston school bus injury lawyers at Denena & Points remark that the safety lessons learned from the tragic Gray Summit school bus crash show promise to benefit the entire U.S. student transportation industry. Although lives were needlessly lost in the Gray Summit crash, those lost lives may now result in the saving of many other lives. Learn more about what to do in the event of a dangerous school bus crash with a truck by downloading our free book on the steps you can take to protect yourself and your family following a semi crash injury.
The Houston accident lawyers at Denena & Points understand that few events cause more distress than having your child seriously injured in a traffic accident. After the accident, your first concern will be to ensure that your child obtains necessary medical treatment. In the emotional turmoil following the event, you likely won’t consider just how quickly the medical expenses might add up, or how you could pay them. Your main concern will be doing all that you can to help your child recover.
Our Houston accident lawyers realize that you will want to make sure that those responsible for your child’s injury are brought to justice and that responsible parties are held accountable so that you can obtain the just compensation that your child deserves for the traumatic accident injury. You might not realize that claiming damages following a child’s injury in a wreck is a somewhat different process than for a similarly injured adult.
For one thing, the statute of limitations is different. The statute of limitations is the time by which the law requires you to file a case in court, or your injury claim will be dismissed. The law recognizes an adult as being fully capable of making the decision to file a case and to accept a settlement for a case. Therefore, the statute of limitations requires an adult to file a personal injury case in Texas within two years following the accident.
Texas law does not give the same recognition of inherent competence to a child under 18 years of age. So Texas law gives a child until two years after the 18th birthday to file a personal injury claim. A minor child’s statute of limitations runs two years, but not from the date of the injury. A child’s statute of limitations runs two years from the date that the child achieves adult decision-making competence under the law.
Basically, you could decide to pursue an accident injury compensation claim on behalf of your minor child. Or you could wait and let your child decide whether or not to pursue a claim. But our Houston accident lawyers caution you that the longer you wait to pursue a claim after an accident and injury tale place, the more difficult the case likely will be to prove. Don’t take chances. Don’t wait. If you have a young and injured child, take responsible legal action on your child’s behalf.
To learn more about the necessary steps to achieving a successful injury compensation award, download our Houston accident lawyers’ free book offering essential guidelines to follow after a serious Houston wreck.
Texas school bus accident attorneys relate that a major school bus accident near Seguin, TX on Friday brought a school bus, an 18-wheeler, a Chrysler PT Cruiser, and a Ford Focus into contact with injurious results. The 18-wheeler driver received transport to the hospital in critical condition after the accident. 13 people were injured in the multi-vehicle chain reaction wreck that started when the 18-wheeler clipped the PT Cruiser, sending it spinning into the path of the school bus, which was then rear-ended by the Ford Focus.
But no one died in the fiery wreck that left an appalling picture of highway disaster at Texas 123 and Lange Road. Our Texas school bus accident attorneys point out that part of the reason for the relatively minor injuries suffered by the school bus occupants could be the new safety equipment on board that particular bus. Seguin ISD put into service 4 new buses just weeks ago.
Ana Ley and Michelle Casady of the San Antonio Express-News reported that those 4 Seguin ISD school buses enjoyed the benefit of upgraded safety features that included laminated glass windows, flame retardant bus seats, a body that can separate from the frame in the event of accident, and a roof designed to support 1.5 times the bus’s weight. These new safety features were put to the test in the Texas 123 wreck when the bus flipped over and experienced a fire.
The bus driver and an 8th grade student remained hospitalized after the wreck with injuries not believed to be life threatening. The director of student transportation for Seguin ISD said that bus did exactly what it was designed to do in the event of a wreck. The safety features of the bus minimized injuries that could have been far worse under the circumstances, and avoided fatalities in the fiery crash.
Our Texas school bus accident attorneys emphasize that the survival of the students and their bus driver in the horrific wreck is an illustration of the benefits upgraded safety features and equipment can provide in vehicles.
Pearland injury lawyers note that on Friday evening, a northbound 18-wheeler struck a Toyota Camry broadside as the car was trying to cross northbound lanes of Highway 59 at Cottonwood Road. The Toyota ended up in the median. 4 teen girls occupied the Camry. One of the teen passengers, Gabrielle Garcia, died from her injuries at the scene of the tragic accident. The driver and another passenger received air transport to the hospital with serious injuries. Another passenger received minor injuries. The 58-year-old truck driver did not receive injuries from the crash.
News accounts mention that police were still investigating the accident days later, but do not comment on the possible causes of the crash. Did one of the drivers run a light or a stop sign? Fail to yield right of way?
An accident victim’s ability to obtain financial compensation for the heavy costs resulting from a truck accident depends strongly on an accurate determination of the causes behind the wreck. Texas, like many states, follows a doctrine of modified comparative negligence. Under this doctrine, a victim found to be at least 50% at fault for causing the accident can’t obtain compensation from other parties to the accident.
If you’ve been injured in a wreck, and you need to know if you’re eligible to obtain monetary compensation from the other parties involved in the accident, contact our Pearland injury lawyers for a free and confidential legal consultation. We could help you pinpoint the causes that contributed to your wreck, the liability that might be shared by various parties involved, and the steps you need to take to protect your rights and financial interests after the accident. Call us toll free at 877-307-9500 or use our online contact features to schedule your case evaluation consultation.
Texas City injury attorneys note that if a negligent truck driver injured you, you could sue the truck driver and usually the truck owner as well for the financial harm you’ve suffered. The costs of your medical bills, ongoing medical costs due to your injuries from the wreck, lost wages, and damaged vehicle can all be sought from those responsible for causing those expenses.
For example, Texas City is suing 45-year-old truck driver Kevin Sandles and truck owner Willie Sandles on behalf of city taxpayers to recover the large sum (already more than $100,000) spent in worker’s compensation when the truck crashed with a police vehicle and injured the officer inside. Texas City claims that the truck failed to yield the right of way to Officer Joshua Roberts. Texas City also claims that the truck driver drove his vehicle in a reckless manner, failed to properly control his speed, and failed to watch for other vehicles.
The city says that the truck’s owner should have known that Kevin Sandles was a reckless and unsafe driver who was unfit to be entrusted with driving a heavy truck. Our Texas City injury attorneys point out that the Texas City police officer apparently has not yet recovered from his extensive injuries from the crash, as the already large amount of worker’s compensation benefits paid to the injured officer is expected to increase while the litigation is underway.
Texas City has a team of municipal attorneys to help prosecute their claim for compensation from the truck driver and truck owner. If you’ve been similarly injured because of truck driver negligence, you have an equal right to seek the financial damages you need to pay for the burdensome expenses from the wreck. But you probably don’t have a team of attorneys on staff to handle the claim for you.
If you’ve been injured and need help prosecuting your claim, you should seek the counsel of a Board Certified Texas City injury attorney with extensive experience in handling such injury accident claims. At Denena & Points, our experienced Texas City injury attorneys have earned their Texas Board Certifications in personal injury law through extensive trial practice and top tier client service and case results. We’ve been successfully handling claims for injured victims of negligent truckers for more than 12 years.
Our legal expertise and skill could be your key to a successful financial recovery on your claim. Contact us for a free initial legal consultation and case evaluation at 877-307-9500. Or use our convenient online contact features to schedule your free consultation. Let us help you obtain the full financial recovery you deserve for your needless injuries.
When our Texas truck collision attorneys reported the sadly fatal wreck of a car into a tanker truck in SE Travis County, we were troubled by our inability to find solid information on the web regarding charges against the reckless BMW driver that caused the fatal tanker truck crash.
A news story published by the Austin American Statesman late Thursday night reveals that 24-year-old Hernan Garcia-Segura, the driver of the 1998 BMW that crashed into the tanker truck, has been charged with criminally negligent homicide and aggravated assault. Texas troopers said that Garcia disregarded a stop sign just prior to wrecking into the tanker truck at the intersection.
Garcia’s reckless crash crushed his own car, trapping his own mother inside, and caused the tanker truck to explode and burn, which killed the truck driver, 41-year-old Dedrick Brooks of San Antonio. Garcia’s mother suffered a broken pelvis and head trauma.
Our Texas truck collision attorneys were gratified to hear of the strong charges against Garcia, apparently a driver with heedless disregard for others’ safety, even that of his own mother. Authorities were holding Garcia in the Travis County Jail and bail had not been set. Bail might not be appropriate in this case.
The tragic results of this collision to the Brooks’ family demonstrate very clearly the hideous toll that reckless driving can take on the lives of innocent victims. To learn more about what you can do when you and your family have been affected by the reckless behavior of a heedless driver, download our Texas truck accident attorneys’ free book on the steps you need to take following a serious accident.
The in-depth information inside the book could help you and your family members obtain just compensation for your losses and expenses after a serious accident. Our Texas truck collision attorneys’ detailed step-by-step guide could help you successfully find your road to recovery. The book is available free to our readers here on this web page. Just click and download.
Experienced Houston truck accident lawyers know that the financial consequences of a truck accident and the injuries you sustain from the crash can be devastating. A Texas truck accident could leave you with catastrophic injuries like brain damage, spinal injuries, paralysis, multiple broken bones, burns, disfigurements, damaged internal organs, and a host of other physical complications you never expected to face. So what do you do? What recourse do you have to help you cope with the traumatic consequences of a collision with a heavy truck?
Suffering victims injured by a truck crash can seek financial compensation from the negligent parties that caused their injuries. These victims might be entitled to file a civil claim for monetary damages for their personal injuries against the truck driver, trucking company that employer the driver, cargo loaders, and other parties. Filing your personal injury claim might be the only means you have to legally ensure that those who caused your injuries are held accountable for their actions.
Your personal injury claim could win you monetary damages for all of the expenses resulting from the accident and your injuries. Our Houston truck accident lawyers note that you might seek financial compensation for:
The experienced Houston truck accident lawyers at Denena & Points could help you recovery the full financial compensation you deserve because of your accident. Contact us for a completely free and confidential consultation regarding your specific injury accident.
We could help you understand your legal rights, the options you have in seeking proper monetary damages for your injuries, the obstacles the truckers, trucking companies, and insurance adjusters are likely to put in your way, and the ways that our experience and legal expertise in the personal injury arena could help you overcome those obstacles to your advantage. Call us today at 877-307-9500 (toll free) or use our convenient online contact features to make your appointment for a free consultation/case evaluation.