Palermo Law Blog

A father and his 7-month-old son were struck by an SUV near a bus stop on West Little York Road at 9 a.m. this morning, police said. Theodore Jones was pushing his son in a stroller when an out-of-control SUV jumped the curb and hit them. The driver did not stop, but continued down the road until rear ending another vehicle a few miles away. The SUV she was driving rolled over. Police are investigating the cause of the crash. Jones’ pregnant wife was only a few feet away and witnessed the tragedy. Jones died from his injuries. His infant son was rushed to Texas Children’s Hospital for treatment of a broken arm. He is listed in good condition.

Unfortunately, accidents such as this one often result in death or serious injury to pedestrians.  If you have been injured or a loved one has been killed in a pedestrian accident, contact the Houston accident lawyers at 1-888-839-8879 today to explore your legal options. Palermo Law Firm handles auto accident cases in Houston and the surrounding suburbs, including Bellaire, Brookside Village, Channelview, Crosby, Deer Park, Dyersdale, Galena Park, Houmont Park, Jacinto City, Kinwood, Meadows Place, Meyerland, Missouri City, North Hudson, Park Place, Pasadena, Pearland, Satsuma, South Houston, Stafford, and Sugar Land. We handle personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis, which means you won’t pay an attorney’s fee unless your receive money in your case.

The driver responsible for killing one person and injuring another in a drunk driving crash on Sunday has been arrested and charged with intoxication manslaughter.  Nicholas Jared Mereles, 24, was driving a Toyota Camry on North Eldridge Parkway on Sunday evening, when he began tailgating another vehicle. The vehicle pulled to the side of the road to let Mereles pass, when he crossed the center line and sideswiped a Toyota Avalon, then hit a Toyota Corolla head on while fleeing the scene of the accident. An occupant in the Corolla was killed and another passenger was injured in the crash. Passengers in Mereles’ car were also injured.

Drunk driving accidents continue to be a major cause of auto accidents in the U.S. In 2009, there were 10,839 alcohol-impaired fatalities on the nation’s highways. If you have been injured or lost a loved one in an accident caused by a drunk driver, contact the Houston accident lawyers at 1-888-839-8879 today to explore your legal options. Palermo Law Firm handles personal injury and auto accident cases in Houston and the surrounding suburbs, including Bellaire, Brookside Village, Channelview, Crosby, Deer Park, Dyersdale, Galena Park, Houmont Park, Jacinto City, Kinwood, Meadows Place, Meyerland, Missouri City, North Hudson, Park Place, Pasadena, Pearland, Satsuma, South Houston, Stafford, and Sugar Land. Our Houston personal injury lawyers work on a contingency fee basis, which means that you don’t pay a fee unless you recover money for your loss.

A massive fire on a production platform in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday prompted an evacuation of the platform, news reports say.  Thirteen employees, who had to jump into the Gulf to escape the flames, were all rescued with no injuries. Although the platform, owned by Mariner Energy of Houston, is not an oil drilling platform, the incident has raised concerns about the safety of lifting the moratorium on drilling in the Gulf. In the wake of the Deep Horizon catastrophe, all drilling-related accidents are under public scrutiny, according to experts. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Fortunately, no one was hurt in this platform fire. However, platform accidents like this one can be tragic, potentially resulting in serious, catastrophic injuries and death to workers. In particular, burn injuries can leave a worker in need of painful skin grafts and rehabilitative therapy for years to come. In addition, burn victims typically suffer substantial scarring that will serve as a permanent reminder of their physical pain and emotional trauma.

If you have been injured or a loved one has been killed in an oil rig or production platform accident, contact the Houston accident lawyers at 1-888-839-8879 today to explore your legal options. Palermo Law Firm handles oil rig and refinery accident cases in Houston and the surrounding suburbs, including Bellaire, Brookside Village, Channelview, Crosby, Deer Park, Dyersdale, Galena Park, Houmont Park, Jacinto City, Kinwood, Meadows Place, Meyerland, Missouri City, North Hudson, Park Place, Pasadena, Pearland, Satsuma, South Houston, Stafford, and Sugar Land.

Toyota announced this week that it is recalling over one million of its 2005-2008 model Corolla sedans and Matrix hatchbacks due to issues with engines stalling while the vehicles are in operation. Corolla and Matrix vehicles equipped with the 1ZZ-FE engine contain a defective engine control module (ECM). Soldering on the ECM may develop cracks which can cause the engine to fail to start or to stall while the vehicle is in motion. To date, at least three accidents are believed to be related to defective ECMs in Toyota Corolla and Matrix models.

This latest recall comes in the wake of a series of Toyota recalls for unintended acceleration and braking problems with several other Toyota models, including the Camry, Prius, and Lexus hybrid. This current recall brings Toyota’s total recalled vehicles to over 9 million since last September. Toyota will begin repairing the faulty ECMs on the recalled vehicles in September.

If you have been injured or lost a loved one in an accident caused by a defective Toyota vehicle, contact the Houston accident lawyers at 1-888-839-8879 today to explore your legal options. Palermo Law Firm handles personal injury and auto accident cases in Houston and the surrounding suburbs, including Bellaire, Brookside Village, Channelview, Crosby, Deer Park, Dyersdale, Galena Park, Houmont Park, Jacinto City, Kinwood, Meadows Place, Meyerland, Missouri City, North Hudson, Park Place, Pasadena, Pearland, Satsuma, South Houston, Stafford, and Sugar Land. Our Houston personal injury lawyers work on a contingency fee basis, which means that you don’t pay a fee unless you recover money for your injuries.

Auto accidents continue to be the leading cause of death for teenagers in this country. Drivers between 15 and 20 years old are three times as likely to be involved in an auto accident than older drivers, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Source:  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

NHTSA statistics show that there are several reasons for the high incidence of teen driving deaths, including inexperience, speeding, alcohol and drug use, failure to wear seat belts, and distracted driving caused by texting while driving, talking on a cell phone, or having other teen passengers in the car. The NHTSA recommends that all teen drivers be required to take a driving course before getting a license. In addition, parents should not allow teen drivers to use a handheld electronic device or have other teen passengers in the vehicle while driving. Taking these safety precautions, as well as encouraging them to buckle up every time they drive, can help ensure that your teen driver stays safe.

If you were involved in an auto accident, call the Houston accident lawyers at 1-888-839-8879 today. The Palermo Law Firm handles personal injury and auto accident cases in Houston and the surrounding suburbs, including Bellaire, Brookside Village, Channelview, Crosby, Deer Park, Dyersdale, Galena Park, Houmont Park, Jacinto City, Kinwood, Meadows Place, Meyerland, Missouri City, North Hudson, Park Place, Pasadena, Pearland, Satsuma, South Houston, Stafford, and Sugar Land. Our Houston accident attorneys provide a free initial consultation regarding your case.

Most people agree that texting while driving is dangerous. But just how dangerous? According to a study released in July by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, drivers who text behind the wheel are 23 times more likely to be involved in a crash or near-crash event than drivers who are not distracted. That is why the Automobile Association of America, more commonly known as AAA, is meeting with state governments across the nation to push for statewide bans on texting while driving. Currently, only 18 states and the District of Columbia have laws restricting or banning the use of handheld electronic devices while operating a motor vehicle. It is the mission of AAA and the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, however, to persuade all 50 states to pass laws banning text messaging while driving by the year 2013. Although Texas has banned talking on cell phones in school zones, there is currently no law banning or restricting text messaging while driving.

There is no doubt that distracted driving can be deadly. Drivers who send text messages behind the wheel take their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds - that’s long enough to travel the length of an entire football field! People injured in accidents caused by distracted drivers often suffer serious, debilitating injuries that may prevent them from returning to work for a while or permanently. They may have mounting medical bills and household debt they simply cannot pay. They may not know where to turn for help.

If you are injured in an accident caused by a distracted driver, contact the Houston accident lawyers at 1-888-839-8879 today to discuss your case. Palermo Law Firm handles personal injury and auto accident cases in Houston and the surrounding suburbs, including Bellaire, Brookside Village, Channelview, Crosby, Deer Park, Dyersdale, Galena Park, Houmont Park, Jacinto City, Kinwood, Meadows Place, Meyerland, Missouri City, North Hudson, Park Place, Pasadena, Pearland, Satsuma, South Houston, Stafford, and Sugar Land. Our Houston accident attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, which means that you don’t pay a thing unless you recover money for your injuries.

Toyota is set to recall 3.8 million vehicles in the U.S., the company announced in a press release on Tuesday. The floor mats on the affected models may interfere with the accelerator pedal, causing the accelerator to become stuck while the vehicle is in operation. A stuck accelerator can result in high vehicle speed, which may cause the operator to lose control of the vehicle and crash. A California crash that killed three people last month has been attributed to defective Toyota floor mats. Owners may begin receiving notifications of the recall as early as next week.

According to the press release, the following Toyota and Lexus models will be affected by the recall:

• 2007 - 2010 Camry
• 2005 - 2010 Avalon
• 2004 - 2009 Prius
• 2005 - 2010 Tacoma
• 2007 - 2010 Tundra
• 2007 - 2010 ES350
• 2006 - 2010 IS250 and IS350

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has reported over 100 incidents in which floor mats in the affected Toyota models caused the accelerator to stick. Owners of vehicles equipped with the defective floor mats are encouraged to remove the floor mats from the vehicle and refrain from installing replacement mats until the company remedies the problem.

If you have been injured in an auto accident caused by a defective product, contact the Houston accident lawyers at 1-888-839-8879 today to explore your legal options. Palermo Law Firm handles personal injury and auto accident cases in Houston and the surrounding suburbs, including Bellaire, Brookside Village, Channelview, Crosby, Deer Park, Dyersdale, Galena Park, Houmont Park, Jacinto City, Kinwood, Meadows Place, Meyerland, Missouri City, North Hudson, Park Place, Pasadena, Pearland, Satsuma, South Houston, Stafford, and Sugar Land. Our Houston accident attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, which means that you don’t pay a fee unless you recover money for your injuries.

Three teenagers were injured Monday morning when a car sped past a school bus that was stopped with its lights flashing. One victim, a 17-year-old boy, suffered serious injuries in the accident. Two other students, another 17-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl, were treated for minor injuries. Fortunately, no one was killed in the incident. The driver, 34-year-old Bob Nichols Norfleet, left the scene of the accident and failed to render assistance to his victims. He is now in police custody.

Pedestrian accidents, like this one, killed over 300 school-age pedestrians and injured another 14,000  more  in 2007. Motorists must remember to be extremely cautious if driving in the early morning or late afternoon hours when children are going to and returning from school. Although this incident occurred in the morning, more school-age pedestrians are killed between 3 and 4 in the afternoon than any other time of day. If your child has been injured in any type of accident, the Houston accident lawyers at Palermo Law Firm can help recover money for your child’s medical bills, physical pain, and emotional trauma.

If you or your child was injured in a pedestrian accident, call the Houston accident lawyers at 1-888-839-8879 today. The Palermo Law Firm handles personal injury and auto accident cases in Houston and the surrounding suburbs, including Bellaire, Brookside Village, Channelview, Crosby, Deer Park, Dyersdale, Galena Park, Houmont Park, Jacinto City, Kinwood, Meadows Place, Meyerland, Missouri City, North Hudson, Park Place, Pasadena, Pearland, Satsuma, South Houston, Stafford, and Sugar Land. Our Houston accident attorneys provide a free initial consultation regarding your case.

Two motorcyclists were killed and another injured in a Beaumont crash involving 3 motorcycles and a van. The three motorcyclists were heading North on the Eastex Freeway on Thursday morning when one of the motorcycles rear ended a van, causing all three motorcycles to crash. Two motorcyclists were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, and a third was rushed to Beaumont hospital with serious injuries. The driver of the van was not injured in the crash.

Houston motorcycle accident victims tend to suffer more serious injuries than occupants of other motor vehicles when involved in auto accidents. Catastrophic injuries, such as traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and severe internal trauma, can leave motorcycle accident victims unable to complete routine daily tasks for weeks, months, or even years after the accident. These serious injuries may cause permanent brain damage or result in paraplegia or quadraplegia, preventing accident victims from enjoying the quality of life they had before the accident. The most serious Houston motorcycle accidents often result in death. The experienced Houston motorcycle accident lawyers at Palermo Law Firm are committed to providing aggressive and thorough representation to all motorcycle accident victims.

If you are injured in a motorcycle accident, contact the Houston accident lawyers at 1-888-839-8879 today to discuss your case. Palermo Law Firm handles personal injury and auto accident cases in Houston and the surrounding suburbs, including Bellaire, Brookside Village, Channelview, Crosby, Deer Park, Dyersdale, Galena Park, Houmont Park, Jacinto City, Kinwood, Meadows Place, Meyerland, Missouri City, North Hudson, Park Place, Pasadena, Pearland, Satsuma, South Houston, Stafford, and Sugar Land. Our Houston accident attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, which means that you don’t pay a thing unless you recover money for your injuries.

A construction worker was killed while working in a trench in Conroe on Tuesday. Three men were working when at around 5 p.m. rain water quickly filled the trench. Two of the men were able to escape safely, but the other was washed away in the flood of water.  He was swept about 50 feet into a nearby sewer, where firefighters later found his body. The accident is currently under investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Accidents like this highlight the many dangers involved in construction work. According to a study by the National Institutes for Occupational Safety and Health, trench accidents are responsible for approximately 100 fatalities and 1,000 injuries per year. When accidents occur because of unsafe trenching practices that violate OSHA standards, a construction accident lawsuit may be appropriate. Construction workers should contact a Houston accident lawyer immediately if they are injured in a trench accident. Injured workers risk losing the right to sue their employers if they file a workers’ compensation claim, which may leave them with inadequate compensation for their pain and suffering, medical bills, and lost wages after the accident.

If you have been injured in a construction accident, contact the Houston accident lawyers at 1-888-839-8879 today to explore your legal options. Palermo Law Firm handles personal injury and auto accident cases in Houston and the surrounding suburbs, including Bellaire, Brookside Village, Channelview, Crosby, Deer Park, Dyersdale, Galena Park, Houmont Park, Jacinto City, Kinwood, Meadows Place, Meyerland, Missouri City, North Hudson, Park Place, Pasadena, Pearland, Satsuma, South Houston, Stafford, and Sugar Land. Our Houston accident attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, which means that you don’t pay a fee unless you recover money for your injuries.