Archive for the 'Motor Vehicle Accidents' Category

Fatal ATV wreck leads to investigation

Friday, October 30th, 2009

53-year-old Dennis Ralich was killed when he was thrown from his Honda all-terrain vehicle.

Ralich’s death is puzzling since he was known as a skilled and responsible driver.  The road was flat at the scene of the accident, and investigators believe that speed was not an issue.

Steven Ralich, Dennis’s son, found his father’s ATV rolled over near a soybean field.  He later found Dennis’s body in a soybean row.  Emergency personnel arrived at the scene but were unable to revive Ralich.  It was concluded that Ralich died instantly from the multiple injuries he suffered.

The county Sheriff’s Department is conducting an investigation.  The department is looking at Ralich’s ATV for signs of mechanical failure, but they have not ruled out the possibility that Ralich hit an animal.

The county coroner, said, “There was some damage to the ATV from overturning, and there may have been some other issues with the machine.”

ATVs are notoriously top-heavy and poorly designed. If you or someone you love has been killed or injured by one of these dangerous machines, please contact an experienced Texas car wreck attorney for professional insight.

First Court Appearance Since Truck Driver Causes Wreck

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

Donald Leroy Creed was driving his tractor-trailer this summer in Oklahoma when he crashed into the rear end of many vehicles and killed 10 people.

Six cars were completely stopped on a turnpike due to an earlier accident. The speed limit was 75 mph and Creed was going 71 at the time of the crash. There were no defects found on the truck.

Creed appeared in court for the first time since the accident. He is charged with 10 misdemeanor counts of negligent homicide. The hearing lasted about only ten minutes in which Creed waived his right to a speedy trial. Creed will return on April 6 for a misdemeanor trial docket.

Creed and the company that still employs him, Associated Wholesale Grocers Inc., declined to comment.

Creed’s attorney, Paul Brunton, stated, “This was a tragic accident, extremely tragic.” Brunton just recently started on the case and said, “I just got handed a huge folder of discovery documents.” He would not comment any further.

There were no pre-impact or post-impact skids on the highway according to troopers. Witnesses say that the truck switched lanes without using a signal and never saw any brake lights. Creed had been driving from 3 a.m. until the time of the crash at 1 p.m.

Texas woman killed in truck wreck

Monday, September 28th, 2009

A Bryan, Texas woman was killed last week when she lost control of her vehicle and ended up in the path of an on-coming 18-wheeler.

According to a story published on the Navasota Examiner’s website Nickie Lynn Pittman of Bryan, 38, was on her way to teach an English class at Montgomery College early Friday morning. Her car was cut in half by the impact and she was delcared dead at the scene.

Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper James Gonzales of Hempstead told Examiner reporters that Pittman was traveling eastbound on S.H. 105, when the 1997 Ford Escort she was driving veered slightly off the roadway and lost control of the vehicle for an unknown reason.

The Escort went into a sideways skid and ended up in the westbound lane, where it was struck on the right side by the oncoming W W Webber truck driven by Alfredo Carraman of Houston, 58. The car was cut in half as its back half was dragged underneath the one-ton that landed in a ditch on the north side of the roadway.