Important News from Your Texas Accident Lawyer

3 Killed in Separate Houston Wrecks Caused by Icy Conditions

Posted on Feb 17, 2011

A rare ice storm wreaked havoc on the Houston area last week, with many minor and severe car accidents occurring. Two car accidents, which happened within 10 minutes of each other, killed three people.

The first accident, which occurred around 6:45 a.m. last Friday, happened when a pickup truck slid into the oncoming lane of Highway 105 in Montgomery County and collided with another truck.

Giovanni Gomes, 31, and Jose Gomes, 56, were killed when their Toyota Tacoma was hit by a Chevy 3500 truck driven by Richard Warren, 38. Warren escaped from the crash with only cuts and bruises, while the other two men were pronounced dead at the scene.

The second accident, which occurred only 10 minutes later in east Houston, killed an unidentified 30-year-old man. The driver, who had gotten out of his car after sliding into the guardrail on in the 12600 block of the East Freeway near Federal Road, was pinned between his car and the rail by another out-of-control vehicle.

The Houston Police Department (HPD), who responded to an alarmingly high number of wrecks due to the icy conditions, are urging those in crashes to stay in their vehicles until help arrives. "We would rather just have them stay in their vehicles, call 911 and wait until we or a wrecker driver get there," said HPD spokesman John Cannon. "If they're going to get hit by someone sliding on the ice, they're going to be safer inside their vehicles than they will be outside."