The passenger side of her SUV was completely smashed by the shipping container just before 11am Thursday near Highway 59 and Highway 288. The woman was sent to the hospital, but doesn’t appear to be seriously hurt.

The giant container on the back of a flatbed truck struck the overpass above, sending it flying off the truck onto the SUV below. The whole right side of the SUV was smashed in.

Somehow, the woman who was driving the mangled car, identified by family as Zoma Ramirez, escaped with her life.

“I think she’s lucky,” said Robert Weistloch, the woman’s son-in-law. “Luckily it fell on the passenger’s side.”

The container, according to its owner, General Marine Leasing, was a portable galley, used for cooking offshore. It was being transported from Louisiana to Brownsville.

The company transporting that container, Dynasty Trucking, refused to comment about the accident. The owners of the container say this is the second time the company has damaged their vessels attempting to travel cross country.

According to General Marine, trucking companies must submit for a permit before hitting the roads, reporting their cargo heights to the Texas Department of Transportation. TxDOT then provides an approved route based on those height restrictions.

It’s unclear if those procedures were followed in this case.

Houston police say the driver of the 18-wheeler will receive numerous tickets. TxDOT says it appears this truck was off-route. They say they don’t typically issue permits for oversized loads inside the 610 Loop.

Family members say Ramirez often traveled the route along Highway 59 several times per week and often alone. Her relatives say she was undergoing a CT scan after the accident to see if she had any internal injuries.

This is the second time in two weeks that a driver escaped serious injury after her vehicle was crushed. The collision between two Houston fire trucks sent one of them rolling onto a car. The driver in that car was able to get out of the truck on her own, but says she still has lower body pain. In all 11 people were injured. Leigh Boone, who was hit by one of the trucks while riding her bike, is the only one left in the hospital.

Source: abclocal.go.com

Source: kten.com

KTEN’s Katy Blakey broke the news Saturday night on KTEN News at 10: Authorities are investigating a major accident and a house fire in Calera.

KTEN has confirmed one person is dead following an accident involving a Bryan County Sheriff’s Office patrol cruiser. We’re told the patrol unit hit a pedestrian who was crossing Highway 69/75. The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene.

Traffic in both the north and southbound lanes of Highway 69/75 were blocked for some time. Calera Police are still investigating.

Source: dallasnews.com

A 19 year old Angelina College student was killed Monday night while trying to cross Highway 59 south near the college.

According to police reports, 21 year old Christopher Salazar of Sugarland was driving his car southbound on south First Street (Highway 59 south) in the inside lane when 19 year old Brandon Hart of Woodville was crossing the highway on foot and ran out in front of traffic.

Police say Salazar swerved, but was unable to avoid colliding with Hart. Hart was transported to Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The accident happened about 8:57 Monday night in the3500 block of south First (Highway 59 south).

A spokesman for Angelina College tells KTRE, Hart was in his Freshman year of college at A-C.

A 19 year old Angelina College student was killed Monday night while trying to cross Highway 59 south near the college.

According to police reports, 21 year old Christopher Salazar of Sugarland was driving his car southbound on south First Street (Highway 59 south) in the inside lane when 19 year old Brandon Hart of Woodville was crossing the highway on foot and ran out in front of traffic.

Police say Salazar swerved, but was unable to avoid colliding with Hart. Hart was transported to Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The accident happened about 8:57 Monday night in the3500 block of south First (Highway 59 south).

A spokesman for Angelina College tells KTRE, Hart was in his Freshman year of college at A-C.

Source: ktre.com

Source: dallasnews.com

A 2-year-old boy who fell into his family’s swimming pool Friday afternoon and drowned has been identified.

The mother of Norman Williams was in the bathroom when the boy wandered outside their house in the Buckner Terrace neighborhood of Dallas and fell into the pool, the Dallas County medical examiner’s office.

When Norman’s mother came out of the bathroom, she saw her 3-year-old child crying. She then found Norman in the pool behind their house in the 5200 block of Elkridge Drive, just southwest of Interstate 30 and Jim Miller Road.

Paramedics took Norman to Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, where he was pronounced dead at 2:59 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office. Dallas police classified the incident as an accident.

An unusual car crash in Arlington leaves a 19-year-old man dead. A police officer driving down Collins St. spotted a burning car overnight — firefighters put out the blaze — and that’s when they found a body inside. Police now believe the driver ran off the road and slammed into a tree — around 3-o’clock this morning. The driver has been identitified as Phillip S. Lara of Rockwall — it’s believe he was killed on impact.

Source: nbcdfw.com

Austin police are investigating a fatal accident after a man crashed into a cement wall.

Police responded to a one vehicle crash around 2:41 a.m. at the intersection of North Capitol of Texas Highway and North Mopac.

Police tell KEYE TV the driver of a gold Toyota sedan was traveling northbound on Capitol of Texas Highway. When the Toyota reached the T-intersection on the northbound service road it crashed into a cement retaining wall.

The driver of the Toyota was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

Police aren’t releasing the name of the victim until the family has been notified.

This is the 14th traffic fatality in Austin for 2009.

Source: KEYETV.com

A motorcycle driver was ejected from his vehicle Wednesday afternoon in an accident involving the motorcycle and a car at the intersection of Staples and Herndon streets, police said.

The driver was taken to a local hospital with knee and foot injuries, police said, noting the driver wasn’t wearing a helmet and did lose consciousness.

An elderly school crossing guard in Dallas died after being hit by a vehicle driven by a suspected drunken driver.

Dallas police identified the victim of Tuesday morning’s accident as 71-year-old Franklin Delano Lester. Moments before he was struck, Lester had escorted a woman and a child in a stroller across the street.

Police say the driver, 52-year-old Peter Nelson, was transported to a Dallas hospital and was in critical condition. Nelson’s car struck the victim’s personal vehicle after hitting Lester.

Investigators suspect the car was speeding when Lester was struck in an area near an elementary school.

Cpl. Gerardo Monreal said Nelson faces a charge of felony intoxication manslaughter.

Source: chron.com

A minor collision involving an off-duty Houston police officer and a school bus brought traffic to a standstill on northbound North Freeway at rush hour today, officials said.

The accident has since been cleared and the northbound lanes of  the freeway near Gulf Bank have been reopened to traffic. At one point, motorists were being forced to exit at Highway 249, diverted to the frontage road and allowed to re-enter to the freeway at the next entrance.

Houston Transtar officials said the school bus was rear-ended by the police officer. The bus suffered no significant damage and none of the students on board was injured. But traffic was brought to a virtual standstill for almost an hour.

To make matters worse, a motorist watching the accident scene while driving in the HOV lane rear-ended another vehicle, bringing traffic there to a stop and trapping cars between the barricades. An ambulance was dispatched because of reported injuries in the second incident. The damaged cars have been pushed to the side and the HOV lane is moving again.

Source: chron.com