Police Chase Ends in Crash, Killing Two in Rideshare Service Vehicle

According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, murder charges have been filed against a 45-year-old man who fled from deputies and caused a fatal crash.

Details of the Accident

Deputies attempted to pull over the motorist Saturday night on Jensen Road, in northeast Houston, after he ran a red light in a white Acura RDX at a high rate of speed.

The suspect then turned onto Parker Road where he crashed into a rideshare service vehicle, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. The crash split the service vehicle in two, and the two female passengers in the backseat were pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the service vehicle, as well as the suspect and a fellow passenger in his vehicle, suffered only minor injuries in the crash.

Car Crashes by the Numbers

According to a 2018 study from the University of Chicago and Rice University , the rise of ridesharing services has increased traffic deaths by 2% to 3% in the U.S. since 2011. This is equivalent to as many as 1,100 mortalities a year.

According to techcrunch.com , when it comes to the popular rideshare service Uber, there were:

• 97 fatal crashes with 107 total deaths in 2017 and 2018 combined.
  49 Uber-related fatalities over 8.2 billion miles, or approximately 0.59 per 100 million miles traveled in 2017.
  58 fatalities over 1.3 billion, or about 0.57 per 100 million miles in 2018.

Forbes reported that ridesharing services are actually increasing accident rates and costing a rough estimate of $10 billion in economic losses from deaths each year.

Texas Car Crashes by the Numbers

In Texas, for 2018 , fleeing or evading police accounted for:

• 19 fatal crashes
• 50 suspected serious car crashes
• 80 possible injury crashes
• 44 unknown severity crashes

Disregarding a stop sign or a light resulted in:

• 55 fatal crashes
• 180 suspected serious car crashes
• 594 possible injury crashes
• 10 unknown severity crashes

Lapeze & Johns: Houston Car Accident Attorneys Ready to Serve You

No one should be the victim of a reckless driver who has chosen to flee from law enforcement. By and large, most driver’s abide by police commands; however, it’s those outliers who choose to put the safety of innocent victims at risk by engaging in potentially dangerous car chases for reasons known only to them.

Law enforcement officials are often put in a position to make judgement calls on whether to pursue the individual fleeing. Thankfully, police do have protocols in place to keep the public safe during these occurrences, but it’s difficult to account for the reckless driver fleeing from them with no regard for the safety of themselves and others. That is why Lapeze & Johns are here to fight on your behalf.

Source: KTRK
Image Source: Video from KTRK