Houston, TX — October 20, 2024, Hassan Gutierrez was killed and a woman was injured due to a car accident at around 2:20 a.m. along the Gulf Freeway.
Authorities said in preliminary statements that the crash occurred along the 4700 block of the I-45 service road.
Investigations indicate that 21-year-old Hassan Gutierrez was the driver of a Toyota Tacoma going along the southbound service road. For reasons which are unclear, the vehicle ran off the side of the road where it crashed into multiple trees and a pole. As a result of the crash, Gutierrez was killed. The 21-year-old woman in the vehicle had injuries described as non-life-threatening.
Authorities have not yet confirmed a cause for the accident. Investigations are ongoing.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
When it comes to single-vehicle wrecks like this, it can be all too easy for folks to jump to conclusions. Unfortunately, even authorities can fall into this trap. Despite the fact there could be many possible factors involved in a given accident, the more common ones can cause folks to be too narrow in their consideration. That’s why it can be helpful after an accident like this to consider some questions.
- How much time are authorities spending on the accident? Some departments may not dedicate the resources officers need to do a thorough accident reconstruction. As a result, officers may end up moving on to other responsibilities before they have all the facts. At best, this can leave families with an incomplete story. At worst, less experienced officers may jump to conclusions to fill in the blanks.
- Are authorities looking into all electronic data surrounding the crash? For example, vehicles can have an Engine Control Module which shows things like speeds and braking leading up to a crash. Alternatively, there may be nearby businesses with security cameras that caught the incident on video. As obvious a piece of information as that may seem, I had a case not even that long ago where our investigations found cameras mere feet from the accident scene authorities completely overlooked.
- Does the vehicle have any sort of defect? Possible mechanical defects are less common, and they require more training and more specialized equipment to properly investigate. Authorities may not have access to that, so even if they were looking at a defect, they may not know it unless more trained accident reconstructionists could point it out to them. Failing to look for them at all, of course, just risks missing a huge problem victims and families should know about.
These are examples of questions victims and families can ask as they consider the level of scrutiny authorities are giving any particular accident. If they find the answers they get back reasonable and satisfactory, then it’s likely because authorities are doing a good job. But if they find they have doubts or that things just aren’t adding up, it’s often a sign there needs to be someone around to pick up wherever authorities are falling short.
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