The intersection between Broadway and Morley Street, where Powell was riding her bicycle from work the morning of the accident.On October 8 at 6:37 a.m. Bre’Ana Powell, 27, was bicycling home from her work at Hobby Airport. She worked night shifts, while she attended veterinary school. When Powell turned right into the intersection between Broadway and Morley streets, she was struck by a Republic Waste Services of Texas garbage truck.
Aziz alongside Karl Long, Jessie Ormand, and Derrell Wright of Derrell L. Wright law firm filed a wrongful death lawsuit on Monday on behalf of Powell’s mother, Diane Francis. This lawsuit named Francis and the estate of Powell as the plaintiffs and Republic Waste Group and Woods as the defendants. In his statement, Woods claimed to have not seen Powell, although all witnesses reported they were able to see her due to the reflective vest she was wearing. The driver also said he pulled over to a nearby parking lot, following the impact, as he thought the loud noise was a potential blow out of his truck.
“They [officers] seem to be focused on the fact that Bre’Ana entered the intersection when she should have stopped,” Aziz said. “There is not a lot of questioning seen in the witness statements about the turn signal of the garbage truck.”“If she was on the crosswalk, she had the right of way and should have been protected, regardless of when she entered the intersection,” said Fred Zapalac, owner of Blue Line BIke Lab and longtime cyclist advocate.
Melissa Simms, behind Houston Ghost Bike, said that crashes involving commercial vehicles equate to around 15-20 percent of cycling accidents. “When I am dealing with larger vehicles like those, I try to make contact with whoever is driving before I go,” Simms said. “Because if I don’t, I don’t know if they have seen me.”