Seatbelts Save Lives

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), buckling your seatbelt is one of the safest choices drivers and passengers can make. In 2019, the national rate of use of seatbelts was 90.7%. In the year 2017, it was reported that 37,133 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes, with 47% of those not wearing seatbelts. It is estimated that seatbelt use saved 14,955 lives. Proper use of a seatbelt is vital to ensuring the device works in the event of a motor vehicle crash. The lap and shoulder belt should be secured across the pelvis and rib cage, place the shoulder belt across the middle of your chest, away from your neck, place the lap belt across your hips, not your stomach and never put the shoulder belt behind your back or under your arm. (Source NHTSA website) Children should be properly restrained in an approved child safety seat. Texas law requires that all children younger than 8 years old, unless they are taller than 4 feet 9 inches, be secured in a child safety seat whenever they ride in a vehicle. Older children who have outgrown a booster seat must be buckled with a seat belt. Motor vehicle crashes are violent events. Unsecured items, including people, inside of the vehicle will remain in motion after impact, unless secured. Significant front impact crashes can result in ejection through the front windshield of a vehicle. Motor vehicle crashes resulting in rollovers often result in ejection through a side window as the vehicle rolls until its motion stops. Seatbelts are proven to be effective saving lives during these types of crashes. Furthermore, in slower speed or crashes from behind or the side seatbelts again are proven to reduce the risk of death and or serious bodily injury. When it comes to your life and the lives of your family members, it is important to buckle-up and to properly educate children and teen drivers on the use of seatbelts. Texas law does require the use of seatbelts by all passengers of a motor vehicle. Citations can be issued for failing to wear a seatbelt but this is not the goal of law enforcement. Our goal is to educate drivers on the importance of using a seatbelt. Buckle Up Tight: Back What’s Right!

Contributed by Burleson County Sheriff’s Department Gene Hermes, Sheriff

New Orleans Lawyer

Part of rebuilding New Orleans caused residents often to be challenged with the task of tracing home titles back potentially hundreds of years. With a community rich with history stretching back over two centuries, houses have been passed along through generations of family, sometimes making it quite difficult to establish ownership. Here’s a great letter an attorney wrote to the FHA (Federal Housing Administration) on behalf of a client:

He was told the loan would be granted if he could prove satisfactory title to a parcel of property being offered as collateral. The title to the property dated back to 1803, which took the lawyer three months to track down. After sending the information to the FHA, he received the following reply:

“Upon review of your letter adjoining your client’s loan application, we note the request is supported by an Abstract of Title. While we compliment the able manner in which you have prepared and presented the application, we must point out you have only cleared title to the proposed collateral property back to 1803. Before final approval can be accorded, it will be necessary to clear the title back to its origin.”

Annoyed, the lawyer responded as follows:

By: Marsha Kocurek and Tommy Ryan

Although Deanville, TX is no longer a stop for any railroad company, the Deanville Depot has been restored as a testament to a time when taking the train was a way of life. In the early 1900’s, cotton was king in Deanville, and the way to ship it was by train. The Deanville Depot and Cotton Warehouse were vital parts of the Deanville economy. At its business peak in the 1930s, the Deanville depot served primarily as a freight depot for cotton, cord wood, lumber, and merchandise. Each train usually had at least one passenger car. However, to ride the train the station agent had to flag the train to stop for passengers. In 1913, the Houston and Texas Central Railroad built a line from Giddings to Stone City through Burleson County, with depot stops in Dime Box, Deanville, Caldwell, and Cook’s Point. The line was later expanded to Hearne. Southern Pacific Rail“Your letter regarding title in Case No.189156 has been received. I note you wish to have title extended further than the 206 years covered by the present application. I was unaware any educated person in this country, particularly those working in the property area, would not know Louisiana was purchased by the United States from France in 1803, the year of origin identified in our application. For the edification of uninformed FHA bureaucrats, the title to the land prior to U.S. ownership was obtained from France , which had acquired it by Right of Conquest from Spain. The land came into the possession of Spain by Right of Discovery made in the year 1492 by a sea captain named Christopher Columbus, who had been granted the privilege of seeking a new route to India by the Spanish monarch, Queen Isabella. The good Queen Isabella, being a pious woman and almost as careful about titles as the FHA, took the precaution of securing the blessing of the Pope before she sold her jewels to finance Columbus ‘s expedition. Now the Pope, as I’m sure you may know, is the emissary of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and God, it is commonly accepted, created this world. Therefore, I believe it is safe to presume God also made the part of the world called Louisiana . God; therefore, would be the owner of origin and His origins date back to before the beginning of time, the world as we know it, and the FHA. I hope you find God’s original claim to be satisfactory. Now, may we have our loan?”I

The loan was immediately approved.