This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A devastating accident took out the full-service island and awning at Talbott's Gas Station at 5202 S. Main (FM 2100) in Crosby. Estimated damages were between $75,000 to $100,000 and it was one of two accidents at the station in a 24-hour period.

This photo was taken shortly after the vehicle plowed into the full-service pumps knocking them down and the awning. The fire was extinguished by Crosby firefighters shortly after.

In an accident a few weeks earlier, a vehicle jumped the curb and flew into the back end of Talbott's station on FM 2100 in Crosby. The damage to the inside of the repair shop was extensive including destroying tool boxes and more.

There was extensive damage to the inside of the garage where Talbott employees work on customer's vehicles.

Pumps were down and unusable while repairs to the station were underway. Now they have reopened and a lot of Crosby residents have thrown their business to the station owner to help recoup losses.

According to TxDOT, the previous Vehicular Impact Attenuator (VIA) system that was comprised of several barrels was damaged (and no longer available) a few years before the project that was let in July 2010 and replaced with a Reusable Energy Absorbing Crash Terminal (REACT) system.  The posted speed limit in this area of FM 2100 is 35 MPH and the REACT system that was installed is for posted speeds of equal or less than 45 MPH, but Talbott doesn't believe it does enough to protect his property.

Workers spent most of the day working on restoring service to the pumps and sealing the ones lost in the accident hours earlier. In the background, the problem is obvious as vehicles round the dangerous curve aimed at the station.

Crime tape surrounds the area where two pumps and an awning were taken out by a vehicle in an accident in late August. Despite the setbacks, Talbott has said he will continue in business.

Talbott’s Gas Station, one of Harris County’s last full-service spots, has been a fixture in the small town of Crosby for years. 

The business sits in the apex of a dangerous curve on FM 2100, also called Main Street, where four recent vehicle accidents — two within a 24-hour period – nearly took out the station. The last crash destroyed the two full-service pumps.

Now the owner wants change.

Danny Talbott, who has lived his entire life in Crosby, bought the station in 1987. Every so often, someone will drive in and say, “fill ‘er up,” the 69 -year-old man said.

CRASH DATA: Which roads are deadly for bicyclists in Harris County?

He’s seen more than his fair share of crashes, especially since the road was widened as part of a bridge construction project over a nearby railroad.

The project, launched in 2010, also involved grade improvements to facilitate trucks going over the new bridge.

A Texas Peace Officer’s Crash Report shows that in the last decade, 54 crashes have occurred along the 0.35-mile stretch of South Main Street, between Reidland Road and Ulrich Lane. Most of the wrecks occur with traffic going north toward the Huffman area.

“It's actually been a lot of motorcycles since they widened the road,” Talbott said. “There’s a lot of loose gravel that builds up on that curve and it’s like riding on grass. They lose control and come sliding into my driveway.”

It hasn’t always been motorcycles.

“We had one car all the way up into my office,” he said.

The recent crashes started on July 9. A truck that had just unloaded from Walmart came around the curve and jerked the weatherhead out of his building.

“He didn’t know he had done it and continued far enough to break the pole in half. The live wire ended up landing on the state sign that threw a current back into my building, frying my (pumps) console, Coke machine,” and several other electrical appliances, he said.

In the second crash, on Aug. 22, a box truck tried to cut through his property and hit the building’s overhang.

“I have signs up all over the property not to cut through, but they do anyway,” he said. “Sometimes now, they’re lined up like a highway cutting through my property.” 

On Aug. 29, he had yet a third accident and less than 24 hours later, another one took out the island with two full-service pumps. 

TOLL RATES: TxDOT pumps the brakes on toll rate hike on Grand Parkway and Texas 249. For now.

Thankfully, he said, there was no explosion.

“The pump dispenser did catch on fire but there’s a shutoff valve that prevents the underground tank from exploding,” he said.

Talbott blames the increase in crashes on the road widening. He said he petitioned the state to install a red light there, but was told one can’t be place in a curve. He also asked for the Texas Department of Transportation to replace the barrier in front of his building to one he had years ago. The previous barrier, of several barrels, was damaged in a crash a few years before the widening project. On his office window that oversees the curve and the station pumps, Talbott has a photo showing where TxDOT previously had the barrier.

He did get a barrier after that crash, but it was not the one he wanted.

“I asked them specifically to put my barrel rack and they agreed, but it turned out to be just four barrels,” Talbott said.

The older barrier system is no longer available, said Danny Perez, public information officer for TxDOT’s Houston District. The new one, he added, is designed for speeds of up to 45 mph, which is 10 mph above the posted speed limit for that section of FM 2100.

Out of the 54 accidents along that section of road, crash report data shows more than half, 29, were the result of excessive speed, including all four recent crashes involving Talbott’s station.

Perez said the agency is planning to make improvements at the site, such as installing more speed limit signs, adding lighting and curve warning signs with 30 mph advisory speed plaques, painting the nose of the curb and refreshing the striping in the area. Some of the changes could be done by year’s end or early next year.

“We will certainly continue to monitor this area and determine if there are further remedies that we can implement to improve safety along the corridor,” he added.

The business will remain open while Talbott deals with the cost of repair. He estimates damages from the recent crashes may be $160,000-$175,000, though the process of settling with the insurance companies is ongoing.

“I've got my own insurance and I'm hoping that their insurance will work with me on their coverage,” Talbott said. He learned most of the drivers had the minimum $25,000 coverage for property damage.

“That’s nothing compared to the damages,” he said.

David Taylor is the reporter/photographer for Houston Community Newspapers / Houston Chronicle and writes news, sports and investigative pieces. He is a member of the Texas Press Association and has won numerous state awards.

He attended Rice University and the University of Houston and has led the news rooms of several newspapers including The Sentinel Newspapers, The Pasadena Citizen, The Examiner Newspapers, and The Observer Group.

Many of Altuve's current and former teammates laud the personality, encouraging nature, and playful but calming presence of the star second baseman, who just produced one of his best seasons.