Just after 4:30 p.m.Tuesday afternoon MCHD and New Caney Fire Department were dispatched to a major accident on FM 1485 east just east of Sullivan Road. When they arrived they found a 2007 Saturn Sky.in the middle of the road with the driver entrapped and in and out of consciousness. In the ditch was a 1997 Nissan Frontier which had heavy front end damage.
New Caney Fire Department used the JAWS to cut the driver out of the Saturn. He was transported to Hermann Hospital in Houston by MCHD in critical condition. The driver of the Nissan, Mariano Elias Landaverde, 40, of New Caney was pronounced dead on the scene by Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace James Mett’s. Judge Mett’s ordered Metcalf Funeral Director to transport the victim to The Montgomery County Forensic Center.
According to witnesses, Zack James Stevens, 19, of Scott Gardner Road in New Caney was westbound on FM 1485 at a high rate of speed. .As he entered the curve he began to pass vehicles on the right shoulder of the two lane highway. He then struck the guardrail and crushing his right front fender rode against the guardrail for over fifty feet before going into a side slide and crossing into the eastbound lanes of FM 1485.
It was at that point a that Landaverde who east bound on FM 1485 saw the Sky coming at him and attempted to swerve to the ditch. He was struck almost head on. His truck continued into the ditch almost rolling. The roll was stopped by a telephone pole.
DPS continued their investigation as Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department kept the road closed until 9:30 p.m. Andrew James with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office Vehicular Crimes Unit also responded to the scene.
pennock68…you might want to go back and read my comment again…sounds like you have an axe to grind more than you have a mature thought to express…
To astevens07:
So, if your brother is such a good and experienced driver, then how would he lose control going 55mph as you said he was? And I’m sure Mr. Landaverde was an experienced driver, look how that turned out for him. Your brother was driving a newer car, one that would not loose control on a slightly curved road. You get mad at everyone speculating but that’s all you are doing yourself. If you choose to ignore what the witnesses said happened, then you need to look at the real facts. First off, you say that he didn’t pass on the right, then you defend him doing so. Fact is, he passed on the right, as the witnesses stated. No matter what, it would be illegal for your “experienced” brother to pass on the left or the right, as he was in a curve. Second, please tell me one more time that you can’t reach 70mph in 1.7 miles… What are you driving, a golf cart? I could do that on a bicycle (exaggeration of course). You need to understand that you are not helping anything by denying what happened. Rumor is that your brother doesn’t even know what happened due to his brain injuries? You need to go help your brother, as he will be living with the fact that he caused the death of another, innocent, human being. Prayers go out to the Landaverde family and the Stevens family.
i pray for the three small children wife and family that are left with out there love one because of this.
I belive you nieve if you think that sports car can’t exceed the speed limit from baptist encampment to the curb, sorry that bull crap as you say! wish the kid well but their come a time when you have to be accountable for you actions.
really caseface? obviously he’s going to have to deal with it. no need to be rude, this guy’s brother is seriously hurt im sure he’s just worried about him.
An experience driver should be able to tell when to slow down or what to do under any circumstances … and a person that passes by the same rode everyday and know how dangerous it is should know that slowing down.might be the best thing to do in a dangerous curb… im 22 drive a v8 mustang… not the best car to drive in a wet rode, I live down 1485 and I know loosing control of your own vehicle in a rode you drive everyday is not something that just happens… when you are behind that wheel you are responsible of anything that happens. And today I have to go pay my respects and say good bye to a good friend just because someones mistake. Be thankful that he is here with you cuz one family suffers because of that love one that is not here with him anymore… RIP Mariano
*were
what circumstances or present? your brother messed up now hes gonna have too deal with it!!
I am praying for both families involved. I wish the young (and old but usually its a young kid) on these curvy roads would slow down. Maybe he has learned his lesson and when he finally recover will drive with more caution. He will never be able to take back that he killed another person but he can learn to deal with it. Maybe a little jail time for some of these kids will teach them that life is precious and that there are certian things that can never be taken back.
Unfortunately this “accident” has taken away the life of Mariano. He was an amazing person, always gave more than what he had. Never discriminated against anyone. His passion in this world was his music. His dream was to ride his horse and seeing his mariachi music. Now with this unexpect event his dream was shattered. May he rest in peace. May god give us the strength to make it through this difficult time..
heres the thing astevon07 your brother was driving reckless and made the man come to an untimely death, i understand your hurt too but your brothers actions caused this. there were witnesses, you can only try to defend your brother so far, but the realization is his actions caused this.
This is to guys wife, swatz,happy camper and jim, not one of you know what your talking about. Reading your comments make me sick. I have been driving an 18 wheeler for over 18 years, I have seen more accidents than you could ever imagine.For ya’ll to say he was young and inexperienced blows my mind. guys wife you say we get more experienced the older we get, YOU are wrong, most of you get stupid, you think your more exerience so you really do more things crazier than a young person would do because you think your better. apx 70% of the accident i see on the road are older people so what do you say when an older person has an accident. ( oh they where just too old) by looking at these pic what I see is that Mr Stevens was coming up on a car in his lane that was turning left or was driving slow and when he realized it, it was too late to stop and did the right thing, if you look at that shoulder it is to narrow to drive on but he hit the shoulder to avoid going into on coming traffic so he hit the gaurd rail and lost control. By NO means am i saying that is for sure what happened, neither should YOU! NONE of you were there! As for the “wittness” that could have been the person that he passed or avoided hitting so if he were going unusually slow it may have seemed that he was going fast.IT WAS AN ACCIDENT REGUARDLESS OF HOW IT HAPPENED! SHOULD BE NO FINGER POINTING!!!PRAYERS TO BOTH FAMILIES!!!!
I am with guys_wife on this, both party’s are gonna have a long road ahead of them….this is going to affect both party for a long time and I will be praying for both of them to find peace. But I will say yes you can reach 70 in less than a mile how do I know cause I have a Sky and have raced it they are very nice cars and no I have a plain jane one no bells and whistle, I did it legally to see just how fast it would go, so it can be done…NOT SAYING he did but regardless only the ones involved know what truly happened beside witnesses if they seen the whole accident take place. I don’t think anyone meant to attack anyone and no one is perfect when it comes to driving cause your not only driving for yourself but for those around you and you damn sure can’t control how others drive. Again my prayers to the family who loss their loved one and prayers to the Stevens family.
the thing about this as with any accident, there is at least 1 family, in this case 2, that are directly affected. astevens07, no one was being rude or hateful. the older we get the more experienced we get, or in hopes we do. im 51 and i learn something new everyday. both families are in my thoughts.
Mariano is my cousin. i can only imagine the grief his daughters and wife are going through right now… i hope your brother okay. Im going to be 100% honest here. You may say its not your brothers fault because hes been an “experienced” driver since he was 14 but you cant honestly say that all the witnesses have matching lying stories. Its your brother my family ha to blame for taking Mariano away from us. I hope he carries this heavy burden on his shoulders and actualy learns how to drive properly. And if the rode was Obviously wet he should have slowed down and taken more precaution.
Que descanses en paz primo… te queremos mucho.
To Zak’s family– my daughter is friends with Zak and we are praying for Zak and your family as well as the Landaverde Family. We lost two family members years ago in an accident that was in the news for days. You will see people saying and giving their views (which everyone is entitled to do but don’t let it get you down). TXDOT will professionally reconstruct every part of the accident and until that is complete no one knows what happened. Keep your faith and don’t let the stress of what others say get you down. Unless, you have been through something like this it’s easy to put you views out there but until you walk in the shoes you are walking in now you don’t realize how hurtful those comments can be to the families involved.
Guilty or not im sure his gone a have to pay in jail. Mariano family are suffering by his dead.
MY GREAT FRIEND MARIANO YOU WILL BE TRULY MISSED YOU WERE THE MOST CARING FREINDLY POLIET PERSON. IM SORRY ABOUT ALL YOUR DREAMS THAT YOU HAD COMING. THEY SURE WERE THE BEST NOW THERE LOST :'( REST IN PEACE MY YOU BE IN THE GLORY AND GOD BLESS YOUR LOVING KIDS AND YOUR WIFE
I pray that anyone that could possibly post something negative, suspect or argumentative at a time like this will reflect on the pain and suffering many family members are going through. Zach is an amazing kid and now has a long battle. I pray wholeheartedly for the family members of the gentleman that passed away. There is no need to respond to Zach’s sister let her grieve and deal with this in her way and if venting on here is what she needs allow her that kindness without judgment. For everyone who reads this article let’s all hold hands and pray. I ask this for both families because we are all brothers and sisters and should not judge. Please let this be the end of this blog.
Mariano was a very dear friend of mine. He was a hardworking father and loving husband. I am so sad this has happened. Please keep his family in your prayers. He will be missed.
Mariano Landaverde and I worked together for almost 10 years. He was an amazing man. He will be missed by so many people…. :((((((((
Wow. I understand that this your brother you are talking about, but come on, let be just a little realistic. Am I correct when I say that you are telling people that your brother had absolutley NO fault what so ever in this accident? Again WOW, no one is perfect and since you were not in the car with him you will never know what actually happened. Hats off to you happycamper. You are very polite and there was no cause for astevens to be so rude to you. I hope that later on we don’t read that there was some narcotic or the alcohol level in this unfortunate persons system. I grieve with Zack & the family that lost a husband, father, son, grandfather or uncle. THAT’S WHAT THE CONVERSATION SHOUD BE ABOUT. Grow up and stop playing the blame game. What has happened to our generation that they don’t know how to sympathize. There seems to be no values in our society today. No respect either.Our world has become a very difficult place. We need to teach our children better than what I am reading and hearing. Our children are our future and that is scary when you see how 90% of them act. God Bless both of you and I will be praying for Zack, and the family who lost thier loved one
I agree with the adults here. This is a sad accident that took a life. There were witnesses, thank goodness. There is not a 19 year old out there that can be called ‘experienced’ as a driver. I have a 19 and 21 year old driving and they may be good, but experience and skill for a safe driver only comes with time behind the wheel. It is easy to try and justify all of this from a young point of view, but the damage is now done. Prayers for a quick recovery for the young man.
So astevens07…I guess you are calling the witnesses liars…I understand your grief but people were there that saw what happened…maybe you need to worry about your brother instead of coming in here and calling folks liars…we all feel for your brother and hope he recovers but he has to spend the rest of his life with the guilt that he took another life…you are correct that he has a long road ahead…he may well spend time in prison for this accident and you are going to have to learn that people need to take responsibility for their actions…you need to take care of your family and Zack instead of coming in here and throwing stones.
yeah well maybe u should read a little better and see that it says he WOULDNT be passing in that lane. k thanks. and he WASNT passing. but u know what make ur comments cause U DONT know what happened and u r just speculating. u dont know my brother and u dont know the circumstances that were present. no one does. not even the witnesses. no one could have seen the WHOLE wreck and see exactly what caused it. but will tell you this, my brother was not an erratic driver and he sure as hell wasnt going nearly as fast as people are making it seem. we live 1.7 miles from the wreck with the yellow flashing lights directly in the middle. HE COULD NOT have reached the speed they are saying. and if he was going that fast there would be more guardrail damage. anyways im being repetitive. the only other thing i can think of is if someone went to turn @ the last min and he passed them on the right shoulder to avoid an accident, but to be passing people just because they are going to slow for him. thats a big hell no. accidents happen and sometimes u cant control what is going on. and what if u were to get into this kind of wreck because you lost control on a slick road at a sharp curve….would they say oh he was just old and tired thats all, had plenty of experience driving but he was just getting old….yeah probably not. speculations. update: zach is doing okay they are still running lots of tests, all ur prayers are much appreciated
He is just as experieced driving since he was 14 as if someone who started driving at 18 and is 23 Swatz. Just because he was young doesn’t mean you need to start being stereotypical because he was in a fast car and is 19 and assuming he is unexperienced. This could have happened to anyone at any age. My heart goes out to Mr. Landaverdes family, this was a very unfortunate accident. I love you Zach and the Stevens. You guys are in my prayers. Well said Alex. Love you girl.
So busy defending your young brother who took the life of a father. You show no concern for the other party in the picture who would have made it home to their family later that night if your brother was not on the road that night. On the other hand if the victim was not there that night another victim would have, and your brother would have still been in the same position. We all know that most young teens with sport cars drive completely different in fron of their families when they are alone. You say he wasn’t doing these things but actual witnesses say he was. I can see how the family of the young man believe he is innocent, similar to those families of convicted murders sentienced to death view their relative.
Well by looking at these pictures, there wasn’t another lane to pass in, unless you’re referring to the oncoming traffic lane, which means he was passing on a corner with double stripped lines.
I’m not saying he’s a bad person, but he is young, and lost control. We all make mistakes, and most of us learn to become better drivers as we get older.
So, even if he had been driving for a few years, I would call him young and inexperienced. I don’t mean it to be offensive, but I talk to my daughter constantly about these things and will show her these pictures. I have explained to her that wisdom comes with experience and that usually takes time. Someone can be intelligent, and decent, but not very wise. Everyone can and will make mistakes.
let me start off by saying my brother Zachary James Allen Stevens (not correct in the article) had been driving since he was 14 and has never had a wreck. He is a good driver and definitely NOT inexperienced, the curve where the wreck occurred has been the site of many wrecks and especially with the road being wet. I mean what exactly is the “high rate of speed” they refer to? The speed limit is 55, he could have lost control doing the speed limit. He wasn’t late for anything so I really don’t think he was passing anyone on the RIGHT SHOULDER???? come on now. if he was passing someone he would go into the other lane not the shoulder, he is NOT stupid. and I honestly doubt he was passing anyone. but if he did lose control and was trying to AVOID the other cars i could see why he would go to the RIGHT SHOULDER and then he probably hit the guard rail and totally lost control, but for them to make it sound like he was driving 70 mph down 1485 is a crock. we live about a mile from the wreck site with cars pulling out of numerous streets and ESPECIALLY baptist encampent…it would be a little difficult to reach that speed wouldn’t you think? thanks to everyone’s prayers they are greatly appreciated. Zach is doing okay but he has a long road ahead. He has some head injuries and is currently in ICU. Prayers go out to the family of mr landaverde.
omg how sad
A young inexperienced driver in a fast sports car on a rain slick road. I offer prayers for everyone involved and the loved ones that are left behind in this tragic event.