According to the Dallas Morning News a man suffered burn injuries following an accident with a suspected drunk driver in Dallas Texas. The incident occurred around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday February 7 when police believe 60-year-old Cynthia Brady was driving erratically north on Marvin D. Love freeway. She went through a street sign at Kiest Boulevard and struck the back of a truck driven by Francisco Ramirez. The impact caused both vehicles to ignite burning Ramirez. He was taken to the Parkland Hospital burn unit with second-degree burns over 14% of his body. Police records indicate Bradys blood alcohol level to be .378.
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Commentary
If the reports are accurate and the womans BAC level was indeed more than 4.5x the legal limit this represents a gross failure of a duty that every driver has on the roadway. This duty encompasses many things but overall is the safe operation of a motor vehicle. When a driver fails to uphold their end of the bargain liability develops and could define civil strategies moving forward for an accident victim. These strategies are extolled through the use of an independent investigation which will identify any parties that may have influenced the accident. You may be surprised to know that a third party could incur some fault from the accident if a few variables are met.
Certainly most realize that the driver of the vehicle may be to blame in the wreck but if her reported intoxication is the result of a visit to a bar or restaurant that entity could share some liability. Texas has laws on the books called dram shop laws which offer a route to restitution by identifying a party that has a great effect on drunk driving accidents. You see when an alcohol-serving entity continues to provide service to a patron that is obviously intoxicated they have broken the rules that licensed their service. Bartenders servers waiters and staff are trained to identify the signs of an intoxicated customer and subsequently cease service. When they fail to do this they not only put the patron in danger but also any other motorist should the individual get behind the wheel. It should be noted though that bars or restaurants will never incur the full liability of a drunk driving accident as at the end of the day they were not driving the actual vehicle.
Dallas Personal Injury Attorney Michael Grossman
