TYLER, TX — Four children were hurt in a two-vehicle accident that was reported in Tyler, Texas on Sunday, October 26th, 2014. The article from CBS 19 said that the accident happened at around 10:00 Sunday night.
Three kids, ages 13 years-old, 9-years-old, 4-years-old and 8-months-old were hurt when the Chevy Suburban SUV they were in collided with a passenger car at the intersection of Highway 64 and Spur 124. Police believe the SUV ran the red light at the intersection when it struck the car.
All four children were taken to the hospital after the crash. The driver of the SUV did not stay on the scene after the accident, but was found by police later, and currently faces drunk driving and hit-and-run related charges in connection with the crash. He was identified as Johnny Westbrook.
Tyler Police are still investigating the accident.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary:
Lets take a big step back and look at this situation from a purely legal perspective. The victims in this accident were passengers, and in this situation, the passengers could have a claim against more than just the driver. With any drunk driving accident, there exists a very real possibility that the driver became intoxicated at a bar, or some other business with a license to sell or serve alcohol. Currently, Texas leads the nation in the number of drunk driving accidents, and the majority of these drivers originate at bars. What does this mean? Well it means that both a driver, and the licensed provider that failed to cut them off when they became intoxicated – or even encouraged them to stay for one more drink when they tried to pay their check can be punished together.
You’ll never see me suggesting a drunk driver should get a less-severe punishment. Quite the contrary, actually. I firmly believe that punishing both drunk drivers and the bars that fail to serve them safely as harshly as possible is the only way to really curb the number of fatal drunk driving accidents in the State of Texas. There are laws on the books that tell bars not to over serve their patrons, and there are laws on the books that forbid the operation of a motor vehicle while drunk. Considering these offenses go hand-in-hand quite frequently, punishing one and not the other sends the wrong message. Texas has given its citizens the ability to do just that, while the state handles the driver, it is up to victims to punish the bar that fueled them.
— Grossman Law Offices
