Dallas (Lake Highlands), Texas — Police mentioned that alcohol might have been a factor in a single-car accident that happened late Tuesday night in the Lake Highlands area of Dallas. A 37-year old man was injured and taken to a hospital after his Porsche was in an accident along Lake Highlands Drive that night (November 4, 2014).
The man was driving his Porsche along Lake Highlands Drive at about 11:00 p.m. that night when he lost control near Easton Road.
His car spun out and crashed into the median, where it struck a tree. The accident left the 37-year old driver injured and he was taken to Baylor to be treated.
Allegedly, police said the man had consumed alcohol before driving, but they didn’t specify whether they though that was a factor in the actual wreck. More investigation is expected.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary:
I know what people are thinking: a young man in an expensive sports car crashes late at night, he caused his own wreck – big deal.
Well, he may have caused his own wreck, that’s true, but not if alcohol was a factor. If he had been drinking at a bar earlier that night (and had gotten drunk) before getting behind the wheel, then it’s possible that the bar over-served him. Not many people know this, but it’s actually against the law for a bar to serve someone so much alcohol that they become drunk. In legal terms, we call that “obvious physical intoxication.”
As a hypothetical example, if someone goes to a bar and is served to the point of intoxication, then both the customer and the bar have broken the law. Further, if that customer gets into a car accident later that night due to their drunkenness, then the bar holds partial liability. That’s right, since they technically “caused” part of the accident by getting their customer drunk (when they should have cut the guy off), they’re on the hook for the accident – legally speaking. Now, it’s not a one-way street. The driver who caused the accident is still responsible for his own actions as well. But you get my point. And that extends to self-inflicted injuries as well. Again, the drunk driver is going to bear a large portion of the responsibility, but the bar that over-served him and caused him to wreck his car will also be held liable for their portion.
Now, I don’t know whether alcohol really caused this Dallas man to wreck his Porsche, but I think you understand my point. It’s not wise to jump to conclusions about these sorts of things because there’s often a lot more going on underneath the surface than most people realize.
— Grossman Law Offices
