West Hartford, CT — Police believe alcohol was to blame for an accident that took place on Christmas day in West Hartford, Connecticut. The accident happened around 9:00 in the morning, and sent two men to the hospital.
According to local reports, the accident took place on Interstate 84 near Exit 42. Hiran Lopez, traveling with two other men, lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a guardrail. Lopez, as well as one of the other passengers inside the vehicle were ejected in the collision. Whether or not the men were wearing seat belts at the time is unclear.
Reports say that third man inside was not injured in the crash. The names of the second and third passengers were not released.
Police say that Lopez was intoxicated when the crash occurred, and have charged him with DUI. The investigation into the crash continues.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary
The way I see it, there are two things that need to be looked at here. The first is the possibility that a bar was involved here. The reason that’s important is because, in many states, establishments that serve alcohol are prohibited from serving patrons who are obviously intoxicated. If a bar serves a customer three or four drinks past their limit, and then that person goes out and gets into an accident, a bar can be held partially liable for that. Don’t get me wrong, a bar being liable in a situation like this doesn’t absolve the driver himself of any wrong-doing. It was the driver who made the decision to get behind the wheel in the first place, and they need to be held accountable for that. But bars have a responsibility, as well. And if every bar that could be held accountable for this sort of thing was held accountable, eventually it would stop happening, or at least be greatly reduced.
The second issue here is the fact that a passenger was also injured in the accident. Many people tend to forget about passengers inside at-fault vehicles whenever an accident like this occurs. Many people I come across have no idea how those people are covered, should an accident happen. In these instances, injured passengers are covered under the driver’s insurance policy. If a passenger is injured because of unsafe activities the driver was taking part in — like drunk driving, for example — then who’s responsible for those injuries? The driver. And in that case, the injured passenger would have the right to file a claim against them, just as if they were any other driver out on the road.
— Grossman Law Offices
