Victoria, TX — Nine-year old Kayleigh Valderrama was hospitalized after an alleged drunk driver drove his truck into her bedroom on Thursday, February 5, 2015. The accident happened in the 900 block of East Mesquite Street, around 4:00 in the morning.
Police say that 24-year old Caesar Garcia drove through a stop sign at the intersection of East Mesquite and Arroyo, crashing into Valderrama’s house. Valderrama’s stepdad found her lying on her floor and moved her to the living room, waiting on paramedics to arrive.
Valderrama was taken to University Hospital and treated for a torn spleen and liver.
Police arriving at the scene of the accident arrested Garcia for intoxicated assault. His girlfriend told local news sources that she was riding in a vehicle behind him because she knew he was too drunk to drive, but wouldn’t hand the wheel over to anyone else.
Local residents say that similar accidents have occurred at this intersection in the past, although this is the first since a house was built on that lot.
Police are continuing to investigate.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary
Reports say that this accident happened at four in the morning. I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to imagine that the driver had been at a bar, gotten drunk, and was on his way home for the night. If a bar was involved here, it’s very possible that they could be held partially liable for the accident. Texas has what’s known as dram shop laws. These laws forbid establishments that serve alcohol from serving customers who are obviously intoxicated. I don’t know about you, but someone who’s drunk enough to crash into a house seems like he would have been pretty obviously intoxicated to anyone who saw him before the accident.
Laws like these are largely misunderstood and often ignored, which is a shame, because they do so much to protect innocent people. If a bar continues to serve someone who should have been cut off, that person has a greater chance of going out and getting into a wreck. If that happens, the bar has played a direct role in any injuries that may result from that accident. A lot of people think these laws allow drunk drivers to skirt responsibility for an accident. That’s not true at all. They allow the bar to be held responsible alongside the driver, because they both played a role here. If every bar that was guilty of something like this was held responsible for it, you;d see a lot few drunk driving accidents, and a lot fewer people like Kayleigh being hurt.
— Grossman Law Offices
