Onalsaka, TX — Two people were badly injured and a man from Onalaska died this past Friday after a serious head-on car accident. Police said that Brian Schiffel, 27, was killed and Jeanette Baba, 26, and Shawn Kimes, 34, were both seriously injured after Schiffel’s car crashed into Kimes’.
This accident happened on Friday (March 20, 2015) at about midnight. Police said that Jeanette Baba was a passenger in her Chevy SUV and Brian Schiffel was driving, headed east along U.S. 190 that night, about 1 mile west of Onalaska.
As they were driving, it appears that Schiffel lost control and swerved into oncoming traffic, where he crashed head-on into Kimes’ pickup truck.
The accident killed Mr. Schiffel immediately while both Kimes and Baba were taken to a hospital in Livingston. At the last update, they were both in serious condition.
The cause of the accident hasn’t been determined yet, but this may need more investigation, the police said.
Map of the Accident
View from the Road
Commentary
I couldn’t agree more that this probably needs more investigation, because I’m wondering whether alcohol might’ve been a factor. Given the late hour at night, I don’t think that’s a crazy idea, so what would the law have to say about that? Well, everyone knows that it’s illegal to drink and drive, but I’ll share something here that’s not common knowledge: bars and any other place with a license to sell alcohol can get in trouble with the law for serving minors and for serving customers who are obviously intoxicated. Texas lawmakers have long since acknowledged that our state has a problem with alcohol-related accidents, and they realized that part of the problem was that there were very few restrictions on selling alcohol.
People who are drinking are, by definition, under the influence and if they become intoxicated, they may not make wise decisions. As such, Texas lawmakers came up with sets of laws classified as “Dram Shop Law” to regulate the sale and service of alcohol. If a bar serves someone too much to drink and that person gets into an accident, not only will the driver be held responsible for his actions, but so will the bar. Citations and charges can be given to a bar if they break TABC rules, plus they can be named in a civil suit for any kind of injuries or damage the drunk driver did in the accident.
Obviously, I don’t know whether alcohol was involved in this particular accident, so don’t interpret this as me trying to insinuate things that aren’t true. However, if alcohol was a factor, then there may be more here than we’re seeing. It would all depend on where the alcohol came from and how much was consumed/served.
— Grossman Law Offices
