Amarillo, TX — A serious accident involving a motorcycle left a local man, 30-year old Christopher Hernandez, with injuries this past Sunday, May 17, 2015. Police said that Hernandez must have lost control of his motorcycle just after midnight on Saturday night/Sunday morning when he crashed.
He had to be rushed to a hospital and treated.
According to their reports, Hernandez riding his motorcycle East Avenue that morning when he lost control due to speed. His motorcycle fell down and he was badly injured, requiring a trip to the hospital in critical condition.
The authorities at the hospital said that Hernandez had some head injuries due to not wearing a helmet.
Another detail that was added in later was that Hernandez was allegedly under the influence of alcohol. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but the police tentatively told the news that they suspect alcohol and speed were what caused the wreck. We’ll release more details later.
Map of the Accident
View from the Road
Commentary:
Before people start to blame this man for the accident (because I think that’s a natural reaction), let’s consider the possibility that alcohol was a factor. If it was, what would people say if they found out this man had been drinking at a bar, where they served him too much? I know a lot of people would say, “That’s ridiculous, you can’t hold someone else responsible for how much you drink,” but that’s not quite the issue.
In Texas, bars and other establishments can’t serve alcohol without a license and they have to adhere to the rules of the TABC and state law if they’re to obtain one. Once licensed, bars are prohibited from serving alcohol in a negligent fashion. Different states define “negligent” in different ways, but in Texas, it means serving people who are already intoxicated and serving minors. The idea is to prevent people from being a danger to themselves or others.
When bars over-serve customers, they’re breaking the law, plain and simple. Plus, they’re putting people in danger. In the eyes of the law, both bars that over-serve and intoxicated drivers who get behind the wheel are considered liable for accidents resulting in injury or death.
I don’t mean to sound like I’m pointing the finger solely at bars who over-serve, but what if this man was intoxicated and hurt someone else? Wouldn’t that be something to address with the bar and the driver? Drunk driving accidents are particularly high in Texas, everyone knows that, but part of the reason they’re so high is because we do a poor job of punishing both drunk drivers and bars that over-serve. Again, I know that the police haven’t confirmed alcohol was a factor here, but based on how little most people know about this area of the law, I thought I’d explain it a bit.
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— Grossman Law Offices
