Austin, TX — There was a serious car accident late Saturday night (May 23, 2015) in Austin that resulted in two drivers being very badly injured — one of whom was later charged with intoxication assault. Police said that 31-year old Sergio Oliva crashed his car head-on into a taxicab along Cesar Chavez last Saturday night, injuring both himself and the taxi’s driver.
Later, Oliva was found to have a BAC of .25%, which is over 3X the legal limit. The APD consequently arrested him and charged him with intoxication assault and drunk driving. The news said Oliva admitted to drinking a 12-pack that night.
The accident on Saturday happened later at night, along Cesar Chavez in between Lamar and the MoPac Expressway. According to the police reports, Oliva was driving along Cesar Chavez in his car when he lost control and veered into oncoming traffic.
After missing one vehicle, Oliva’s car (a 1998 Chevy) then struck a taxi head-on. Both Oliva and the taxi’s driver were very badly injured and had to be taken to a hospital.
Map of the Accident
View from the Road
Commentary:
The news made it pretty clear that this driver had been drinking on his own, i.e., not at a restaurant, pub, bar, etc. What’s the difference? Well, in Texas, if you have a license to sell alcohol (as a bar, for example), then you can be held liable for getting customers drunk who then go out and get into wrecks that hurt people. The gist of these laws, called Dram Shop laws, is that lawmakers want to punish people who get drunk and then drive, but they also think that people who sell alcohol should be held to some standard when it comes to being held accountable. After all, you wouldn’t appreciate, say, a gun range that didn’t do background checks or safety checks before renting out firearms to just anyone, would you? Alcohol is a dangerous drug and it’s to be treated with caution — especially when a business is selling it.
However, I don’t know if this driver had been at a bar. If the news is to be believed, then it sounds as if he was drinking somewhere else, like a house or private party. Whatever the case may be, he’ll most certainly have to face the consequences for his actions. If he had bought the 12-pack of beer while intoxicated from a liquor store, then the same rules I was discussing above would still apply.
— Grossman Law Offices
