Sherman, TX — Police confirmed that a woman has been arrested in connection to Saturday night’s accident outside Cheddar’s in Sherman. They said that 52-year-old Rebecca Brann was charged with alleged intoxication assault after she crashed into a motorcycle with her car.
This was around 9:00 p.m. on Saturday night, September 19, 2015.
According to the reports that were published, a man and a woman were on a motorcycle and were headed south on the U.S. 75 access road. As they slowed to turn into the parking lot for Cheddar’s restaurant, they were suddenly rear-ended by Brann’s car.
The accident ejected both the man and the woman from the bike and they were very badly injured. Paramedics were called to scene and took them (plus Brann) to a hospital to be treated.
Later, the police said that Brann was suspected of being under the influence and has since been charged for the accident.
Map of the Accident
Commentary:
On that stretch of road, there are a lot of bars, restaurants, and other places that serve alcohol. If this woman had been drinking that night before getting behind the wheel, what are the odds that she had some from a nearby bar/restaurant? If you go by statistics alone, the chances are pretty high.
Now, the reason I bring that up is because most folk’s tendency in these situations is to immediately blame the drunk driver here. Well, I can’t say I disagree. After all, if you decide to drink and drive, but hurt someone in the process, then you ought to be answerable for that. But there’s something else that the news rarely focuses on, which is where the alcohol came from.
If a bar in Texas serves someone too much liquor (i.e., serving them when they’re already obviously intoxicated), then they may face some legal consequences. Texas law makes it very clear that bars are not to serve customers who pose a danger to themselves or others, but I’m willing to bet that every single one of us has seen at least one bartender in our day who was serving drinks to someone who was falling out of their chair — literally.
The problem is that bars break those rules all the time, and accidents like this one are the consequence. Obviously, we don’t know where this woman had been in the hours leading up to the accident — for all we know, she had been drinking at home. But if a bar was involved, then it seems like someone ought to look into that establishment as well.
— Grossman Law Offices
