Around 1:15 a.m. on Thursday October 7 a Dallas police office was struck by a suspected drunken driver at the intersection of Beltline Road and Monfort Drive in North Dallas. The police officers car then crashed into two more cars also at the intersection. The police officer was consequently rushed to the hospital. Investigators say that Melinda Barbara Rodriguez the 29-year-old driver of the car that crashed into the officers vehicle was not able to pass a field sobriety test and was consequently arrested. According to police reports Rodriguez failed to stop at a red light on Beltline Road which then caused the collision with the police officers car as he was heading south on Montfort Drive. Rodriguez is currently in jail. The other drivers involved in the accident were not injured and the police office is expected to recover.
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From the news report of this accident it would appear that the police office is going to recover from his sustained injury. Unfortunately many victims of a drunk driving accident are seldom as lucky if luck can even be used as a term when talking about drunk driving cases. As you can well imagine drunk drivers have the possibility of causing immense amounts of damage with their negligence and as such they should be held responsible for any injuries they might have caused.
Furthermore Texas has laws that can be used to hold alcohol-serving establishments additionally liable for drunk driving accidents that their patrons may have caused. Known as dram shop law these laws have been put into place so that the responsibility for public safety is shared by any establishment that chooses to serve alcohol to their patrons. If these bars or restaurants knowingly allow an intoxicated driver to leave their premises or continue to serve alcohol to a patron that causes that person to exceed the legal blood alcohol content level of .08% then that alcohol-serving establishment can be held liable for whatever misfortune the patron may cause after leaving their establishment.
Proving such a chain of events can sometimes be challenging but its important to do so in order that all liable parties are held accountable both so that the injured victim can receive compensation for their injuries and so that future incidents have a much less likely possibility of happening. This can often only be done properly by an experienced attorney so its recommended that a victim such as the police officer in the news article above contact his lawyer in order to seek all liable parties for his accident so that justice can prevail.
– Texas Personal Injury Attorney Michael Grossman
