Fritz Rymers Injured in Single-Vehicle Accident on FM 71 in Medina County, TX
Medina County, TX -- December 8, 2021, 65-year-old Fritz Rymers was seriously injured in a single-vehicle accident on Farm to Market Road 71 in Medina County.
Authorities say the incident happened around 2:00 a.m. on FM 71 near mile marker 518. Preliminary investigation suggests Rymers was driving a Lincoln Town Car south on the roadway when he lost control of the vehicle. The car traveled off the west side of the road and hit a mail box, after which Rymers reportedly tried to steer back onto the road. The car entered a spin and passed through the travel lanes, then left the east side of the roadway and hit a fence. It overturned and rolled, then hit a second fence and came to rest.
Rymers, reportedly not wearing a seat belt at the time, was thrown into the back seat of the vehicle during the crash. He suffered serious injuries.
Investigators noted a belief that Rymers was drinking prior to the crash and noted they would subpoena his hospital treatment records to learn his blood-alcohol concentration (BAC).
No further information is available at this time.
Commentary on Fritz Rymers Accident on FM 71 in Medina County
Police think the victim was intoxicated by alcohol at the time of this crash. That still needs official confirmation by blood tests or treatment records, but depending on what's learned he may face some legal repercussions for his choices that night. However, Texas laws about alcohol-related wrecks say another party may face its own consequences for the damage done.
The law takes DWI wrecks very seriously, to the point of looking beyond the alleged drunk drivers to the source of their alcohol. Depending on who sold or served it and how they did so, a local business may have violated dram shop law.
Dram shop law essentially prohibits licensed alcohol vendors (bars, clubs, restaurants, liquor and convenience stores, etc) from selling or serving alcohol to obviously intoxicated customers. When they do so illegally, those businesses may have an obligation to help anyone hurt by their negligent practices--even when the victim of a DWI crash is the driver himself.
Dram shop law punishes reckless businesses for ignoring their obligations to public safety. Moreover, it lets people injured by that recklessness confront the businesses in court and hold them liable for the role they played.
I'm not saying I know of a particular business involved in the Medina County accident. Since intoxication by alcohol is a suspected factor, however, the possibility of a dram shop violation bears looking into. Bars and other alcohol vendors get away with negligent over-service far too often because police rarely look into that issue. If they arrest someone at the scene they generally consider the matter resolved. In such instances, though, a law-breaking business may fly under the radar and continue doing things the same negligent way. For the public good that behavior must be identified and stopped; if victims can get much-needed help in the process, so much the better.
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