Bangs Man Injured in Single-Vehicle Accident on FM 1176 in Brown County, TX
Brown County, TX -- December 5, 2021, one person was injured due to an accident where his vehicle crashed off the side of FM 1176.
Investigators reported that the crash took place at around 2:40 a.m. along FM 1176. A 33-year-old Bangs man was in a GMC 2500 traveling westbound on FM 1176. The man said he swerved to avoid a deer, causing the vehicle to overturn off-road.
The man went to a hospital with incapacitating injuries. Police say the man had been drinking, but it's unclear at this time if the man was intoxicated.
Commentary on Single-Vehicle Accident on FM 1176 in Brown County
Just to be clear, if someone says they swerved to avoid a deer, I have absolutely no reason to doubt them without seeing evidence to the contrary. It's also possible police look into this further and determine that the victim was not intoxicated. But if it turns out alcohol was the cause of this crash, that could open up unique legal avenues that are important for people to understand.
Specifically, victims may be able to get help through a legal avenue called dram shop law if a bar over-served them. It's illegal to serve patrons who are obviously intoxicated. If a bar does so, and that gets them or someone else hurt, dram shop puts that establishment on the hook for their role in the accident. So even if someone makes a mistake like drunk driving, they may still have rights under Texas law to get them some help.
Again, I'm not saying anything like that happened here, but it's important folks understand why a deer in the road may not make a situation like this as open-and-shut as they may think.
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