Grace Groupvongraupen Injured in Car Accident on TX-198 in Gun Barrel City
Gun Barrel City, TX -- March 20, 2022, 62-year-old Grace Groupvongraupen was injured in a crash with an alleged DWI driver on State Highway 198 in Gun Barrel City.
Authorities say the incident happened around 1:10 a.m. on TX-198 (Gun Barrel Lane) at West Main Street. Preliminary investigation suggests 42-year-old Wendy Holian was driving a Jeep Commander north on the roadway when she passed through the Main Street intersection, veering left as she did so. The Jeep entered the left-turn lane of southbound Gun Barrel Lane where it crashed into Groupvongraupen in a Honda Odyssey.
Grace Groupvongraupen suffered serious injuries in the collision. Wendy Holian reportedly received minor injuries.
Investigators believed Holian was intoxicated by alcohol at the time of the crash. Reports indicate she refused to provide samples for testing.
No further information is available at this time.
Commentary on Grace Groupvongraupen Accident in Gun Barrel City
Police seem to strongly believe the at-fault driver was intoxicated, but she apparently didn't feel cooperative when they tried to verify that. Usually in that situation investigators get a warrant, but one way or another they usually get what they need to find out if they're right.
If clear evidence shows alcohol was a factor as is suspected, the suspect may face some legal consequences for her choices. Some might consider that more or less the end of the matter, but investigators shouldn't stop there. Instead, they should also look into where her drinks came from. But why would that matter?
Texas dram shop law says that licensed alcohol providers like bars, restaurants, or liquor stores may not serve or sell alcohol to obviously intoxicated customers. If they do, the law may consider them liable for injuries those customers cause or suffer while under the influence. That means any business that over-served the driver in Gun Barrel City before she got behind the wheel may now have a duty to help the victim she crashed into.
To be clear, though, right now alcohol is only an unproven theory. First the necessary evidence to confirm it must be found before anyone tries locate a negligent bar that over-served it. There may not even be one to find; not every DWI case involves a dram shop violation. It's just important to know for sure one way or the other when alcohol consumption may be directly tied to injuries.
Unfortunately, police don't spend much time looking into dram shop violations even though it's important to stop that behavior whenever it's found. Few would say it's harmless to let a business over-serve its customers and then send them on their drunken way, though, so if police aren't interested in stopping that dangerous behavior then independent investigations may be needed to find and properly deal with it.
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