David Fields, 2 Passengers Injured in Crash on I-35E in Dallas, TX
Dallas, TX -- May 7, 2022, 33-year-old David Fields and two of his passengers were seriously injured in a crash on Stemmons Freeway in Dallas.
According to reports the incident happened around 2:40 a.m. on Stemmons Freeway (I-35E) near Commonwealth Drive. Preliminary investigation suggests Fields was driving a Chevrolet Silverado K1500 pickup truck north on the highway one lane to the right of a Cadillac Escalade.
Reports say the Chevy was weaving unsafely between lanes at high speeds when it crashed into the back of the Cadillac. The impact sent the Escalade spinning away and the Chevy ran off the road the opposite direction, crashed into a concrete barrier near the Mockingbird exit.
Two passengers from the pickup were ejected in the crash and suffered critical injuries. Fields was also seriously injured. No other injuries were reported.
Blood tests later showed that Fields had a blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) of .196 at the time of the wreck.
No further information is available at this time.
Commentary on David Fields Accident on I-35E in Dallas
Tests seem to have confirmed that the pickup driver was significantly over the legal limit for intoxication at the time of the crash. Some may think there isn't a lot more to say about that aside from charging him accordingly, but they may not realize that another party--one that too often gets away with its role in alcohol-related accidents--could also be liable for his and the other victims' injuries.
Under Texas dram shop law alcohol providers are prohibited from selling or serving drinks to obviously intoxicated customers. Some do so anyway despite the law; when that happens and their drunk customer causes or suffers injuries, the law may hold the negligent business (a bar, restaurant, club, store, etc) that over-served him responsible for the damage done.
Not every DWI accident involves a dram shop violation. Reports had nothing to say about where the driver's drinks came from in Dallas, and I'm not going to guess about that. It's an important detail to learn in case a reckless Dallas bar endangered their over-served customer, his passengers, and everyone else on the road.
Despite the importance of finding those businesses and stopping them, though, law enforcement rarely does much about it. People hurt by DWI crashes often have to do some investigating of their own rather than wait for police to take action. Obviously that's asking a lot as they're healing and trying to get their lives back in order, which is why many of them recruit experienced allies to help them round up the needed proof. With the evidence of over-service those professionals uncover, many crash victims are able to hold negligent businesses responsible for the terrible damage they helped cause.
