Passenger Injured in Rollover Crash on US-277 in Schleicher County, TX
Schleicher County, TX — June 28, 2022, a 59-year-old man was seriously injured when a car crash on U.S. Highway 277 in Schleicher County.
According to reports the incident happened around 7:45 p.m. on US-277 near mile marker 440. Preliminary investigation suggests 46-year-old John Schafer was driving a Ford Fiesta north on the highway when he failed to maintain a single lane.
The car ran off the road to the right and hit a culvert, then continued north and drove partway up an embankment. It hit a stone outcropping and went airborne, then landed and overturned. It rolled several times until it came to rest on its roof back in the highway's travel lanes.
The car's passenger suffered serious injuries in the wreck. Schafer reportedly received minor injuries.
Investigators allegedly found that both men were "heavily intoxicated." Blood samples were collected from Schafer for testing.
No further information is currently available.
Commentary on Car Accident on US-277 in Schleicher County
Any time authorities bring up alcohol it's obviously concerning. Some may think those concerns are addressed solely by ensuring the alleged drunk driver faces legal consequences (IF blood tests confirm police suspicions), but there might also be extenuating circumstances which need more thorough investigations from independent experts.

For instance, there's the matter of where the alcohol came from. If the driver was illegally over-served by a bar prior to the crash, then that establishment could be liable under dram shop law for their role in his passenger's injuries. Ensuring a negligent business is held accountable for endangering its customers and community is a vital part of a DWI investigation, yet somehow it gets overlooked far too often by police.
Additionally, other possible contributing factors should be properly evaluated just in case alcohol is not solely to blame for the damage done. Things like faulty safety devices, other drivers running the victims off the road, defective or blown tires, hazardous roads, and many others deserve attention, even if it's just to rule them out. Whether or not police bothered being that thorough here isn't, but experience makes me doubt anything less than an independent investigation really got all the dots connected.