Paul Richardson Killed in Motorcycle Accident on FM 323 in Anderson County, TX
Anderson County, TX — August 28, 2022, 44-year-old Paul Richardson died in a single-vehicle accident on Farm to Market Road 323 in Anderson County.
Authorities say the incident happened around 2:45 a.m. along FM 323 near mile marker 662. Preliminary investigation suggests Richardson was riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle southeast on the roadway when he allegedly lost control in a curve. The bike ran off the road into the east bar ditch, then hit a tree.
Richardson fell off the motorcycle and suffered fatal injuries. Investigators reportedly learned he was at a local bar prior to the accident; blood tests later indicated he had a BAC of approximately .146 at the time of the crash.
No further information is available at this time.
Commentary on Paul Richardson Accident in Anderson County
If preliminary reports are accurate (and that's not always guaranteed), blood tests may have showed the victim of this crash was intoxicated. If so, some may feel his tragic passing means there's no one left to face consequences. However, reports also say that the rider left a bar before his accident, and if that's correct then investigators need to find out how he spent his time there. If the bar recklessly served him victim alcohol to the point he could no longer safely operate his bike, it may be responsible for his fatal injuries under Texas dram shop law.
Dram shop law essentially says that an alcohol provider who over-serves an obviously intoxicated person may be liable for injuries that person causes--even to himself--while impaired. It's illegal for bars and other alcohol vendors to keep pouring drinks for someone clearly past his limits, but you'd never know it from the way many of them behave. If they choose a higher tab over their legal obligation to cut drunk customers off, they should be held accountable--not only by the state for the laws they broke, but also by the people that negligent behavior harmed.
At the end of the day a man lost his life here, and the fault for that may not lie solely with his choices that night. If he's thought to have left a bar then learning more about his time there is a prudent step. Will police take it to learn more of the story, or have they already moved on?
