2 Injured in Single-Vehicle Accident on North Fwy in Fort Worth, TX
Fort Worth, TX — August 14, 2022, two women were seriously injured in a single-vehicle accident on the North Freeway in Tarrant County.
Authorities say the incident happened around 5:50 a.m. on the freeway near Meacham Boulevard. Preliminary investigation suggests a 35-year-old woman was driving a Honda Accord north on the freeway when she lost control for unconfirmed reasons. The car veered into the left barrier wall, then rebounded through travel lanes into the right wall. It crossed once more and hit the left wall again, then came to rest against it.
The car's driver and her 28-year-old passenger were seriously injured in the crash. Investigators suspected the driver of being under the influence of alcohol and collected blood samples for testing.
No further information is available at this time.
Commentary on Fort Worth Car Accident near Meacham Blvd
Clearly it's concerning any time authorities suspect alcohol was a factor in a wreck. I don't mean to cast judgment on the injured driver here, and I think most people are aware of the dangers posed by drunk driving, so I have no desire to wag fingers. However, there's another aspect of DWI crashes that's far less well-known: The driver may not be the only one responsible for them due to Texas dram shop law.
In Texas, bars and other businesses can be liable under dram shop law if they illegally over-serve someone who's obviously intoxicated. If they keep pouring that person drinks and she goes on to harm herself or others while impaired, the business may be liable for the damage done.
Not only can a dram shop claim be of significant help to injured victims, it can also get bad bars and other vendors to clean up their act before more people get hurt. Having said all that, though, suspecting intoxication isn't the same as proving it; while the test results are still pending investigators should look into whether other factors were involved. The most important thing is to learn the whole story; any further steps would depend on what that story is.
