Passenger Injured in Single-Vehicle Accident on 20th St in Abilene, TX
Abilene, TX — August 20, 2022, a car's 27-year-old passenger was seriously injured in a single-vehicle accident on South 20th Street in Abilene.
Authorities say the incident happened around 4:50 p.m. on South 20th near Crescent Drive. Preliminary investigation suggests 24-year-old Alexis Escobar was driving a Ford Focus west on the roadway when she allegedly failed to avoid a parked and unoccupied Dodge Ram 4500 on the north curbline. The Ford crashed into the parked vehicle and came to rest in the street.
Escobar's passenger received serious injuries in the crash. Escobar herself reportedly sustained minor injuries. Investigators believed she was under the influence of alcohol and collected blood samples for testing.
No further information is available at this time.
Commentary on Car Accident on 20th Street in Abilene
If evidence confirms investigators' suspicions and the driver was intoxicated on 20th Street, she may face some serious consequences for her choices that day. It's only fitting that drunk drivers receive stiff punishments considering the risk they pose to themselves and the public, but I'd caution against thinking that charging the driver would really be the final step. It's also important to find out who provided her drinks; depending on the answer to that a local business may be liable for her passenger's injuries under Texas dram shop law.
To be clear, I don't know that a local business broke the law with over-service. I just firmly believe that everyone responsible for the damage done in that crash should be held accountable for their part. People tend not to look past drunk drivers at the source of their alcohol, but if a business is endangering its community then that clearly needs to be nipped in the bud. If an injured woman can get some much-needed help getting back on her feet, that's all the more reason to get the ball rolling.
