Maria Mendez Injured in Single-Vehicle Accident on US-67 in Dallas, TX
Dallas, TX — December 20, 2022, 46-year-old Maria Mendez was seriously injured in a single-vehicle accident on Marvin D. Love Freeway in Dallas.
Authorities say the incident happened around 11:00 p.m. on the freeway (US-67) near Camp Wisdom Road. Preliminary investigation suggests Mendez was driving a Honda Accord south on the highway when she allegedly lost control for unconfirmed reasons. The car veered right and hit a concrete barrier, then rebounded and passed through the travel lanes before it hit the barrier on the other side. It spun partially around and came to rest on the shoulder.
Mendez suffered serious injuries in the crash. Investigators alleged she may have been intoxicated and collected blood specimens for testing.
No further information is currently available.
Something people don't always realize about preliminary reports is how incomplete they typically are. They provide a rough picture of what happened, but inevitably they're missing critical details that simply can't be confirmed from a once-over at the scene. That's why I often blog about the need for patience and an open mind before facts supported by evidence can tell the story.
Unfortunately, folks sometimes don't wait for those steps before making up their minds. There's a lot of reasons a car could go out of control this way, and though officers tested for suspected impairment it's premature to decide the victim did anything wrong. Is that possible? Maybe, but so are circumstances beyond her control like tire blowouts, mechanical defects, and medical emergencies. Those and many other possibilities, common or not, must be considered.
At the end of the day an investigation's purpose isn't to find out what someone did wrong, it's just to find the facts for the people who need and deserve them. A woman was seriously injured in this wreck, and however that really happened she deserves the benefit of the doubt and to know her situation was handled properly. I hope authorities' efforts will grant her that assurance.
