Amada Gonzalez, 1 Injured in Alleged DWI Accident in Willacy County, TX
Willacy County, TX -- December 21, 2022, Amada Gonzalez and another person were injured due to a possible intoxicated driving accident.
Preliminary details from authorities said that the accident happened at around 10:49 p.m. along Business 77 at the FM 490 intersection.
It appears that 38-year-old Amada Gonzalez was in a GMC Sierra traveling eastbound along FM 490. At Business 77, authorities say a Hyundai Elantra along southbound lanes disregarded a red light, crashing into Gonzalez's vehicle.
Gonzalez and the other driver both had injuries said to be incapacitating. Most recent details suggest police suspect the Hyundai driver of being under the influence of alcohol. Right now, this and other factors can't be confirmed.

While I can't confirm or deny anything with these details alone, alcohol is an all too common factor in drivers running red lights, especially late at night. If that happened here, as well, then consequences would no doubt be warranted. But what would those consequences look like, and who would bear them?
The answer seems obvious: the drunk driver goes to court, right? Usually, yes, but that's not always the whole story. It may surprise folks to learn that drunk driving wrecks often have accomplices in bars, liquor stores, restaurants, and even gas stations. That's because Texas law says it's illegal to over-serve someone who is obviously intoxicated. If they do so, and that leads to people getting hurt, those businesses can face criminal consequences, administrative penalties, and even liability in the civil court system.
Whether or not that happened here remains to be seen, but it's one of the many reasons that simply leaving everything up to the authorities isn't that prudent. They have their own priorities, and they don't always line up with the priorities of the victims and families involved in these crashes left to fend for themselves. Hopefully steps have been taken here to ensure there are appropriate consequences for those who contributed to the crash so it doesn't happen again.
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