SUV Crashes into Restaurant on Preston Rd, Four Injured in Dallas, TX
Dallas, TX — January 26, 2023, four people were injured after a vehicle crashed into a restaurant on Preston Road in Far North Dallas.
Authorities say the incident happened around 8:30 p.m. at Speranza Ristorante Italiano, located on the 18200 block of Preston near Frankford Road. Preliminary information suggests only that a Toyota 4Runner was traveling through the surrounding parking lot, allegedly at unsafe speeds as it tried to pull into a parking space. The driver told investigators she accidentally hit the gas instead of the brakes and the SUV crashed through the wall of the restaurant.
Four Sperenza customers were taken to area hospitals for treatment of unspecified injuries. Several other customers were treated at the scene for minor injuries.
Police later alleged the Toyota driver may have been under the influence of alcohol and collected blood samples for testing.
No further information is currently available.
Over the years I've seen drivers lose control of their vehicles for plenty of different reasons—some within their control, others entirely out of it. One of the big problems I encounter over and over, though, is that people who learn of those accidents focus almost exclusively on "what the driver did wrong." Jumping straight to blaming those drivers means ignoring other potential contributing factors that need attention.
Alcohol-related accidents as this one was suggested to be are a good example: Even if the blood tests ordered by police confirm their suspicions that the driver was impaired, there could be more to that than people realize. For instance, in many such cases it's learned that the driver was illegally over-served by a local bar or restaurant beforehand. If investigators learn that woman was served too many drinks somewhere before heading to the restaurant, then whoever provided those drinks may be partly responsible for the injuries she caused when she got there. If so, it may have a duty to make amends to the victims.
I'm not suggesting I know more than what public reports have said. I just know that folks tend to quickly blame one part of a crash—often the driver's actions—when things might be more complicated. That's why it's important to keep an open mind and learn the whole story, which I hope is exactly what Dallas authorities plan to do.
