Matthew Lawson Killed in Motorcycle Accident in San Antonio, TX
San Antonio, TX — July 9, 2023, Matthew Wayne Lawson was killed due to a single-vehicle motorcycle accident at around 6:22 p.m. along Loop 410.
Preliminary public statements from authorities say that the crash occurred along the ramp connecting the N.E. Loop 410 access road to Harry Wurzbach Road.
According to officials, 43-year-old Matthew Lawson was on a motorcycle going around the curve on the transfer ramp. Authorities say a witness recounted the events as a hat coming off of Lawson's head, and when he turned over his shoulder, the bike lost control. This led to the motorcycle hitting the curb and falling off the motorcycle.
Due to the crash, Lawson sustained fatal injuries. Authorities say their discussion with the witness was initially at the scene but continued later on after the witness had to leave. They also updated their statements to include a toxicology test result allegedly showing that the victim's blood-alcohol content following the crash was over two and a half times the legal limit.
To be clear, I don't mention the driver's reported BAC to criticize them. That's not my place. Instead, seeing that detail makes me wonder whether or not authorities might have missed something important. They seemed to be thorough in speaking with witnesses, and then following up later on when those witnesses couldn't stay on the scene. Then, they continued their investigations to include a BAC. But now, months later, there doesn't seem to be any new information. One thing I would expect to see after a crash like the one described here is information on whether or not a local establishment illegally over-served the victim. Did authorities even bother looking into that?
Here's why I bring this up. When I've handled wrongful death cases involving alcohol in Harris County, for example, I often find authorities there are generally more thorough in looking into alcohol providers after a serious accident. As my team and I are working the civil side of things, authorities are often pursuing criminal charges against the bartender of the same venue for breaking the law and contributing to the crash.
Yet in other areas, authorities seem to be far less motivated to look into these possibilities. Why is that? It's just as illegal in San Antonio as it is in Houston to over-serve someone, and it's just as important to get families in San Antonio the full story concerning their loved one's accident. If I see authorities discover that a driver had alcohol in their system, but they don't take any kind of steps to follow up on that, I can't help but doubt that they're getting the whole story.
Again, my goal here was not to upset or to speak ill of anyone. It's just that I've been handling wrongful death cases involving alcohol for decades now, yet I haven't seen enough improvement in authorities around the state looking into negligent alcohol providers. They simply see that the victim was intoxicated, and they don't seem to think anything beyond that matters. There might not be much more to this story, or maybe authorities just never released all of their findings publicly. But if the victim's loved ones are only seeing the same public information I'm seeing, it wouldn't surprise me if it turned out authorities missed something.
