• March 08, 2017

1 Killed, 1 Injured in Houston, TX, Car Accident on Almeda

Houston, TX -- March 7, 2017, one person was killed and another was injured due to an accident in which their vehicles crashed on Almeda Road.

Houston Police investigators responded to the two-vehicle accident scene just before midnight at the intersection of Almeda Road and Reed Road.

According to preliminary investigations, a Nissan Z was traveling northbound on Almeda. It was somehow struck from behind by a Chevy Avalance also northbound. This caused both vehicles to careen into a bus that was going southbound on Almeda.

Due to the severity of the collision, the driver of the Nissan died at the scene. The driver of the Chevy was transported to a nearby hospital with unspecified injuries.

At this time, authorities are investigating to determine whether or not alcohol is involved. Investigations are ongoing.

Map of the Area

Commentary

Police haven't determined if alcohol was involved in this crash, but I'm going to be frank here. Houston has a horrific drunk driving problem. I can almost guarantee when I walk into work each day that I'm going to hear about someone getting hurt in a drunk driving accident in Houston. Considering this accident happened around midnight, I wouldn't be surprised in the least if the driver of the Chevy was drunk.

If it turns out that alcohol was involved in some way, then the people responsible need to be held accountable for their actions. A drunk driver typically faces criminal punishments for their involvement, but remember that there is an accomplice in these kinds of accidents, and that's the bar which served the drunk driver. This is where dram shop law comes into effect.

In Texas, dram shop law states that a business which over-serves alcohol to an obviously intoxicated customer can be held liable for damages resulting from that person's intoxication. Most people think of this as some guy going out, getting drunk, hitting a light pole, and then making money off the bar at which they were served. The main purpose of dram shop cases are for victims like the one in this accident. Innocent drivers are hurt all the time by someone who was over-served at a bar that took their money and sent them on their way to get in an accident. A bar that violates the law and over-serves their customers is directly contributing to drunk driving accidents, and they need to be held accountable.

Like I said, Houston has a huge problem with drunk driving accidents, and utilizing dram shop laws allows victims to change this destructive behavior at the source. If bars face harsh financial punishment for breaking the law, then they will start taking responsibility for their actions and cutting off their customers when necessary. After all, the most important thing to any business is money, so that is the best place to start when holding them accountable for their negligence.

All that being said, there's still no guarantee that this accident was caused by alcohol. I'm simply going by the odds here. There needs to be a thorough investigation into the details surrounding this accident. It may be easy to solely hold the at-fault driver accountable for this accident, but the just thing to do is ensure all responsible parties are punished.

--Grossman Law Offices

[jump]

Recent Accidents

View All Posts
*We appreciate your feedback and welcome anyone to comment on our blog entries, however all visitor blog comments must be approved by the site moderator prior to showing live on the site. By submitting a blog comment you acknowledge that your post may appear live on the site for any visitors to see, pending moderator approval. The operators of this site are not responsible for the accuracy or content of the comments made by site visitors. By submitting a comment, blog post, or email to this site you acknowledge that you may receive a response with regard to your questions or concerns. If you contact Grossman Law Offices using this online form, your message will not create an attorney-client relationship and will not necessarily be treated as privileged or confidential! You should not send sensitive or confidential information via the Internet. Since the Internet is not necessarily a secure environment, it is not possible to ensure that your message sent via the Internet might be kept secure and confidential. When you fill out a contact or comment form, send us an email directly, initiate a chat session or call us, you acknowledge we may use your contact information to communicate with you in the future for marketing purposes, but such marketing will always be done in an ethical way.