Mayra Vasquez, Vicente Silva Gomez Injured in Car Accident in Brownsville, TX
Brownsville, TX — June 22, 2024, Mayra Vasquez and Vicente Silva Gomez were injured due to a car accident at around 2:00 a.m. along I-69E.
Authorities said in preliminary statements that the crash took place in the area of the freeway service road and Sunrise Boulevard.
According to officials, 45-year-old Mayra Vasquez was in a Toyota Corolla that was traveling northbound along the service road. 35-year-old Vicente Silva Gomez was reportedly a passenger in a Chevy Cruze being driven northbound, as well. Authorities allege the driver of the Cruze may have failed to control speed, crashing into Vasquez from behind.
Due to the accident, it appears both Vasquez and Silva Gomez had serious injuries. Authorities say that the driver of the Cruze fled the scene. It's also alleged that driver was under the influence of alcohol at the time. Right now, charges have yet to be confirmed.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
If the allegations surrounding this accident are true, then it frankly wouldn't be surprising. For one, alcohol is a common reason why drivers flee accident scenes, as they hope to at least sober up before speaking to the authorities. On top of that, 2:00 a.m. is the peak time for drunk drivers, as that's when people are coming home from a local bar. This raises a very serious concern: was the driver involved in this illegally over-served by a local bar?
Here's why that matters. Generally speaking, people agree there should be consequences for drunk driving accidents. Most every drunk driver sees those consequences. Meanwhile, though, there could be a local alcohol provider who broke the law, served that person while they were obviously intoxicated and a clear danger to others, and simply gets to continue business as usual like nothing ever happened. The Texas Legislature recognized years ago that the public saw a need for those negligent alcohol providers to also be held accountable. Now, those alcohol providers can face criminal investigations, fines, license suspensions, and even liability for the victims' resulting injuries.
So while it's not entirely clear what all led up to this accident, it's possible that locating and apprehending a runaway driver will only address part of the bigger problem. Investigations also need to explain if alcohol was a factor here, and if so, where that alcohol came from. With two people nearly killed here, it wouldn't be right for all of the blame to fall on a single individual when multiple parties are responsible for what happened. That's especially true if one of those wrongdoers is still putting the community at risk.
*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.