Atascosa County, TX — December 1, 2023, five people were injured due to a possible intoxicated driving accident at around 7:17 a.m. along Highway 16.
Investigators said in public information that the accident happened near the intersection of Boyd Street. a 32-year-old man and three minors—ages 13, 11, and 4—were in a Dodge Ram going northbound on the highway. Authorities say that the vehicle was passing a Lowe’s Food Mart when an oncoming Ford F-150 went left across the center turn lane and into the northbound lane where it crashed with the Dodge.
Due to the collision, the driver of the Dodge reportedly had incapacitating injuries. The three kids and the driver of the Ford were said to have non-incapacitating injuries.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
While authorities say they recommended a charge for DWI against the Ford driver, they listed a BAC below the legal limit. So why would there be DWI charges? Well, authorities don’t necessarily need a BAC over the legal limit to charge someone for a DWI. It’s also possible authorities initially considered a DWI, but dropped the charges later on following the toxicology tests.
However, it’s also possible the low BAC is the result of a long amount of time passing between the crash and the time when authorities tested the driver. There may have been other evidence that led authorities to believe alcohol was a contributing factor in the crash.
For example, our firm handles a lot of personal injury claims against bars and other establishments when they negligently over-serve someone whose intoxication then leads to an accident. Those cases rely on all sorts of evidence, not just a police report or a BAC test. Receipts showing the time of purchase, open containers in the vehicle, calculating the metabolism of alcohol in someone’s system, surveillance video, witness testimony—these can all be vital pieces of evidence to convincingly show a driver was more likely than not intoxicated when a crash occurred. So even if there may not be enough evidence for criminal charges, there could still be an avenue for legal consequences.
Whether or not authorities have any evidence like that isn’t for me to say right now. I just don’t see many in my line of work talking about these unique possible factors, and it’s important to help folks understand potential challenges that arise after crashes like the one described here.
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