Texans witnessed these three calamities in the last three days:
- Ethan Couch was released from jail after only two years for killing four people and crippling our client;
- Lou Diamond Phillips was sentenced after his DWI arrest; and
- A drunk driver crashed early this morning in Dallas, killing her passenger.
Why do driving while intoxicated collisions keep happening?
If law enforcement and courts don’t crack down on outrageous drunk drivers (#1) and high profile movie stars and celebrities are constantly being shown after they are busted (#2), what can we expect?
Last year, over 3,700 Texans tragically died due to intoxicated drivers. That’s shameful.
Stop and think about how many people that is. That number would fill up 10 airplanes. It would fill the Bass Hall in Fort Worth two times over. And it is 700 more Americans than the number who tragically lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks.
You don’t think this could ever happen to you, right? But here’s a photograph of the truck our clients, a very nice family of four, were in when a drunk slammed into them at 90 miles per hour south of Fort Worth.
It’s just a matter of time before the next collision occurs. We have a DWI-caused crash every minute and over 500,000 a year in our country.
This has to stop. Our law firm is filing suit against this drunk and will get every dollar from his insurance policy to repay our clients for the nightmare they have been through. Maybe this will help spread the message that enough is enough.
But why doesn’t any one get mad about this epidemic of preventable deaths — and stop them from happening in the first place?
Here are more statistics to help this sink in:
- 1,000 Texans lost their lives in DWI collisions in 2016;
- Just here in Dallas and Tarrant County last year, there were over 4,000 collisions and 130 deaths;
- 265,000 Texans were injured; and
- The number of people who have died in all Texas crashes has ballooned by 35% in the last few years.
How can we stop driving while intoxicated collisions from happening?
It’s not going to be easy in our alcohol (and drug)-fueled world, but for starters, restaurants, bars, retailers, and the state of Texas have to crack down on over serving their customers. They aren’t.
- Texas and almost every state have laws on the books designed to discourage these crashes. These “dram shop laws” ostensibly regulate alcohol-serving establishments and hold them responsible if their patrons injure motorists. But our courts have watered down its enforcement powers and the law was weak already and filled of loopholes written by industry lobbyists.
- Law enforcement officials need to do a better job patrolling our highways and stopping drunks before they crash into others. But police department budgets are already stretched to the limit and officers cannot begin to stop every vehicle on the road, often driving at high rates of speed.
- Courts need to punish drunk drivers more severely and not hand out probation — which is how the whole Ethan Couch controversy erupted. We need people to think twice before getting smashed and getting behind the wheels of their usually over sized pickup trucks, SUVs, and large cars.
- We need to support Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Mr. Berenson supports this worthwhile nonprofit organization. He is proud to be on its advisory Board of Directors in North Texas and to be the presenting sponsor of the Walk Like MADD in Fort Worth for the past five years to help get its No More Victims goal.
DWI crashes leave behind tragedy and pain
A Fort Worth personal injury lawyer has to represent far too many people and the families of those who perish due to these DWI collisions.
Our firm works hard to get our clients repaid for their damages, knowing that there is not enough money in the word that can truly make them whole. If you have any questions or need our help, please give us a call or contact us online.
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