Will 2018 Be a Better Year for Car Crashes in Dallas-Fort Worth?

Based on our first week, unfortunately no.

After an extremely dangerous New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day caused by icy roads and the drunks driving on them, the first week in North Texas started on a sad note with four people dying in car accidents Six people tragically were killed here since that time.

And on Friday police announced the cause of the crash that killed former Dallas Cowboys receiver Terry Glenn in Irving several months ago.

The causes of this weekend’s fatal Dallas-Fort Worth auto accidents were the usual suspects:

  • Rear-end collision at intersection. A mother and her seven year-old daughter were killed when their passenger van was struck from behind while making a left turn. The driver of the pickup truck that rear-ended the van claimed not to have seen the vehicle at the Johnson County intersection. In other words, he wasn’t paying attention.
  • Drunk driver heading wrong way. A wrong-way driver on Texas 121 in Grapevine killed a Fort Worth man when he crashed head-on into his vehicle. The wrong-way driver was drunk at the time, and he survived with only minor injuries, of course. He’s been charged with intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle and intoxication assault with a vehicle.

  • Good Samaritans hit by car. A hit-and-run driver fled the scene of a crash on Highway 67 in Dallas. Then two good Samaritans who had stopped to help were hit by another car. One was killed and the other critically injured.
  • Dallas Cowboy in DWI crash. Former Cowboys receiver Terry Glenn died when he struck a concrete barrier on State Highway 114 in November. The toxicology results confirm that he was drunk and high when he crashed. His BAC was .165 — more than two times the legal limit — and marijuana was found in his system. Glenn had two prior DWIs, including one just one month before the deadly accident.

Texas on track to remain in first place 

Every year Texas has more traffic deaths than any other state. Texas roads seemed to be getting safer, inching lower each year since 2008. Then the death toll began to rise again in 2012. Texas reached 3,776 auto accident deaths in 2016. Could we break this decade-long trend this year? I certainly hope so.

Primary causes of fatal crashes include drunk driving, distraction and speeding, basically the factors that contributed to last weekend’s fatal accidents. All of these factors are easily preventable. In fact, during the 37 years that I have represented crash victims and their families, I have found that most could have been avoided but for the negligence of the at-fault driver.

I hope that at least some drivers have added to their new year’s resolutions putting the phone away, slowing down and not getting behind the wheel after having anything to drink.

Please contact my office if you need legal help handling your car or truck wreck.

Related posts:

Warning: Dangerous Driving Ahead In North Texas

New Year’s Crashes Fueled by Icy Roads and Drunk Drivers

Our Roads Are Most Deadly In Years: New Report

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