A North Texas couple and their 2-year-old son were stopped at a red light in Arlington three years ago. Sadly, a rear-end collision by a drunk driver resulted in a catastrophic injury to the young boy's brain. Fortunately, the child survived and recently celebrated his sixth birthday. However, the impact of the collision, which damaged 80 percent of his brain, has not subsided.
]]> The parents of the young victim have filed a $10 million civil lawsuit against the alleged drunk driver and two bars where the man had been drinking before the crash. The lawsuit follows the parents' success in getting Abdallah's Law passed in the Texas legislature. The legislation, named after their son, allows the use of out-of-state drunk driving convictions in Texas trials. The parents wished the law had been on the books at the time their son was permanently injured.Toxicology tests showed the DWI suspect was a repeat offender. The suspect's blood alcohol content measured in excess of three times the state intoxication limit. It was not the man's first drunk driving offense. The driver was convicted seven times for DWI in four different states.
A court approved a defense motion limiting the maximum prison term to 20 years. According to the suspect's defense attorney, the earlier alcohol-related convictions were not felonies, but misdemeanors. The injured boy's family appealed the ruling, suspending the start of the defendant's trial.
The parents' civil case hopes to secure a financial settlement or judgment that defrays or recoups the massive medical bills and earnings losses the couple endured since their son was hurt. Some sacrifices were emotional, including the parent's mental strain and pain and suffering.
The lawsuit, set to begin early next month, is directed toward the driver, Applebee's and a second drinking establishment called Mr. B's. The boy's parents contend the bars failed to limit the driver's alcohol consumption and allowed the customer to drive away intoxicated. It will be interesting to see how the case is concluded.
Source: CBS Dallas-Fort Worth, "Family Celebrates Birthday Waiting For Justice," Susy Solis, April 29, 2012
]]>A pedestrian-vehicle accident involving a possibly fatigued driver, a police officer and the operator of a tour bus hospitalized two people in Dallas recently. The car accident happened in the middle of the night, around 2:30 a.m., after a bus broke down on U.S. 175, the S.M. Wright Freeway.
]]> The accident was damaging enough but could have been far worse had any of the passengers remained on the disabled tour bus. As it was, two people were hurt including an officer investigating bus breakdown and the bus driver who was supplying the officer with the details.According to official documents, a Dallas officer came upon a tour bus stopped in the center of U.S. 175. The 20-passenger vehicle had broken down in traffic. The officer activated the patrol car's flashing, emergency lights and parked protectively behind the bus. The patrolman left his vehicle to talk with the bus driver.
The bus was emptied of its passengers, who waited along the roadside. The officer and tour bus driver talked near the vehicles in the middle of the highway.
An oncoming pickup truck failed to move around the breakdown site and slammed into the rear of the police car. The crash shoved the patrol vehicle into the empty tour bus, pushing the coach left into the patrolman and bus driver.
Both accident victims suffered severe leg injuries and were transported to Baylor Hospital. The tour bus operator also sustained injuries to his hip and was scheduled for surgery. An update of the victims' medical conditions was unreported. The pickup driver was not hurt. None of the passengers waiting on the side of the road was affected by the crash.
Authorities conducted a DWI test on the pickup driver and determined that alcohol use did not contribute to the crash. The driver was not arrested.
Fatigue is being considered as a possible cause for the injury accident.
Source: nbcdfw.com, "Officer and Bus Driver Injured in Overnight Accident," Elvira Sakmari, April 21, 2012
]]>The car accident near Ann Arbor Avenue occurred around 9 p.m. when a Lincoln Town Car, accelerating to access the highway, rear-ended the Chevy. The Lincoln driver reported that the dark-colored, disabled Chevy was stopped in traffic with no visible hazard lights. The Lincoln operator said he saw the Cavalier at the last moment and unsuccessfully tried to swerve to avoid hitting it. The Chevy spun into a utility pole.
]]> Investigators released none of the names of the accident victims other than the two children who died in the crash. The victims were young girls who had been in the Chevrolet's back seat, ages 1 and 4. Dallas investigators said neither child had been in a car seat or restrained by a seat belt at the time of the collision. The relative of a volunteer firefighter at the scene said only one of the four children had been in a car seat.Seven people were hurt in the accident, all relatives traveling in the same vehicle. Emergency crews transported the victims to Methodist Dallas Medical Center, Parkland Hospital and Children's Medical Center. Three adults and two children, including one six-month-old, survived. Their names and medical conditions were not reported.
Investigators eliminated the possibilities that the accident was caused by drunk driving or speeding. Authorities are trying to determine how the injured family members are related and why the Chevrolet driver failed to use emergency flashers or pull off to the side of the highway.
Police said the driver of the Cavalier was 22-years-old and may face criminal charges of negligent homicide. A referral to a grand jury is pending the outcome of the ongoing accident investigation.
Source: dfw.cbslocal.com, "2 Children Dead After Major Car Crash In Dallas," Stephanie Lucero, April 18, 2012
]]>Physical damage was extensive, but no one was hurt in the December 2010 crash. The district attorney's office was not satisfied that the DWI repeat offender could get off with a misdemeanor.
]]> Attorneys dug into the defendant's criminal history and found records of a 1998 accident in Dallas and a conviction for intoxication manslaughter. The driver, who was 20-years-old at the time, was fleeing from police and drunk when he plowed into the side of a seminary student's car. The student was killed and two other accident victims in the student's car were injured. The underage drinker was given no jail time and sentenced to 10 years of probation.In most cases, a felony DWI is reserved for repeat offenders with two prior convictions. The Texas law prosecutors found that it permitted a felony charge after just one conviction, if the offender was guilty of a previous charge of intoxication manslaughter.
The prosecution's discovery of the old law quickly elevated the defendant's charges and the potential maximum punishment, from a possible prison term of six, short months to a full 10-year sentence. A jury did not go with the maximum sentence. It ordered an eight-year prison term for the Fort Worth defendant. It was the first time the 10-year-old law had ever been tested in a Tarrant County trial.
Without the application of the Texas law for intoxication manslaughter, the DWI repeat offender might have walked away with a short stint in jail, a fine and the chance to drive drunk again.
Prosecuting attorneys agreed the punishment was severe, but argued that the defendant had not learned from the mistakes he made 15 years ago. The lead prosecutor said keeping hardcore, repeat drunk drivers off community roadways may be the only way to keep other drivers safe.
Source: myfoxdfw.com, "Fort Worth Man Gets 8 Years for DWI," Lari Barager, April 12, 2012
]]>Media reports say Aggressive Insurance Services and the injured woman reached an undisclosed financial agreement. The model reportedly had turned down an earlier settlement offer of $200,000.
]]> The plane accident happened during the evening hours on December 3, 2011. The 23-year-old woman got out of the plane and was walking on the tarmac at a Plano airfield. She mistakenly walked into the plane's rotating propeller, which severed her left hand and caused the model to lose an eye.An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board did not find the pilot negligent, although the NTSB felt the plane's engine should have been turned off at the time.
The pilot apparently warned the model of the spinning propeller and urged her to move away from it as the woman exited the aircraft in the dark. The model claimed she did not hear the pilot's warning. The model's family publicly stated that it did not hold the pilot responsible for the young adult's injuries.
Whether or not the woman was injured as a plane passenger was one of the issues under dispute in settlement talks. Aggressive Insurance terms a passenger as someone, besides a pilot, who is inside, embarking or disembarking a plane.
The victim argued that she did not fit the definition of passenger when the accident occurred. The model was not onboard or stepping in or out of the aircraft at the time of the tragedy. Until the accident, the woman declared that she was out of the plane, on the tarmac and not in physical contact with the aircraft.
The terms and private details of the aviation accident and injuries apparently were ironed out before a court could take the case.
Source: today.msnbc.msn.com, "Injured model settles insurance claim from plane accident," Scott Stump, March 28, 2012
]]>Among the players who have joined the lawsuit are championship and Super Bowl players, including Golden Richards of the 1978 Dallas Cowboys and ex-Redskins quarter back Mark Rypien. Each player has a story of football glory days and concussions, which some retired athletes feel led players to memory loss and cognitive issues, even suicide.
]]> Rypien was a star NFL athlete. At age 49, he is dogged by a failing memory and forced to tape conversations he otherwise forgets. The former quarterback has developed an unrecognizable impulsiveness and feels depressed.Rypien, like many other plaintiffs added to the federal lawsuit, claims the NFL was and still is negligent when it comes to players' head injuries. Former players say the NFL's desire to make money is priority over the health of its athletes.
Scientific studies link repetitive head blows to later-age and life-long brain damage. The players in the lawsuit say they suffer now for head jolts and concussions they received on the job a long time ago. The suit is not about money, according to players involved. It is about awareness and trying to make pro-ball better for future players' health.
Individual brain injury lawsuits that went to court in recent years were rebuffed by the NFL, which claimed athletes were aware of the dangers of major league play. The growing number of plaintiffs in the NFL suit says that knowledge should be accompanied by medical monitoring of athletes from the pro-sports leagues down to amateur levels.
Some players say they were encouraged to play with an injury or hid the fact that they received a knock to the head. Pressure to perform and collect hefty pay checks forced the athletes to return to the field again and again.
The lawsuit charges the NFL with downplaying or ignoring brain trauma and keeping players uninformed about the short and long-term risks.
Source: sfgate.com, "NFL concussion lawsuits keep adding former players," Howard Fendrich, March 30, 2012
]]>The story leading up to the pedestrian's death involves a 45-year-old companion who left the injured woman behind, a wrecked and disabled pickup truck and a motorist who chose to leave the fatal accident scene.
]]> The victim was a passenger in a pickup driven by an Irving man. The truck was involved in a single-vehicle crash on southbound Loop 12 near Shady Grove Road. Motorists who stopped at the accident site were asked if they could give the couple a ride.A driver on the opposite side of Loop 12 agreed to help the stranded man and woman. The pair started to cross the highway, one at a time, with the pickup driver going first. The Irving man reached the northbound lanes safely. The woman was struck in the southbound lanes by an oncoming car. The pickup driver climbed in the northbound car and left the accident scene with the driver who offered to give the couple a ride.
Accident witnesses saw the fatally-injured woman's companion leave and gave Irving police a description of the vehicle. Authorities found and stopped the driver. The woman's companion was taken into custody.
Police believe the Irving man was intoxicated when he wrecked his pickup, crossed the highway and abandoned the victim as she lay on the road.
The man was booked on suspicion of drunk driving. Additional charges against the DWI suspect could be made, if police can connect the man's actions to the woman's death. Criminal charges are also being considered against the driver who drove the suspect from the scene.
Source: star-telegram.com, "Woman dies after being hit crossing Loop 12 in Irving," Alex Branch, March 23, 2012
]]>The first witness to the 10:30 p.m. crash, other than those who survived it, was a woman who was returning home from work. What she saw she described as mistaken roadside trash.
]]> The observer was convinced she was looking at the remains of a possible motorcycle accident. Then, she noticed the front end of a car on the far side of County Road 1106. A 2002 Volkswagen Passat containing four teenagers, including a 16-year-old driver, had apparently struck a tree, broke in half and littered the roadside with car parts.An 18-year-old female passenger, who was a student at Rio Vista High School, was killed in the Wednesday evening, one-car collision.
The witness to the deadly accident's aftermath spotted one of the teens who lived through the horrific accident flashing the light of a cell phone from the broken car. The disoriented and injured teen had called 911 for help but could not describe what happened or guide emergency crews to the scene.
The witness filed an accident report and allowed rescuers to track her phone to the dark crash site.
The 16-year-old Rio Vista teen behind the wheel survived. Her medical condition and that of a 19-year-old Waco male passenger were later listed as stable.
Another 19-year-old male passenger from Rio Vista was transported to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital. Fort Worth medical officials say the teen remained in critical condition the day after the accident.
The Texas Department of Public Safety has taken charge of the investigation. An accident reconstruction team is analyzing what may have happened to cause the fatal crash.
As state investigators determine whether speeding, poor judgment or some other event was responsible for the tragedy, friends, family and teachers who knew the victims gathered with candles and prayers at Rio Vista High School.
Source: dfw.cbslocal.com, "Johnson County Mourning After Violent, Fatal Accident," Jason Allen, March 15, 2012
]]>The accused 34-year-old CPS investigator allegedly paid two juvenile girls for sex. The alleged sexual relationships apparently were not associated with the suspect's job-related activities.
]]> An arrest warrant says police were tipped off after the Tarrant County arrest of a juvenile prostitute. The girl allegedly told authorities that she connected with the accused CPS investigator through a classified-ads website last August.The girl reportedly told police that she and another underage female exchanged sex for money with the child welfare worker. The sexual relationships apparently continued until January of this year.
Police investigators followed a trail of text messages the CPS employee allegedly left on the young prostitute's cell phone. The investigation also involved other elements police declined to disclose.
The compilation of information ultimately led to an arrest at the suspect's home, where police confiscated computers for evidence.
Child sexual assault is a second-degree felony. Officials from Child Protective Services say they may not wait for a trial to fire the employee, if an internal investigation finds that police suspicions are true. CPS released a statement that said any employee's betrayal "of the public's trust" was grounds for dismissal.
The arrest of the child sexual abuse suspect caused CPS officials to immediately suspend the investigator from his job, where he had been working with children for six years. Parents in the neighborhood where the alleged child abuser was taken into custody were shocked by news of the arrest. Several neighbors were highly concerned that the suspect lived so close to areas where elementary-school age children waited for or departed from school buses in the dark.
Source: dfw.cbslocal.com, "Warrant: Cedar Hill CPS Agent Paid Teen For Sex," Robbie Owens and Jay Gormley, March 7, 2012
]]>Texas law enforcement officials are trying to determine whether a midday tractor-trailer accident on the Dallas North Tollway was the result of a trucker driving too fast or some other condition. A member of Dallas Fire-Rescue, who responded to the three-vehicle crash, suggested the truck driver may have been speeding when he lost control on a curve and caused the 18-wheeler to overturn.
]]> The truck fell sideways as it rounded a northbound curve on the toll way near Interstate 635. The trailer crashed down on top of a silver Chevy Cruze sedan around 10:15 a.m., trapping a rental car driver inside. The impact of the truck accident also shoved a concrete barrier into southbound traffic.The concrete barrier pushed into toll road traffic and struck an oncoming sport utility vehicle, a Volkswagen Toureg. Neither of the two people inside the dark-colored SUV was hurt, according to witnesses at the crash scene.
Assistance for the Chevy Cruze driver came from passersby, who stopped and worked to remove the driver's car door. Emergency personnel transported the 49-year-old male driver to Parkland Hospital, where the accident victim was treated for injuries to his back and neck. The victim's medical condition was not reported. The driver of the overturned tractor-trailer apparently suffered no injuries. The trucker identified himself only by a first name to interviewers at the accident scene.
Police did not elaborate on the driver's identity or a trucking company affiliation.
Hazmat crews were called to the interstate crash to clear a leakage of diesel fuel. All northbound and some southbound lanes on busy Interstate 635 remained shut down several hours after the accident.
Road crews worked through the afternoon to remove the wreckage and make plans to repair the damaged concrete barrier and a utility pole.
Dallas North Tollway accident investigators did not announce whether any crash-related charges would be filed.
Source: myfoxdfw.com, "18-wheeler Flips onto Car, Hits Barrier," Alice Wolke, Feb. 23, 2012
]]>According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, a 22-year-old driver in a 2009 Hyundai pulled into SH 105 traffic from a store in the 16500 block. The Hyundai driver apparently entered the road without yielding the right of way to a pickup truck driver on the main road.
]]> The white Chevy pickup crashed into the Hyundai. The accident pinned the 42-year-old driver inside his truck. People who witnessed the accident gathered in an attempt to free the trapped accident victim from behind the steering wheel.As witnesses worked to help the driver to get out of the truck, a 2004 Chrysler Sebring crashed into the back of the disabled pickup. The truck driver involved in the first accident was thrown from the pickup by the force of the crash. The driver of the pickup was pronounced dead at the accident scene.
Emergency medical personnel transported the injured Chrysler driver, a 31-year-old Lake Conroe-area worker, to Conroe Regional Medical Center. The Sebring driver was treated for a broken rib and arrested.
The Sebring driver, a Spring resident, apparently told law enforcement authorities that he had consumed several drinks at the home of a friend before getting behind the wheel of the Chrysler.
Following medical treatment, the drunk-driving suspect was escorted to the Montgomery County Jail. DPS investigators charged him with intoxication manslaughter.
Source: kdfm.com, "DPS: Man killed in chain-reaction crash involving drunk driver in Conroe," Scott Lawrence, Feb. 23, 2012
]]>Texas was one of three states where teens' deaths by vehicle have jumped significantly. GHSA officials say traffic fatalities among 16 and 17-year-olds crept upward from 190 to 211 in the first half of 2011, despite a drop in overall traffic deaths. Statistics showed improvement among drivers of all ages. Nearly 1 percent fewer drivers died in motor vehicle accidents in the first half of last year than in 2010.
]]> When the data was isolated to teens, the numbers changed. Death rates among 16-year-old drivers leaped 16 percent and 7 percent for drivers just one year older. Ninety-three 16-year-olds and 118 drivers who were 17-years-old died in car crashes early last year. Almost half of the states saw teen traffic deaths go up. Another 19 states saw a decline in teen car fatalities. Eight states along with Washington D.C. reported stagnant numbers.Some analysts, including the scientist who compiled the GHSA report, believe the slow improvement in the economy has put more money in teens' pockets and more teens back on the road. Another reason suspected for the increase is the fading recognition of teen laws for Graduated Driver Licenses. Observers say laws governing teens' slow acclimation to driving have aged enough to lose statistical impact.
The director of GHSA recommends that the federal government get behind programs to make driving laws for teens stronger. Among the perceived reasons teens are dying in traffic accidents are inexperience in driving at night and distractions caused by electronic devices and non-adult passengers.
Source: health.usnews.com, "U.S. Teen Driving Deaths Up: Report," Feb. 16, 2012
]]>Police were quick to arrest the 26-year-old upon the driver's release from medical treatment at UMC several days after the fatal car accident. The student was charged with three counts of aggravated assault and an equal number of intoxication manslaughter counts.
]]> Authorities were told the student was drinking the night the driver lost control of the pickup. A witness in the 500 block of University Avenue told police the truck was speeding before it rolled, slamming into and killing a 68-year-old man returning home from work on a bicycle.The pickup overturned and skidded along a sidewalk on its passenger side until it smashed into a fire hydrant. The force of the crash drove the hydrant through the truck's front windshield, killing two passengers. A 23-year-old man sitting in the front seat was struck by the hydrant and killed instantly. A 27-year-old rear seat occupant suffered the same fate.
Witnesses watched as the driver crawled through the broken windshield and into the street. Reports say the accused man was yelling as Lubbock police arrived at the accident scene.
Paramedics reported the survivor's breath smelled of alcohol. The driver allegedly admitted he had been drinking to one of the emergency responders in the ambulance. When questioned about how much he had to drink, the suspect reportedly did not respond.
An attorney representing the accused drunk driver released a statement that mentioned immediate plans for the accused driver. The release stated that the Texas Tech student would leave Lubbock and the school for a semester to recover from accident injuries.
Source: kcbd.com, "Tech student indicted for intoxication manslaughter," Tiffany Pelt, Feb. 8, 2012
]]>The greatest injuries were suffered by a 14-year-old middle school student and the driver of the Academy ISD school bus. The eighth grader's back was broken in bus crash along FM 93 at Old Highway 95.
]]> After a three-day stay in intensive care followed by surgery, the 14-year-old was transferred to a Fort Worth rehabilitation facility. She will undergo at least a month of treatment.The family of the middle school student recently held a fundraiser to help pay for the girl's long recovery. Rehabilitation will continue for several months and will coincide with a recovery period for the girl's mother.
The mother is a U.S. Navy veteran who injured her back while in service on an FA-18 jet. She will undergo her own back surgery within the next few months.
The Texas Department of Public Safety issued a traffic citation to the delivery truck operator responsible for the school bus accident. The truck driver was charged with failure to observe a stop sign. His name is being withheld by authorities.
The truck driver and a passenger in the work vehicle also suffered injuries in the crash.
Source: kwtx.com, "Girl Injured In Truck-Bus Crash Moved From Local Hospital To Rehab," Jan. 31, 2012
]]>The one-car crash happened on a Thursday around 4:15 p.m. A Honda with three occupants was traveling along South Lancaster Road when the driver lost control of the vehicle. Police now think the driver hit a wet section of roadway before crashing into a utility pole in the 6100 block.
]]> The Honda driver and a 16-year-old front-seat passenger survived the accident. The female teenager sitting in the rear seat, the 16-year-old sister of one of the other occupants, died at the scene of the crash.The unidentified driver sustained critical injuries and was transported to Baylor Medical Center. The remaining survivor is listed in stable condition.
The confusion over whether the teens had been racing along South Lancaster Road was compounded by the presence of a second vehicle. Police believed the driver of a truck drove away from the accident, but later learned the driver was a witness who contacted 911 and stayed at the scene until emergency crews arrived.
At first, the truck driver was suspected of being involved in the crash, but later accounts say the witness simply left the scene to make way for rescue units trying to access the wreckage.
Officials of the Dallas Independent School District announced that all three students in the accident were related. Two accident victims, including the teenage girl who died in the crash, were twins who attended Kathlyn Joy Gilliam Collegiate Academy. The third victim was a cousin of the twins. Reports have not made clear whether the Honda driver was the twin or the cousin.
Source: nbcdfw.com, "Teen's Fatal Crash Not Due To Racing: Police," Amanda Guerra, Jan. 27, 2012
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