It was another deadly weekend on the roads of North Texas. Unfortunately driving on our highways is getting more dangerous every year.
Here are a few of the sometimes astonishing automobile, truck, and motorcycle collisions and illegal activities that were reported in the news:
- A Garland father on his motorcycle tragically died Monday night in Forney when a presumably DWI driver of an SUV swerving and speeding the wrong way on Highway 80 crashed into his bike. Fortunately his son who was riding with him — not to mention other people — was not hurt seriously.
- A man tragically died in north Fort Worth Monday in a multi-vehicle pileup on N.E. Loop 820 near Mark IV Parkway at noon.
- Three people were tragically killed in a collision early Monday morning at 1:45 PM. An 18-year-old man lost control of his car when he hit the guardrail in Arlington near Kelly Elliott Road on Interstate 20. The vehicle rolled over and he was ejected, killing him and his passenger. A good Samaritan who stopped also died when she was struck by a hit-and-run driver. That driver has contacted Arlington Police and is cooperation with its investigation.
- The new Dallas Cowboys cornerback, Nolan Carroll, was arrested Monday morning for DWI. He was pulled over after committing a traffic violation on McKinney Avenue in the bar-heavy Uptown area of Dallas around 2:15 AM after overindulging at a nightclub which had used him to promote a big party. Not that these guys can’t afford it (Carroll signed a $10 million contract) but the Cowboys offer a free Uber ride to their players who need assistance leaving bars, a good idea after this player’s death several years ago in a terrible tragedy.
- A Dallas police officer’s car plunged 30 feet from an overpass Monday after a pickup truck ran a light and crashed into the officer’s car on South Westmoreland Road in west Dallas. Several people gallantly jumped into a creek to save the officer. He was in critical condition but fortunately is now reported as stable. Police are searching for the driver of the 2007 white Chevrolet Silverado pickup that hit him.
- Road rage could have taken the lives of two motorists in southeast Oak Cliff Saturday night. A woman and man were stopped at a red light on Simpson Stuart Road when another driver behind them started honking. That man pulled up to their car, opened fire, and sped off.
- A UPS driver was struck and tragically killed early Saturday morning in Forney east of Dallas. The driver had pulled off onto the shoulder of Highway 80 (see above) and was standing outside of his 18 wheeler. The other driver hit-and-ran and no information is available about his or her identity.
- A motorcyclist died after he lost control of his bike and hit the median and light pole around 5 PM on the Dallas North Tollway near Belt Line Road.
- A man was found dead on the side of North Westmoreland Road in West Dallas after another hit-and-run accident.
- Two children died Friday afternoon in a heartbreaking case after their mother said that her two and one year old girl and boy ran off and locked themselves in a vehicle. The outside temperature was 96 degrees. A third child, age one, died in April in Burleson after being locked in a car for hours.
- A drunk driver drove through a red light and crashed into another car in Fort Worth on the I-35 service road near North Tarrant Parkway. The other car’s driver was injured and rushed to an area hospital. This was originally reported as a hit-and-run.
- And the startling news of Tiger Woods asleep and slumped over his steering wheel stunned the world. Early Monday morning at about 3 AM. Woods was foundin his crashed Mercedes in the road. He denied that he had consumed alcohol and blamed his prescription medicine from his multiple back surgeries. People hooked on opiods: stay home, have someone else sober drive, or call Uber.
These holiday weekends have become such drunken affairs that end up injuring way too many people. And the District Attorneys offices in our local counties apparently no longer have their “Zero Tolerance weekends” to curtail DWI’s.
I met with a client this morning who was crashed into on the 4th of July at midnight when a presumably drunken driver ran a light, then hit-and-ran before returning to the scene later. I was able to get this man the other driver’s entire insurance policy, even though he denied that he was at fault, the police report did not blame him, and there was no proof that he was DWI. I am now in the process of getting my client additional proceeds from his underinsured motorist policy, slashed his medical bills, got many of his bills paid by his health insurance policy, and helped get him the medical care he needed.
If you have been involved in a car or truck collision, please contact my office. We are here to answer any questions, provide legal advice, and fight to get you the compensation you deserve for your injuries, lost wages, and other damages.