• 02
  • February
    2012

Texas law enforcement authorities arrested a man today who had been behind the wheel during a fatal accident over the weekend. The 26-year-old suspect faces charges of intoxication manslaughter and aggravated assault. The crash killed a bicyclist as well as two passengers riding with the suspect in his truck at the time of the crash. The crash occurred at one a.m. early Sunday morning.

According to local news reports the drunk driving accident began when the suspect's truck drove up over a curb and flipped over. As the truck rolled it struck the bicyclist who was crossing at an intersection. The truck's momentum continued to carry it forward across the street where it broke off a fire hydrant.

The driver from the crash was initially arrested but then hospitalized for treatment of the injuries he sustained in the crash. Once he is medically able he will be transported from the hospital to the detention center where is expected to be held on $150,000.

A court will have to determine what, if any, criminal consequences this man should face. But regardless of the outcome of the criminal case, three families have lost a loved one in this fatal crash. The criminal justice system does mete out punishment to those who have broken the law, but it does not attempt to compensate, however imperfectly, the survivors for the loss of support, love and companionship. Wrongful death lawsuits obviously could never approaching filling the whole left by the loss of a loved one, but it is often the closest option available in the justice system.

Source: Lubbock Online, "Driver charged in Sunday's triple fatality crash near Texas Tech," Adam Young, Feb. 2, 2012