Hidalgo County, TX — August 11, 2024, Beatriz Santamaria was injured due to an alleged drunk driver accident at around 1:00 a.m. on F.M. 1925.
Investigators say that the crash took place just east of Edinburg on East Monte Cristo Road near Uresti Road.
According to officials, 48-year-old Beatriz Santamaria was in a Chevy Equinox going westbound along Monte Cristo. At Uresti, a southbound Buick Encore reportedly went through the stop sign, resulting in a collision with Santamaria. Due to this, Santamaria was seriously injured. No other injuries were confirmed.
At this time, details say that the Buick driver was under the influence of alcohol. Authorities recommended multiple charges, including intoxication assault.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
If the allegations of impairment are true, then this all likely seems open-and-shut. But the reality is any accident involving alcohol can involve more than just a drunk driver. This early in the morning, there’s a good chance a drunk driver was coming from a local establishment, and that establishment could also be responsible for contributing to a crash.
Simply put, it’s illegal in Texas for alcohol providers to serve someone who is obviously intoxicated. Doing so exposes alcohol providers to potential criminal investigations, fines, license suspension, and liability for the resulting injuries. Yet too often, these providers are let off the hook. Since authorities often are just looking for someone to charge, the driver ends up taking all the heat. Meanwhile, there could be a local alcohol provider continuing to put the community in danger. They might only face consequences if victims and families harmed by the establishments explore the alternative legal avenues available to them that are entirely independent of efforts from police.
So whatever happened here, there’s a good chance these details aren’t telling the whole story. It reamins to be seen if there will be steps to ensure there will be full accountability for all the wrongdoers who contributed to this accident.
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