Houston, TX — September 27, 2023, Betty Zuniga and one other were injured following an alleged drunk driver accident at 6:18 p.m. on West Sam Houston Parkway.
According to initial details about the accident, the collision happened at the intersection of the Westpark Tollway service road and W. Sam Houston Parkway South (Sam Houston Tollway service road).
Investigators said that 66-year-old Betty Jo Zuniga was in a Toyota Rav4 going northbound on the Sam Houston service road. A Ford Expedition was apparently going along Westpark and disregarded the light at the intersection. As a result, the Ford crashed into Zuniga, seriously injuring both Zuniga and the Ford driver.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
In their statements, authorities said that alcohol was a suspected factor in the crash, and Harris County officials issued a charge for intoxication assault against the alleged driver of the Ford. If those allegations are true, did authorities ever look into where that supposed alcohol came from? If not, it could be a huge oversight, though it unfortunately would not be a surprising one.
Put simply, authorities rarely go after alcohol providers who break the law despite the role they play in countless accidents like this one. For example, I handled a case not long ago where a family was confused why I’d want to know where the drunk driver who hit them had been drinking. Well, our investigations showed that servers continued serving the driver well beyond the point of obvious intoxication. He could barely walk, let alone drive, yet the drinks kept coming. It was such reckless behavior that the family was shocked authorities would let something like that slide.
While I’ve helped hundreds of families confront similar alcohol providers, the reality is many are still let off the hook when things are left solely up to the authorities. It’s just not that high of a priority for most departments. Perhaps authorities down in Harris County have been more thorough, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there was more to this story that even the victims and families didn’t get to hear about.
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