Gregg County, TX — November 23, 2024, David Ray Smith was injured following an alleged drunk driver accident at around 6:00 a.m. on Highway 149.
According to initial details about the accident, it happened at the intersection of Highway 149 and Williams Road, between Lakeport and Easton.
Investigators said that 64-year-old David Ray Smith was on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle traveling northwest along the highway. While doing so, an oncoming Ford F-150 reportedly failed to yield making a left turn. As a result, the vehicles collided.
Smith was seriously injured due to the accident. There did not appear to be other injuries. At this time, authorities allege that the Ford driver was under the influence of alcohol. They recommended charges for intoxication assault.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
If the allegations here are true, folks may be too quick to assume this is all open-and-shut. Authorities accused someone of drunk driving, and they’re recommending that driver face charges. What more is there to talk about? Well, there may be an accomplice here authorities could be overlooking: an alcohol provider. Let me explain.
In Texas, alcohol providers who over-serve people that are obviously intoxicated can potentially face criminal investigations, fines, license suspensions, or liability for resulting injuries. So if a bar over-serves someone and it leads to people getting hurt, there are legal avenues to see both the drunk driver and the establishment who over-served them face consequences.
Across hundreds of alcohol-related accident cases I’ve handled, though, that doesn’t often happen when left solely to the authorities. The scope of their investigations doesn’t always extend beyond a drunk driver, so negligent alcohol providers may slip through the cracks unless there are independent investigations there to call them out. Maybe authorities here have been more thorough behind the scenes, but I don’t see any information right now to suggest these current details are telling the whole story.
