Austin, TX — July 26, 2024, Jonathan Perry and one other were injured following an alleged drunk driver accident at around 12:30 a.m. on I-35.
Authorities said in preliminary statements that the accident happened along northbound lanes of the I-35 upper deck.
According to officials, 31-year-old Jonathan Paul Perry was in a Toyota Camry going northbound along the interstate. It appears another Camry driven by a 37-year-old woman was on the wrong side of the road going southbound. As a result, it crashed head-on into Perry’s vehicle. This resulted in Perry and the other driver sustaining serious injuries.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
Investigators say they believe the wrong-way driver was under the influence of alcohol at the time. This can’t be confirmed, but frankly it would be surprising if anything other than alcohol caused this. It is by far the most common reason someone gets on the wrong side of a divided highway. But more than that, there’s usually more than just a drunk driver involved in these situations. There’s also a strong possibility the driver was illegally over-served by a local alcohol provider.
Simply put, it’s illegal for bars and other similar establishments to serve someone who is obviously intoxicated. What does that mean? Well, generally speaking, if someone is stumbling around, glassy-eyed, slurring their speech, and otherwise showing a clear danger to themselves and others due to their intoxication, they’re obviously intoxicated. Now, consider how drunk someone has to be not to realize they’re on the wrong service road, going up an exit ramp, passing a bunch of “Do Not Enter” signs, and entering onto the wrong side of a freeway long enough to hit someone instead of immediately pulling over. That’s why it’s such a high likelihood that any alcohol provider that served someone prior to a wrong-way accident did so illegally.
Unfortunately, this isn’t always a high priority for police to look into. I’ve handled hundreds of cases against negligent alcohol providers for their role in serious accidents like this. It’s not often authorities are already investigating the complicit alcohol providers once we’ve been brought onto the case. In fact, it’s more common for us to hand over our findings so authorities can finally begin their own investigations. Maybe they’re being more thorough here, but it wouldn’t be at all unusual if there was more to this story that still needs to be brought to light.
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