Midland, TX — November 22, 2025, Joshua Sanders was injured in an alleged drunk driver accident at about 1 a.m. in the 1200 block of Tradewinds Boulevard.
A preliminary accident report indicates that a 2023 Toyota Highlander was driving the wrong direction when it collided with a northbound 2022 Ford F-150 near Deauville Boulevard.
Ford driver Joshua Sanders, 45, was seriously injured in the crash, according to the report. His passenger, a 21-year-old man, suffered minor injuries.
The Toyota driver, who also suffered serious injuries, was charged with driving while intoxicated, the report states.
Authorities have not released any additional information about the Midland County crash at this time.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
When I read about incidents like this one, what stands out to me isn’t just what happened, but what’s missing from the conversation. A man ends up seriously injured after a reported wrong-way collision, and the driver now faces a DWI charge. That raises immediate questions about how this situation came to be; questions that go beyond individual responsibility and into the systems around alcohol service.
One of the most important but often overlooked questions in cases like this is, “Where did the driver get their alcohol?” Texas law recognizes that not all responsibility falls on the person behind the wheel. If a bar, restaurant or other alcohol provider served someone who was clearly intoxicated before this crash, that establishment may share in the accountability. That’s the kind of question dram shop law is built to answer.
Most people assume that if someone is arrested for DWI, that’s where the story ends. But if alcohol was a contributing factor, and especially if the driver was overserved by a business that should have known better, then there’s a broader public safety issue at play. That’s why a full investigation into where, and how, that alcohol was obtained matters.
This isn’t about shifting blame. It’s about understanding whether this injury was entirely preventable before anyone ever got into a vehicle. That’s a layer of accountability that rarely comes up in the headlines, but it can make all the difference for those left picking up the pieces.
Three key takeaways:
- Dram shop law allows injured people to hold alcohol providers accountable if they served an obviously intoxicated person who later caused harm.
- A thorough investigation should look not only at the driver’s actions but also whether a business may have contributed by overserving.
- Many families don’t realize that Texas law offers tools to pursue accountability beyond the driver, and those tools can provide answers they didn’t know they had a right to ask for.
