Drunken Texting Driver Kills Motorcyclist, Reports Austin Injury Attorney Bobby Lee

Austin, TX (Law Firm Newswire) April 22, 2016 – David West was riding his motorcycle one recent Sunday when a 2004 Dodge Dakota swerved into his lane, hitting him head-on. He died on impact.

On the day of the fatal accident, the 2004 Dakota was heading south on Farm Road 4, just north of Granbury. The driver behind the wheel was 36-year-old Ladonna Welch. According to eyewitnesses, her vehicle suddenly swung into the oncoming lane of traffic, plowing into 53-year-old David West’s 2012 Yamaha.

Welch was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving and texting while driving (distracted driving). The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) reported that she was booked on the suspicion of intoxication manslaughter.

“This is just one more instance where drinking and driving, combined with texting while under the influence took the life of a man in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Austin personal injury attorney, Bobby Lee. “As plaintiff’s personal injury attorneys, we have seen this happen too many times to count.”

About one-in-three traffic accident deaths in the U.S. involves a drunken driver. The definition of an alcohol-impaired driver is one whose blood alcohol concentration or BAC is 0.08 percent or higher. A reading of 0.08 percent designates them as impaired in the eyes of the law.

Despite the dedicated efforts of many agencies and organizations across the nation and in Texas, drunk drivers still climb into their vehicles millions of times every day. “Texas has one of the worst records for the highest number of deaths attributable to DWI. Consider the statistics between 2003 and 2012 which reveal that 13,138 people died in accidents involving a drunken driver,” said Lee.

The numbers do not lie and the fatality rate keeps on climbing. For an eye-opening visual reference relating to the number of DWI deaths in Texas, visit: http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/pdf/impaired_driving/drunk_driving_in_tx.pdf

“If you have been involved in an accident where the other driver was under the influence of alcohol, or another substance, it is vital that you consult with a personal injury attorney as soon as you can. Time is of the essence in order to preserve evidence that may be needed to take your case to court to obtain compensation for your injuries,” said Lee.

To learn more, visit http://www.lgrlawfirm.com

Lee, Gober & Reyna
11940 Jollyville Road #220-S
Austin, Texas 78759
Phone: 512.478.8080

• Wrong-way crashes are on the rise in Texas
  Austin has seen a spate of wrong-way crashes over the last few months, moving Texas up to the top of the list of states leading the way in the statistics for such collisions. The cause is baffling the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), and they are in the middle of conducting two research projects with the goal of decreasing the number of deaths. According to TxDOT, there were 185 wrong-way crashes in San Antonio in 2011, and seven fatal accidents. Eighty percent of wrong-way accidents were between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., and 72 percent of wrong-way driving incidents happened […]
• Grieving father creates PSA pleading drivers to put down their phones
  Austin Ardman, a 20-year-old college student, was jogging in College Station last December when he was hit and killed by a distracted driver. The woman admitted to police she had been texting when the accident happened. Neal’s dad has created a public service announcement (PSA) to reach as many people as he can and warn them about texting while driving. Simply put, his message is “Put down the phone. We’re killing people senselessly.” All around us while we are on the road driving, we see people texting and talking despite the well-known consequences — severe injuries or death. Ardman wants […]
• People still text and drive despite bans on texting and driving
  Texas not only has the dubious distinction of having the highest number of drunken driving deaths in the United States, but it is also one of only four states that does not yet have a state-wide ban distracted driving. Although distracted driving is illegal in Austin, it does not stop drivers from texting while behind the wheel of a vehicle. Consider the recent rear-end collision involving Mary Selvera, heading to Austin from Kyle to get to work. Police on the scene said the driver of the vehicle that hit Selvera admitted he was looking at his phone when the accident […]
• Driving means paying attention to the road only
  With the number of distracted driving accidents on the rise, local law enforcement is advising that when people drive, they must do just that — drive and pay attention. The life they save may be their own. On a recent weekend on country roads there was an extremely high rate of accidents attributed, in part, to distracted driving. Consider the several accidents on Texas 71 and Texas 95 that resulted in firefighters from Bastrop County Emergency Services District No. 2 responding to nine calls in 12 hours. From a single vehicle rollover to a Jeep and school bus colliding, the […]
• Is Boston Scientific using counterfeit material in vaginal mesh products?
  Recently trending are allegations that Boston Scientific may knowingly be using counterfeit material sold by a notorious China-based counterfeiter in their vaginal mesh sling products, that they have not conducted appropriate tests using the new material and that they defrauded regulators. According to the latest news it appears that the medical device maker, after losing its U.S. material source, may be part of a conspiracy to import second-rate, subpar polypropylene resin for use in the slings. Other defendants named in the Boston Scientific lawsuit are EMAI Plastic Raw Materials of Guangzhou, China, Proxy Biomedical Ltd of Ireland and Luxilon Industries […]