In the early morning hours on Sunday, four children were rushed to the hospital with serious injuries. Lourdes Lopez, the driver of the Jeep in which they were passengers, allegedly was intoxicated. Heading north on Fry Road, she allegedly ran a red light at the eastbound service road of I-10. One boy was ejected, raising concerns about whether he was properly wearing a seat belt. Charges have not yet been filed against Lourdes.
Just two weeks ago, on Halloween night, two children “trick-or-treating” in their neighborhood were hit by an allegedly intoxicated motorist. Katherine Sanford is the one who purportedly was driving while intoxicated. Witnesses apparently kept Sanford from leaving the scene until police arrived. She was arrested after field sobriety test results revealed she was not fit to drive. Court records indicate that she pleaded guilty last year to a dwi that had occurred in December 2010.
A couple of days before Halloween, six-year-old Makaylin Angel was struck by an suv when Larry Womack, the driver, lost control. Makalylin later died, and Womack has now been charged with intoxicated manslaughter. He has multiple prior convictions for dwi.
All of these injuries are completely preventable – those who have been drinking simply should not drive. They should use a designated driver or call a taxi.
The District Attorney of Harris County, Judge Pat Lykos, has created a program called “divert” to handle dwi offenders. She was defeated in the Republican primary by Judge Mike Anderson, who recently defeated Lloyd Oliver, the Democratic candidate, in the general election. Some believe the divert program is not authorized by state law, and Judge Anderson has promised, as the District Attorney, to end it. Hopefully, this will reduce these unnecessary crashes.
If you or someone you know has been injured in a car accident by a drunk driver, contact the attorneys at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner by calling (713) 222-7211 or 713-222-7211.