Texas intersection crash: Driver Miguel Espinoza arrested as multivehicle collision leaves 4 dead

On Saturday, August 6, a car crash at an intersection in Galveston, Texas, left four people dead, including two young children.

As per Galveston authorities, the car crash is believed to have occurred after an alleged drunk driver skipped a stop sign and collided with a golf cart and a pickup truck at the intersection of 33rd Street and Avenue R.

ABC reported that the alleged driver of the SUV, Miguel Espinoza, a 45-year-old resident of Rosenberg, was injured in the crash. He was arrested by Galveston police and charged with four counts of intoxication manslaughter.

The case currently remains under investigation. Authorities have not yet released the names of the victims.

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Details about the Texas interstate tragedy

As per the New York Post, the multi-vehicle collision occurred around 11:35 pm.

Galveston police reported that a Northbound golf cart with two adults and two children collided with an eastbound black Hyundai SUV, which was reportedly being driven by Miguel Espinoza, who is accused of having been inebriated at the time. Authorities stated that the third vehicle involved in the crash was a southbound pickup truck.

Police reported that the adult driver of the golf cart died at the scene. Two adults and three child passengers were transported to the University of Texas Medical Branch of Galveston, where they were treated for critical injuries.

In the hospital, one of the adults, a female passenger, died alongside two child passengers. One adult and one child are currently receiving treatment and are in critical condition.

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Drunk driving in America

As per statistics collected by the United States Department of Transportation, on average about 32 people in the US die in drunk-driving related crashes every day.

In 2020, there were 11654 drunk-driving related deaths, a 14% increase from 2019 despite the fact that the Covid-19 lockdown meant there was increasingly less traffic.

According to iDriveSafely, the state of Texas alone saw 914 drunk driving deaths in 2019, with 1600 drunk driving related crashes, and 4166 crashes that are suspected to have been caused by an inebriated driver.

While Texas has seen a 32% decrease in drunk driving related crashes in the past decade, it continues to hover above the national average. More than 13000 Texans have died in drunk driving-related incidents since 2009.

According to BuyAutoInsurance, 5000 drunk-driving traffic deaths have occurred in Texas in the past three years, making it the fourth worst state with regards to drunk driving fatality rates. The worst state is Mississippi, which sees 8.77 drunk driving deaths per 100000 residents.