Houston, Texas - Lyft Passenger Killed, Driver in Coma After Collision with Suspected Drunk Driver Erik Deleon

Man Charged with DUI Following Fatal Crash at Galveston & Pineloch

A Lyft passenger was killed and the driver is currently hospitalized in a coma after a three-vehicle accident in the Clear Lake area of Houston on February 28.

According to the authorities, 21-year-old Erik Deleon was driving a gray Dodge truck traveling northbound on Galveston Road at around 1 a.m. when he clipped the rear end of a silver Mazda pickup truck. Deleon kept driving through the intersection, before crashing into a Lyft vehicle.

The passenger in that vehicle, Billy Satterfield, was on his way from the airport and had been texting his wife just minutes before being killed in the crash. He was less than five miles from home.

Deleon allegedly admitted that he has been drinking tequila shots at a bar shortly before the crash. Officers found bar receipts in his truck.

A GoFundMe account has been set up to provide financial assistance for the Lyft driver, 29-year-old Ezatullah Safi, and his family.

Legal Recourse for Drunk Driving Accident Victims in Texas

Attorney contributor Anjali Nigam represents drunk driving crash victims and their families, helping them fight for the justice and financial compensation they deserve. We've asked him to discuss the legal options available to these victims and families in Texas:

In Texas, like all other states, people who are injured by drunk drivers have the right to file a personal injury lawsuit. Texas is also one of many states with dram shop laws, which allow alcohol vendors and social hosts to, under certain conditions, be held liable for serving alcohol to someone who drove drunk and caused an accident with injuries or deaths.

According to Texas state law, alcohol vendors can be held liable for injuries caused by a customer if:

• the alcohol was sold or given to someone under 18 years old, or
• when the alcohol was sold, the customer was "obviously" intoxicated and posed "a clear danger" to self and others, and
• the intoxication was a foreseeable cause of the injuries.

Social hosts can be held liable for knowingly providing alcohol to a minor or allowing a minor to drink on their property. There is an exception if the host is the parent, guardian, legal custodian, or spouse of the minor.

Drunk driving accident victims should be aware of their full range of options for financial compensation. If you or a loved one has recently been killed or injured by a drunk driver in Texas, our drunk driving victims' lawyers want to help. You can learn more about your legal options in a free consultation.

Source

https://abc13.com/alleged-drunk-driver-charged-in-deadly-lyft-crash-in-clear-lake/5162431/