Car accidents can happen anywhere, but it is with good reason that people feel more apprehensive at intersections than they do in areas where all the cars are going in the same direction. Yes, sideswipe accidents can happen when people try to change lanes at the wrong time, and rear-end collisions are common in traffic jams when it is unclear how far one can safely go before stopping again, but these accidents do not tend to cause severe injuries.
When people drive through intersections, they do it as if they are fully confident that they are the ones who should be crossing the intersection, even when they should not. The same factors that increase the risk of serious injury in any traffic collision also increase the risk of serious injury in intersection-related accidents. These factors include speeding, drug and alcohol intoxication, and collisions where one vehicle is much larger than the other. If a vehicle that is bigger than yours struck your puny car at an intersection, contact a Santa Fe slip-and-fall and premises liability lawyer.
At-Fault Driver Tried Unsuccessfully to Talk His Way Out of Field Sobriety Tests
In the early hours of a morning in October 2025, before the sun had begun to rise, police got a call about a collision between a Honda and a work van at the intersection of Coors Bypass and Ellison Drive. The work van was traveling on Coors when it ran a red light and struck the Honda at the intersection. The Honda flipped several times, and the driver of the Honda was transported to the hospital with injuries that the ABQ Raw website described as critical. The driver of the van, Seth Mitchell, did not get injured.
Police asked Mitchell to perform a field sobriety test, but he refused, saying that he had bolts in his leg that affected his balance. He also told officers that he had tried to brake before the red light, but that his brakes had malfunctioned. An officer asked Mitchell to sit on the curb, and before the officer asked him to do anything else, he said that he did not know how to recite the alphabet backward. The police eventually arrested Mitchell on suspicion of DWI, but the ABQ Raw site did not say whether they administered a breathalyzer test, and if they did, what Mitchell’s blood alcohol content (BAC) was. Anything above 0.08% is considered driving while intoxicated.
News sources also said that Mitchell has a documented history of driving dangerously. For example, he got a DWI in 2020. Just months before the October accident, he pleaded guilty to a charge of speeding more than 20 miles per hour above the speed limit.
Contact Slate Stern About Car Accident Lawsuits
Slate Stern is a personal injury lawyer who represents plaintiffs injured in accidents at intersections in New Mexico. Contact Slate Stern in Santa Fe, New Mexico, or call (505)814-1517 to discuss your case.
Sources
https://abqraw.com/post/repeat-dwi-offender-arrested-again-after-causing-violent-crash/
Photo by Ashim D’Silva on Unsplash