St. Louis Cardinal Oscar Taveras Was Highly Intoxicated During Fatal Crash

In October, St. Louis Cardinal outfielder Oscar Taveras and his girlfriend were killed in a fatal one-car accident. The player was in his hometown of the Dominican Republican, driving his 2014 Chevrolet Camaro when he lost control and the crashed at a high speed into a tree. The sudden death of the 22-year-old player left the Major League stunned. Recent toxicology reports have surfaced indicating the car did not abruptly lose control, rather Taveras was driving the car while highly intoxicated.

Per the report, the young player had a blood-alcohol level of .287, five times above the legal limit in the Dominican Republican which is set at .05.

The Cardinals clubhouse released a statement advising they have not received “any official notification from the Dominican” to confirm the cause of death. The team did share they would use the information “as an opportunity to educate our players that they must take responsibility for themselves both on and off the field.” Taveras was just a teenager when he joined the Cardinals in 2008 as an international free agent. He had been previously ranked as number three in the league by Baseball America, as a promising prospect.

The young and bright star played in 80 games with the Cardinals this past season, and had a solid .239 batting average.

Tragedy not only struck once, but twice for the nation. Taveras’ girlfriend, Edilia Arvelo, 18, was also killed in the tragic accident.

The citizens of the Dominican Republic gathered around the family and friends of the player. A massive funeral procession took place in the country as many came to honor the fallen player. That same day, in another part of the country, Arvelo was also laid to rest.

A 2013 World Health Organization report detailed the car safety laws, and the Dominican Republic showed a lack of enforcing laws for drunk drivers. Over the lifetime of any one individual living in the country, odds of dying in a car related accident are 1 in 480.

With the frequency of car accidents, in addition to the recent headlines of a rising baseball star dying tragically, questions are certain to rise on how the drunk and driving laws are enforced in the Dominican Republic.