Car Accident Round-Up – Motorcyclists Die in Florida Accident

Motorcyclist and passenger die after being hit from behind and thrown into traffic

FL Motorcyclist and Passenger Die in Multi-Vehicle Accident
Both the driver of a motorcycle and his passenger died when a Ford Explorer struck the cycle from behind on I-4 near mile marker 122 in DeLand, Florida early Sunday morning.  The Sun-Sentinel reports both occupants were thrown from the motorcycle and were run over by approaching vehicles who could not avoid the wreckage.  A third vehicle swerved and hit a tree leading to a fire.  The driver of the Explorer fled the scene of the crash; however, police have identified a woman who is a person of interest.

Teenager Dies in KY Roll-Over Accident
A Monday afternoon car accident in Nelson County, KY, claimed the life of one teenager and sent two more to the hospital.  The 17-year-old driver apparently lost control of her car as she was heading east on Old Bloomfield Road. […]

New Mexico Family Awarded Over $1 Million in Fatal Accident With Police Officer

The City of Clovis, New Mexico will pay the family of a woman who died in a fatal accident over $1 million.  The accident, which occurred in November 2010, involved a city police officer who was dismissed from the police force after charges were filed against him.

The police officer, who was driving 56 mph in a 35 mph zone, ran through a stop sign at Sycamore and Grand streets, then struck the vehicle where the woman was a passenger.  The driver of her vehicle was injured.

The family of the deceased woman and her driver are currently working out an agreement over the split of the award.  The families will split $750,000 which is the maximum amount of the city’s tort.

The former police officer is awaiting a trial on a vehicular homicide charge.

If you have been injured or a loved one killed in a vehicle accident that was caused by another person’s carelessness or recklessness, […]

GA Men’s Club to Pay $1.75 Million for Over-Serving Alcohol Leading to Deadly Crash

The family of a woman who was killed in a vehicle accident with a drunk driver, who had just left a men’s club in Conley, GA, outside Atlanta, will receive $1.75 million from the club.  The driver had a blood alcohol content of .398, nearly 5 times over the legal limit, at the time of the accident.

The drunk driver was driving his Lincoln Town Car the wrong way on I-20 eastbound in July 2008 and slammed head-on into the victim’s car.  Both drivers died at the scene of the accident. A passenger in the woman’s car died enroute to the local hospital.

The lawsuit alleged that Club Blaze should have known the man was intoxicated and should have stopped serving him.  The jury found that the club over-served alcohol to the man.

If you have been injured or a loved one killed in a vehicle accident that was caused by another person’s carelessness or recklessness, […]

Nebraska County Found Liable for Accident Due to Poor Signage

A Nebraska jury awarded a 24-year-old Michigan man $407,000 to be paid by Furnas County, Nebraska for the county’s failure to adequately mark a sharp turn in a road where the man crashed his car leaving him with significant injuries.

The judge in the case found the man 40% liable and the county 60% liable. This reduced the amount of the original award of $678,000 for the county. The man was not wearing a seatbelt and was speeding at the time of the accident.  The judge ruled that the signage at the accident site could not be seen at night, and it was placed too close to the 90-degree turn, giving drivers inadequate time to react.

The accident occurred in December 2007, when the man missed the turn and drove off the road causing his car to flip, trapping in the car for hours.  He suffered spinal cord damage requiring multiple surgeries and weeks of hospitalization. […]

Car Accident Round-Up – Three Die in NY Head-on Collision

Ford Explorer drifts into oncoming lane causing fatal head-on car accident

Three Die in New York Accident
A head-on collision Monday morning between a Ford Explorer and a GMC Jimmy near Bethel, New York killed three people and injured one.  According to police, the Ford Explorer carrying two passengers, was heading east on 17B between White Lake and Fosterdale and drifted into the west bound lanes colliding with the GMC.  The driver of the GMC was wearing his seat belt and his airbag deployed, but he was pinned in the vehicle and died at the scene.  The driver of the Explorer and a back seat passenger, neither of which were wearing their seatbelts, were both ejected and died at the scene.  The front seat passenger was wearing his seatbelt and suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The cause of the accident is still under investigation.

NY Man Arrested for Vehicular Manslaughter After Accident
A Freeport, […]

Pennsylvania Family Awarded $2.9 Million in DUI-Hit-and-Run

The family of a 14-year-old Bensalem, Pennsylvania girl who was killed in a 2004 hit-and-run crash while she was trying to cross a road has been awarded $2.9 million by a Bucks County judge.  The case was decided without a jury.

The 21-year-old driver that struck the girl was driving with a suspended license and was found to be intoxicated at the time of the crash.  The police did not charge him with DUI-related hit-and-run saying that road condition and other factors, not his drunkenness, caused the crash.  The driver, however, was sentenced to three to six years in a state prison for the accident, and is currently in jail.

The family of the deceased brought a civil trial against the driver and the owner of the vehicle the man was driving.  According to PhillyBurbs.com, the judge awarded the plaintiffs $697,749.92 in wrongful death damages against both defendants; […]

Car Accident Round-Up – NJ Town Mourns Four Teenagers

Teen driver loses control of SUV killing four of the eight teen passengers in tragic accident

Four Teenagers Die in NJ SUV Accident
In a tragic single-car accident on Sunday, four teenage football players from Mainland Regional High School in Linwood, NJ lost their lives, and four others were injured, as they headed to a team brunch.  The 17-year-old driver apparently lost control of his SUV, on the Garden State Parkway around 11:45am, as he rounded a crest and came upon heavy traffic, causing the vehicle to flip several times, ejecting two of the passengers.  All eight of the boys, aged 15-17 years-old, were riding in the same vehicle.

NC Accident Kills Three Generations of Women
An SUV carrying eight family members on a return trip home to New York, after vacationing in Florida, crashed on I-95 near Raleigh, NC. According to police, […]

Car Accident Round-Up – Teens Involved in Serious VA and NY Accidents

Car accidents claim lives around the United States

Teenagers Die in VA Car Accident
A car accident in Portsmouth, VA late Saturday night left two teenagers dead and one seriously injured.  The accident that occurred on Elmhurst Lane near Victory Boulevard apparently was the result of speeding.  The car swerved off the road then struck several trees and a utility pole ejecting two of the occupants and pinning the third in the car.  The two girls that died were 16-years-old. The third occupant, a 17-year-old male, was hospitalized with unspecified injuries.  Police are unsure of who was driving the car.

Former KY Governor’s Son Dead After Single-Car Wreck
According to the Lexington-Herald Leader, former Kentucky governor Julian Carroll’s son, Bradley, died in a single-car accident Sunday in Franklin County, KY.  Carroll was traveling south on US 421 near the Versailles Road overpass when his Ford Explorer went off the right side of the road, […]

Car Accident Round-Up – CO Accident Takes Life of TX Billionaire

Texas billionaire broadsided by sports utility vehicle in Colorado

Texas Billionaire Dies in CO Car Accident
Charles Wyly, a 77-year-old Texas billionaire and philanthropist, died near Aspen, CO in a two-car crash on Sunday.  Wyly, who was driving a Porsche, was turning back onto the highway near the airport, when his car was broadsided by a sport utility vehicle. Police believe Wyly failed to yield prior to entering the highway.  Wyly, who was central to building the Dallas Arts District, was pronounced dead at the local hospital.  The other driver suffered moderate injuries.

Rear-end Collision in FL on I-95 Kills One, Injures Two
A car stopped on the northbound lanes of I-95, north of Okeechobee Boulevard near exit 71, was rear-ended by another car early Sunday morning resulting in the death of a passenger, and serious injuries to the two drivers.  The interstate was closed for close to four hours while rescue workers worked at the scene.  […]

California Women Awarded $1.2 Million in DUI Civil Lawsuit

Two CA women receive settlement after being hit by drunk driver

Two women, who suffered permanent injuries after an automobile accident with an assistant district attorney in Los Angeles who was driving drunk, agreed to a $1.2 million settlement in a civil lawsuit against the woman.  The two women had already been awarded more than $1 million in compensatory damages by a jury.

The assistant DA had a BAC of .26, more than three times the legal limit, and admitted that she knew she was drunk. She decided to drive anyway in hopes that she would get home without getting caught.  In the April 2010 accident, she rear-ended the two women near Long Beach, CA resulting in one woman suffering back injuries, facial scars and lost teeth, and the other suffering from back injuries.

The women had sought $2 million, but agreed to the settlement to avoid a second trial and to get immediate payment. […]

MA Teen Dies in SUV Rollover Crash

15 Year old boy was not wearing seatbelt when car rolled over

Teenager Dies in I-90 Accident in MA

I-90 in West Springfield, MA was closed for over four hours last week while police investigated a one-car crash that resulted in the death of a 15-year-old boy.  An SUV driven by a 17-year-old was traveling eastbound in the far right lane of the interstate when the driver moved into the left lane to pass a vehicle.  The driver then attempted to move back into the right lane when she realized another vehicle was in the left lane.  She lost control of the SUV and went off the road onto the shoulder where the vehicle flipped over several times landing on its roof.  The boy, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was pronounced dead at the scene.  The other passengers and driver were treated for minor injuries. […]

Four Teenagers Die in Texas Car Collision

17 year old driver attempts to pass in no-passing zone, swerves into ditch killing four

Texas Accident Kills Four Teenagers, Injures Two

A Wise County, Texas two-car collision took the lives of four teenagers and seriously injured two others.  The 17-year-old driver of a Ford Mustang traveling southbound on Farm Road 730 near Decatur, around 3:15am Saturday morning, attempted to pass a vehicle in a no-passing zone when the car crashed into a northbound Ford F-350 pickup truck. Although both vehicles swerved to avoid the collision they swerved into a ditch and collided.  Four passengers in the Mustang died, the driver of the Mustang remains hospitalized in critical condition, and the driver of the pickup was being treated for non life-threatening injuries.

Man at Wrong Place at Wrong Time Dies in Alcohol-Fueled Road Rage Incident

A man that had left his house Sunday afternoon to run errands was killed by a drunk driver who was also experiencing road rage at the time.  […]

CA Family Awarded $29.2 Million in Car Crash Lawsuit

Two children dead, one paralyzed in head-on car crash

The family of two children that died in November 2006 in a head-on collision on Highway 12 near Fairfield, California has been awarded $29.2 million by a Solano County jury.  The driver of an SUV crossed the center line and slammed into the oncoming passenger car leaving the two children dead, one child paralyzed from the waist down and the mother, and driver of the car, in the hospital for 2 months recovering from her injuries.

The driver of the SUV was traveling close to 80 MPH and attempted to pass two vehicles in a no-passing zone.  He was sentenced to 23 years in prison.  He was found 65% liable in the case, but due to his limited insurance coverage the state will pay the majority of the award.

The state was found 35% responsible in the case for unsafe conditions on the roadway. […]

Series of Fatal Accidents: Tragic NY Crash Kills 5

Passing car sends van of 13 Amish farmers under a tractor killing five and injuring nine in fatal accident

New York Accident Kills Five, Injures Nine

First in a series of fatal accidents: A north bound van carrying 13 farmers from the Amish community in Steuben County was sideswiped by a south bound car passing a slow-moving tractor sending the van into and under the tractor killing 5 of the passengers.  Seven others in the van were seriously injured.  The driver and passenger of the tractor were also injured.  The driver of the car that caused the Tuesday afternoon accident was not injured, and he has been charged with five counts of criminally negligent homicide, driving while intoxicated, reckless driving, unsafe passing, speed not reasonable and prudent, and failure to keep right after passing. He is being held on $125,000 cash bail or $250,000 bond.

  […]

Single-Car Accidents Result in Deaths Throughout US

Recent series of single-car accident claimed the lives of people across the U.S.

Virginia Teenager Dies in Single-Car Accident

According to WAVY.com, a teenager lost her life early Saturday morning in a single-car accident after she lost control of the vehicle she was driving on I-64 in James City County, Virginia.  The 17-year-old girl was traveling east when she over-corrected, ran off the road and struck a tree.  A passenger in the car was taken to the local hospital with unspecified injuries.  Police are investigating the cause of the accident.

Woman Dies After Driving into Oklahoma Lake

A 95-year-old Norman, Oklahoma woman apparently suffered a medical episode before driving her car off Alameda Drive and ending up in Lake Thunderbird on Monday.  She was driving east, “at a high rate of speed” when she struck a pipe gate causing her car to veer off the road and sink in the lake.  […]

Seven Die on PA Roads Over Holiday

723 accidents on PA roads over holiday weekend result in 358 DUI arrests and 7 deaths

Alcohol Involved in Many Pennsylvania Accidents Over Holiday Weekend

According to the Pennsylvania State Police, seven people died on PA roads over the four-day July 4th weekend.  State police report they investigated seven fatal car accidents, of which four of the accidents involved alcohol.  In addition, there were 723 accidents, with 358 resulting in drunk-driving arrests.  They also issued over 7,000 speeding tickets.  These statistics include state police incidents only.

NC Accident Leaves One Sister Dead, One Seriously Injured

An 18-year-old is dead and her twin sister is seriously injured from a Friday evening, single-car crash on interstate 77 in Mooresville, North Carolina.  The car was traveling northbound near mile marker 32 when the injured girl, who was driving, lost control of the car, […]

VA Trooper Killed in Crash While Responding to Call

VA Trooper dies in tragic accident; collides with oncoming car and runs off the road striking a pole

Virginia Veteran and State Trooper Killed in Crash

A Virginia State Trooper responding to a call Friday night in King George County, Virginia, collided with a Hyundai Elantra where his car ran off the road and struck a light pole resulting in his death.  He was traveling westbound on Route 3/Kings Highway when he entered the intersection of Route 3 and Madison Drive and collided with the eastbound vehicle. The driver and a passenger in the Hyundai were taken to Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg with minor injuries.  The trooper was also an Iraq war veteran. The police are continuing their investigation.

Ohio Accident Claims Two Lives

Two women died and three men were injured when their car flipped on I-76 near Akron, […]

San Diego Pays $1.8 Million in Wrongful Death Case

Family of motorcyclist sues city for not installing a traffic signal in wrongful death case

The family of a motorcyclist who was killed in an April 2009 auto accident sued the city of San Diego for wrongful death for failing to install a traffic signal at the intersection in which the man died.  The City Council unanimously approved the settlement earlier this month, although they do not acknowledge any wrongdoing under the deal.

The accident occurred when the motorcycle was traveling northbound on Pacific Highway when a Toyota Corolla heading in the opposite direction turned left on Cedar Street in front of the cyclist. The cyclist was tried to veer out of the way, but struck the rear passenger side of the vehicle dying of traumatic head injuries.

The lawsuit claimed the accident was foreseeable and preventable.  The suit claimed, “This turn lane’s position combined with the position of the then existing traffic signals gave drivers the confusing illusion they had the right-of-way on a green signal to turn left onto Cedar Street. […]

Car Accident Round-Up – PA Accident Claims Life of Actor

Actor Ryan Dunn killed in car accident in West Goshen Township, PA

Pennsylvania Accident Leaves Actor Dead

A single car crash around 3am on Monday morning at the intersection of Route 322 and New Street in West Goshen Township, Pennsylvania, claimed the lives of actor Ryan Dunn and his passenger. Both of them died of injuries sustained in the accident.  While an investigation is ongoing, police indicated that Dunn was most likely speeding in his 2007 Porsche 911 GT3. The car, which was engulfed in flames after running off the road and ending up in the woods, was destroyed.

Drunk Driver in NC Leaves Two Motorcyclists Dead

A pickup driver charged with driving while impaired crossed the center line when traveling north on N.C. Highway 82 early Sunday morning, and struck a southbound motorcycle carrying a driver and passenger leaving both of them dead at the scene. […]

Wrongful Death Suit Filed After Student Killed in Crash

The family of a 19-year-old Kent State student who was killed when her car was struck by a cargo van on March 21, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Delaware against the driver of the van and his employer.

According to the Ohio Highway Patrol, the driver of a Dara Toy Company 2006 Chevrolet Express cargo van became distracted while reaching for his cell phone charger and lost control of his vehicle.  The van crossed the highway median, all three southbound lanes and the rest area exit ramp before hitting the 2001 Pontiac Grand Am driven by Carli Woodruff as she was leaving the rest area.

Woodruff, a native of Loveland and an intervention specialist major, died at Grant Medical Center in Columbus.

The Scranton, Pennsylvania attorneys of Munley, Munley & Cartwright have years of experience representing the survivors of wrongful death victims.   […]