In a tragic accident, a 19-year-old female died in a wreck, and the driver was arrested on suspicion of impaired driving. Family and friends of the girl are heartbroken at the loss of a loved one, and their grief and anguish is made worse by the senselessness of the incident.
The accident happened at the E. Mountain View and S. Clovis avenues around 7 p.m., Sunday September 30, 2019. Police say that a semi-truck traveling north on Clovis Ave. blew a stop sign and hit a Honda Civic crossing the intersection going west on E. Mountain View Ave. The semi-truck continued on and struck another semi-truck that had stopped at the intersection.
The woman driver of the Honda was pronounced dead at the scene, and the driver of the semi-truck faces charges of felony DUI manslaughter. Police believe that he was impaired by marijuana.
DUI and Semi-Trucks
Dui’s take around 10,000 lives a year, and contribute to another 5,000 according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Over the past several decades, the number of people killed by drunk drivers has plummeted, but much of this can be contributed to seatbelt usage and safer automobiles because the number of DUI accidents hasn’t dropped by the same rate.
Statistically, the number of impaired commercial truck fatalities is low compared to other vehicles, however, when a commercial truck driver is impaired, the risks to others on the roads increases greatly. A fully loaded semi-trailer can weigh as mush as 80,000 lbs and create a significant amount of damage.
Wrongful Death and DUI
Losing a loved one in an auto accident is devastating for the family and friends of the deceased. When the accident was caused by an impaired driver, it is often harder to accept for those left behind. Another unfortunate aspect of a impaired driving fatality is the financial burden on the survivors.
At the time of the tragedy, compensation is the last thing on the mind of those suffering the loss, however, after a time, the focus changes a bit to look at the financial burden and losses caused by the impaired driver.
This is why the law allows those left behind in a senseless DUI to be able to claim compensation against the truck driver.
Family members are allowed to seek many types of losses caused by the recklessness and negligence of an impaired driver. Some of these are:
- Loss of Support
- Psychological pain and suffering
- Loss of companionship and guidance
- Loss of Consortium and companionship
- All medical bills for the deceased related to incident
- Funeral and burial costs
Contact a Fresno Personal Injury Lawyer.
Hopefully you never need to make the call, but in the event you or a loved one are involved in a crash involving a big rig, be sure to speak to an attorney. There are often multiple parties involved who contributed to the crash.
After any accident involving a serious injury or a fatality in the Central Valley, contact attorney Martin Gasparian for a free consultation and case evaluation. Mr. Gasparian takes a hands-on approach to every case. He believes that every client should work directly with their lawyer, get honest advice and the personalized attention to detail their case deserves.
Contact Maison Law today at 559-203-3333 or by using our contact form.
