A fatal motor vehicle accident is always tragic, but it is even more tragic when it could very easily have been prevented. Although it may seem tedious to stop at every light and every stop sign, especially if there are a lot around, there is an important reason why those signs and lights are there. City planners have asked for the signage to make the roads and community safer. Ignoring those signs can pose a very serious risk.
Unfortunately for a man from Fresno County, someone ignored a stop sign, driving through an intersection at nearly 60 mph. By not stopping, however, that driver smashed into the man’s family’s SUV. The SUV caught on fire and his wife and four children perished in the fire.
For the father, who had been driving less than a mile away, the wrongful death of his family may be incomprehensible. It may be so difficult to truly understand what happened and why the driver of the minivan who hit his family wouldn’t have just stopped. As he tries to come to grips with what happened, he may eventually choose to file a wrongful death lawsuit as a way to hold the driver accountable for what she had done.
Sadly, the father tried to save his family by breaking the windows and getting them out of the burning vehicle. In the process, he suffered some injuries, too. Tragically, however, he couldn’t free anyone and they died at the scene of the crash.
It is unknown if the woman driving the minivan will be cited for failing to stop at the stop light.
Source: CBS San Francisco, “Dad Sees Wife, 4 Kids Die In Fiery Fresno Area Crash,” Feb. 16, 2014
