California roads and freeways are often safe ways to travel across the state and beyond, and anyone who has sat in crippling traffics near one of the state’s cities can tell you highways can be a safe place to sit with nothing to do. But roads are often most dangerous when movement meets stillness.
A family is in mourning after a roadside maintenance issue became a high-speed motor vehicle collision. A 25-year-old driver with a Jeep full of friends and relatives pulled onto the center median of California Highway 99 to change a flat tire. Moments later, a truck slammed into the back of the Jeep as it headed south on the road.
The Jeep spun around on the median and came to rest facing north as it caught fire. A 21-year-old woman and her five-year-old son died as a result of burns and other injuries, while her three-year-old daughter withstood hip surgery after the accident and is recovering.
The driver of the truck was uninjured, and was arrested on scene for suspected driving under the influence of alcohol and driving at a high rate of speed. “We are going to do everything we can so he can pay for what he did,” said a member of the Jeep driver’s family.
Victims of truck accidents on the roads of California are entitled to seek financial reimbursement for medical expenses, funeral costs or other related expenses. Legal representation may be the best step towards being made whole through restitution in civil actions or other legal methods.
Source: Kern Golden Empire, “Mother, son killed in suspected DUI accident,” Mary Kate Paquette, Nov. 26, 2017
