Three people, one of which was a child, recently lost their lives in a devastating crash across both sides of the Selmon Expressway. The driver who is accused of causing the crash left the accident scene, and she is now facing DUI manslaughter charges, among others. Furthermore, the surviving loved ones of the deceased family may also file wrongful death claims against that driver in a Florida civil court.
An accident report indicates that witnesses saw a driver racing eastbound along the Selmon Expressway, and then losing control as she attempted to pass two vehicles. Reportedly, she smashed into the rear of one vehicle that carried three occupants. The impact propelled that car over the median and into the lanes of westbound traffic where two other vehicles collided with it before it burst into flames.
While all this happened, the driver who allegedly caused the accident raced away, but her car broke down, allowing officers to catch up with her. Police reported that she had slurred speech, which she attributed to her use of anxiety medications, and this caused her to fail a field sobriety test. She was then taken to a hospital where blood samples were taken for BAC tests. However, officers reported that the suspect somehow removed the vials of blood, hiding them in her underwear. This led to charges of evidence tampering that were added to 3 counts each of DUI causing serious bodily injury and DUI manslaughter.
Despite the effort of a bystander to save the life of one victim in the burning car, all three died. Reportedly, the fire and smoke were so severe that nobody noticed the second adult and a child in the rear seat. Anybody in Florida who loses a loved one as the result of another party’s negligence is entitled to pursue recovery of financial and emotional damages by filing a wrongful death lawsuit in a civil court.
Source: wfla.com, “Cops: DUI suspect tried to hide evidence in underwear after fiery crash that killed child, 2 adults”, Avery Cotton, Aug. 11, 2017