Blog Report

Friday, June 18, 2010

'Huffing' Crash Victims See Day In Court

From The Carthage Press (June 16):

A 2007 crash left two girls dead and their families searching for answers. The subsequent inquiry suggest inhalants were a likely culprit in the fatal accident. The victims, ages 14 and 16, were passengers of an intoxicated driver who lost control of the vehicle.

The judge awarded one family $325,000 and assigned 70% of the blame to the driver, also 16-years old. In an "unusual decision" the court ruled that the driver's mother was partly to blame.
"I think it was a lesson, a message, that the jury wanted the parents to know what their children were doing before they give them the keys" the victims' attorney said.

It is not clear whether the victims were intoxicated at the time of the accident. State law requires the driver's blood to be tested. The results indicated she was intoxicated and her impairment likely caused the ensuing crash. The driver's family chose not to appeal the ruling.

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