Walk It Through: The Fatal Crash
A pass on a blind curve, a head-on collision, and a death weeks later.
Passing a slow truck on a blind curve, a driver hits an oncoming car head on. The other driver is badly hurt.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One head-on collision. An impaired driver, the wrongful death suit, insurance limits and the license revocation after a conviction are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Reckless drivingDriving any vehicle on a street, highway, parking area or school way in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.
- Driving in an impaired stateDriving under the influence of alcohol, a controlled substance or another drug, or with an alcohol concentration in the blood of eight hundredths of one percent or more, by weight.
- Vehicular homicideCausing a death that follows within one year as the proximate result of injury from driving in reckless disregard for the safety of others.