A woman who is accused of hitting two boys in a crosswalk while she was driving drunk pleaded not guilty to four felony charges earlier this month in San Francisco Superior Court. The 30 year old woman has been out on $200,000 bail since the accident occurred.
The victims, who are two 12 year old boys, were walking in front of a large ice cream delivery truck that was stopped when the woman allegedly passed the rig on the left and plowed into the children. The impact threw the boys more than 20 feet into another crosswalk. Their personal effects were thrown across the street, and one boy’s shoe was trapped under the woman’s white SUV for hours after the crash. The driver stopped and cooperated with police after the accident.
The boys were rushed to San Francisco General Hospital. They suffered serious injuries in the accident, including multiple broken bones and head trauma. The boys are both expected to survive, but one is in significantly worse shape than the other. One child’s attorney says that he is suffering from a serious brain injury.
The woman who allegedly hit the boys is a former debutante and teacher. She has been ordered to wear an alcohol-monitoring device and has been barred from driving as a condition of her bail. According to her attorney, she has been overwhelmed by grief after the accident and has had to seek medical attention in order to become stabilized. She has been charged with four felonies, including child endangerment and driving under the influence, causing great bodily injury.
People living in the area of the accident have been complaining about speeders in the section of Bay Street where the accident occurred. City officials have allegedly planned to reduce the number of lanes, as well as to install angled parking between two streets to slow traffic. One attorney says that even though the city knew the street was dangerous for three years, they did nothing to slow traffic down. Since the accident, city officials have scrambled to make the intersection safer by installing stop signs.
This accident is just one example that shows how extremely dangerous drinking and driving is. Not only does drinking and driving kill and seriously injure victims who get in the path of the drunk driver, it can also destroy the drunk driver’s life. About 30 people are killed every day in the U.S. in crashes that involve a driver who is impaired by alcohol. Drunk driving accounts for nearly one-third of all traffic-related deaths in the U.S. In addition, drugs other than alcohol are involved in about 18 percent of motor vehicle driver deaths.
If you have been involved in a drunk driving accident, you can sue the drunk driver for a variety of damages, including medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages and more. If a family member was killed in an accident involving a drunk driver, you may be able to sue the driver for wrongful death.
At Liberty Law, Micha Star Liberty and Seth I. Rosenberg believe that anyone who chooses to get behind the wheel while intoxicated should be held both criminally and civilly liable for their actions. If you have been involved in an accident with a drunk driver, call the San Francisco car accident attorneys at Liberty Law at 415-896-1000 or 510-645-1000. You are entitled to damages for medical expenses (both past and future), lost wages, pain and suffering, and more. Call our offices today to schedule your free consultation.
