On Thanksgiving night in 2009, two friends, holding hands as they walked across a Columbus Street crosswalk, in Virginia Beach, VA, after a semi-formal party, were hit by a Ford Explorer, around midnight, according to the Virginian-Pilot.
The car crash left a woman, age 23, with serious injuries, including broken teeth, shattered bones and a fractured spine. When she was in the hospital, her dad walked into her room with tissues and said her friend, a man, age 23, didn’t make it.
The parents of the man who died described their only child as a rugged outdoorsman who hunted and fished and lived a small house on the Nansemond River in Virginia after graduating from Virginia Tech in 2008. At Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, the parents said he was still beautiful after the accident despite the bandage on his head and tubes in his nose and bruises on his body.
The two friends were hit by a woman, age 30, who pleaded guilty in September 2010 to involuntary manslaughter while driving under the influence, drunken driving that led to serious injury, a second drunken driving conviction within five years and refusal to take a breath test. In February 2011, after hours of testimony in a packed courtroom, the judge sentenced the woman to five years behind bars.
The drunk driver had six prior reckless driving convictions and five prior convictions for driving on a suspended license. According to the prosecutor, she was reckless, as she was many times before, and killed someone this time.
This fatal car wreck was a stark reminder of the emotional damage caused by drunk driving. The family or friends of the accident victims might have to file a wrongful death case with the assistance of Virginia personal injury lawyers against the responsible parties in order to get justice for the pain they suffered.
The death of a loved one is a life-changing event that may never fully be put in the past. It is troubling to think that, in a split moment, one man was gone, with no one ever experiencing their energy, smile, or love again.
To learn more about what to do if you or a loved one is hurt in a car accident, check out our Frequently Asked Questions devoted to the subject.
LC