A woman has been arrested in connection with a wrong-way car crash that killed six people in California. The woman is a 21-year-old mother of one who was said to have been going about 100 miles per hour while traveling eastbound on the westbound lane of the highway when the crash occurred. The woman suffered from some serious injuries as well and was hospitalized following the crash.
Police are now investigating her for drunk driving and manslaughter charges. The woman has previously had her license revoked and has been charged and convicted of DUI offenses.
Typically a person’s past conduct should not be used to infer what they have done in a present incident, but it can speak to their habits and character in some situations. Here, the fact that the young woman had previously lost her license for drunk-driving related violations indicates at least that in the past she has acted negligently in a way that could have harmed others. A neighbor who knows the woman told reporters that she had been acting responsibly surrounding the birth of her child in November and that he had not seen her drinking recently.
In this case, the woman’s blood alcohol content at the time of the crash is not known, although police say that there was an alcohol bottle found at the scene of the crash.
This is a case where the family members of the victims will likely want answers as to what exactly happened and who was at fault. They will also be entitled to seek damages for the wrongful death of their loved ones.
Source: Fox News, “Driver arrested in Southern California crash that killed 6 had previous DUI,” Feb. 11, 2014.
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