The main purpose of traffic control devices is to help ensure the safe and orderly flow of traffic. In busier parts of Orange County, stoplights and other traffic signs are especially important. But some people lose sight of this when they are driving and think that it is unnecessary for them to obey all traffic signs and signals.
Recently, a 61-year-old man was the victim of a fatal car accident in Santa Ana. The accident occurred at about 2 a.m. on a Monday morning when the driver of a Mercedes failed to stop at a red light and broadsided the victim’s Ford Mustang that was traveling eastbound.
Firefighters and paramedics from the Orange County Fire Authority arrived on the scene and cut into the Mustang with the jaws of life in an attempt to rescue the 61-year-old. By the time they reached the man, however, he had already passed away.
Two men had been traveling in the Mercedes, but when authorities arrived, neither man was in the vehicle and they both denied having been the driver. The men were both treated for non-life threatening injuries at nearby hospitals. Authorities hoped to use blood evidence to find out which of the two was the driver.
The loss of a loved one in a senseless motor vehicle accident, like the one in this case, is a tragedy. When someone else’s poor decisions and dangerous driving causes this kind of an accident, the deceased person’s surviving family members can hold the responsible party accountable through a wrongful death lawsuit. While the driver responsible for this fatal car accident is not yet known, once authorities figure it out, that person could face both criminal and civil liability for the death of the 61-year-old man.
Source: Orange County Register, “Update: Fullerton man identified as driver killed in Santa Ana collision after speeding car runs a red light,” Alyssa Duranty, Feb. 8, 2016
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