Two people in West Virginia were killed Saturday night in a wrong-way crash on I-77. The married couple were hit in their vehicle at 5 PM on I-77 south in Kanawha County.
The other driver was identified as a 77 year old female from Kentucky.
The male driver of the vehicle hit was the maintenance manager for the Capital Region Airport Authority near Lansing, Michigan. The couple was traveling on vacation in West Virginia when the fatal crash happened.
According to witnesses, the elder driver’s vehicle was seen Saturday night going north in a southbound lane at high speed. The other vehicle carrying the two deceased was hit and then left the road and hit a truck parked on the shoulder.
The deceased leave behind three children that range from 18 to 25 years old.
Our View
Our personal injury attorneys in Virginia and North Carolina send condolences to the family in this tragic car accident.
Wrong way crashes, while relatively rare, cause between 300 and 400 fatalities every year, reports the Federal Highway Administration. While there are not very many of these accidents, most occur at high speed, and the resulting impact is usually devastating. Most wrong way crashes are head on or near head on collisions. If the occupants of the vehicles are lucky enough to survive, they almost always have severe injuries that require surgery and rehabilitation.
The most common general cause of wrong way accidents on highways is driver error. But what are the specific reasons for a driver going to wrong way on a highway?
Many wrong way collisions involve drunk driving. People who are under the influence may ignore clear signs that state they are going to the wrong way. People who are drunk also lack judgment and may make decisions they would not normally make.
Another common cause of these accidents is when a driver is unfamiliar with the area. It is possible, especially at night, to get confused and enter the wrong way on an exit ramp.
Sometimes, there are not enough signs on a highway stating that the driver is going the wrong way.
In the above accident, it is possible the elderly driver got confused and went the wrong way. Older drivers sometimes make more driving errors than younger drivers.
In these tragic accidents, the surviving family has the option to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the negligent driver. If there is adequate auto insurance in effect, or the driver has substantial assets, it is possible there could be a sizable wrongful death settlement to provide for the surviving family.
Comments for this article are closed.