In March 2017, a pickup truck hit a church van head-on killing 13 of the van passengers. The van was carrying elderly people coming from a church retreat; all but one passenger on the van died after the pickup veered into their lane. People called 911 three times prior to the crash reporting erratic driving from the 20 year old, Jack Dillon Young. Officers were sent out to search for the truck but were unable to locate it in time.
Recently, “the son of a man in the Uvalde bus crash has filed a lawsuit against the pickup driver who told a witness he was texting when he hit the New Braunfels church bus.” Ross Allen, the victim’s son, filed a wrongful death lawsuit earlier this week against Young and Young’s father.
Investigations are being held by the Department of Public Safety and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The NTSB is hoping to be given the opportunity to interview Young in the near future. According to the lawsuit, Young was driving while intoxicated the day the crash occurred. The suit claims that he was driving while on prescription medicine and under the influence of marijuana.
Allen is seeking more than $1 million in damages claiming that Young was negligent in driving the truck intoxicated. The suit also claims that his father was negligent in letting him drive the truck in his son’s current conditions.
In the state of Washington, the Courts look at a variety of factors while determining if a driver was negligent in initiating a collision. There is a list of common factors that are taken into consideration here. Our Automobile Collision page also has information on Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance and goes into detail on health insurance coverage, worker’s comp. coverage, and more.
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Source: CNN: Texas Church bus crash: NTSB wants to interview truck driver
Source: Statesman: Son of victim files wrongful death suit in Uvalde bus crash