Drugs at the center of many car accidents

Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol can have serious consequences. Traffic tickets and car accidents that happen because a person decides to partake and then get behind the wheel can have lasting negative impacts on those involved. While the tickets may bring fines, jail time or both, car accidents may mean serious injury or loss of life for victims. A Colorado teenager recently pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and vehicular homicide for an accident that happened last spring.

The 18-year-old male told the judge presiding over his hearing that he and some friends had been smoking some marijuana when he realized he needed to get home before midnight, his curfew. He fell asleep while he was driving and his car crashed into the back end of another car sitting at a red light. The man and woman in the idling car were critically injured, and both died at a local medical facility several days after the incident.

The teen was 17 at the time of the accident and was charged as a juvenile. According to the district attorney, the level of THC in his system was well over the legal limit. Because of the vehicular homicide charge, he could possibly spend as long as two years in the Colorado Department of Youth Corrections with additional time for the DUI. He will be sentenced in two months, after submission to a psychological evaluation.

Not only is this teen facing jail time, the family members of the two people who died because of his actions have the right to file wrongful death lawsuits against him and the owner of the car he was driving. Family members may file a wrongful death lawsuit and seek financial compensation that will pay for medical bills, funeral costs and loss of earning potential the deceased victims. Families in Colorado who have lost loved ones in car accidents have every right to secure a determined professional to seek justice.

Source: dailycamera.com, “‘I fell asleep’: Boulder teen pleads guilty to vehicular homicide, DUI in crash that killed 2“, Mitchell Byars, Dec. 16, 2016