There was a serious truck accident on 2/16/12 in Cathedral City. It was a multi-car collision claiming the life of one of the drivers. The police reported that a driver of a flat-bed truck suffered some kind of medical condition that caused the driver to hit a Sunline bus. The truck then hit a PT Cruiser that was stopped for a red light. The Cruiser was caused to hit a Lexus that was also stopped for the light. To make matters worse the flat-bed then hit a Ford Mustang. The driver of the Cruiser was killed in the accident. According to the police there was no alcohol involved. You may think that the driver of the flat-bed is responsible for the personal injuries of the other drivers and the wrongful death of the 91 year old man driving the Cruiser. If the flat-bed driver did in fact suffer a heart attack or a stroke or some related medical condition which caused him to lose control of his truck, he would not be legally responsible for the accident. Auto accident victims can only recover damages against another driver that caused the automobile or truck accident if the other driver was at fault or what I as the Palm Springs automobile accident lawyer would call negligence. Negligence is doing something that a reasonable person would not do. Speeding, running stop signs or stop lights, and rear-ending another driver are examples of negligent driving. Suffering a stroke is not considered a negligent act. However if you knowingly drive with a medical condition that you know can cause you to faint, blackout or suffer some other alteration of consciousness and cause a motor vehicle accident in our Coachella Valley, you can be certain that you may be found negligent in causing the accident. I am now representing a person who was injured in a Palm Springs automobile accident caused by a driver who the police thought suffered some sort of medical emergency causing that driver to lose control and cross into my client’s lane. After a careful investigation I discovered that the police were wrong and that the negligent driver was totally at fault and was perfectly healthy when for some reason just lost control. He was probably texting. It is very important to contact the experienced Palm Desert and Palm Springs personal injury lawyer at our firm to carefully investigate the facts of automobile accidents that may have caused you or family member personal injuries. As always consultations at our office are free.
