Former GOP chairman faces wrongful death lawsuit

On Behalf of | Jan 11, 2018 | motor vehicle accidents

Imagine walking down the street. It’s a warm day, and you’re careful to look before crossing the street. You have a WALK signal in front of you, and you have taken the time to use a crosswalk.

In most cases, you’ll be able to cross the street safely, but in others, you could quickly become a victim of a pedestrian accident. When drivers don’t pay attention, are driving drunk or are otherwise preoccupied, they could cause a serious crash.

A Jan. 8 report discusses an auto-pedestrian crash involving an ex-county GOP chairman. The former head of El Paso County’s GOP now faces a wrongful death lawsuit after hitting a businessman in 2017.

It has been alleged that the former chairman backed into a parking space without checking his mirrors. Upon doing so, he backed in with such force that he struck the pedestrian and sent him flying several feet away into the pavement. At that point, the pedestrian suffered head injuries and fatal wounds.

The current claim is that the driver was careless, but his attorneys argue that the pedestrian was jaywalking at the time of the crash. Despite that, video footage does show that the driver didn’t check his mirrors and looked like he was hurrying to beat another motorist who was looking to back into the spot.

The state laws require that motorists take care to avoid hitting any pedestrian in any location on the roadways. There is also a city ordinance that states that drivers who hit someone or something while backing up are presumed to have been unsafe at the time.

Source: The Gazette, “Ex-county GOP chairman hit with wrongful death suit in auto-pedestrian crash,” Lance Benzel, Jan. 05, 2018