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Two Killed in Wrong Way Driving Accident near Newcastle

California auto accident lawyers have been noting a high number of accidents involving wrong way drivers over the past few months in the state.  In the most recent of such crashes, two people were killed in a wrong way driving accident on Tuesday morning near Newcastle.

According to California Highway Patrol, a car being driven the wrong way on Interstate 80 crashed into a Hyundai Elantra. The wrong way driver has been identified by the Placer County Sheriff Department as 21-year-old Christopher Dann. Just before the accident which occurred at 3:30 in the morning, the California Highway Patrol received a call informing them of a wrong way driver driving west on Eastbound I-80.  Before CHP officers could respond to that call, they received information that the car had crashed into an Elantra. The driver of the Elantra an 18-year-old woman, was also killed in the crash. A male passenger in the car sustained serious injuries, and was rushed to the UC Davis Medical Center burn unit.

According to the California Highway Patrol, investigations into the accident are going on. Investigations will involve conducting toxicology tests to ascertain if alcohol or drug use were a factor in this crash.

Wrong way driving and the devastating impact it can have was heavily in the media spotlight earlier this year after a tragedy in New York that killed 8 people.  In that  accident, the wrong way driver Diane Schuler drove her car, which also contained her own daughter and three other children the wrong way, crashing into another vehicle. Schuler, the four kids in her car as well as the three occupants of the other vehicle were killed instantly in the devastating crash. The aftermath of that accident saw a disturbing scenario in which Schuler’s family including her husband denied that she could have been drunk at the time of the crash, even after toxicology reports showed the presence of marijuana and alcohol in Schuler’s system. Her 5-year-old son Bryan miraculously survived the crash, and continues to recover at a hospital. Lawsuits in that accident have already been filed.

The Diane Schuler crash clearly defines two facts that seem to be linked to most wrong way driving crashes.

• These accidents are usually high impact crashes that result in serious injuries and deaths.
• They can be very often traced to driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Toxicology reports showed that Schuler had the equaling of 10 vodka shots in her blood and had also had marijuana before driving. A bottle of vodka was also found in her minivan.

To California wrongful death lawyers, It’s too early to say if this particular wrong way drunk driving accident in Newcastle was also caused by drunk driving.  Sometimes a driving error, disorientation in a new neighborhood or confusion can cause a motorist to make mistakes. Whatever the causes of these crashes, the impact is always deadly because these are head-on crashes. They often result in catastrophic injuries or fatalities.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of wrongful death. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

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