Three people are tragically dead following a crash on Interstate 65, according to local sources. Police in Bowling Green, Kentucky responded to the accident that reportedly involved three vehicles. Motor vehicle accidents sometimes lead to criminal charges, but in cases where the driver responsible for the accident is killed, civil suits are also a possible avenue for victims and their families.
What apparently happened
According to the report, a 36-year-old Georgia man operating a box truck was driving on Interstate 65, which is undergoing construction near mile marker 26 right now. The construction had caused traffic to slow, but apparently the man did not see a vehicle that had also slowed to merge into the non-construction lane. The box truck struck the back of the passenger car, driving both vehicles into a tractor-trailer that had also slowed.
The driver of the box truck was killed in the impact, as were two women in the passenger car, aged 21 and 22 respectively. The tractor-trailer driver was not harmed in the crash. Police are still trying to determine whether the box truck driver’s failure to stop was the result of recklessness, negligence or even intoxication. No further information was available as of this report, and the investigation remains underway.
Legal options following these tragic incidents
In motor vehicle accidents causing fatalities, Kentucky law allows injured parties and the families of any deceased victims to file civil lawsuits for personal injury and/or wrongful death against the driver or drivers found materially responsible for the crash. These suits are not criminal in nature, and if the responsible driver was also killed in the crash, as in this case, any such suits can be filed against his estate. In some situations, other people or companies with ownership interest in the vehicle involved may also be the subject of civil lawsuits.
