Father’s Day Fatal Car Accident After Church Service in Venice
by rreeves ~ June 16th, 2008
Father’s Day turned into a terrifying ordeal for the daughters of a man pinned by a car outside the St. Mark Catholic Church in Venice. The man was one among a group of parishioners who were standing outside the church after the service and talking, when a silver Nissan SUV plowed into the standing group, injuring up to seven people and killing one.
According to witnesses at the scene of the car accident, the service had ended and most of the parishioners had left the church premises. At least 30 parishioners had stayed behind to talk, and were standing on the sidewalk. It was past 1 in the afternoon. Suddenly, the SUV, which was moving out of the church premises, accelerated and rammed into the group of people. The girls’ father was pinned under the SUV, and dragged a few feet before the SUV came to a stop over him. He had to be extricated by pulling the SUV off of him. As his daughters watched, he was laid out on the ground until help could arrive. He is said to be in critical condition at the hospital.
Early reports said that three people had been injured, but updated reports of the car accident confirm that at least seven people have been admitted to hospitals in the area with moderate to severe injuries. One 28-year-old woman had been confirmed dead. One 2-year-old girl was taken to a hospital for treatment of moderate injuries, while her mother, as well as another 45-year-old woman, were said to have serious injuries.
The driver of the car has reportedly told police that her daughter who was sitting in the back seat, suffered a seizure, and that in attending to her, she stepped on the accelerator instead of braking, leading to the car accident. The woman had just attended service herself with her adult daughter and her 90-year-old mother. There are reports that all three women in the car were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Police are conducting investigations into the cause of the car accident, and no more details are available yet about the accident. No decision has been made to charge the woman.
Although it’s still too early to place responsibility for the car accident, this still remains a situation that could have been avoided. There is at least one young woman who is dead, and at least three adults, including the father of the two girls and a mother of a 2-year-old, who are battling for their lives.
There has been no confirmation about the medical condition of the driver’s daughter who supposedly suffered a seizure in the back of the car. If the daughter had a medical condition that involved sudden seizures, or if she had a history of seizures, then it would have been advisable for the mother to be prepared in the event of seizures while on the road. It couldn’t have been hard to take the three seconds it takes to stop the car, and then attend to her daughter.
Driving is a privilege, as we never tire of saying, and should be exercised with proper regard for whoever else is sharing your space. There’s little room for error, and none for excuses.
The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of pedestrian accidents. 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.
August 21st, 2008 at 6:26 pm
It was the mother of the two girls who died. I watched in horror as the girls cried for their mother, and as the dying womans own mother (grandmother of the girls) tried in vain to speak to her. She only made moaning sounds. It was her brother-in law who was pinned under the car and her aunt who suffered minor injuries. Another woman lost teeth and was injured and her daughter rolled under the car and only suffered injuries to her wrist. Of the several people hit it was the deceased, the man and the woman and daughter who lay there unconscious. Sadly they were all acquaintances or relatives of one another. It was quite a hysterical scene, ice cream bars melting on the pavement, several carnation flowers (for the fathers) thrown about. There was a mans flip flop all alone, I wondered to whom it belonged, and the little girls pink shoe on the SUV. There was the eerie sound of people chanting prayers over the body’s, mixed with sobbing and yelling, men lifting the SUV to free the pinned man and others looking on without emotion,. with a glazed look in their eyes. It was a Fathers day that I will never forget.I don’t believe I can ever look at another carnation and without thinking of my fellow parishioners on that fatal day.