It’s a judgment that may not bring much relief to the people it’s intended to benefit. After all, you can’t put a price on the loss of a family member, and how do you measure the trauma of a little girl who sits in the passenger seat and watches her mother die before her eyes? Still, the only way we have to compensate for such tragic losses and suffering is though monetary terms. A Ventura County jury has done the right thing by awarding $7.9 million in a wrongful death lawsuit to the husband and daughter of a woman killed in a car accident in 2006 in Tulare.

The woman who died, 53-year-old Diane Smith worked as an administrative assistant at Ventura College, and had been employed by the Community College District for the past 26 years. On that day, Smith’s 8-year-old daughter Galadriel was in the passenger’s seat in her mother’s car. As they drove on, a car driven by Hans Gutierrez Hermosillo, a pizza deliveryman working for a Pizza Hut outlet, crashed into another car driven by a woman named Ingrid Climer. The force of that impact caused Climer’s car to veer right over the median, and into Diane Smith’s car. The impact of the collision was so severe it caused Climer’s car to land on top of Smith’s vehicle. Smith, sitting in the driver’s seat, suffered the maximum impact of the crash. She suffered serious injuries, and was taken to a Visalia hospital. She was declared dead some time later.

Meanwhile, Gutierrez fled the scene of the car accident, and went right back to the restaurant. According to reports, he returned to the scene of the accident a while later to see what was happening, and then returned back to the restaurant. Police arrested him on suspicion of fleeing the scene of a car accident.

Smith’s husband filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Gutierrez as well as California Pizza LLC, a company that owns more than 20 Pizza Hut outlets across the state, including the one that employed Gutierrez. The jurors found Gutierrez absolutely responsible for the car accident, and because he is an employee of California Pizza, this makes the company liable too.

The verdict must come as a relief for the Smith family. It gives them justice, and it points blame squarely and firmly in the tragedy that killed their wife and mother. The settlement includes $1.2 million for Galadriel in compensation for the emotional distress that she suffered. You could argue that there’s no money in the world that could permanently erase the horrific memories that this child has been forced to witness. There’ s likely going to be intensive counseling needed ahead, and hopefully, the money will help make things easier for the bereaved family.

At the time of the accident, Gutierrez had only been employed with the pizza restaurant for 10 days. He had also had a driver’s license for just three weeks prior to the car accident. You would think that a member of the pizza industry that thrives on making deliveries on or before time would have hired experienced drivers who can be trusted on the roads. Instead, California Pizza chose to employ someone who was totally green where driving was concerned.
Our good wishes to the Smith family, who will now finally find some closure to the past three years.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of car 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.