CBS Local Miami reports tennis legend Venus Williams is allegedly at-fault in a car accident that resulted in the death of a 78-year-old man. This fatal accident occurred at an intersection in Palm Beach Gardens. It’s important to bear in mind, however, that a final determination of fault may ultimately rest with the court. A police report is just the result of initial findings by a single investigator, and may even be subject to change as the investigation continues.
The accident report indicates that Williams was driving north when approaching an intersection and tried to make it through, but traffic in front of her caused her to slow down as she approached the intersection. As this was happening, the victim was headed west and entered the intersection. According to investigating officers, the victim had the right of way in that intersection and not Williams.When she crashed into victim’s car, police estimate she was traveling at around 5 miles per hour, yet this was still fast enough to do significant damage. Victim’s wife was driving at the time and the collision caused victim to suffer a serious head injury. When first responders arrived at the scene of this accident, they did what they could to stabilize him and took him to a local level-one trauma center for treatment of his head injuries. His wife was also injured in the crash, as she had several broken bones, but she managed to survive.
Her husband was not so fortunate. Surgeons did what they could to repair the massive damage to his brain, but he died two weeks later. It should be noted that Williams remained at the scene of the accident and fully cooperated with police and emergency officials. Williams has also expressed her condolences to the family via a spokesperson. It should also be noted the Williams was not believed to on her phone or otherwise distracted the time of the accident, and there is no indication she was under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs.
One thing to keep in mind if you or a loved one was involved in a serious accident is that the at-fault driver’s insurance company will likely contact you right away (sometimes even that same day) and act as if they were concerned for your health and safety and they may even offer to provide you with some money or your hospital bills. While this may seem like a nice thing to do, it is just a tactic to get you to sign away your rights and get paid pennies on the dollar compared to the actual damages (financial loss) you would likely have suffered up to that point and will suffer in the future related to the serious South Florida car accident.
The reason this offer is such a problem is because it requires you to sign a waiver the gives up all of your rights to later settle your personal injury claim or file a personal injury lawsuit should the case not be settled first. When you accept that small sum of money and sign the waiver, you have effectively settled your case and there is nothing you can do at this point. For that reason, the best thing you can do is to speak with an experienced Palm Beach car accident lawyer before agreeing to anything or signing any documents.
Call Freeman Injury Law — 1-800-561-7777 for a free appointment to discuss your rights. Now serving Orlando, West Palm Beach, Port St. Lucie and Fort Lauderdale.
Additional Resources:
Report: Venus Williams At Fault In Fatal Car Crash, June 29, 2017, By Vanessa Borge, CBS Local Miami
More Blog Entries:
Distracted Driving Alleged in Bus Crash That Killed 13, April 19, 2017, Car Accident Amputation Lawyer Blog