Police Say Drunk Driver Ran a Red Light and Killed Four People in California

A recent incident in which an intoxicated driver allegedly blew through a red light and smashed into a crowd of people going home from a Christmas pageant in California, leaving four people dead, again highlights the horrors of driving under the influence.

The woman also injured almost a dozen people in the crash last week. Witnesses described the injured as mostly children after this terrible wreck at the packed crosswalk at Vincent St. and pacific Coast Highway in Redondo Beach.

Mary Wilson, 81, Saeko Imatsumura, 87, and Martha Gaza, 36, all of Torrance, were killed in the crash, a local TV station reported. The other victim was a six-year-old boy.

Driving under the influence is a major problem over Christmas and the New Year and you may have seen additional police cars and checkpoints on the highways of Hampton Roads.

A 56-year-old Southern California woman was charged last Friday with driving intoxicated into the crowd exiting a church Christmas-related event, killing four people, including the 6-year-old boy, prosecutors said.

Margo Julie Bronstein of Redondo Beach pleaded not guilty in a Los Angeles court to four felony counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated as well as one felony count of driving under the influence of a drug causing injury, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office said.

As a father and a personal injury lawyer in Hampton Roads who helps many victims of drunk drivers, I am horrified by what happened in California.

Drugs as well as alcohol are a major cause of impaired driving. Every year a number of people in Hampton Roads lose their lives because other drivers were selfish enough to get behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Every year there are more than 8,000 accidents in Virginia that are linked to drugs or alcohol. If you have been hurt by a drunk driver, you have a right to sue that driver’s insurance policy for your injuries. The state of Virginia allows drunk driving victims to recover punitive damages, which are over and above those normally awarded, under special circumstances. If the drunk driver refused to take a BAC test, or if they had a BAC of .15% or above, punitive damages can become part of your case. They are intended to punish the driver for their willfully reckless actions.

At Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers we never defend drunk drivers. We sue them. Call us at 757.455.0077 for a free consultation.