Just days before the Kansas City Chiefs traveled here to Florida to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Super Bowl, one of the team’s assistant coaches was involved in a severe car accident that became a national news story.
That coach was Britt Reid, the son of Chiefs head coach Andy Reid. The accident occurred in Jackson County, MO and left one child in critical condition with life-threatening injuries. An officer responding to the scene smelled alcohol on Reid after the accident, and the police performed a blood test for alcohol and other substances.
According to the police incident report, one vehicle ran out of gas on a freeway entrance ramp, and the driver stopped with flashers on to call for help. When help arrived, the vehicle parked in front of the disabled car and put their lights on. Shortly after, Reid drove on to the on-ramp in his pickup truck and hit the left front side of the stranded vehicle, then slammed into the rear of the assisting car.
The driver of the disabled car was uninjured. The assisting car had an uninjured driver and adult passenger, but both the children (four and five years old) sitting in the back were injured, the five-year-old with a traumatic brain injury.
Reid sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Drunk driving and liability
The plaintiff in a personal injury claim is responsible for proving liability on the part of the defendant. This becomes simpler when drunk driving is a factor, as a drunk driving conviction essentially makes the defendant automatically liable in a civil accident case.
Drunk driving can also increase the amount of compensation for which a victim is eligible, as it could be considered an aggravating factor in the case.
For more information about the steps you should take if you’ve been injured in an accident caused by a drunk driver, contact an experienced Sarasota, FL personal injury lawyer at Goldman, Babboni, Fernandez & Walsh.