Personal Injury Law

Wrongful Death Lawsuit Says Facebook Caused Fatal Crash

By guest-writer

Could Facebook be deadly in some circumstances? This is a question that may be answered if a recently filed wrongful death lawsuit goes to trial.

The personal injury lawsuit stems from an incident that occurred last December in Chicago. The wrongful death suit claims that a 21 year-old Chicago driver struck and killed a man on the side of the road because she was updating her Facebook profile, and thus not paying attention to the road.

The victim, Raymond Valoz, who was 70 years old, had stepped out of his car after a minor collision with another vehicle. According to sources, the impact of the second accident severed the man’s leg, which later caused Valoz to bleed to death.

Valoz died at a hospital shortly after the accident. At the scene of the incident, police ticketed Beas for failure to avoid striking a pedestrian.

In her defense, Araceli Beas, the woman who accidentally struck Valoz with her car, claims she was temporarily blinded by the sun. This, at least, is what appears on the police report.

Moreover, the woman’s mother claims that her daughter was at least two miles from the scene of the crash when she posted the allegedly fatal Facebook update. She says that Beas was at her boyfriend’s house waiting for her car to warm up when she posted the message.

In the wrongful death lawsuit, the victim’s daughter observes that Beas updated her Facebook page at 7:54 a.m., the exact time when she called 911 to report the accident. This, the lawsuit claims, supports the allegation that the Facebook update happened at the same time of the accident.

This timing issue will raise all sorts of difficult questions at trial. Beas?s attorneys claim that there may be a delay in Facebook?s postings. In other words, the timestamp on a Facebook posting may not accurately represent the time of a user?s update.

In addition, there may be a difference between Facebook’s clock and the 911 operator’s clock. If Beas is able to prove either of these time differences, she may have a strong argument that the timing of the post does not prove her guilt.

Unfortunately, distracted drivers often cause bodily harm to pedestrians and other drivers. Common types of distraction include cell phones, handheld computing devices, and turning to find items in the car.

If you?ve suffered an injury in an auto accident that was caused by a distracted driver, you may be able to seek personal injury relief. A successful auto accident lawsuit may lead to various types of personal injury compensation, including payment for medical bills, pain and suffering, and lost wages.

Auto accident claims, though, depend on the laws in your state. To learn more about your legal rights, contact a local injury attorney today.

Full post as published by The Injury Blog on February 21, 2011 (boomark / email).