A car salesman was killed on Feb. 23, when the driver of the vehicle he was riding in lost control and hit a tree after reportedly speeding down the road. The accident took place in Ontario, California, at about 12:45 p.m. during a test drive of a vehicle from a CarMax lot, a company that has several locations in Pennsylvania.
According to Ontario Police, the 28-year-old Union City, California man, had been test driving a Corvette when he struck the tree. Witnesses reported that the man had been reaching speeds of up to 70 miles per hour before he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into the tree. His passenger, the 43-year-old salesman, was critically injured in the incident and taken to San Antonio Regional Hospital for treatment, where he later died.
The driver was arrested for suspicion of felony driving under the influence of drugs and of vehicular manslaughter. Car accidents caused by people who are driving under the influence are usually very serious and often fatal, as the one in this case.
When a person is killed in a car accident, the surviving family members often sustain severe financial losses in addition to having to deal with the grief of the sudden loss of a loved one, especially when the decedent contributed to household income. In the event that the accident was caused by a drunk, distracted or otherwise negligent driver, the family may want to meet with a personal injury attorney and discuss whether the filing of a wrongful death lawsuit would be an appropriate way to seek compensation for funeral and burial costs as well as other losses that they have sustained.