Red Light Violation Causes Fatal Car Crash in Orange County Community
Around nine o’clock this morning (September 17th), the driver of a southbound Nissan ran a red light at a Santa Ana intersection and crashed with an Infiniti traveling eastbound through the intersection. The front seat passenger in the Nissan was a 78-year-old woman who died instantly in the collision. Four others were taken to the hospital, two in critical condition. A spokesperson for the Santa Ana police department reported that the driver of the Infiniti clearly had a green light, and the driver of the Nissan clearly had a red light, at the time of the accident.
The driver of the Infiniti, and perhaps the other occupants of the Nissan as well, may be able to recover damages for their injuries from the driver of the Nissan. When a person violates a statute, ordinance or other law, evidence of that violation is often offered as proof that the person was negligent. One caveat to this rule is that the purpose of the law was to protect people against the type of harm which was suffered by the violation. A main purpose of traffic laws is to keep people safe from auto accidents, so that condition seems to be met in this case.
It is too early to know what exactly caused the driver to run the red light and if there are other factors or other negligent parties that might excuse or reduce the liability of the driver of the Nissan. Hopefully, more facts will be made available as the investigation progresses. In the meantime, our hearts go out to the family of the woman who was killed, and our thoughts remain with the injured and their families.
