California police say that a woman in a rented car caused a recent deadly accident. One person was killed and another was injured in the pedestrian accident, and neither the responsible driver nor another involved motorists suffered any injuries. Pedestrian accidents can be particularly tragic, since victims who are traveling on foot are more vulnerable to fatal injuries than people who are traveling in enclosed motor vehicles.
According to police, the 21-year-old driver had used the Getaround app to rent a Tesla. The app works much like Airbnb, and allows owners to rent out their vehicles. For reasons that are still not clear, the driver was traveling at a high rate of speed when she drove straight through a red light and hit another vehicle. Both drivers lost control of their vehicles, and the Tesla driver ended up running down two pedestrians. The pair was a couple who were out celebrating their wedding anniversary.
Both the husband and wife were transported to an area hospital, where the man later died. Neither of the drivers involved in the wreck were injured, and both stayed at the scene of the accident and cooperated with investigators. Authorities have since stated that neither drugs no alcohol were factors in the crash and that the Teslas autopilot feature was not engaged at the time. California police arrested the Tesla driver and charged her with running a red light and vehicular manslaughter.
When traveling by foot, pedestrians have little to no protection against large motor vehicles. Victims often suffer serious and even fatal injuries in pedestrian accidents. The extreme physical and emotional trauma of these accidents place an enormous burden on victims and families alike, not to mention the financial problems that often come with medical bills. Although undoing the harm caused by serious or fatal accidents is not possible, compensation achieved through personal injury or wrongful death claims can be beneficial for recovery, grieving and moving forward with life.
