Losing a loved one in a traffic accident is difficult. Losing five family members is a horrible experience. On Feb. 15, 2014, a traffic accident claimed the life of a mother and her four children. The accident was caused because a woman failed to stop at a stop sign. That woman has recently pleaded no contest to the charges placed against her in connection with the accident.
When the woman ran the stop sign, she plowed into a Ford Explorer. The gas tank of the Explorer disconnected and fuel was leaking. The fuel caught on fire and the Explorer exploded. A witness told the California Highway Patrol that the flames were 15 feet high.
The mother and her children were trapped inside. A male relative was following his family behind the Explorer when the accident occurred. He was unable to rescue his family because the heat was too intense.
The woman who ran the stop sign now faces only a year behind bars on the charges of driving without a license misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence. The CHP claims the woman was negligent since she should have known the stop sign was there because she lived in the area and because she didn’t have a valid drivers’ license.
That woman’s attorney claims that Ford Motor Co. is to blame for the death of the five family members. He said that the vehicle shouldn’t have exploded and gave an accident reconstruction report for the prosecutor to give to the surviving family members in case they want to pursue a claim against the automotive manufacturer.
Source: The Fresno Bee, “Riverdale woman pleads no contest to traffic collision that killed 5,” Pablo Lopez, March. 25, 2015
