Graduation Day Driver Who Killed Had Been Drinking
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The Virginia State police are now reporting that Elaine Minnette "Nettie" Thackston, 20, of Fairfax, Va. had been drinking when the car she was driving pulled in front of a tractor trailer on graduation night, killing all four women in the car.
Other alcohol and marijuana were also found in the car. While the alcohol limit did not meet Virginia's definition of "drunk driving" it did exceed Virginia's 'no tolerance" rule because Thackston was not of legal drinking age.
The tragic accident killed 18-year-old Lydia Petkoff; 19-year-old Sarah Renee Carter; and 18-year-old Renee Nicole Shelkin. Another passenger survived.
The real issue is whether the other occupants of the car have a claim in light of Virginia's "assumption of the risk" doctrine.
Basically, the rule in Virginia is that if you knowingly place yourself in a position of peril, and you are hurt (or killed) you can't recover any damages. The news reports I have seen suggest that despite the fact that Thackston had alcohol in her system, there was no sign of impaired driving at all. In fact, it seems that she may simply have been confused by the signage at that part of Washington's beltway and tried to correct her direction. We've seen similar behavior hundreds of times.
If there was no evidence of impaired driving then families of the occupants of the car may be able to recover civil damages even if the passengers were themselves drinking (the Virginia State Police have not disclosed this fact yet, and may never, in that he passengers have privacy rights.
For more information on this subject matter, please refer to our section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.