San Diego Ford Explorer Rollover Crash Kills Pregnant Woman and Fetus
Yine Gonzalez, 24, of Tijuana, died in a rollover accident on the Interstate 5 in San Diego on January 4, 2008 after a hit-and-run driver clipped the back of the Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle in which she was a passenger. According to this news report, the crash occurred just north of Lomas Santa Fe Drive when John Francis Sudac, 27, the driver of a Nissan Altima sedan changed lanes at a high rate of speed and clipped the back of the Explorer.
The Ford Explorer rolled over several times and Gonzalez was partially ejected. Yine Gonzalez, who was six months into her pregnancy, died of her injuries in a local hospital. Doctors could not save her fetus. Gonzalez’s husband and 5-year-old daughter as well as two other relatives were all treated for minor injuries. Sudac, the hit-and-run driver and his male passenger apparently fled the accident scene. While, Sudac has turned himself over to authorities recently, his passenger still remains at large. Anyone who has more information about this incident or witnessed it is asked to call the Oceanside CHP office at 760-757-1675. Officials are also looking for a passing woman motorist who grabbed Gonzalez’s purse, which fell on the freeway when she was ejected and took off with it.
My heart goes out to the Gonzalez family, especially her husband and her 5-year-old daughter. I offer my deepest condolences to them for their heartbreaking loss
In this incident, an act as despicable as Sudac’s running away from the accident victims who desperately needed assistance was that of the other person grabbing a pregnant auto accident victim’s purse from the freeway. I have no words to describe it. This is the lowest level a human being can sink to.
According to this news report, Sudac is now facing gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. Hit-and-run is a serious offense under California Vehicle Code Section 20001 (a) as well as under the California Penal Code Section 192. There is no question that this individual must be held both criminally and civilly responsible for this accident and made to compensate the Gonzalez family.
The Gonzalez family would also be well-served to contact a reputed San Diego auto defect law firm, who will have their experts inspect the Explorer to see if the vehicle’s defects contributed to the Yine Gonzalez’s death. A skilled auto product defect attorney will also advise the Gonzalez family to preserve the Explorer in its current crashed state as evidence. The Ford Explorer’s defective design has been a contributory factor in many of the Explorer deaths and major injury auto accidents that our firm has investigated. The Ford Explorer has repeatedly proven to be an unstable vehicle that does nothing to protect its occupants. Since Yine Gonzalez was partially ejected from the Explorer, I’d look into the Explorer’s seat restraint system for any failures.
Comments
Ford Explorer rollovers and rollover safety concerns have been in the public spotlight almost daily since 2000 when the Ford Explorer - Firestone tire tread separation roll over accident problem was revealed. Hundreds of deaths in the U.S. have been blamed on a faulty design that creates an instability in the Ford Explorers. This design problem has resulted in many drivers unable to control the vehicle in emergency situations, especially after a tire blowout or sudden deflation from a tire tread separated resulting in a rollovers. The Ford Explorer and similar models, the Mercury Mountaineer and Mazda Navajo are in a class of their own in regards to the large numbers of rollovers. In 2006 in a Ford Explorer rollover trial, evidence was introduced that indicated that the Explorer is unstable not only on Firestone tires but also on tires made by Goodyear, Cooper, Michelin's Uniroyal, BF Goodrich, Kelly Springfield, Continental General and other tire manufacturers.
Posted by: Skip | January 29, 2009 12:17 AM