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Oregon woman dies in fatal car accident on I-5, alcohol suspected

On Behalf of | Apr 3, 2014 | Car Accidents |

The consumption of alcohol greatly diminishes an individual’s ability to make rational decisions. When that is coupled with being behind the wheel of a vehicle, a serious or fatal car accident could be the result. The Oregon State Police are determining whether it was a mixture of alcohol and driving that caused the death of a woman in the early morning hours of March 27.

The suspected drunk driver was traveling the wrong direction in the southbound lanes of Interstate 5. Another vehicle was heading south on the Interstate at the time. The two of them collided head-on.

The victim, a woman on her way home from work at an Oregon emergency dispatch center, was thrown from her vehicle during the impact. The injuries she suffered were simply too great to survive. Authorities pronounced her dead at the scene. The driver believed responsible for the crash suffered serious injuries. Before he could be transported to a hospital, emergency responders had to free him from the wreckage.

The Oregon State Police and the Oregon Department of Transportation shut down a stretch of the Interstate in order to proceed with an accident reconstruction. What charges, if any, will be filed against the suspected drunk driver are unknown at this time. As more information becomes available regarding the fatal car accident, it may be used by the victim’s family as evidence of the driver’s negligence in a wrongful death claim. If the family successfully proves negligence to a civil court, it may award a judgment for monetary damages to the family that could help with the financial impact this tragedy has caused.

Source: kobi5.com, “Fatal crash on I-5 involving wrong way driver”, Amber Wilmarth, March 27, 2014

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