Venus Williams at fault in Florida car crash that killed senior citizen

[ecstatic]

Tragic story and a good reminder not to block intersections. If someone isn't paying attention and crashes into you, you're still considered to be at fault.

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“(Williams) is at fault for violating the right of way of (the other driver),” according to the police report obtained by TMZ Sports.

The 37-year-old tennis great blamed the crash on heavy traffic that left her vehicle jutting out into the intersection, the report said.

“Ms. Williams entered the intersection on a green light,” her lawyer Malcolm Cunningham said after the police report was made public. “The police report estimates that Ms. Williams was traveling at 5 mph when Mrs. Barson crashed into her. Authorities did not issue Ms. Williams with any citations or traffic violations.”

Cunningham called the incident “an unfortunate accident and Venus expresses her deepest condolences to the family who lost a loved one.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/venus-williams-fault-florida-crash-killed-man-article-1.3288633

[elleng]

1. 'If someone isn't paying attention and crashes into you, you're still considered to be at fault.' ??

'Traveling at 5 mph when Mrs. Barson crashed into her.'

[MichMan]

7. Yes, if they have the right of way and you pull out in front of them nm

[Demsrule86]

17. I can see how that happens ...you get stuck in intersection sometimes...

and some folks don't stop even when they see you...sad for the family of this woman. It may be technically Ms. Williams fault, but the woman ran into her.

[elleng]

20. Right, we can see how it happens sometimes,

but s/he who runs into is usually at fault. There is, of course, in some jurisdictions, a % of 'fault' determined, which seems like appropriate here.

[Demsrule86]

29. If you are blocking an intersection, you are usually in the wrong...but still

if you ram someone, you might die as these folks did.

[RobinA]

18. I Had No Idea

This explains people speeding through parking lots like it's the freeway. Well, I had the right of way. What happened to defensive driving? Wait, so if you have the right of way you can plow into anything and not be at fault?

Driving like this could be fun in Manhattan.

[Blue_true]

2. I live in Florida.

Where I live the green light is followed by a 5 second yellow light. I always slow down to stop when I see the light turn yellow. My suggestion is if you get caught in the intersection with yellow on, finish the transit, the other direction traffic gets a 2 second delay, enough time for you to clear the intersection.

[Atman]

25. That's the law. What I was taught in drivers ed

In Florida. My instructor taught that you pull into the intersection to make a turn (always use your turn signal, of course!) Don't wait behind the line. The law states that if you are in the intersection when the light changes you must proceed and clear the intersection. That's what I was taught...in Florida in 1975.

[yallerdawg]

3. Florida, huh?

No ticket, no citation.

Other car t-boned her in intersection. They had the right-of-way?

The passenger, the driver's husband, was 78?

Florida, huh?

[bagelsforbreakfast]

4. Tragic accident but think she is not at fault in my eyes...

In CA it was even worse when they had those stupid cameras every two blocks. I almost witnessed something like that on a weekly basis in Culver City 10 years back.

[MichMan]

8. I didn't witness it, did you? nm

[bagelsforbreakfast]

23. Yes. n/m

[Tarheel_Dem]

5. My heart goes out to everyone involved. Serena won't be sleeping well for awhile. This is a...

horrific thing to have happened.

[MichMan]

15. Why Serena? Venus was the one involved nm

[Tarheel_Dem]

22. It was a brain fart. I meant Venus.

[panader0]

6. I don't understand.

Found at fault and no "citations or traffic violations"?
If there was no violation how can she be at fault?
5 miles an hour? I feel very sorry for all involved.

[MichMan]

9. Happens all the time

Just because you aren't ticketed doesn't mean you weren't considered to be at fault. Would it have been better if she was ticketed?

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. Could mean at fault for insurance purposes (nt)

[McCamy Taylor]

10. THis makes no sense. If a pedestrian fell in the cross walk, would the pedestrian be at fault

if the light changed and a car ran over him?

This sounds like bullshit from a plaintiffs attorney trying to weasel a financial settlement out of Ms. Willams. The driver of the other car failed to act prudently. He was not paying attention. A green light does not mean you have to go. It means you may go--if it is safe.

[MichMan]

11. Poor analogy

What plaintiff's attorney? We have a news story that states the police report found her at fault and her attorney is being quoted as to what he says happened (based on her side) . No body is suing anybody (yet)

Since none of us here witnessed the accident, to speculate that it is all BS based on her attorney's version is probably not correct.

Of course if your presumption is that a popular athlete is incapable of being at fault and the police just made everything up to frame her, than your statement makes sense I guess.

It was a tragic accident and no one is claiming anything else. I suspect the victim's family will be flooded with lawyers wanting to take the case against Ms. Williams. While it might go to trial, most likely there will be a large settlement.

[Awsi Dooger]

12. Aggressive drivers cause one accident after another

I have no doubt that's what happened here. Venus should have stopped but did not. Aggressive drivers have no concept that the lines are there for a reason and that anybody else could possibly be impacted if they drive beyond those lines. Angles and logic mean absolutely nothing to aggressive drivers. The only variable is whether they have enough time or room to squeeze their car in between the tiny gap.

I live in Florida. I see situations like this all the time in heavy traffic, in which sensible drivers will stop when traffic is jammed just beyond the intersection. Not the genius aggressive drivers. They'll plow through toward the logjam and assume nothing could possibly go wrong if they stop in the median. Far preferable to do that than to suffer an extra 2 or 3 minutes behind a red light. Heck, I often see the zig zag aggressive drivers change lanes in the median, just to gain that extra 5 or 10 feet before being forced to stop. Sometimes they'll blare on the horn, as if the cars congested in front of them have anywhere to go.

I'm not surprised an SUV was involved. My world is all about probability. I drive cross country and back all the time. Years ago I started charting matters, when I was stuck in a bumper to bumper situation due to a traffic accident ahead. I started writing down the type of vehicles involved. I actually kept a notepad near the drivers seat for that purpose. Within months the trend was unbelievable. Half of all accidents -- or at least the ones I was encountering on mostly freeway driving -- involved either a black sports car or black SUV. It was as if those cars magnetized trouble, or more likely that the people with personalities drawn to that type of vehicle drove so recklessly and poorly that they caused trouble.

We now have a game in my family. It is not a particularly fun game but it is designed to influence careful defensive driving: Whenever an accident is in the foreground you can wager yes or no...will a black SUV or black sports car be involved? Obviously we have somewhat liberal definitions of SUV and sports car. But there seldom is a dispute. The only notable dispute was 3 months ago on I-75 north between Naples and Ft Myers. We had a half hour delay. The action was split 2-2. One female who always chooses the No was initially discouraged when she saw a black SUV angled and mangled in the median. But once we reached the scene the damaged car on the opposite side, and basically connected to the SUV, was a black sports car. The assertion from the back seat was that the choice has always been black sports car OR black SUV. Not BOTH at the same time.

Nice try. She was out voted and lost.

[CanSocDem]

16. Good post.

The correlation between "aggressive" driving and accidents is unmistakable. The type of vehicle preferred by 'aggressive' drivers is also spot on.

Up here where snowy roads are more common than 'heavy traffic', the SUV driving "genius aggressive drivers" are 90% of the time the ones sitting in the ditch.

I have also noticed that SOME driving behaviours are gender specific.


.

[bullwinkle428]

26. BOOM - I live in Iowa, and it's rather amazing how disproportionate the "ditched vehicle in winter"

type seems to be. TONS of 4x4 pickups and SUVs.

[RobinA]

19. I Agree With You

on aggressive driving and the cars and drivers involved, but even if careful, who has not, at some point or other gotten stuck, even briefly, in an intersection. The expectation is hopefully not that you will be plowed into by crossing traffic. We've all been blocked a time or two by people in the intersection when our light goes green, and I certainly would never assume that I can go if there is a car in my path.

One of my pet driving peeves is these "I have the right of way" junkies who think that they can just move along at speed without regard for anything. I'm not saying that's what happened here, but we've all seen it. Pick-ups and BMWs. Trump voters all. I live on a straight country road next to a small pond and you would be surprised (maybe not) at the number of drivers who have no problem mowing down Canadian geese who happen to be in the road. Geese don't "dart" out, and you can see road obstructions on this road in long enough time to stop a freight train. But no, they don't even slow down, they have the right of way. Just blast geese, multiple geese at a time, to smithereens. Goose parts everywhere. All hail, the right of way.

[Blue_true]

24. I live in Florida too. If anyone think drivers in their state are nuts, let them come to

Florida and drive through a few cities here. They will go home changed people. Florida drivers drive fast on all types of roads, especially the jerks in the jacked up pickup trucks. When driving here watch all around you, and pay attention when coming to intersections.

[X_Digger]

27. I lived on South Beach..

.. where everyone drives by the laws.. of their home country.

You have some folks who have no problem making a left on a red after stopping, and others who refuse to make a right on red.

I-95 may have only had 3 lanes on each side at the time (technically), but there were 5 lanes of traffic (both breakdown lanes would often have traffic.)

[Blue_true]

28. That's nuts. I have gone to South Beach three or four times, never noticed, I took a taxi. nt

[OriginalGeek]

13. People do it all the time

But it is illegal to enter an intersection if there isn't a clear path out of the intersection. It doesn't matter how green your light is, if cars are stopped in front of you, don't go into the intersection. Yes, you might miss the light. You'll get the next one and nobody will crash into you.

[MineralMan]

21. She MAY be at fault. That has not actually been determined,

as far as I know. Such situations often require court cases to determine fault.