A 22-year-old man was sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading no contest to a charge of vehicular homicide. On Feb. 14, the man was reportedly driving northbound on Byrne Road at 80-100 miles per hour when he struck the back of a car occupied by a 47-year-old woman. Her car was stopped at a red light on Byrne Street at Dorn Street when the accident took place.

The accident caused the woman’s car to be pushed into the back of an SUV while the man’s vehicle also hit a pickup truck. There was no information given as to whether the drivers in the other vehicles were injured. A blood plasma test taken after the crash revealed that his blood alcohol content was .28 percent. That is more than three times the legal limit in Ohio.

In addition to his jail sentence, the man had his driver’s license suspended for life and must pay $30,000 in restitution. While his attorney pleaded for a lighter sentence, the judge noted that he had a prior public intoxication charge on his record. The judge reasoned that the charge in itself should have served as a warning.

In a case where a driver is killed in a car accident, the driver responsible for that accident may be held liable financially. Either at trial or in a settlement, the family of the victim may be entitled to compensation to cover final expenses of a loved one. These expenses may include funeral expenses or the cost to settle that person’s estate. Additionally, punitive damages or compensation to provide for the victim’s dependents may also be awarded to the family.

Source: The Blade, “Ohio man gets 7 years for slamming, killing driver in intoxicated crash “, August 27, 2014