Woman stands trial after seizure induced accident kills family of five
A Colorado woman whose sport utility vehicle collided with a pickup truck and killed a family of five is currently standing trial for negligent homicide because prosecutors say the woman, who suffered a seizure at the time of the collision, was driving against the advice of medical professionals. The woman was driving at a speed in excess of more than 100 miles per hour with her two children riding as passengers when she entered an intersection and her sport utility vehicle became airborne and collided with two vehicles in February of last year on a Thornton, Colorado, roadway. A married couple and their three children were killed on impact. According to the prosecution, the woman was driving against the medical advice of a doctor. After she experienced a seizure-like episode in 2006, prosecutors say the woman was instructed by an emergency room doctor to discontinue driving until she was cleared by a neurologist, but according to the woman’s defense attorneys, she subsequently visited another doctor who said it wasn’t clear the episode was a seizure. According to a legal expert, the length of time between the original seizure like episode and the accident may be damaging to the prosecution’s case. A second episode in 2010 which prosecutors call a seizure, was thought to be a heat stroke induced blackout, according to the woman’s husband. The case has drawn more attention from the media after a more recent accident involved the United States Commerce Secretary, who was charged with a felony hit and run after colliding with two vehicles in what he says was also a seizure induced accident.
