The 19-year-old driver, who caused a fatal car accident last Saturday that killed a family of four on Highway 37, previously had a DUI conviction.
According to California’s Department of Motor Vehicles, Steven Culbertson was involved in a car accident in Lake County in 2007.
His license was suspended a month after.
Culbertson died Sunday, a day after his Mini Cooper ran a red light and plowed through a minivan at 70 to 90 mph.
The crash killed Jonathan Maloney, his wife Susan and their two children.
There were no signs of drugs or alcohol but Police are still awaiting results of toxicology tests.
Now that the liable party died, does that mean that that the family of the victims cannot go after Culbertson?
Well, criminally, there is no more need as Culbertson has already paid the ultimate price for driving recklessly.
However, the family can still file a wrongful death claim against Culbertson.
His death does not mean that he escaped civil liability towards his victims.
Hopefully he has a car accident insurance policy that will take care of the damages he left behind.
If not, the courts will go after his assets and properties.
Beyond that, the victims won’t be able to collect anymore even if it does not meet the amount of damages warded by the court.
They will have to settle for the knowledge that the law recognized that the victims were wronged by Culbertson and he paid for it with his life.
According to California’s Department of Motor Vehicles, Steven Culbertson was involved in a car accident in Lake County in 2007.
His license was suspended a month after.
Culbertson died Sunday, a day after his Mini Cooper ran a red light and plowed through a minivan at 70 to 90 mph.
The crash killed Jonathan Maloney, his wife Susan and their two children.
There were no signs of drugs or alcohol but Police are still awaiting results of toxicology tests.
Now that the liable party died, does that mean that that the family of the victims cannot go after Culbertson?
Well, criminally, there is no more need as Culbertson has already paid the ultimate price for driving recklessly.
However, the family can still file a wrongful death claim against Culbertson.
His death does not mean that he escaped civil liability towards his victims.
Hopefully he has a car accident insurance policy that will take care of the damages he left behind.
If not, the courts will go after his assets and properties.
Beyond that, the victims won’t be able to collect anymore even if it does not meet the amount of damages warded by the court.
They will have to settle for the knowledge that the law recognized that the victims were wronged by Culbertson and he paid for it with his life.
