SpaceX Sued for $20 Million After Fatal Car Accident in Harlingen, Texas
HARLINGEN, TX - A news story published on wjbf.com states that a family from Texas has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against SpaceX after the tragic death of a loved one who was killed in a car accident that occurred outside of SpaceX's launch site.* The San Benito family's lawsuit claims that the family was on a camping trip. The family was camping on a beach when rising tides caused them to leave the beach at around 4 AM.
The suit states that the family was traveling along Highway 4 when their vehicle collided with an 18-wheeler that had stalled just outside the SpaceX facility. The result of the accident was the tragic death of the husband and father.
The victim's wife and their three children sustained serious injuries to their legs and spines.
According to the autopsy report, the victim's cause of death was "blunt force trauma caused by a motor vehicle accident."
The family's lawsuit is seeking $20 million dollars in damages from SpaceX, claiming the fatal accident was the result of negligence on behalf of SpaceX.
According to the court documents, attorneys for the victim's family stated that SpaceX failed to update and equip the highway to account for the heavy and constant use.
The attorneys allege that SpaceX should have added warnings, adequate lighting, and other procedures to manage obstructive third-party delivery trucks so beachgoers are able to travel through the area safely, particularly at night.
The suit also claims that the responsibility fell upon SpaceX, and not the local government, to enlarge the highway to account for the increased traffic.
In the matter of the 18-wheeler truck involved in the fatal accident, the court documents allege that the highway was too dark, narrow, and difficult to safely navigate and was likely the caused the highway obstruction and resulting accident.
The family's attorneys stated that the negligent actions were the result of bad timing and the company's engagement in profiteering. The rush for construction of the new SpaceX site did not consider safety. The plaintiff's attorneys stated that SpaceX rushed construction and opened the operations of its Boca Chica business, leading to the death of their client.
SpaceX defense attorneys argued in their responses that the accusations are not true and the driver was what caused the accident. The attorneys for SpaceX continued by stating the driver of the victim's car "failed to use the degree of care and caution which would have been exercised by persons of ordinary prudence under the same or similar circumstances, and was, therefore, negligent in the operation in question."
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Source:
https://www.wjbf.com/news/family-files-20m-lawsuit-against-spacex-after-fatal-car-accident/