Venus Williams sued by family of man who died after Florida crash

[rooster59]

Venus Williams sued by family of man who died after Florida crash

By Bernie Woodall

 

FILE PHOTO: USA's Venus Williams reacts during her third round match against Belgium's Elise Mertens during the French Open at Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France June 2, 2017. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann/File Photo - RTS1976W

 

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Reuters) - Venus Williams was sued on Friday by the family of a Florida man who died after being involved in a two-vehicle crash that police say was the fault of the world's former top-ranked tennis player.

 

A civil complaint filed Friday, days before the revered Wimbledon tournament, claims that Williams was negligent in the June 9 crash near her Florida residence in Palm Beach Gardens. A passenger in a small sedan that collided with Williams' larger SUV, Jerome Barson, 78, died June 22, according to the suit and, separately, the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's office.

 

While Williams was not given a citation by police for the crash, she was found at fault for failing to yield the right of way, according to a police report filed by the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department.

 

The Barson’s lawsuit for wrongful death comes just days before Williams is scheduled to begin play at tennis’ most prestigious event, Wimbledon, and casts a cloud over her involvement in the tournament, where she is slated to play on Monday against Belgian Elise Mertens.

 

Williams, 37, has won the tournament five times, although her last title there came in 2008.

 

The suit says Barson died as a result of his injuries in the crash. The suit says those injuries included "severed main arteries, massive internal bleeding, a fractured spine and massive internal organ damage."

 

The suit alleges that Williams was "driving carelessly and recklessly" and that led to the collision of the Toyota Sequoia she was driving and the Barson's Hyundai Accent.

 

Malcolm Cunningham, attorney for Williams, said by telephone on Friday, "We think it's an unfortunate accident."

 

Cunningham on Thursday and Friday told Reuters that Williams, "expresses her deepest condolences" to the Barson family, but offered no comment on the lawsuit.

 

"The point is," Cunningham said Friday, "that Ms. Williams entered into that intersection on a green light. She was there lawfully."

 

Williams told police she drove into an intersection on a green light, but stopped at the intersection to wait for cross-traffic to clear, then proceeded without seeing Barson's car coming from the side.

 

The police report estimated Williams was travelling at about 5 miles per hour (8 kph) at the time of impact and was not distracted or suspected of any drug or alcohol use.

 

Jerome Barson's wife of 33 years, Linda Barson, who was driving the sedan, survived but, the suit says, sustained multiple injuries.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-07-01

[Gandtee]

I wonder if the car's occupants were wearing seat belts?

[KKr]

so, if she drove through green, and was pulling out at a slow speed after letting cross traffic pass, the other party surely drove through red, isn't it; or the other driver was speeding through green without paying attention to the vehicle on the intersection.?

[ben2talk]

45 minutes ago, KKr said:

so, if she drove through green, and was pulling out at a slow speed after letting cross traffic pass, the other party surely drove through red, isn't it; or the other driver was speeding through green without paying attention to the vehicle on the intersection.?

it seems she spent enough time waiting for traffic to clear for the lights to change - sounds like a rather insane situation to me. I thought the rule was that you can only pass a green light if your EXIT is clear, not drive in and stop waiting for 'cross traffic to clear'. 

 

Some strange American rule no doubt.

[petermik]

The smell of big money is the attraction here............

[Gandtee]

58 minutes ago, ben2talk said:

it seems she spent enough time waiting for traffic to clear for the lights to change - sounds like a rather insane situation to me. I thought the rule was that you can only pass a green light if your EXIT is clear, not drive in and stop waiting for 'cross traffic to clear'. 

 

Some strange American rule no doubt.

This is where my wife and I had a heated argument last week. Using her logic, she urged me to go through a green light even though the traffic was jammed up in front of us. She then proceeded to lecture me on "This is how we do it in Thailand"! The Me First syndrome! Needless to say it was hard to decide whether the dispute would be better resolved with knuckle dusters or balloons on sticks.