Self-confessed drunk drivers facing civil lawsuits : Law Offices of Brent C. Miller, P.A.

One of the unfortunate aspects of personal injury law in Florida and across the country is that in some ways it may be seen as an “evergreen” industry: for example, no matter how many times and in how many ways people are warned not to drink and drive, some still do – and some of them will always get into car accidents that kill and maim innocent people.

In June of last year, for example, we posted about Kayla Mendoza, a Ft. Lauderdale woman who sent a Tweet reading, "2 drunk 2 care" shortly before driving the wrong way on a freeway and colliding head-on with another vehicle, killing both of its occupants. She has just been sentenced to 24 years in prison, and a wrongful death lawsuit against her has also been filed.

In late April, another Florida driver combined texting with alleged drunk driving in the lead-up to another fatal collision, this time in Miami. She texted “Driving drunk woo … I’ll be dead thanks to you” to her estranged boyfriend not long before running a stop sign and colliding with a pickup truck, killing the passenger in her vehicle. She is also now the defendant in a civil lawsuit in connection with the crash.

No matter how much of a law-abiding citizen you are, no matter how careful you are, and no matter how defensively you drive, the unfortunate reality is that there will always be other drivers on Florida roads who exhibit none of these behaviors. We hope that you never encounter one of them. But if you do, and suffer injuries and property damage as a result, retaining a personal injury law firm that knows how to handle car accident cases will be something to strongly consider as a way in addition to the criminal justice system to hold the responsible bad driver accountable.

Source: Miami Herald: "'Driving drunk… I'll be dead thanks to you': Prophetic texts reveal minutes before fatal Miami car crash," David Ovalle, April 30, 2015

Secondary source: local10.com, "Kayla Mendoza sentenced to 24 years in fatal wrong-way crash," Amanda Batchelor, May 4, 2015