Hawaii is a beautiful state that hosts thousands of tourists every day. The last thing someone wants to have happen on vacation is to be involved in an automobile accident. When accidents prove fatal to innocent victims, surviving family members may experience anger and frustration in addition to their grief, especially when collisions are caused by drunk or reckless drivers.
Three years ago, a now 37-year-old man was behind the wheel of a vehicle, driving along the road with his girlfriend. Not long after 1 a.m., his car careened off the road and crashed, killing the young woman in the front passenger seat. The man was charged with multiple criminal offenses, including manslaughter, negligent homicide, promoting a dangerous drug and drug possession.
On a recent Tuesday, the man deemed responsible for the woman’s death entered a courtroom and pleaded no contest regarding the negligent homicide charge. He is now scheduled to be sentenced in March 2016. If the court orders him to prison, he could serve up to 10 years.
Several fines up to $25,000 each are also possible penalties that the man may incur. Besides criminal charges, reckless drivers in Hawaii may be sued in civil court if immediate family members of a deceased victim chooses to pursue justice on behalf of their loved one. Nothing the court can do is able to replace the loss of a human life; however, compensation awarded in a successfully litigated claim can at least remove some of the financial burden a victim’s family often faces in the aftermath of a collision.
Source: westhawaiitoday.com, “No contest plea entered in fatal 2013 DUI accident: Randall Kawasaki to be sentenced March 1”, Graham Milldrum, Jan. 6, 2016