SAN JOSE, Ca: On September 29, 1985, three Indians residing in’ Watsonville were injured in an accident when a car operated by a drunk driver swerved on to the wrong side of the road and collided head on with the a vehicle driven by Atkar S. Kewal. Both Shingara Singh, and Bhajan Singh were passengers in the Kewal vehicle.
The drunk driver was arrested at the scene of the accident; He has since been sentenced to serve six ‘months in county jail.
Mohinder S. Mann of The Mann Law Firm, attorney for Mssrs. Kewal, Singh, and Singh, stated that this client sustained uninsured. However, several ‘weeks ago, the insurance company for the owner of the car driven by the drunk driver agreed to pay $160,000 in an out of Court settlement for Mssrs. Kewal Singh, Singh, and Singh’s injuries.
Mr. Mann said that it is not unusual for drunk drives to be without any assets, and uninsured. It has been our experience, he said, that drunk drivers are generally uninsured, this is due to the fact. that a drunk driver has usually been in trouble with the law before, and it is likely that he is driving without a valid driver’s license. As a result, insurance companies are very reluctant to insure such individuals. Additionally, such persons are a very high risk group.
Fortunately, in this case we were able to develop a case against the owner of the vehicle driven by the drunk driver, under the legal concept known as negligent entrustment. In other words, in California a person can be held liable for allowing another to operate his vehicle where it is reasonably obvious that such person is an unsafe driver.
CONTACT PERSON: Mohinder S. Mann, 111 W. St. John St., Suite 230, San Jose, Ca 95113 (408) 2871600
Article extracted from this publication >> November 21, 1986
