{"id":107727,"date":"2022-04-13T00:15:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-13T07:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/?p=107727"},"modified":"2022-05-13T18:48:33","modified_gmt":"2022-05-14T01:48:33","slug":"bianca-lopez-receives-six-year-sentence-for-dui","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2022\/04\/13\/bianca-lopez-receives-six-year-sentence-for-dui\/","title":{"rendered":"Bianca Lopez receives six-year sentence for DUI"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Twenty-eight people die from drunk-driving incidents every day, according to Forbes Advisor.<\/em> To reduce such incidents, the Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s Department carried out a DUI checkpoint<\/a> in Lancaster City on April 1, 2022. DUI or driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs carries heavy penalties in California. Fatalities from such accidents carry even greater sanctions. On March 12, 2022, an LA County court sentenced Bianca Lopez to six years in prison<\/a> for two felony counts of gross vehicular manslaughter.<\/p>\n

101 Freeway Crash<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Lopez was driving on the 101 Freeway when she hit the rear end of a truck on April 24, 2021. These two vehicles lost control and hit the freeway\u2019s center divider. The impact threw the truck to the opposite lane, where another vehicle hit it. Paramedics pronounced Felix Hernandez Pena dead at the scene. They brought Julio Bautista to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he died later. Two other people also sustained injuries. California Highway Patrol stated that Lopez was under the influence of alcohol when the incident happened.<\/p>\n

Families\u2019 Response<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Besides the six-year prison stay, Superior Court Judge Eric Harmon revoked Lopez\u2019s driver\u2019s license for 10 years. He also warned that prosecutors can charge her with murder if she drives under the influence again and someone else dies. The short sentence disappointed the loved ones<\/a> of Pena and Bautista. Bautista\u2019s stepfather said that Lopez was \u201cgiven very little time,\u201d while Pena\u2019s widow stated she lost a husband because of an \u201cirresponsible individual who felt she owned the road.\u201d Judge Harmon understands how they feel, but said that he had few options.<\/p>\n

Wrongful Death<\/strong><\/h4>\n

There are no reports if the families of Lopez\u2019s victims are going to sue for wrongful death. Loved ones in a similar case may seek additional damages<\/a> in states like California and Texas. This includes medical, funeral, and burial expenses, as well as compensation for lost wages. Another category for damages is \u201closs of consortium\u201d or the deprivation of a deceased one\u2019s love and companionship. A DUI attorney<\/a> can help a victim\u2019s family by claiming these in a civil court. If a criminal case results in a conviction, this may give credibility to a wrongful death lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Preventive Steps<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Society must work together to keep roads safe. The LA County Sheriff\u2019s Department set up DUI checkpoints, such as the one in Lancaster, to reduce drunk-driving incidents. Congress passed a mandate that requires manufacturers to build technologies in the car that identifies an impaired driver. Individual citizens can support this by complying with the motto, \u201cDon\u2019t drink and drive.\u201d Ridesharing may be a wiser option for those who have imbibed alcohol. A Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health study showed that ridesharing may help decrease the number of vehicular accidents involving alcohol.<\/p>\n

The Bianca Lopez case demonstrates clearly that drinking and driving can be disastrous for the driver, as well as other people on the road. Drunk-driving accidents are preventable when everybody works together.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Twenty-eight people die from drunk-driving incidents every day, according to Forbes Advisor. To reduce such incidents, the Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s Department carried out a DUI checkpoint in Lancaster City on April 1, 2022. DUI or driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs carries heavy penalties in California. Fatalities from such accidents carry even […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107727"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107727"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107732,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107727\/revisions\/107732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}