Posted by frank m. on September 01, 1997 at 16:59:43:
Hello to all,
My family lawyer has informed me that I am criminally
culpable if I am involve in an automobile accident while
suffering from a spontaneous vertigo attack. I was diagnosed
with B. P. P. V. a couple of years ago but it responded to
physical therapy and my reoccurrences of vertigo are
infrequent but unpredictable.
He bases this opinion on a situation which occurred in
SanDiego California.
A young woman was killed and her fiance was permanently
injured by a diabetic driver who had failed to monitor his
blood sugar. The diabetic passed out at the wheel causing
the accident. The San Diego district attorney filed criminal
charges of vehicular manslaughter because of this accident.
My lawyer states that similar charges could be brought
against me if during a vertigo episode I caused an accident. This now causes me great
concern about driving and and has caused me to considerably
limit my driving.
Have any of you heard of any such cases or have you
received an opinion of this topic from an attorney. The
consequences of this is very scary end I would be
interested in your opinions.