Utah Law Talk

Amanda Clifford, a 20-year-old Utah Valley University student from Lindon, Utah, was taken off of life support by her family earlier this afternoon after being critically injured from an automobile accident on southbound I-15. Sadly, it appears she suffered a major traumatic brain injury. According to Deseret News, witnesses say that it looked like Clifford was cut off just north of the Orem exit of 800 North. This caused her to lose control of her car, which ended up swerving into a semi truck, which was just to her left. The big rig then hit the driver’s side of her Honda Civic. The freeway was closed for 10-15 minutes while a helicopter from the University of Utah landed. Officers believe that Clifford was on her way to UVU to attend a 9 a.m. class.

The UHP is seeking the public’s help to identify who the driver may have been the one that cut off Amanda Clifford. Anyone who has information regarding this auto crash should call 801-374-7030.

I was actually on my way to Provo this morning with my son when I stopped in the HOV lane for the helicopter that landed about 100 yards ahead of us. As traffic started up again, I glanced over and saw the truck and the front of it looked pretty bashed up. It looked like a substantial collision for that kind of damage to occur to a big rig. I only got a quick glance at the Honda, and that car also looked substantially damaged.

Since witnesses say that it looked like Ms. Clifford was cut-off, her family – which would include her parents, her husband (if married) and her children (if any) – would have a wrongful death claim in this tragic case against the at-fault driver. If that driver cannot be found, her family may be able to make a claim on her uninsured auto policy. In addition, her policy’s PIP (personal injury protection) insurance coverage would pay an amount toward funeral expenses and at least $3,000 toward her medical bills. The family would be well advised to contact an experienced Utah personal injury attorney to find out what the extent of their legal options are. Given the tragic nature of the situation, it is likely that any attorney taking this case would offer (if asked) a significant discount to help the family in this situation.

Published by: Ron Kramer

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 11th, 2008 at 1:12 pm and is filed under Vehicle Injury, Wrongful Death. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.