A Texas girl was killed when her Honda Accord was struck by a 2021 Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack being taken on a take a look at drive by a possible purchaser with a historical past of driving points and a salesman who ought to have recognized higher.
Police in Odessa, Texas had been capable of calculate that the Challenger’s common velocity was between 115 and 121 mph, and it obtained as excessive as 124 mph earlier than the crash. For reference, this highway had a 35 mph velocity restrict. The lady, the mom of three Quma Carrillo, was ejected from her 2005 Accord Coupe and died shortly afterward, in response to NewsWest9. To make issues much more horrid, certainly one of her kids, Natasha, came across the accident scene by happenstance and located her mom lifeless on the road. Now, the household is suing the motive force, the salesperson and All American Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram of Odessa.
After the crash, the motive force, Benjamin Meece, fled the scene and was present in a close-by yard hiding beneath a sheet of plywood. He was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, collision involving demise, collision involving vital bodily damage and aggravated assault inflicting vital bodily damage in reference to the crash, Automotive Information stories. On July 30 he was charged with one rely of collision involving demise, two counts of aggravated assault with a lethal weapon and one rely of collision involving vital bodily damage.
Each Meece and Kenneth Salas – the salesperson – had been transported from the scene by ambulance. Salas was suspected of getting severe accidents, and Meece was reported as having potential accidents.
Right here’s extra on Salas’ and All American CJDR’s roles in all of this, from Automotive Information:
The lawsuit accused Salas, the salesperson, of implying with social media posts of muscle vehicles that he would “would go the additional mile (per hour) to offer clients an unforgettable gross sales expertise” throughout take a look at drives. The lawsuit quoted one submit mentioning “a hell of a take a look at drive” with a buyer who purchased a Ford Mustang Shelby GT350.
“Whereas these wild rides could have helped Salas promote sports activities vehicles, they had been reckless pursuits to fulfill All American and Lithia’s gross sales objectives,” the civil case mentioned. “It was solely a matter of time till these sales-driven pleasure rides turned lethal.”
It accused the dealership of negligence in overseeing clients and take a look at drives.”All American additionally owed Plaintiffs, and others, an obligation to make use of unusual care in investigating the competency of take a look at drive clients, entrusting automobiles to them, and supervising their take a look at drives as soon as began,” the lawsuit mentioned. “All American knew or ought to have recognized that sure of its workers, together with Salas, had been unfit, incompetent, and/or reckless and that their employment and entrusting automobiles to them created an unreasonable danger of hurt to Plaintiffs and others. All American additionally knew or ought to have recognized that sure of its take a look at drive clients, together with Meece, had been unfit, incompetent, and/or reckless and that entrusting them with a automobile created an unreasonable danger of hurt to Plaintiffs and others.”
The lawsuit additionally alleges Meece ought to have by no means been allowed behind the wheel of that Challenger. Ector Nation Jain information apparently present that he had been arrested repeatedly on suspicion of vehicle-related violations from 2007 to 2023, together with multiple occasion of reckless driving. Right here’s extra from AutoNews:
“Based mostly on Meece’s publicly accessible historical past, nevertheless, Salas and All American ought to by no means have let him behind the wheel of any automobile, not to mention a high-performance one,” in response to the lawsuit filed in Ector County District Courtroom in Texas. “Only a cursory evaluate of native arrest information would have made clear to Salas and All American that Meece shouldn’t be trusted to drive such a automotive in Monday morning visitors. His many reckless driving and failure to take care of monetary accountability infractions ought to have set off alarms to Salas and All American.”
A spokesperson for Lithia Motors – the dealership’s guardian firm – declined to touch upon the pending litigation however did verify that Salas now not labored there.
