A Texas lady 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 identified higher.
Police in Odessa, Texas have been capable of calculate that the Challenger’s common velocity was between 115 and 121 mph, and it received 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, based on NewsWest9. To make issues much more horrid, one in all her kids, Natasha, stumbled on the accident scene by happenstance and located her mom useless on the road. Now, the household is suing the driving force, the salesperson and All American Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram of Odessa.
After the crash, the driving 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 harm and aggravated assault inflicting vital bodily harm in reference to the crash, Automotive Information reviews. On July 30 he was charged with one depend of collision involving demise, two counts of aggravated assault with a lethal weapon and one depend of collision involving vital bodily harm.
Each Meece and Kenneth Salas – the salesperson – have 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 automobiles that he would “would go the additional mile (per hour) to provide prospects an unforgettable gross sales expertise” throughout take a look at drives. The lawsuit quoted one put up 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 automobiles, they have been reckless pursuits to satisfy All American and Lithia’s gross sales targets,” the civil case stated. “It was solely a matter of time till these sales-driven pleasure rides turned lethal.”
It accused the dealership of negligence in overseeing prospects and take a look at drives.”All American additionally owed Plaintiffs, and others, an obligation to make use of abnormal care in investigating the competency of take a look at drive prospects, entrusting automobiles to them, and supervising their take a look at drives as soon as began,” the lawsuit stated. “All American knew or ought to have identified that sure of its workers, together with Salas, have been unfit, incompetent, and/or reckless and that their employment and entrusting automobiles to them created an unreasonable threat of hurt to Plaintiffs and others. All American additionally knew or ought to have identified that sure of its take a look at drive prospects, together with Meece, have been unfit, incompetent, and/or reckless and that entrusting them with a automobile created an unreasonable threat 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 data 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:
“Primarily based on Meece’s publicly accessible historical past, nonetheless, 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,” based on the lawsuit filed in Ector County District Court docket in Texas. “Only a cursory evaluate of native arrest data would have made clear to Salas and All American that Meece shouldn’t be trusted to drive such a automobile in Monday morning site 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 dad or mum firm – declined to touch upon the pending litigation however did affirm that Salas not labored there.
