Kentucky Injury Lawyer Blog

There was a tragic fatal single car accident on Interstate 71 in Carrol County Kentucky on Monday according to a report by the Campbellsburg, Kentucky KSP Post.

According to Kentucky State Police, 23 year old Jessica Isaacs, from Franklin, Ohio was driving south bound on I-71 when the car entered the median and rolled over. The auto reportedly then entered the north bound lanes of I-71 and struck the guardrail on the east side of the road.

Her husband, 24 year old Michael Isaacs, also from Franklin, Ohio was ejected from the vehicle. He was transported to Carroll County Memorial Hospital in Carrollton where he was pronounced deceased.

Ms. Isaacs was also transported to Carroll County Memorial Hospital with what are being reported as non-life threatening injuries. The Isaacs' infant child was secured in a child safety seat as a rear passenger of the vehicle and was not injured in the accident.

While the accident remains under investigation, initial reports from KSP indicate that Mr. Isaacs may not have been wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident, but that Ms. Isaacs was belted.

According to Shawn Cantley, a Kentucky attorney who handles a lot of auto accident cases, "It is obviously very important to wear a seatbelt, they without question save lives. That said, seatbelts sometimes fail or fail to work properly. Often times when a person is ejected from a car the initial responders will conclude that the person wasn't belted. But, it's usually necessary to conduct further investigation before this can be determined conclusively--for example an autopsy and a vehicle inspection."

Another legal issue presented by this tragedy is the rights of a passenger (or a passenger's estate) when the passenger is injured by the driver's negligence and the passenger and driver are related by blood or marriage. Many states have a "guest statute" which precludes recovery by the passenger (or passenger's estate) under these circumstances. Under Kentucky law, there is no such limitation.