Venus Williams Got Sued For The Fatal Car Crash Police Say She Caused
Yesterday, we all learned that on June 9, Venus Williams was involved in a car crash near her home in Palm Beach Gardens, FL and that the police declared that she was at fault for it. 78-year-old Jerome Barson got hurt badly in the crash and he later died from his injuries in the hospital. We all knew that a lawsuit was coming, and a lawsuit has arrived on Venus’ lap.
TMZ says that the lawsuit, filed by Jerome Barson’s estate, claims that Venus broke several traffic laws and is completely in the wrong. The police report says that Venus went into the six-lane intersection when the light was green but her Toyota Sequoia got stuck in the box because of traffic. Jerome’s wife, Linda Barson, was driving their Hyundai Accent and when her light turned green, she drove forward and T-boned Venus. Linda said that Venus’ SUV “darted” in front of her. The police don’t believe that Venus was drunk, high or distracted by her phone at the time. Venus’ lawyer said yesterday that she was driving 5mph. Venus wasn’t cited for the crash.
The Barson’s lawsuit says something a little different. It says that Venus blew through the red light, was driving too fast and was distracted. It says she was reckless. TMZ has pictures of the Barson’s busted up car and I snatched this screen shot of the intersection from Google.
The lawsuit says that Jerome suffered painful injuries and so did Linda. Jerome’s estate wants an unspecified amount of damages for “loss of companionship for both Linda and their family, loss of earnings, pain and suffering, and medical and funeral expenses.” There was another heaping dollop of sad in the lawsuit. Jerome died on Linda’s 68th birthday.
This story brings out a lot of questions marks (and only Venus, Linda and the traffic cameras, if they exist at that intersection, know the truth), but one big question mark is Venus driving 5mph. I live in Southern California, the land of messy drivers, so I didn’t think it was possible to go that slow, even while parked. And when I read stories like this, I think to myself that maybe I should sell my car and walk everywhere. But then again, even walking is a dangerous thing.