The St. Pete Patch reports on a taxi driver facing multiple charges over a fatal accident.
47-year-old David Yancy was driving an Express Taxi south on 49th Street North on January 27th. He had a passenger in his vehicle, 40-year-old Heather Scozzaro when he rear-ended a 2018 Chevrolet Tahoe driven by 78-year-old John McVey.
This caused a chain-reaction collision that ultimately involved four additional vehicles. The Tahoe was thrust forward, striking a Ford Escape being driven by 71-year-old Barbara Weber, then a Chevrolet SS being driven by 57-year-old Thomas Stewart. The Escape then struck a Kia Optima being driven by 85-year-old Warren Chase. The Kia Optima then struck 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe, which was being driven by 48-year-old Beth Johnson.
Yancy and his passenger suffered from serious injuries in the collision. They were transported to Bayfront Medical Center where Scozzaro eventually succumbed to those injuries.
Additionally, McVey, McLoughlin, and Weber suffered from non-life-threatening injuries and were also transported to area hospitals.
Police arrested Yancy at a later date and extradited him from Ocala to Pinellas County. He is facing charges of vehicular homicide, DUI manslaughter, three charges of DUI serious injury, and seven charges of DUI property damage.
Florida is both a no-fault state and a comparative negligence state when it comes to auto insurance. Basically, this means that when involved in an accident, the state first expects people to turn to their own auto insurance to cover compensation for injuries. Drivers must carry a minimum of $10,000 in personal injury protection insurance. When it comes to comparative negligence, this basically means that your amount of compensation is lessened by the amount for which you are responsible for the accident. For example, if it is determined that your compensation should be $100,000, but that you were 30% at fault for the accident, you will only receive $70,000.
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