Washtenaw County Drunk Driving Accident
On July 3rd, 2015, 19-year-old Travis Cunningham got behind the wheel of his pick-up truck after having several drinks, and collided head on with three people in a sedan. Two of those three people were pronounced dead at the scene, while the third was hospitalized with serious injuries. As a result, Cunningham was charged with drunk driving causing death, and sentenced to spend up to 30 years behind bars.
But according to the family of Curt Orlowski, one of the deceased victims of the crash, three decades in prison isn’t nearly enough. They are suing both Cunningham and his family, on the grounds that the alcohol in his system at the time of the accident was furnished to him by his parents.
According to court records, the parents of Curt Orlowski have filed a lawsuit in the Washtenaw County Trial Court against Travis Cunningham and also his parents, Daniel and Elizabeth. The grounds for their suit is the fact that, in spite of Cunningham’s apparent alcoholism, his parents still brewed beer in their home, and it was readily available to their son.
Because Cunningham was 19-years-of-age at the time of the accident, he was not legally allowed to have any amount of alcohol in his system when driving. However, police records show that his BAC at the time of the crash was 0.22, which is more than twice the legal limit for drivers in Michigan.
The attorney representing Orlowski’s father in the suit, has said that the police report does not include any information about where Cunningham got the alcohol. As a result, they have had to extrapolate based on facts available to them. Like the fact that Cunningham’s father brews beer in his garage of their Monroe home, and the fact that Cunningham lived there, and was an alcoholic.
These facts, when put together, according to the attorney, all add up to the fact that Cunningham’s parents are to blame. Even if they didn’t provide the alcohol intentionally or knowingly. But the Cunningham family is denying these allegations. Their attorney says that they had nothing to do with their son’s intoxication.
The suit is seeking damages in excess of $25,000, which is not small change for most people. But according to the Orlowski family attorney, the money is not the major factor here. What really matters is the truth. They want answers, and they want to know who is really responsible for the death of their son.
