Mike Inglis is aware of he most likely will obtain little from the $353 million verdict a Jefferson County jury reached this week within the civil case he introduced towards the motive force who struck and killed his spouse Gwen final 12 months whereas the couple have been using bikes on West Alameda Parkway.
But it surely’s essential to ship a message about drunken and distracted driving, he stated.
Gwen Inglis was fatally hit by Ryan Scott Montoya on a Sunday morning in Might 2021 on a large stretch of highway simply south of Inexperienced Mountain in Lakewood that’s frequented by Entrance Vary cyclists.
Montoya was sentenced final summer time to eight years in jail for killing her whereas drunk, methamphetamine, Xanax and marijuana. Inglis, who was 46 on the time of her demise, was a beloved member of the Entrance Vary biking neighborhood.
“I hope it sends a message that we have to cease ingesting and driving,” Mike Inglis stated Thursday. “Uber is a good choice as an alternative of going out and taking any individual’s life. This man was a repeat offender. To town and county and state, I’d hope this says that we have to undertake new legal guidelines for repeat offenders. Anyone who’s on his fourth DUI shouldn’t be given a driver’s license again to allow them to go kill a useful member of society like Gwen.”
Within the civil trial, the six-member jury on Tuesday awarded Inglis $100 million in non-economic damages, for ache and struggling; $3 million in financial damages, for the lack of Gwen’s revenue; and $250 million in punitive damages.
“The aim of this verdict was deterrence,” stated one in all Inglis’s attorneys, Megan Hottman, in an electronic mail. “That’s the level of punitive injury awards, to punish the particular person and deter others from the conduct. We requested the jury to assist us save lives by deterring different drivers from getting behind the wheel whereas impaired. The hope is that whether or not sentenced to jail, or hit with a large verdict, or each, individuals will drive extra rigorously round cyclists for concern of shedding their cash and their freedoms.”
Inglis stated the message he desires to ship goes past impaired driving to incorporate distracted driving.
“It’s not a few of us do it and a few of us don’t, it’s 99% of the individuals have plugged an handle into their cellphone to get to their subsequent location, or to examine visitors,” Inglis stated. “We all know all of us do it. How will we cease all people from doing it? We’ve to maintain consistently reminding all people to not be distracted.”
Inglis desires to see extra rumble strips on highways to alert drivers in the event that they stray out of their lanes, arguing that his spouse would nonetheless be alive if the highway the place she was killed had one.
“There’s little doubt in my thoughts,” Inglis stated. “That may have alerted him from no matter his distraction was. It might have introduced his consideration again to the highway, he would have swerved again into his lane, and he would have missed Gwen.”
Montoya did have insurance coverage, Inglis stated, however solely the state minimal of $25,000.
“Anyone within the state legislature must know $25,000 of insurance coverage isn’t sufficient to pay for funeral prices,” Inglis stated. “That’s all that insurance coverage firm is required to pay.”
Subscribe to our weekly e-newsletter, The Adventurist, to get outside information despatched straight to your inbox.