WINTER HAVEN, FL — Florida State Police have identified Christopher Ivey and Jayden Ivey as the man and child that were killed in an accident with an alleged DUI driver in Winter Haven, Florida on Friday, May 29th, 2015. News sources out of Miami were not clear on the time of the accident in their releases.
39-year-old Christopher Ivey and 4-year-old Jayden Ivey died when the vehicle they were in was hit by another vehicle while driving on Cyperss Gardens Boulevard near the intersection with Lake Ruby Drive. Police believe the rear vehicle may have been traveling upwards of 80 miles per hour at the time of the crash.
Both Christopher and Jayden Ivey were pronounced dead following the accident. The driver of the offending vehicle was identified in the news report as William Gainey, who currently faces DUI related charges in connection with the accident.
Highway Patrol officials assisted with the accident scene.
Scene of the Accident
View of the Road
Commentary:
I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it until I’m either blue in the face, or something changes drastically for the better. These are the kinds of accidents that only serve to punctuate Florida’s need to get with the program and the rest of the country to adopt some seriously comprehensive dram shop laws. Currently, in the State of Texas, if a bar decides to break the law and over-serve a customer, or if a liquor store clerk decides to sell alcohol to somebody that is clearly intoxicated, those businesses have put themselves squarely in the liability in cross hairs. In these Texan drunk driving accidents, a drunk driver can be punished in one court, while the bar is punished in another.
In Florida, bars can serve customers near fatal amounts of alcohol, only to hand them their keys on the way out the door and face zero repercussions. Is this really the safest, most responsible way to handle things?
— Grossman Law Offices