San Juan Capistrano Family Settles Lawsuit over Santa Barbara Accident that Made International Headlines

Kelli Groves, the San Juan Capistrano teacher whose harrowing accident in Santa Barbara County in 2012 made international headlines, has settled her lawsuit against the trucking company whose driver nearly ran her off a bridge.

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According to the Lompoc Record, Groves and her family will receive $1 million, with her lawyers receiving 25 percent of that. The rest breaks down:

$292,141 for Kelli Groves, who teaches at Del Obispo Elementary

$192,488 for daughter Sage, who was 10 at the time of the accident

$12,840 for daughter Mylo, who was an infant at the time of the accident

$73,085, for husband Jason Groves, who was not in the car that day, for the “loss of love, companionship, affection, society and solace of his wife” caused by the accident.

The Record cites court records for its source. The rest of the proceeds go toward medical bills.

Groves was driving to San Luis Obispo in January 2012 when a truck started swerving across lanes just south of Buellton. It smashed into her BMW and then careened over a 50-foot bridge. The twisted mass of BMW hung more off the bridge than on, and the brave work of Santa Barbara rescue workers along with a tow truck driver and a group of Navy Seabees who happened to be passing by made headlines around the world.

The truck driver died that day. He was later found to have been high on methamphetamine at the time of the accident. Groves’s attorney Michael Penn sued R&R Auto Wrecking of Arroyo Grande in January 2013, seeking to hold it responsible for neglecting to maintain the truck and for hiring Allison as a driver.

Read the entire Lompoc Record article here.

PHOTO Patch file photo.