Roman v. the Republic of Perrennia

Michelle Roman v. the Republic of Perrennia Department of Transportation and Techyx, Incorporated was a landmark public safety lawsuit which took place from May 9 to August 30, 2016. Michelle Roman sued the Perrennial Department of Transportation and Techyx for their outdated/lack of safety regulations and purportedly bad approach to technology integration, after her sister died in car crash.

= Background =

Alicia Beverly Roman (November 17, 1993 - January 10, 2016) was a Perrennial restaurant worker and college student. At 10:34 pm on January 10, 2018, while coming home from a late shift at work, Daniel Gareth Mendoza ran a red light, colliding with Roman's vehicle, killing her instantly. Mendoza miraculously survived the crash (which had flipped Roman's car), and fled the scene, though he was later apprehended by police.

The reason Mendoza had run the light was distracted driving; he had been texting. He was put on trial for Roman's murder, however at the time no laws existed regulating/restricting the use of mobile phones while operating vehicles, and Mendoza was found not guilty, the official ruling on Roman's death being that it was "purely accidental".