On January 5, 2005, Matthew Spencer, 27, was out eating dinner with his wife, Lauren Martinez, 25, and their children, Kailee, 7, and Cameron, 5. Matthew Spencer had a couple of drinks with dinner putting his blood-alcohol level at 0.18 percent, more than twice the legal limit for driving.
Despite being intoxicated, he decided to drive his family home in his Jeep Cherokee. At this instant, by making the decision to drive impaired (intoxicated) he not only put his own life in danger, but he also put his wife and his children’s life in danger. Their lives were clearly put into danger as soon as Matthew got behind the wheel of the car, this alone would constitute a crime that would have lead to him being arrested for a DUI.
The family headed down Guerneville Road which has a posted speed limit of 45 mph and it is windy in places out towards Sebastopol, so its even advisable to drive slower at night or under certain conditions. However, Matthew decided to drive 80-100 mph that night, again putting himself and his family at danger because he was going over twice the posted speed limit. This alone would constitute a crime that would have lead to him being arrested for wreckless driving.
Driving with a 0.18 percent BAC (more than twice the legal limit) alone is a recipe for disaster, however doing this combined with driving more than twice the posted speed limit is twice as dangerous.
If you must drive intoxicated, its smart to drive slowly and carefully. Your judgement, reaction time, and perception are all impaired so it makes sense to be careful.
If you must drive twice the speed limit than you want to do so when you are completely sober and under ideal road conditions in a place where the road is long, flat, and wide and you can see far ahead of you to anticipate any potential dangers that may arise far ahead of time.
Matthew Spencer decided to drive over twice the speed limit with his BAC at over twice the legal limit, putting himself and his family in extreme danger.
Matthew was speeding down Guernville Road at 80-100 mph and reached a turn in the road. Around the corner was a broken down Ford Thunderbird and a row of four cars stopped near a broken down car.
Matthew was driving too fast and his perception and reaction time were greatly impaired by the alcohol. He tried to swerve past the four stopped cars and the broken down car, overturned several times and landed in a ditch. He and his family died almost instantly.
Had Matthew been driving slower or not under the influence of alcohol he would have a been able to stop in a decent fashion and would have avoided the accident all together. However he was driving way too fast to stop around the corner and his judgement was way too impaired to react in appropriate manner.
Many other drivers who were sober and not driving as fast as Matthew Spencer were able to avoid the emergency scene surrounding the Thunderbird. The only difference between those people and Matthew was that Matthew going 100 mph and had a blood-alcohol level of 0.18. Driving that fast while sober would be dangerous, but when you add the alcohol, it makes it extremely more dangerous.
Three men were arrested for leaving the broken down Ford Thunderbird on the side of the road after the rope tow that they were using to tow the car broke. James Eichman (James Albert Eichman), 55, and Jerry Eichman (Jerry Andrew Eichman), 48, were both arrested for involuntary manslaughter and could face 16 years in prison, and Douglas James Thompson, 49, was charged with wreckless endangerment (in exchange for his testimony) and could face 3 years in prison. Prosecutor Anne Masterson and the Sonoma County District Attorney’s office argued that the Eichmans are criminally liable for the deaths because they created a dangerous situation.
Steve Carroll, a witness at the manslaughter trial, who was driving to Graton at the time, testified Tuesday that he saw a speeding Jeep swerve past four stopped cars, overturn several times and land in a ditch.
“The car approached at a horrendous speed,” he said. “I thought to myself, `This car isn’t not going to stop in time.”’ But before he could even complete that thought, he said, the Jeep clipped the waiting white truck and careened out of control.
“The Jeep swerved to avoid hitting all the rest of us, then immediately came back and flipped over,” he said. “It rolled over I think about 10 times, about 250 feet down the road. It just rolled and rolled and rolled, and finally it stopped.”
Carroll estimated the Jeep was traveling 80 to 85 mph, “if not faster.”
Did it appear to slow down as it approached the lit-up scene, asked Nate Raff, one of James Eichman’s attorneys.
“Not in the least,” Carroll testified.
WRONGFUL ARRESTS
I don’t feel that the Eichman brothers or Douglas James Thompson should be charged with creating a dangerous situation that led to this family’s death. Matthew Spencer was the one responsible for their deaths because he chose to drive intoxicated and twice the posted speed limit, by doing this it was only a matter of chance that he would face a potential dangerous situation where he would be too impaired or going to fast to react in an appropriate manner.
Cars break down all the time and stop in the middle of the road, if you are driving behind them it’s YOUR responsibility to stop in a reasonable amount of time. If you hit them from behind, it’s YOUR fault because you were either driving too fast or following too close. The same principal applies here.
People encounter unforseeable dangers on the road everyday: a child could have walked in the road, a car could have been backing out of a driveway, a bicyclist could have been in the road around that corner and Matthew Spencer may have still killed his family. He is responsible for their death, not the Thunderbird in the road despite what their family may think.
I feel sorry for the children because they were the only real victims here. Kailee and Cameron did nothing wrong. Matthew Spencer is responsible for their deaths because he drove intoxicated and at twice the posted limit and his wife, Lauren Martinez, holds some degree of responsibility for allowing him to drive in this manner. Neither Matthew or Lauren are victims, they could have prevented this.
Lauren Martinez was from a wealthy family who are really pressing to have the Eichman brothers held responsible for their deaths. They seem really eager to place blame and are totally in denial that her husband, Matthew, could be anyway responsible.
People argue that they were such great people, parents, and a wonderful family. People die everyday due to poor judgement and bad decisions and these types of accidents don’t discriminate between good and bad people. It only takes a split second to make a mistake that costs you your life. They made that mistake.
You can try and blame the Eichman brothers, the road, the city, or anyone else, but when it comes down to it, Matthew Spencer holds ultimate responsibility for having such poor judgement and driving wrecklessly and intoxicated.
You have no clue what you are talking about asshole! This was a good family who died for a stupid reason, those two brothers were dirty transients who ditched a car on the side of the road and should be held responsible for their deaths. If they had not been there this beautiful family would still be alive. Go fuck yourself if you think that Matthew was anyway responsible. That car should not have been around that blind curve in the middle of the fucking road!
Matthew was responsible because (a) he was intoxicated - well over the legal limit - which made his driving impaired and (b) he was driving 90 mph in a 45 mph zone - twice the legal limit.
If he was sober and/or driving the speed limit. Matthew and his family would most likely still be alive.
Other cars were able to avoid the broken down car, because their drivers were both sober and driving a reasonable speed.
You are ignorant if you think Matthew was completely devoid of responsibility. Being from a ‘good family,’ doesn’t clear you of being responsible for your actions. Now why don’t you pick up your case of Bud and go lie back down on your well worn couch and finish watching your 30th episode of Cops?
This was a nice family.
The father was driving too fast and under the influence, being totally reckless and having no regards for the conditions. It’s sad that his actions killed his family, however it was a mistake in judgement. Too bad it was so costly.
I don’t think that the brothers who left the car there should be held responsible. They made the conditions less than ideal, however all drivers should be prepared for such conditions. Since the father was drunk and driving too fast he was not. His speed and impaired conditions are what caused this accident which could have easily been avoided had he been sober and driving the speed limit.
i agree. this guy who was drunk and driving too fast is responsible for the accident. you cannot always have ideal conditions out on the open road, there is always something that poses a potential risk or a danger.
kailee was my Best Friend and it is sad she past away,?kailee, matt, lauren and cameron?
kailee was a beautiful woman and it’s very sad that she died the way she did.
yeah, it’s sad. too bad her husband was driving wasted and wrecklessly. he didn’t just kill himself, he killed his wife and two children. so sad.