ATV Accident Lawsuit Results in $2.7M Settlement Over Wrongful Death

The family of a Pennsylvania teenager killed in an ATV accident have reached a $2.7 million settlement with the driver of the vehicle, whom they allege was drunk at the time of the crash. 

The family of Jonathon Byram, 19, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Mark Renehan after their son died in an ATV crash at an Independence Day party in 2009.

Renehan was the driver of the all-terrain vehicle and, according to the lawsuit, he was drunk and speeding when it flipped over, killing Byram.

Byram was a college student in Maryland and Renehan was a college student in Connecticut. Both were home away from school for the summer at the time of the party. The party occurred at the home of Renehan’s family, which owns a group of houses in Manchester Township in Wayne County, Pennsylvania.

According to allegations raised in the ATV accident lawsuit, the Renehan family handed out alcoholic beverages throughout the party for several hours before the crash, and Renehan admitted to police that he had been drinking. Renehan was tried on charges of involuntary manslaughter and vehicular homicide while under the influence, but was acquitted. Renehan refused to take a blood alcohol test at the time of the accident, invoking his Fifth Amendment rights.

The civil lawsuit accused Rehanan of intoxication and speeding while driving the ATV, resulting in the crash and Byram’s death. According to a report by The Scranton Times Tribune, a resolution to the case, filed in federal court in Scranton, was reached sometime last week for $2.7 million.