Many of us prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt. If someone is late to a meeting, we want to believe they had something important that kept them late. Most people strive to do the right thing the majority of the time, so it makes it easier for us to forgive them when they act negligently.

However, there are situations in which people act with so much negligence, that it is almost impossible to believe their actions were mere mistakes. When a person makes so many bad decisions in a row, he or she needs to be held liable for the damages the recklessness caused.

Unfortunately, in some situations, holding a person liable cannot undo the damage he or she caused. And that is exactly what one family is facing. A mother of two was killed in a fatal car accident, and the man who caused the accident made one bad decision after another.

Molly had stopped at a gas station on her way to pick up her two toddlers from daycare. However, as she was filling up her car, another car crashed into a barrier pole and then into Molly. Molly died at the hospital.

The driver who caused the fatal accident was treated and released. Anthony is facing charges for first-degree involuntary manslaughter, and Molly's husband filed a wrong death lawsuit against him -- and rightfully so.

Police believe that a series of bad decisions led to the fatal accident. Medical records showed that Anthony huffed Freon before getting behind the wheel. He was also impaired by oxycodone and marijuana in his body. And witnesses stated that they saw Anthony on his cellphone before he crashed through the gas station. Police are still waiting for phone records to determine if that is correct, but it seems in line with the rest of his negligent decisions.

The lawsuit filed by Molly's husband accuses Anthony of speeding and failing to look for people. Molly's husband is asking for more than $25,000, though given the slew of bad decisions Anthony made and the life-ending ramifications they had, that barely seems like enough money.

Source: St. Louis Today, "Police: Driver high before crash that killed St. Louis mother," Jennifer Mann, Jan. 23, 2012