Car Accidents Resulting In Wrongful Death
Car accidents can lead to substantial physical, emotional, and financial damages. Severe car crashes can even result in loss of life. When someone dies as the result of a car accident, it will likely be defined as a wrongful death. A wrongful death is one that is caused by another person or party’s reckless or negligent actions.
Following a wrongful death stemming from a car accident, surviving family members have the right to hold liable parties accountable for resulting damages. The wrongful death lawyers at Reed & Terry, L.L.P. work with individuals in Sugar Land, Katy, and Richmond, TX, to pursue compensation for losses related to a wrongful death.
When Is a Death Considered a Wrongful Death?
It is not unusual for someone to suffer an unexpected or accidental death. Unless someone struggled with a prolonged illness, surviving family members are likely to be shocked, devastated, and confused when a loved one dies. However, even if a death is unexpected or accidental, that doesn’t mean that it is considered a wrongful death. When it comes to defining a death as “wrongful”, the cause of death is what matters.
To be legally defined as a wrongful death, a person needs to die as the direct result of another person’s reckless or negligent actions. Car accidents are one of the most common types of wrongful death. Most car accidents occur because someone acts recklessly or neglects to take appropriate safety measures to avoid a collision. In these situations, surviving loved ones should consider filing a wrongful death claim to hold liable parties accountable for resulting damages.
Proving Liability for Wrongful Death
To prove liability for a wrongful death, there are a few key factors that must be established:
- The defendant had a duty of care to the deceased
- The defendant failed to uphold their duty of care
- The defendant’s reckless or negligent actions directly led to the death of the deceased
- The deceased and surviving family members suffered physical, emotional, or financial damages as a result of the death
Proving liability for wrongful death in a car accident is usually fairly straightforward. All drivers have a duty of care to the other drivers, passengers, and pedestrians that are on the roads around them. Therefore, if someone dies in a car crash, it needs to be shown that another person or party was responsible for the car accident.
Damages In a Wrongful Death Case
Family members may wonder if they really need to file a wrongful death lawsuit after a loved one is killed in a car crash. While dealing with the emotional trauma and grief of a loved one’s death, it is hard to focus on the financial consequences that the death is likely to have. Wrongful death lawyers understand the full emotional and financial impact of a wrongful death and can assist surviving loved ones in pursuing the compensation they are due for damages such as:
- Medical expenses
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Loss of income
- Loss of benefits
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of companionship
Schedule a Case Review
If you have lost a loved one in a car accident, the wrongful death lawyers at Reed & Terry, L.L.P. would be happy to review your case to determine if there are grounds for a wrongful death claim. To schedule a consultation, contact our law firm online or call (281) 491-5000 at your earliest convenience.
