In the area of personal injury there is often a question as to whether or not a seemingly inadvertent car or truck accident it exactly that, an accident. Many people are injured across the country in situations that could have been avoided or that were caused by the act of another individual. Whether malicious or not, negligence is cause of many a serious bodily injury and sometimes the death of one or more people. Sad to say, many people have died from another person’s careless or reckless actions; these cases sometimes call for a wrongful death lawsuit.
Although the victim may not be around to speak for himself, the family of the deceased individual can sometimes bring a wrongful death suit against the negligent party, or parties, in order to hold them accountable financially for the death of their loved one. In these days of uncertain and stressful economic conditions, many families are hanging on with both parents working. Should one of those individuals become injured or be killed as a result of an automobile accident, the impact to the family’s income could be very damaging financially.
Instances where a husband or wife dies following a car, truck or motorcycle collision, the family may not have sufficient means with which to carry on without falling behind on their house payments, car loan, and even medical bills from treatment of the deceased victim. Under such circumstances, family members may still be able to hold a negligent party responsible for the untimely death of that spouse, parent or child.
Here in Maryland, our Wrongful Death Statute covers legal claims against another party for the sudden and unexpected death of another person. With the help of a Maryland personal injury attorney, a family can lodge a wrongful death lawsuit against the negligent person or entity as they seek compensation for the loss of their family member’s life. This also includes loss of love and companionship to the spouse and children, as well as lost financial support that family members could have expected from the husband or wife had the victim not been killed.
Every day there are instances of individuals killed in what could only be described as senseless traffic wrecks. For example, we ran across a couple such instances in the news ourselves. According to reports, a fatal car crash in Somerset County, MD, took one person’s life, while another incident in Brandywine saw a Waldorf, Maryland, resident killed in a single-vehicle crash. In both cases, it possible to suggest that the deceased victims may not have died had circumstances been different.
In the first case, a single-vehicle car crash in Eden resulted in the death of a 35-year-old Marion driver when his vehicle apparently missed a curve while going northbound on Polks Rd. According to police, the victim’s vehicle failed to follow the road, going into a ditch and then hitting a nearby fence. The deceased individual was reportedly a passenger in the car, riding in the front seat. The force of the accident caused the man to be thrown from the vehicle; he apparently died at the scene. An investigation was ongoing at the time of the news article; however it had not been determined if defective vehicle equipment may have been to blame for the accident.
In the other instance, a Waldorf man died after his motorcycle crashed along a stretch of US 301 near Dyson Rd. The roadway wreck occurred on a Wednesday as the 57-year-old victim was heading northbound. The accident, which involved only the man’s motorcycle, took place just before 6am, according to the Maryland State Police. The rider, who was critically injured in the collision, was taken to a local emergency room, however doctors were unable to save the man’s life and he died before they could do anything for him.
The MSP was still conducting an investigation when the news article appeared and there was no indication of whether a mechanical failure or other malfunction might have precipitated the crash. Scattered rain showers were part of the local forecast in that area, however investigators could not say, at the time of the news piece, whether or not road conditions due to rain might have been a contributing factor.
P.G. crash kills Waldorf resident, SoMDNews.com, May 04, 2012
Fatal Crash in Somerset County, WBOC.com, April 15, 2012