March 30, 2022 | Wrongful Death
Some injuries from car accidents are fatal, and many collisions and injuries can end in tragedy. If someone you love died in a crash because of a driver’s negligence, you should contact an experienced car accident attorney about your family’s options.
What Is the Most Common Cause of Death in Car Accidents?
Internal injuries are the most common injuries that cause death in car accidents. These injuries include traumatic brain injuries from head trauma or damage to internal organs. The impact of a crash can cause invisible damage, and many people do not realize how serious their car accident injuries are until it is too late.
Types of Fatal Crashes
While rear-end accidents are the most common kind of car accident, angle accidents are the most common cause of death in car accidents. Angle collisions refer to those car accidents that are neither sideswipe, head-on, rear-to-rear, nor rear-end accidents, which means that the two vehicles involved crash from another angle.
Consider these statistics:
- In one year, 6,039 fatal angle crashes took place, which was 18.2 percent of all fatal car accidents.
- About 531,000 angle-type crashes led to injury, accounting for 27.7 percent of all the injury-causing accidents on our roadways.
- Angle collisions between vehicles caused the most fatalities by a wide margin (about 8,000 that year, or about 5.7 percent of all fatal car accidents).
- After angle collisions came head-on collisions, with about 5,000 fatalities (28.6 percent).
- Next came rear-end accidents, with about 3,000 fatalities (17.1 percent).
- Next came sideswipe accidents, with about 1,500 fatalities (8.6 percent).
Any form of driver negligence can cause or contribute to dangerous car accidents that are all too often fatal.
Losses from Fatal Car Accidents
The losses from fatal angle accidents are immense, and no one can put a dollar amount on your family’s grief. However, when you file a claim for wrongful death following a crash, the financial recovery you seek depends on the specific losses your family incurred due to the fatal accident.
#1. Medical Expenses
Life-threatening injuries require extensive emergency care, and many medical expenses can result from the attempt to save a life.
These expenses can include:
- Emergency transportation in an ambulance or medevac
- Emergency trauma care at the hospital
- Emergency surgery
- Hospitalization or time in the intensive care unit
Some car accident victims spend days, weeks, or longer in the hospital before succumbing to their injuries, resulting in costly medical bills.
#2. Lost Financial Support
When someone passes away, the household immediately loses its financial support. If the victim of the fatal crash was a primary supporter of the family, it can result in a devastating financial loss, and your family should recover compensation for the lost financial support of your family member.
#3. Lost Household Services
Not all support is financial, as family members can make other important contributions to a household. Childcare, maintenance, cleaning, yard work, and more are all important household services your family will miss.
#4. Pain and Suffering
The grief of losing a loved one is already devastating, and it can be worse if you know their death was preventable. A liable driver may need to pay for the emotional grief and suffering your family experiences due to their negligence in the fatal crash.
No dollar amount will bring your loved one back or heal your emotional wounds. However, seeking damages for your losses can provide the financial support you need to relieve stress and move forward with fewer concerns. Holding the negligent driver accountable can also provide closure and a sense of justice for your family.
To learn about your options and how much your losses might be worth, consult with a car accident lawyer who handles wrongful death cases as soon as possible.
Having an Experienced Car Accident Attorney in Your Corner Is Key
If another driver fatally injures your loved one, the best way to protect your rights and your rightful compensation is with an experienced car accident attorney on your side.
Your attorney will skillfully take on all the following critical tasks to obtain your claim’s most beneficial resolution:
- Your car accident attorney will gather all the evidence available, including eyewitness testimony, and will compile it into a well-considered car accident claim.
- Your car accident attorney will hire expert witnesses whose area of expertise aligns with your claim.
- Your car accident attorney will communicate with the insurance company, so you won’t need to. In truth, insurance companies are quite skilled at obtaining statements from frazzled claimants that harm their claims.
- Your car accident attorney will knowledgeably negotiate with the insurance company for a settlement that accurately reflects your complete damages (or losses).
- Your car accident attorney will ensure you understand the claims process from the beginning and that you make the best choices for yourself.
The last thing you need to worry about when grieving is how to gather the evidence you need and file a wrongful death claim. Let a skilled legal professional handle the entire process for you. Your family should be focusing on your emotional healing.
Negotiating With the Insurance Company
When you seek compensation for wrongful death, your attorney will file a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance company. You might assume the insurer will pay you what you deserve – after all, its policyholder caused a tragic loss. However, insurance companies are difficult and try to minimize payments – even to families grieving a wrongful death.
Keep the following in mind as you proceed:
Early Settlement Offers
If the insurance company gets back to you quickly with an early settlement offer, it is likely too low to cover your full range of losses. The insurance company bets on the financial desperation of claimants who need financial support, and they hope you will accept an inadequate offer so you can receive money faster. Never accept an early settlement offer without speaking to an attorney.
Prolonged Settlement Process
On the opposite end of the spectrum is when insurance companies push the limits on how long it takes to finalize the claim process. As time marches on, many claimants lose hope in the process altogether and are willing to accept just about any settlement offer, which at this point seems better than nothing. However, there are other options besides accepting an inadequate settlement, and your attorney might file a wrongful death lawsuit.
Speak With an Experienced Car Accident Attorney Early in the Process
Chis Dixon, Personal Injury Lawyer
If another driver took your loved one away from your family, obtaining fair compensation is an important step toward emotional recovery.
Dealing with an insurance company can be tricky, even if the insurer knows you suffered a tragic loss. Insurance companies collect premiums to generate revenue, and one of their major costs is settlements that they have to pay to the people they insure. They make as much money as they can by paying out as little as possible.
For this reason, you should always enlist the help of a qualified car accident lawyer to make sure you can recover the total amount of damages you suffered. Let the right lawyer stand up for your family after a wrongful death from a fatal car accident. Seek a free case evaluation today.