2 Cases Regarding Lawsuits By Families Of Victims Of Fatal Car Accidents

2 Cases Regarding Lawsuits By Families Of Victims Of Fatal Car Accidents

There is a a lot at stake in cases concerning the death of a pedestrian from an auto accident. A number of these deaths will result in a wrongful death lawsuit. These are complex cases which are often aggressively defended by insurance companies and involve complicated medical, accident reconstruction and legal issues.

As with any vehicle accident lawsuit, insurance company adjustors, if they make any settlement offer whatsoever, will calculate the value of the amount based not on the injured person's injuries and loses but instead on the risk faced by the insurance company. There are many ways in which insurance companies make an effort to reduce their risk. For example, several challenges that typically surface in these cases include the denial of fault by defendants who often elect to claim that the responsible party is the victim. Insurance coverage is also often an issue in these cases. The defendant may have little or no insurance. There may be multiple defendants with different amounts of insurance coverage. There may be excess insurance available to one or more of the policies. There may also be a denial of insurance by several of the insureds and their insurance companies. And each insurance company will work very hard to pay out as little money on the claim as they can get away with. A lawyer handling one of these cases thus needs to have the skill and experience to deal successfully with all of the challenges that can arise in the lawsuit. Consider:

A vehicle which was observed speeding by a witness at about 6:00 in the morning slammed into a pedestrian shortly thereafter. The police who investigated the accident found that a bystander had seen the vehicle speeding shortly before the accident happened. The police also reported that the vehicle was low on break fluid and had a dirty windshield (which can affect the driver's ability to see ahead) but did not have any cleaning fluid for the windshield.

The victim in this case was 66 year old female who was trying to cross a street. The female pedestrian was thrown 27 feet by the impact from the accident. The impact and her fall left her with a fracture to her ankle, fractures to several ribs, a fracture to her clavicle, and fractures to her skull. She was transported to a hospital where she died from her injuries. She was survived by her family that consisted of a husband, five children, and six grandchildren. The law firm that represented the family of the victim was able to report reaching a settlement in the amount of $725,000.

This case involved a motor vehicle driven by a female during the early evening hours. She took off from the scene of the accident after striking a male pedestrian. The male victim had a part-time job. The pedestrian had two children. The pedestrian died as a result of the accident. Once they arrived at the scene the police began a search for the hit-and-run driver, located her, and arrested her. The woman was criminally charged. The charges included leaving the scene of an accident. The charges also included the negligent operation of a vehicle resulting in a death. A settlement in the amount of $1,150,000 was reported by the law firm that handled the matter

A number of significant commonolities and differences can be found in these 2 cases. In both cases a motor vehicle accident led to a death. In both cases the victim was survived by family members. In both cases the law firm representing the families was able to reach a considerable recovery for the family. In both cases a settlement was reached prior to trial. Now look at the following information found in the reports of these cases. The settlement amount in the second case was $400,000 greater than that in the first case.

The reports do not explain the way the settlement amount was reached in each case. One explanation for this difference could be that each settlement signifies the upper range of available insurance. A different explanation could be due to the historical range of awards by juries in the jurisdictions where each of the cases would have been tried.

By comparing these lawsuits it becomes apparent that settlements concerning the death of a pedestrian due to a motor vehicle accident can be substantial. Insurance company adjustors, if they make any settlement offer at all, are going to make an offer based not on the victim's loss but on the risk faced by the insurance company. Thus, an attorney handling one of these cases on behalf of the victim must never assume that the case will settle. Rather, the lawyer can generally position the lawsuit to best improve the chance of a settlement by preparing the case as though it will have to go to trial.

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