It is an unfortunate truth that many Americans are hurt or killed in their everyday lives, whether at work or while traveling, and when a wrongful death case occurs, the family members may want compensation for this tragic event, and that may mean the effort to find lawyers who can help them make use of wrongful death statutes. A road accident such as an 18 wheeler accident or a drunk driver, for example, may result in a wrongful death, or a construction worker may be killed on the work site and his or her family may want compensation for that. Even in other occupations, accidental death may take place, such as in factories or mines, or those who work outdoors such as park rangers. Wrongful death statutes are in place in various cities, counties, and states, and these wrongful death statutes will be deeply understood by a skilled lawyer, who can use them for their clients’ case. Just how often are people killed on the road or the workplace today, and what can be done after a wrongful death?
Fatalities on the Road and Workplace
American roads, from city roads to interstates, are everywhere and heavily trafficked every single day, but sometimes, these roads are not safe. Statistics are carefully gathered to keep track of road incident rates and how often people are injured or killed and why. Nearly six million car accidents take place across the United States every single year, and nearly three million injuries happen because of truck accidents, hitting pedestrians, and more. Sometimes, these car drivers, pedestrians, or motorcyclists are killed; in the year 2014, for example, just over 30,000 fatal car crashes took place across the United States, and motorcyclists and bicyclists are often at higher risk or injury and fatality because they do not have air bags or seat belts to protect them in an accident.
What causes these crashes and deaths? Often, drunk or distracted drivers are the culprits, and they are driving impaired. Drunk drivers have a high BAC, or blood alcohol content, and do not have the coordination, judgment, or reflexes to avoid accidents, and distracted drivers are occupied by handheld electronics or the car’s dashboard features and thus often hit incoming traffic or pedestrians simply because they are not looking, and for this reason distracted driving is often illegal, just like drunk driving is. 32% of fatal car crashes, nearly one in three, is due to drunk driving, and another 31% is due to speeding and 16% are due to distracted drivers. Bad weather such as heavy rain or snow make up the last 11%.
Wrongful death statutes might also cover what happens at the workplace. Some jobs are physically demanding and risky, such as working on a construction site where vehicles, high places, sparks and flames, saws, airborne particles, and harmful fumes may be found, and worker are often hurt or killed due to accidents on a construction site, ranging from breathing harmful particles all the way to getting run over by construction vehicles. Even park rangers may be exposed to danger, and they may be attacked by powerful animals such as wolves, cougars, or bears, or bitten or stung by highly venomous spiders, insects, or snakes, and help may not arrive on time. Deaths due to animal attacks may be much less common than deaths at other workplaces, but they may occur from time to time.
Legal Help
The family of someone killed in a wrongful death case may want to hire legal help, and a lawyer will know how to use wrongful death statutes of a family’s home county or state to get the case settled for the clients. The family members can look up local law firms that specialize in workplace deaths or car accident fatalities, and get consultations from the lawyers there (this may or may not incur a fee). A lawyer may be chosen on his or her skills, experience, educational background, and success rate, and this lawyer will work with their clients in litigation to get settlement money or other compensation from a perceived at-fault party, such as a drunk driver’s insurance company or a construction crew seen responsible for a worker’s accidental death.
