Accidents have a way of happening when we least expect them, and this case is no exception to that rule. No one goes to the post office to pick up mail expecting that they will never return home. That is what happened in this instance.
This horrific accident happened in Illinois, along Route 31. The woman who died was a nurse who had just left the post office and was going to walk across the highway. At the mid-way point, she was struck by a 2007 Chevrolet Silverado. The 66-year old woman’s severe brain and skull injuries caused her death about an hour after the accident, even though she was transported to a hospital by EMS crews for life saving medical treatment.
The nurse’s family is speaking to a wrongful death attorney to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the 31-year old driver of the Silverado. The wrongful death attorney will include the fact that the driver failed to drive safely and cautiously and was cited by the police for failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to exercise due care.
According to the police reports the wrongful death attorney examined, the driver of the car that struck the 66-year old nurse claimed he did not see her. There are no reports yet as to whether or not the driver was under the influence of a drug or alcohol. There is also no indication if the driver was doing something at the time he hit the woman, such as talking on a cell phone, adjusting his mirror, reading a map or texting on a cell phone. If any of these factors are involved, the wrongful death attorney will be using that information to build a strong court case.
This case is slated to be heard in court in April 2010, and the wrongful death attorney will be working with the deceased’s family to prepare them for an emotionally difficult time in reliving the horror of the accident. Unfortunately, the details of the accident will be reviewed at trial as the wrongful death attorney has no other way to present the salient facts to a jury and have them understand what the family has lost.
Wrongful death cases are primarily about what a family has lost emotionally, mentally, physically and financially and when it comes time to calculate damages for compensation, a wrongful death attorney has to factor in a number of things. One of the first things the wrongful death attorney needs to define is the immediate expenses associated with the death. This usually relates to medical expenses if any and the subsequent funeral. For instance, in the case we just discussed, there would be an ambulance bill.
The woman was a nurse and also 66-years old, so it may be possible that she was no longer working, or in the alternative, she was still pulling part time shifts at the local hospital. In either example, the wrongful death attorney needs to figure out the loss of her anticipated earnings in the future until her death (or retirement). The victim may not have been retiring until she was 70. In this day and age, people are working longer in order to stay financially viable.
The third thing the wrongful death attorney would need to determine is the amount of financial loss caused by the victim’s untimely death. This covers items such as medical coverage, pensions etc. We don’t know if the nurse was receiving pension from her work, but she may have been receiving social security. In any event, these things would be added in to the overall calculations for damage compensation.
A wrongful death attorney will also need to make a calculation relating to the loss of inheritance caused by this sudden wrongful death, factor in the loss of care, protection and companionship to survivors, pain and suffering for the survivors, general damages and if relevant, punitive damages. As you can see, a wrongful death attorney plays an extremely important role in helping the survivors get back on their feet financially.
