Motorcyclists are an example of innocent people who can be killed by cars. According to RideSmartFlorida.com, 415 motorcyclists died in 2009 due to fatal injuries in traffic accidents. Like pedestrians and bicyclists, motorcyclists are at an unfair disadvantage when a driver loses control of their vehicle due to negligence, such as texting and distracted driving. They are no match for the impact of a car, truck or van.
A sad reality of representing families of deceased clients, including teenagers on motorcycles and pedestrians killed by Florida drivers, is that these deaths are often meaningless. A victim may also leave behind loved ones who will experience suffering. When the deceased victim is the parent of minor children, there are more long-term effects, such as those children no longer receiving financial support from their parents due to the driver’s negligence.
The families of bicyclists and other victims killed by drivers who texted or engaged in other distracted driving while driving their cars are seeking justice. They wonder what legal rights they have in relation to the death of their deceased. The answers are best explained by a licensed attorney, contact an attorney right away at Wrongful Death.
In the case of a wrongful death, here are some rights to follow:
loss of earnings
A wrongful death attorney will study many facts in preparing a wrongful death case. For example, she will examine the relationships between survivors and a deceased victim. She will calculate how much of the victim’s net income should have been available for distribution to each survivor. This information is especially important in estimating how much money minor children, including surviving teens, could lose due to the death of their parents and the inability to earn a wage.
mental pain and suffering
Minor children and the spouse of a decedent can recover for having lost the company of the victim. Adult children of a decedent may be entitled to claim loss of companionship, parental instruction and guidance, and mental pain and suffering if the victim parent has no surviving spouse.
Parents of a deceased minor child may be entitled to recovery due to the death of their deceased minor child. Additionally, parents of an adult child with no survivors may seek recovery in that child’s wrongful death case.
Bills
An important task is to establish one of the survivors as the personal representative of the deceased. Part of the legal process will include identifying other survivors who might be trying to recover in the same case. Once survivors are established, they may be entitled to recover medical expenses and funeral expenses paid on behalf of the deceased victim.
