California Wrongful Death Car Accidents Are Numerous
I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento Wrongful Death Lawyer. Every year I meet clients who have just lost family members due to other people’s negligence. Frequently, these losses are caused by car accidents, defective products, workplace incidents caused by employer negligence, and various types of medical malpractice.
Fortunately, California statutes provide surviving family members with the right to sue for compensation for their wrongful death losses.
Wrongful Death Incidents Are Common & Car Accidents Remain a Major Cause
As noted above, wrongful deaths occur due to many types of incidents. In addition to the causes already named above, they can also happen due to nursing home abuse (and neglect), intentional violence, defective medical devices, food poisoning, and faulty drugs. However, car accidents keep causing a very high percentage of California’s annual wrongful deaths.
Here’s a closer look at the number of deaths and traumatic injuries caused by California car accidents during 2014 – the most recent year of statistics available on the California Office of Traffic Safety website.
Comparison of Annual Car Accident Injuries & Deaths by California County
During 2014, the following California counties suffered numerous car accident injuries and deaths. Many of these could have served as the basis of a wrongful death lawsuit.
- Los Angeles 37,546
- Orange 19,873
- San Bernardino 13,460
- Riverside 11,392
- Sacramento 9,747
- Alameda 9,039
- Santa Clara 9,003
- San Diego 8,693
- San Francisco 4,791
- Contra Costa 4,390
As these numbers indicate, the chances of losing your life in a car accident that may give rise to a wrongful death action remain very high.
Upon viewing these numbers, many drivers and passengers want to review the specific driver errors that often cause so many car accident injuries and fatalities in hopes of lowering their own chances of being seriously injured or killed.
Here’s a quick review of the key factors present in many car collisions in California and elsewhere around the country.
Leading Causes of Vehicle Accidents
- Texting while driving. The National Safety Council estimates that you multiply your chances of being in a serious or fatal accident by eight times when you text while driving. Of course, this is just one of the many forms of distracted driving;
- Drunk driving. Roughly 27 Americans a day are killed by drunk drivers. It can be just as dangerous to drive under the influence of any drug that impairs your judgment or coordination;
- Speeding
- General reckless driving. This can include road rage behavior and other intentional acts to disobey traffic laws;
- Driving at night – or in bad weather;
- Running red lights;
- You must leave the proper distance between yourself and other vehicles so you’ll still have a chance to avoid rear ending someone and causing an accident;
- Car design defects. While you can’t always know what these are when you buy a vehicle, all drivers have a duty to properly maintain their vehicles;
- Making improper turns. Too many accidents are also caused by people who make illegal turns or drive the wrong way on streets and highway on-ramps;
- Inexperienced driver errors – often committed by teen drivers. Everyone can benefit from taking a reputable driver training course.
I’m Ed Smith, and I am a Sacramento wrongful death lawyer. If you’ve lost a loved one in a car accident caused by a negligent driver my heart goes out to you. Please give me a call at 916.921.6400 for free, friendly advice. When you call, we will go over the details of your loss and see how to best proceed. I take Sacramento wrongful death cases on a contingency fee basis. This means you pay no fees up front. I get paid after the successful outcome of your case.
I am a California Million Dollar Forum member. Forum members are top ranking US trial lawyers that have garnered settlements or verdicts worth over $1 Million US Dollars.
See my past verdicts and settlements here.
See my client reviews on: Yelp, Google Plus, and Avvo.
Visit my personal injury and wrongful death website at: www.autoaccident.com.
I’ve been practicing in wrongful death and personal injury law for more than 35 years.
Photo Attribution: Edward A. Smith, Sacramento Wrongful Death Lawyer
:eBs bw [cs 824]
Sources include:
http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/california-cause-of-death-by-age-and-gender
http://www.ots.ca.gov/Media_and_Research/Rankings/default.asp
http://blogs.findlaw.com/injured/2016/02/fatal-injury-wrongful-death-for-food-poisoning.html
http://www.dof.ca.gov/Forecasting/Demographics/Estimates/E-1/
http://www.us-places.com/California/population-by-County.htm
http://www.newsweek.com/us-traffic-deaths-injuries-and-related-costs-2015-363602
