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Wrongful Death Car Accidents
Auto accidents death cases contribute to a high percentage of California’s annual wrongful deaths. There are a lot of factors, most of them avoidable, contributing to cases of car accidents resulting in death. Fortunately, California statutes provide surviving family members with the right to sue for compensation for wrongful death losses and car insurance death benefits. Get more details on this discussion below.Auto Accidents Death: Cases, Claims, and Other DetailsIn this guide:
- California Wrongful Death Car Accidents are Numerous
- Wrongful Death Incidents are Common & Car Accidents Remain a Major Cause
- Comparison of Annual Car Accident Injuries & Deaths by California County
- Compassionate Sacramento Wrongful Death Attorney
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.
Wrongful Death Incidents are Common and 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. 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 and Deaths by California County
During 2014, the following California counties suffered numerous car accident resulting in death and injuries. 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, which 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 often leading to 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 which 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.
There's a variety of issues from a wrongful death car accident claim for which you can recover. Get to know information about these issues from this video created by AutoAccident.com:
In case of auto accidents death, it's important to act quickly because entities or people might act quickly to cover up, minimize, or in other ways, try to escape responsibility for the death. It's important to take action as soon as possible to find an experienced wrongful death car accident lawyer you feel comfortable with.
Compassionate Sacramento Wrongful Death AttorneyI’m Ed Smith, and I'm 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 or 800.404.5400 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'll pay no upfront fees. I get paid after the successful outcome of your case.
We are members of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the National Association of Distinguished Counsel.
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Editor’s Note: This page has been updated for accuracy and relevancy [cha 10.9.20]
