When a person climbs into a car driven by another person, he or she normally expects the driver to safely carry him or her to the desired destination. When this fails to happen and the passenger ends up dying, the family members who are left behind may have as many questions as answers as they try to come to grips with what happened. They reserve the right to pursue claims for monetary damages in a North Carolina civil court setting by means of a wrongful death lawsuit, which may help them get the answers to their questions.
A 27-year-old woman recently died while riding in a car driven by a man. The crash happened when the car turned to the side all of a sudden. The 38-year-old male driver told police that he stepped on the brakes, and the vehicle inexplicably turned to the left.
The automobile then came to a halt in the lanes going south, and he couldn’t move the car due to a bad shift linkage. At that time, a tractor-trailer struck the car. The female passenger in the car died as a result of the collision, while the car driver suffered minor injuries. The driver of the tractor-trailer suffered no injuries. The car driver received a citation for misdemeanor death by vehicle, according to police.
The man will have to face his citation, but he also may face a wrongful death suit filed by the family of his passenger. The woman’s loved ones can seek monetary damages to cover financial losses linked to the accident, such as funeral costs, by pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit. If the car driver is found guilty of the misdemeanor death by vehicle charge, evidence of this may be offered in a related North Carolina civil court lawsuit to establish the man’s financial liability.
Source: The Charlotte Observer, Woman killed in wreck on North Graham near Craighead, Steve Lyttle, Jan. 6, 2014