The source of compensation to the family of the victim of a fatal trucking accident might not be readily apparent from the initial facts of a particular case. For example, a fatal accident on an interstate highway in New Haven, Connecticut, might not appear to offer hope of recovering funeral expenses or other compensation from a negligent driver.
Police reports from the accident scene indicate that the driver of a car was traveling south in the northbound lanes when his vehicle crashed head-on into a tractor trailer. This would appear to make the deceased motorist a negligent driver, but accident investigations do not end with a review of the conduct of just the parties involved in the accident.
An investigation into the cause of the accident might try to determine why the driver of a car would be traveling on the wrong side of an interstate highway. Poor design of the entrances and exits to the highway or poor signage that failed to adequately alert motorists who might be going in the wrong direction. Evidence of the existence of either of these situations could point to the negligence of another entity, such as the state, in causing the fatal car accident.
Family members who have suffered the loss of a loved one in a fatal accident might have a right to sue for wrongful death even though the obvious defendant, the driver of the other vehicle, might not have been a negligent driver. A personal injury attorney skilled and knowledgeable in motor vehicle accidents might be a good source of legal advice following a fatal accident.
Source: FoxCt, “20-year-old dead in wrong-way crash on I-91 northbound in New Haven,” Samantha Schoenfeld, Sep 8, 2015
