Motor vehicle accidents involving pedestrians all too often result in the death of the pedestrian. These cases are always tragic. They can also be complex cases. Insurance companies will often deny liability of their insured and will also often minimize the value of the case.
The attorney retained by the family to pursue needs to understand the mechanics of motor vehicle accident cases in order to establish that the liability of defendants. The attorney also needs to have a good understanding of how to establish the value of the case which can depend on many factors including but not limited to the victim's age, the victim's earning capacity, whether the victim was survived by a spouse and children (and whether the children were minors or adults), the type of witnesses that the victims family and the defendants will make, and the county in which the case would have to be filed, and the degree to which the victim's family is risk averse.
Consider the following cases:
Case 1:
In this case, the motor vehicle accident, which occurred shortly after 6 am, involved a single vehicle which was low on break fluid, had a dirty windshield and yet had no windshield cleaning fluid. Prior to the accident a witness observed the driver speeding. The driver hit a 66 year old female pedestrian with such impact that she was thrown 27 feet and suffered multiple fractured ribs, skull fractures, a fractured clavicle and a fractured ankle. She passed away at a local hospital from her injuries. She was survived by her husband, her five children, and her six grandchildren. The law firm handling this matter reported it was able to settle the case at mediation for $725,000 on behalf of the victim's family.
Case 2:
In
this case, the motor vehicle accident took place in the early evening hours. It involved a female driver who, after striking a male pedestrian, fled the scene of the accident. The victim was a father of two children and had a part-time job. The police were able to locate the driver and arrested her. She was charged with the negligent operation of a motor vehicle resulting in a death and with leaving the scene. The law firm that handled this matter reported that the case settled for $1.15 Million.
Both cases involved victims in their sixties. In one of those cases it was clearly reported that the victim was retired. In the second case the report did not specify the work status of the victim but she was 66 years old and may well have also been retired as the report did not mention any lost income or loss of earning capacity. In both these cases the children of the victim were adult and not minors. The law firms that handled these cases were able to achieve significant but clearly different results. Of course the amount of insurance coverage or other assets available make a difference. As discussed above, however, there are many other factors that affect how an attorney will decide whether to accept a settlement amount. The difference in these cases could have turned on something as simple as the jurisdictions in which these cases arose.
An experienced and skilled attorney can help the victim's family reach a decision as to whether the defendants have offered a sufficient amount that it makes more sense to settle the case than to continue on to trial. The attorney must, of course, always be prepared to take the case to trial
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney focused on catastrophic injury cases. To learn more about motor vehicle accidents in which there is a pedestrian killed visit his website at www.vehicle-accident-law.com.
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