What Happens When Someone Dies in a Car Accident?

After a loved one dies in a car accident, whether immediately or hours, days, or even weeks or months later, you have a lot to deal with: Your grief, funeral and burial arrangements, and medical bills are just a few pressing concerns. You might have to figure out how you are going to pay for all of that, plus your short term bills, and your long term living expenses.   Add the legalities of the accident to those considerations.   All of these thoughts may race through your mind all at once and can overwhelm anyone. Having someone help you through the complicated legalities of a wrongful death can help reduce the stress of everything else—you have someone in your corner to help with these difficult to comprehend procedures.  

Driver Consequences

The at-fault driver might face criminal charges for the accident if he or she drove under the influence, drove recklessly, or committed road rage or another criminal act that caused the accident. Even if that person is charged in criminal court, your injury lawyer can still start settlement negotiations with that person’s insurance company or file a civil lawsuit against that person for wrongful death. Criminal proceedings take place separately from any civil lawsuit you file to recover compensation.  

Wrongful Death Lawsuits

In Illinois, you can only file a wrongful death lawsuit if the decedent could have filed a lawsuit for injuries had he or she survived. Additionally, only the personal representative of the decedent’s estate can file the lawsuit. The personal representative files the lawsuit on behalf of the estate, and the damages won in the lawsuit are benefit the decedent’s next of kin, including his or her spouse and children. The amount you recover will go directly to those next of kin, whether through settlement or trial.  

At-Fault Driver Liability

In some cases, the at-fault driver isn’t criminally liable. If the driver had a medical emergency or something malfunctioned on the vehicle to cause the accident, the driver or his insurance company is still liable, but others might also share in the liability, including:

• A third driver—for example, a vehicle that loses control and causes another vehicle to hit your loved one. If the second vehicle caused the death, the first driver’s actions may have led to it, and that driver might bear liability to you.
• The owner of the vehicle, if the owner and driver are not the same people. Sometimes, for example, a person might let a friend or relative use the vehicle for the benefit of or as the agent of the owner.
• The leasing company and/or agent if the vehicle is leased. If the leasing agent knew or should have known about a problem with the leased vehicle, the agent or company might share in the liability.
• An employer of the driver, if the driver was on duty and performing job responsibilities at the time of the accident.

  When you retain a car accident attorney, the attorney’s investigation sometimes turns up others who might have caused or contributed to the accident.   If the fatal accident involved a commercial vehicle, additional parties could share in the liability, including but not limited to the owner of the company, the owner of the commercial vehicle, the leasing agent for the commercial vehicle, the company that leased the vehicle, and maintenance and repair crews.  

Recoverable Damages

According to Section 2 of Illinois’s Wrongful Death Act, the next of kin can recover certain noneconomic damages, including mental suffering, grief, and sorrow. Additional recoverable damages include:

• The decedent’s medical expenses, which could prove extensive if the decedent spends several days or weeks in the hospital and ultimately dies as a result of his or her injuries.
• The decedent’s damaged personal property.
• The decedent’s burial and funeral expenses.
• Income lost while the decedent could not work before his or her death.
• Future lost earnings for income lost after the decedent’s death.
• Loss of consortium because you can no longer have a physical relationship with your spouse, if your spouse died wrongfully in the accident.
• Loss of companionship.
• Loss of services like yard maintenance, child care, home maintenance, elderly care, vehicle maintenance, cooking, cleaning, and grocery shopping.

  It is difficult to determine how much your case is worth. Insurance companies and the courts use several factors to assign a value to noneconomic damages. Economic damages, such as hospital expenses and damaged property, are easier to calculate, as those items have a specific price attached to them.   Although we know that no amount of money will bring back your loved one, the money you could recover may help ease the financial burden of having lost a breadwinner in your family.  

Dealing With Insurance Companies

Your lawyer will have to deal with the at-fault driver’s insurance company, and if others are liable for the accident, with their insurance companies, too. Keep in mind that an insurance company is in business to make a profit. That means that it can and will use what you say against you to find a way to offer you a low settlement or to deny your claim.   After the accident, call a car accident lawyer immediately. Your car accident attorney can contact the at-fault driver’s insurance company and your loved one’s insurance company to notify them of a fatal accident. Your lawyer can and should handle all communications with the insurance companies.   The insurance companies may try to get between you and your lawyer and get information directly from you. Do not answer their questions or give them information, and instead refer them to your lawyer. Let your attorney speak to the insurance companies so you do not inadvertently give them any information they could use against you.