About Wrongful Death: Existing California Laws

 

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Most forms of personal injury results to the injury of a person involved in an accident. However, there’s one form of personal injury that ultimately results in the person’s death. This is what we call wrongful death. Just like any form of personal injury, this stems from the liable party’s negligence or misconduct.

Basically, the defendant or the liable party in a wrongful death accident could either be an individual or an entity. More importantly, the surviving members of the deceased person, or any qualified person not-blood-related to the person, can file a wrongful death lawsuit against the liable party.

Wrongful death lawsuits often stem from the most common personal injury accidents, including but not limited to the following:

• Vehicle accidents (e.g. cars, motorcycles, trucks, buses, or motorcycle accidents)
• Pedestrian accidents;
• Dog bites and other animal attacks;
• Product liability caused by defective goods; and
• Medical malpractice.

Moreover, every state has its own wrongful death laws, including the State of California. Here, such claim can be filed against the liable party by any of the following eligible persons:

• The decedent’s spouse;
• The decedent’s children, stepchildren, or grandchildren;
• The decedent’s parents, especially if they were dependent on him before the decedent died; or
• Any qualified person who oversees the decedent’s estate; especially if the deceased doesn’t have children or grandchildren.

Like every state in the U.S., the State of California has its own statutes of limitations with regard to filing wrongful death cases. If the death of your loved one stemmed from a motor vehicle accident, slip and fall, or any other form of personal injury, you and your surviving members may file a wrongful death lawsuit within two years from the date of the decedent’s death.

Meanwhile, if it is caused by medical malpractice, you have three years from the date of the injury, or, if it is determined weeks or months after the decedent died, one year from the date of discovery. Also, if the death of your loved one was caused by a defective product, you have two years to file for wrongful death.

Indeed, taking on such a high-profile lawsuit can be very difficult. Apart from dealing with the legal battle to get compensated for the damages you and your family incurred, you’d also have to mourn for the sudden demise of your loved one. In this regard, it is important that you seek the expertise of any Los Angeles personal injury lawyers who can help represent you.

Educating Yourself on the Perils of Distracted Driving

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Not all drivers are able to maintain their focus and attention to the road, no matter how long or short the distance of the trip is. More often than not, their one hand is on the steering wheel while the other is clutching on their cell phones, speaking with a friend or office colleague or texting a loved one.

Looking up ahead on the road and then on the phone screen and back again is just a piece of cake for those who are used to it. However, doing so puts them in danger of getting seriously injured or killed. Such is distracted driving.

To begin with, distracted driving is any activity that disrupts the attention of the driver to his or her primary task, which is, of course, driving. In other words, taking your eyes off the road for just a few seconds, or even removing your hands off the steering wheel, could spell disaster not only for you, but also for your passenger/s, pedestrians, and other motorists that share the road with you.

Distractions that drivers do while behind the wheel include using mobile phones to text or call, grooming, reading, tinkering with the car stereo, and talking to passengers, among many others. Moreover, distracted driving is one of the key factors as to why accidents occur on America’s roadways.

In fact, deaths related to distracted driving increased by 1.9 percent in 2011, in which 3,331 such deaths were recorded. Injuries, however, decreased by 7 percent that same year, in which an estimated 387,000 such injuries were recorded. Said data shows how deadly getting distracted while driving can be.

Fortunately, states and other localities have made strides to end distracted driving on their roadways. In fact, many of them have passed and implemented stringent laws that prohibit texting, talking on the cell phone, and other non-driving activities while driving.

Aside from that, distracted driving-related information through websites allow people to become educated and be informed about the perils of driving distractions, which would enable them to make decisions on what they should and should not do behind the wheel. Meanwhile, Los Angeles personal Injury Lawyers and other legal experts believe that learning from distracted driving and its perilous effects to drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and other motorists can help promote better and safe driving on the road.

The Top U.S. Holidays That Are Dangerous for Drivers

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Holiday celebrations in the United States create opportunities for friends or families to be together. Whenever these festivities fall on a weekend, people often go to bars to basically enjoy some company. Families go out on long-distance car trips and enjoy the mood of going on vacation. However, heavy traffic and high rate of car crashes are already a given in these times of the year.

Basically, the rate of motor vehicle accidents in the United States tends to become much higher whenever holidays approach. In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) always make it a point to advise motorists who are planning to go out on holiday weekends to drive safely, because the agency knows the implications of road activity in such events.

The NHTSA even identified the holidays in which drivers are to experience the dangers of being in the receiving end of collisions and other forms of accidents on the road. Here are some of them:

•    St. Patrick’s Day. It may not be a legal holiday in the U.S., but celebrating the third Sunday of March has always been a tradition of wearing green and consuming alcohol. However, the latter has always been a problem, especially for the roads. In 2011, NHTSA analyses showed that crashes as a result of alcoholism claimed a person every 53 minutes. Moreover, about 34 percent of crashes during said day were connected to drunk driving.

•    Christmas. Aside from family dinners and being with the whole family, the Christmas celebration is often accompanied with last-minute shopping. In fact, the days leading to the 25th of December is often regarded as one of the deadliest days to be on the road, according to the NHTSA.

•    Halloween. Most children go out on Halloween night to score some treats in the neighborhood. However, they are often at risk of getting hit by moving vehicles. In fact, it is regarded as the no. 3 holidays for collisions among pedestrians.

•    Thanksgiving. Family bonding is the main theme of the Thanksgiving celebration, where the members go out to eat turkey and satisfy themselves with food. However, traveling on such important day is often unbearable, which results in an aggressive driving mood, which would then result in an accident. On average, deaths due to crashes during Thanksgiving weekend reach up to 573.

On the next holiday, always remember to keep safe when going out with friends or family, especially on driving. Every Los Angeles car accident lawyer also advises drivers to exercise caution when driving at any time of day, holidays or not.