Partner
There are unlimited situations that could lead to a wrongful death claim. These cases involve one person’s untimely death that resulted from a wrongful act of another person. Usually, the wrongful act is unintentional, but sometimes, a wrongful death claim can arise out of an intentional or criminal act.
If your close relative died because of someone else’s wrongful conduct, you will want to talk to a New Jersey wrongful death attorney about recovering compensation from the at-fault party for your losses. Here are some of the common types of wrongful death accidents in New Jersey:
Motor Vehicle Collisions
Motor vehicle crashes cause more wrongful death cases than almost anything else. Collisions that involve cars, trucks, motorcycles, buses, or tractor-trailers take the lives of thousands of Americans every year. When someone’s negligence caused the accident, they could be held liable in a wrongful death case.
Pedestrian Accidents
When a walker gets struck by a moving vehicle, the pedestrian often suffers severe, if not fatal, injuries. Unlike a person inside a motor vehicle, the person on foot does not have the protection of the vehicle’s frame.
Also, pedestrians often go airborne upon getting hit by a car. When this happens, the walker can suffer additional injuries when landing or get thrown into traffic and struck by another vehicle.
Medical Malpractice or Medication Errors
Substandard medical care takes the lives of far too many people. The law does not expect doctors and other healthcare professionals to be perfect, but it does hold them responsible for injuries they cause when they fail to deliver medical services that satisfy the applicable standard of care.
Medication errors can also be fatal. Receiving the wrong type of prescription drug or the wrong dose of medication can be lethal. Also, when a patient does not receive their dose of medication on time or they receive doses more frequently than they should, they can suffer life-threatening injury. The negligent administration of prescription drugs to hospital patients results in numerous wrongful death cases.
Defective or Dangerous Products
The manufacturer of a product that contains dangerous flaws or defects can be held liable to people who get hurt by the item. Product liability cases can involve:
- Defective design
- Defective manufacture
- Inadequate warnings about the risk of using the product
- Insufficient instructions for assembly or installation of the item.
Sometimes, the seller can be liable if they knowingly sell dangerous or defective products to consumers.
Intentional Acts
The defendant in a wrongful death case might have been outrageously reckless without regard to the safety of others, as in street racing. Also, when a person performs an intentional act, like road rage, an assault, or some other criminal activity, they could face criminal charges as well as a civil lawsuit seeking compensation for the harm they caused.
Requirements for Wrongful Death Claims
If your loved one died because of someone else’s wrongful act, you will need to prove that the defendant committed that act negligently or intentionally. Also, your deceased relative must have qualified to pursue a personal injury claim against the defendant if your loved one had survived their injuries.
Wrongful death cases are sophisticated legal matters. You will want to have the guidance of a New Jersey personal injury attorney if your loved one died because of someone else’s wrongful act. You can reach out to us today for a free initial consultation.