A 20-year-old woman was killed in an August 5 accident in Navarre, according to authorities. The State Route 87 crash reportedly occurred at approximately 1 p.m. That is when an 18-year-old woman driving a Mustang lost control of her vehicle, veered into southbound traffic and collided with a semi-truck.
Following the collision, the semi-truck careened off the roadway and hit a pine tree. The driver of the truck, a 46-year-old man, suffered minor injuries as a result of the incident. Authorities reported that the 18-year-old Mustang driver received emergency transport to Pensacola’s Baptist Hospital, where officials listed her in serious condition. Emergency personnel took a 2-year-old passenger to Sacred Heart Hospital for treatment of critical injuries. A 20-year-old passenger in the Mustang died from injuries suffered in the crash, authorities said. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the investigation into the crash is ongoing.
If further investigation into this case were to yield significant evidence suggesting that the fatal crash was caused not by driver error but by a factor outside the drivers’ purview, such as a defective auto part, then the party responsible for that causal factor may encounter a civil lawsuit, such as a wrongful death claim. For, people who suffer damages as a result of such an accident, including certain family members of deceased victims, have the right to seek financial compensation in civil court.
By retaining a wrongful death lawyer and filing suit against the automaker or manufacturer whose negligence contributed in a significant way to the car accident, bereaved family members may seek restitution for burial expenses, funeral costs, lost earnings and other economic losses related to the fatal event. Besides filing the requisite paperwork, the lawyer may assemble a wrongful death case substantial enough to prove to a civil court that the at-fault parties should be held liable for the deadly accident.
Source: NFW Daily News, “One dead after traffic crash”, August 05, 2014
