Pedestirans Killed By A Car And Wrongful Death Cases

There is a great deal at stake in matters concerning a pedestrian fatality from a car accident. A number of these deaths will result in a wrongful death claim. These are sophisticated lawsuits which are generally strongly defended by insurance companies and contain complicated medical, accident reconstruction and legal issues.

For any motor vehicle accident claim, insurance company adjustors, when they recommend any settlement offer whatsoever, are going to calculate the value of the amount based not on the injured person's loss but instead on the financial risk faced by the insurance company. There are many ways in which insurance companies try to reduce their risk. For example, liability is often denied by blaming the victim. There are often several defendants (including drivers, others who contributed to the accident, employer, and vehicle owners). There are also often insurance issues that arise including a responsible driver with no insurance or insufficient insurance, multiple policies, excess policies, and even assets that can be reached. The attorney also needs to be able to properly value the case. An attorney handling one of these matters thus needs to have the skill and experience to deal successfully with all of the issues that can come up in the lawsuit. Consider:

A vehicle which was observed speeding by a witness at around 6:00 in the morning struck into a pedestrian shortly thereafter. The police conducted an investigation of the accident and announced that the vehicle was low on break fluid and had no windshield cleaning fluid even though it had a dirty windshield.

The pedestrian who was hit was a woman, aged 66. She landed 27 feet from the point of impact. She had fractures to several ribs, to her skull, to her clavicle, even to her wrist. She was taken to a local hospital where she died from her injuries. She was survived by her family that consisted of a husband, five children, and six grandchildren. The law firm that represented her family reported that they obtained a $725,000 settlement at mediation.

A motor vehicle driven by a woman in the early part of the evening fled the scene after striking a pedestrian. The person she struck, a male pedestrian, was killed as a result of the accident. He was survived by two children. He worked at a part time job. The female driver was tracked down and arrested by the police. The woman was criminally charged. The charges included leaving the scene of an accident. The charges also included the negligent operation of a vehicle resulting in a death. A settlement of $1.15 million was reported by the law firm that represented the victim's family.

Consider the differences. In the second case the victim held a part-time job. In the first case there is no mention of the plaintiff having a job and, given her age, it is very likely that she was retired. In the second first case the victim had children. The reports do not indicated whether the children were minors or adults. In the first case the victim had five children, but given her age, it is likely all her children were adults. Grandchildren generally have no standing to make a claim for the loss of a grandparent. These differences might reveal why the recovery in the second case was 53% greater than in the first case.

Additional factors that might have influenced the sum of the recovery
included the total insurance coverage available in each case and the history of verdicts in the jurisdictions where each lawsuit would have been tried.

Insurance companies take making as large a profit as possible very quite seriously. Factors that suggest a low risk to taking the case to trial include plaintiffs with little credibility and little sympathy factors, an attorney with a reputation for settling cases or for not doing well at trial, and a poor preparation. An insurance company adjuster who perceives a high risk of an adverse award will make a proportionally higher offer. Factors that suggest a high risk include highly credible and sympathetic plaintiffs, a skilled highly experienced attorney with a history of trial successes, and a thoroughly prepared case. Plaintiff attorneys know that, paradoxically, preparing the case for trial is often the best way to position the case for settlement.