The Common Types of Wrongful-death Lawsuits
It is common for survivors to seek an explanation and someone to blame when someone dies. In some cases, however, no one is to blame, and the death was not caused by their negligence. In other cases, however, where the death could have been avoided or someone else was able to prevent it from happening, a wrongful death may have occurred.
These are the most common types of wrongful-death lawsuits in the US.
Car Accidents
Unsurprisingly, automobile accidents are the leading cause of wrongful deaths. In 2016, there were more than 7 million traffic accidents reported by police.
Commercial Trucking Accidents
While there are more car accidents every year, truck accidents are more likely than others to result in fatalities. Crashing can prove fatal because they are larger than the average motor vehicle.
Commercial truck accidents can be caused by many factors.
If the driver doesn’t follow safety rules, large loads (commercial vehicles carrying loads greater than 8’5″) could be dangerous. Safety escorts, flags, lights, and banners are all required for these trucks to indicate that they have an oversized load. What if they don’t? This oversized load is now even more dangerous.
Other causes of commercial truck accidents include mechanical failure, poor maintenance, driver error and driving while under the influence or drugs.
Motorcycle, Bicycle and Pedestrian Accidents
Car accidents have a low death rate, but that is not the case for bicycle, pedestrian, or motorcycle accidents. Cars are designed to keep the driver and passengers inside as safe as possible. Bicyclists and pedestrians do not benefit from this type of protection.
Many of these accidents are the result of driver negligence. Driver negligence often causes these accidents. Distracted driving mostly causes these.
Medical Malpractice
After cancer and heart disease, medical negligence is the third leading cause of death. It is a major problem in the U.S., as a payout is made almost every 43 minutes.
Medical providers and doctors have a duty to care for their patients. It based this on what a person would do in a similar situation with the same knowledge. A doctor who faces a death situation should make the same decision as any other.
Medical malpractice occurs when the duty of care has been violated. A doctor might skip a test, for example. Because the doctor doesn’t have all the information, this could lead to poor care.
Medical malpractice can take many forms: misdiagnosis or delayed treatment, birth injury or insufficient informed consent, surgical errors or pharmaceutical errors, defective medical devices, medications or medication, hospital negligence, and even death.
This could be caused by a new surgeon, a doctor forgetting something, or complications during surgery.
Workplace Deaths
5,250 people died in 2018 while doing their job. This is an average of 3.5 deaths per 100,000 workers. It also includes more than 100 deaths from work each week or 14 deaths related to work every day.
It doesn’t matter where you work, workplaces can be extremely difficult. No matter how hazardous the job, employers should ensure that employees have safe working environments. Sometimes, however, this doesn’t work out and people get hurt.
The “fatal four” workplace accidents include falls, electrocutions and being struck by an object. Falls can occur anywhere. They account for 33.5% of workplace deaths.
11.1% of workplace deaths are caused by being struck by an object, while electrocutions account for 85% and catch-in/in-between accounts for 5.5%. These statistics include all workplace deaths.
Defective Products
Another reason for wrongful death is the use of defective products. Defective drugs, defective vehicle parts, toxic food products and children’s products can all lead to wrongful death.
Defective drugs can lead to fatalities in a variety of ways. Manufacturing defects can mean that the drug was not properly manufactured or contaminated. This can also happen due to design defects or dangerous side effects. These side effects can be serious and can lead to severe harm. Failure to warn is the failure to inform about the side effects and instructions for using the drug.
This is also true for other defective products. A defective part in a vehicle could cause an accident if it doesn’t function as it should. A defective product for children could cause a child to swallow small pieces or even lead to death.
Food poisoning is a serious problem when toxic foods cause illness. Restaurants and delis that serve expired food, as well as companies that do not correctly label their expiration dates, could be examples.
Before you file a wrongful-death claim, there are many things that you should consider. Yakima wrongful death lawyers can help you navigate this legal process.
