When you are experiencing the heartbreak of losing someone you love to a motorcycle accident, learning about the rights you have to bring a lawsuit to help compensate you for your loss is crucial. An experienced attorney can help walk you through the process of filing a lawsuit in court.
Fatal motorcycle accidents in Temple can result from a variety of factors, and the grieving spouse, child, or parent can bring a wrongful death lawsuit to hold the responsible party liable. A suit will not bring back your loved one, but a successful claim can bring some measure of justice to the situation as well as financial compensation.
In Temple, the wrongful conduct of another party can cause a fatal motorcycle crash. The other driver might have caused the accident by engaging in negligent conduct like speeding or making an improper turn into the bike. The bike manufacturer could have installed a defective product that led to the accident. The city might be at fault for failing to maintain a traffic light.
In cases where the fault of another causes a wreck, a surviving family could bring two kinds of lawsuits. The first is a wrongful death lawsuit, and the second is a survival claim. There can be overlap between the two, but they are different legal theories. The decedent’s spouse, child, or parent brings a wrongful death claim to compensate them for their loss. In a survival claim, the decedent’s estate can recover damages for the decedent’s losses–the damages the decedent would have been entitled to if they had lived long enough to bring their own injury lawsuit.
Time limits apply in the case of both wrongful death and survival actions stemming from fatal motorcycle collisions in Temple, and an experienced attorney can go over what they are, how they apply, and whether any exceptions exist.
The kinds of damages a family can recover in a wrongful death action include lost earnings and inheritance, lost value of household services, lost companionship and guidance, and mental suffering. The damages in a survival action include compensation for pain and suffering (of the decedent), medical expenses, and burial expenses.
Every fatal motorcycle crash in Temple has its own unique facts and circumstances. An experienced attorney can help surviving family members gather the evidence they need to evaluate what happened. The kinds of evidence the attorney might collect include witness testimony, surveillance footage, and photos of the scene. The lawyer might also utilize accident reconstruction experts and techniques to understand what happened and who was at fault.
In regard to damages, the state has a form of comparative negligence called proportionate responsibility that allocates fault in cases involving motorcycle accidents. This rule can negatively impact the damages awarded in a case where the rider contributed to the collision, so it is important to discuss this issue with an experienced attorney.
When you lose someone due to a fatal motorcycle accident, you might be able to hold the responsible party accountable through a lawsuit. When the accident was not your loved one’s fault, you might be able to get damages to compensate both you and your loved one for the loss that has occurred. An experienced attorney can help you understand the law as it relates to fatal motorcycle accidents in Temple, including the time limits for filing lawsuits and any impact proportional responsibility might have on the case.
You cannot bring back your loved one, but you can seek justice, compensation, and closure through a lawsuit. Call for a consultation today.