Most car crashes in Ohio cause property damage or possibly injuries to the people involved, and only a tiny fraction of the crashes that occur each year result in fatalities. Still, car crashes are the leading cause of death for every age group in the United States.
It is easy for drivers in Ohio to have a false sense of security regarding their safety in a car crash scenario. Not only do people often underestimate their risk of getting into a crash, but they may also overestimate how much protection they have when a wreck does occur.
Insurance falls short when someone dies in a wreck
When a crash is deadly, the surviving family members will almost always find that car insurance isn’t enough to cover all of their losses. Someone dying will cost a household tens of thousands of dollars. It can feel crass or even intimidating to try to put a price tag on someone’s life.
Still, losing a member of your immediate family in a car crash can cause you lifelong emotional suffering as well as ongoing financial consequences. The surviving family members have to pay for someone’s hospital bills and funeral costs after a fatal car crash. They may also need to repair or replace the vehicle involved.
The whole family will have to absorb a lifetime of lost wages and lost job benefits. The allocation of household responsibilities, like child care and vehicle maintenance, will also change drastically. Given that many drivers have just $25,000 worth of bodily injury liability protection, your family could have thousands of dollars of costs and no way to recover them. A wrongful death lawsuit helps close the gap between the financial impact of a fatal crash and what insurance will pay.
Can you file a wrongful death lawsuit?
Some people think that if they accepted money from insurance that they can’t file a lawsuit. Others may assume that there needs to be a criminal conviction to pursue a wrongful death claim. Both those who have already maximized their insurance recovery and those who believe that negligence, not criminal behavior, caused their loss can still file wrongful death claims in Ohio.
Seeking justice for your family may require a wrongful death lawsuit when someone’s bad driving causes a family tragedy.