Area police responded to a fatal accident in the wee hours of a recent Sunday morning. The tragedy occurred on US-67 in eastern Texas. The wrong-way crash resulted in multiple deaths, as well as injuries to two survivors. Depending upon the circumstances, a case like this is sometimes grounds for a wrongful death claim.
A 22-year-old woman was the driver of a vehicle that was carrying three children as passengers. Just after midnight, a pickup truck, apparently headed in the wrong direction on the highway, slammed into the woman’s vehicle. She did not survive the accident. Authorities responding to the scene also pronounced two of the children dead at the site.
A third child was airlifted to an area hospital for emergency care. The driver of the pickup was also transported to a hospital by helicopter, although his condition was not released to the public. An Alvarado police department social media page published condolences to those who lost family members in the tragedy. Authorities have stated that they suspect alcohol to have been a factor in the fatal crash.
By law, Texas residents who are immediate family members of those killed in vehicular collisions that were caused by the negligent or wrongful acts of other drivers can initiate wrongful death suits in civil court. Losing multiple family members at once in a fatal accident is understandably devastating to those left to grieve their losses. It might be somewhat comforting to know that legal recourse is available in order to seek compensation for damages suffered by those who survive the untimely deaths of family members.
Source: The Dallas Morning News, “Two children, one adult killed in wrong-way crash in Alvarado”, Melissa Repko, March 8, 2015