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| Road Traffic Accidents --- Driver Death |
| Introduction |
Road safety is very important. All travelers must follow certain safety rules and take necessary precautions. Law helps those who were wrongfully injured during a road accident.
When the driver of an automobile/vehicle expires due to the injuries that he/she suffered in a motoring accident, some people related to the departed can claim compensation on behalf of him/her.
Normally, you must draft a claim as soon as possible after the accident. However in late cases you may need to consult an attorney who will guide you through the course of action.
You should also chronicle various things. The details of accident, the witnesses, their contact information and any thing that will help you get a fair compensation.
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| The Law Says, |
Every driver is supposed to take necessary safety steps while driving and every road user is required to take necessary precautions while using the road. If the driver of the vehicle who caused the accident to the person (whom you are representing), did not take required safety precautions while driving, you may claim him/her for being negligent.
The law sets out customary procedures which all drivers and road users (including cyclists, pedestrians) are required to follow. If the driver of the vehicle drivers failed to abide with the law, then it is a clear case of negligence. The court looks carefully for the circumstances of the accident before deciding on who is/was at “negligence”.
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- Not following traffic signs or signals.
- Forgetting to signal while turning.
- Driving above or below the posted speed limit.
- Disregarding weather or traffic conditions.
- Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
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| The court further looks at the precautions which that he/she could have taken to avoid the accident.
There could be other things that the court looks at, firstly it may look whether there was a defect in the car which may have caused the accident and it may look at malfunctioning of the signal and many such things. So it is advisable to approach an attorney who has in-depth knowledge about the little things that you may miss or not know.
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You should be falling under following categories of people to make a claim on the behalf of the deceased in the court of law. You should also fulfill certain criterion before proceeding for the claim.
The categories of people that you can fall under are:
(i) You are the personal representative of the person who died.
(ii) You being wife/husband (spouse) or a former wife/husband of the deceased.
(iii)You are the person who was living as husband or wife with the deceased (but you should have been living with him/her for a period of 2 years before she/he died).
(iv) You were either the parent or the grandparent of the person who died or even if you were treated as his/her parent.
(v) You are the child of the person who died (you can be an adopted child) or grandchild or even great-grandson/daughter or a child of a spouse of the deceased whom the deceased treated as his/her child.
(vi) You can also claim if you were a brother, half-brother or step-brother, sister, half-sister or step-sister, uncle/aunty. |
You should be able to prove that the other driver who was involved was responsible for the accident. Moreover you should prove that his/her negligence has caused the deceased’s injuries or death. If you can prove this, you will be able to recover compensation for:
(i) Pain and suffering caused to the deceased.
(ii) The deceased lost earnings due to the death.
(iii) Funeral and medical expenses that you had to incur.
(iv) You also provided Care services to the deceased who died because of the injury.
(v) You were deprived of finances i.e., financial losses because of the death of the person (e.g. loss of his/her future wages, pension etc.).
(vi) Emotional trauma, loss of love and affection, depression because of loss of the person.
(vii) Bereavement (provided you fall within certain categories). |
| You can claim interest on your compensation. However, if the person who died was partly responsible for his/her injuries, that is she/he did not take sufficient care for his/her own safety (e.g. she/he drove with negligence and paid no attention for his/her own safety) or failed to comply with any obligations put by the law then your compensation could be reduced. |
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