Houston Fatal Accident Lawyer

When a loved one dies in an accident, the family has tremendous grief to deal with as well as wrongful death insurance claims. A Houston Fatal Accident Lawyer at the Willis Law Firm understands that you need time to grieve without the worry of dealing with insurance companies and others who want to settle your wrongful death claim as soon as possible.

If your family suffered a fatality in an auto accident, notify the Willis Law Firm today. We can provide you with a skilled and experienced Houston fatal accident lawyer to help you claim the payments you legally deserve for your losses.

When another person’s mistakes cost someone’s life, that person is legally responsible for the financial losses that ensue, including lost present and future salary, as well as the pain and suffering endured due to a fatal accident.

Such costs don’t come to survivors of victims automatically. Often a family must fight to be paid the money to which it is legally entitled.

That’s because bad drivers, employers or insurance companies may try to place blame elsewhere and avoid paying much — or anything. But victims’ survivors do have legal rights, and our personal injury firm is here to protect them.

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Wrongful Death Lawsuit Lawyer

At the Willis Law Firm, we know that this is a difficult time for your family. You need time to determine the full extent of your financial losses as well as understanding the need for pain and suffering compensation. When there are dependents involved – children, a spouse, aging parents, other family members – their needs should be considered in a wrongful death settlement. The Willis Law Firm has handled a wide range of fatal lawsuits and settlements, you need an experienced wrongful death attorney to help your family recover the compensation you need.

Fatal Car or Truck Wreck

If your relative was involved in a fatal motor vehicle accident – motorcycles, SUV Rollover, car wreck, trucking accident -our wrongful death law firm will investigate the case and assure that all liable parties are named in a lawsuit. Products liability: Let the Willis Law Firm will look for the root causes of accidental death. If a dangerous product caused the accident or made the results worse, we will pursue a product liability lawsuit. Premises liability: If dangerous premises were responsible for your loved one’s death, our wrongful death law firm will investigate and file a gross negligence claim on behalf of you and your family. Dangerous toxic dust or asbestos Did a dangerous product cause a relative’s death or mesothelioma? Call now to talk.

You may want to file a wrongful death lawsuit after a fatal accident if the car crash was due to negligence, recklessness or deliberate harm. The estate of the victim can file a lawsuit on behalf of survivors or others affected by the death, seeking economic compensation for their losses.

Among the things a wrongful death lawsuit can seek are payments for the pain and suffering of the victim prior to death; medical expenses prior to death; funeral and burial expenses; loss of inheritance due to death; loss of the victim’s projected income; and loss of love, care, companionship, guidance and nurturing which the victim would have provided.

Though no amount of money can bring back a loved one after a fatal accident or wrongful death, justice demands that the survivors of victims receive what they are legally due for their many losses.

Gross Negligence Lawsuit

Willis is a nationally recognized trial lawyer with extensive knowledge, resources with an extensive record of handling catastrophic injury and death cases nationwide. Both have gained a national reputation as a leading personal injury lawyer. The Willis law firm specializes in the prosecution of serious injury cases, involving burns, paralysis, brain damage, closed head injuries, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries and wrongful death suits resulting from rollovers, roof crush, roof collapse failure, seat belt defects, airbag deployments, door lock openings, and other crashworthiness issues.

If you have been seriously injured or a loved one has been injured or died in an SUV, van or truck rollover accident, dangerous product, trucking accident, roof crush or as a result of airbag or seatbelt defect and you believe that the design or defect in the vehicle itself or the negligence of others caused your injuries or losses, then e-mail us your questions and concerns on our Free Wrongful Death Lawsuit Evaluation Form or call Toll Free and talk to a lawyer at (410)-525-5337.

A fatal car accident in Houston

Fatal Auto Accident Statistics

If you have suffered such a loss in your family, you are far from alone. Nationally, auto accident fatalities have increased in recent years. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that traffic fatalities rose 5.3 percent in 2012, marking the first year since 2005 that fatalities have risen.

In all, 34,080 Americans died in traffic accidents in 2012. That’s compared to 32,367 deaths in 2011.

The increase in deaths was due to many factors, possibly including distracted driving and more heavy trucks using roads, the NHTSA notes.

Then, in 2013, the U.S. had 32,719 car wreck fatalities, a drop of 3.1% from the prior year.

Even so, each day, 90 Americans die and 6,000 are injured in auto accidents, the NHTSA says.

As for Texas, the state had 3,408 car accident fatalities in 2013, a drop of 0.26% from the prior year, along with 16,807 serious injuries in auto accidents.

Types of Vehicles in Fatal Crashes

The most common type of vehicle involved in fatal crashes in Texas is passenger cars. In the year 2013, such vehicles were involved in 1,601 of Texas’ fatal auto accidents, more than any other kind of vehicle.

Second on the list was pickup trucks, involved in 1,199 fatal accidents. Pickups were followed by SUVs (742 fatal accidents), motorcycles (501 fatal accidents), 18-wheelers (359 fatal accidents) and vans (151 fatal accidents)

Also, bicycle accidents killed 48 persons in Texas and auto-pedestrian accidents killed 492 pedestrians, up 1% over the previous year.

Causes of Fatal Car Accidents

Across the nation, among the causes of fatal car accidents are distracted drivers, rollover wrecks, drunk drivers, bad road conditions, poor weather and collisions in intersections, which often are deadly broadside or “T-bone” crashes.

As for Texas, one of the most common causes of fatal car wrecks in a driver’s failure to maintain a proper lane, reports an Auto Insurance Center survey in 2015. As a matter of fact, Texas is No. 4 in America for deaths due to “improper or erratic lane changing.”

Other causes of deadly auto accidents, the AIC reports, include:

  • Overcorrecting (sudden swerving)
  • Failing to yield right of way
  • Not adjusting to a road obstruction
  • Not adjusting to a road surface
  • Careless or reckless driving
  • Driving on the wrong side of the road
  • Improper turns
  • Operating without required equipment

Hire a Houston Fatal Accident Lawyer

If a bad driver killed someone you love, the law is on your side. Texas law holds that a fatal accident due to someone’s malicious or grossly negligent behavior can be the basis of a legal claim of punitive damages, also known as exemplary damages. Such claims extend beyond the actual monetary costs of a fatal accident, such as medical bills, lost wages, funeral costs and pain, and suffering. Instead, punitive damages are geared to punish the bad driver and make a cautionary example of him or her. The idea is to send a message to all drivers that such behavior won’t be tolerated.

As for compensatory damages, these can include payments for actual costs such as:

  • Loss of inheritance because of death
  • Loss of a victim’s projected income
  • The victim’s pain and suffering prior to death
  • Medical costs before death
  • Funeral and burial expenses
  • Loss of love, care, guidance, companionship and nurturing, which the victim would have provided if he or she had lived.

Notify the Willis Law Firm at once if you need help claiming such payments after a fatal car wreck claimed the life of someone close to you. You could be legally entitled to significant economic recovery. So contact us today. We’re ready to help.

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