Many people keep on driving while under the influence despite the rigorous drunk driving laws and multiple awareness initiatives. These hasty and negligent choices usually bring about grave accidents, and sadly, a few lead to deaths. If a drunk driver has caused the death of a loved one, you are probably dealing with profound grief and anger, knowing that their death was preventable. A wrongful death lawsuit offers you an avenue to pursue justice. It is an opportunity to hold the responsible party accountable and to secure compensation for the emotional and financial hardship you have gone through. While no legal action can undo the loss, pursuing a wrongful death claim can help alleviate your economic difficulties and secure a sense of justice. At the outset, meeting with an experienced personal injury lawyer will benefit you. He/she will walk you through the legal proceedings and allow you to recover the compensation you deserve.

The Real Cost of Drunk Driving

Drunk driving accidents bring devastation that statistics alone cannot convey. Reports center on the numbers of fatalities and injuries, but they overlook the considerable personal losses families have to bear. The death of someone in a drunk driving accident does more than deprive families of a loved one. It takes away a spouse, a provider, or, in sad situations, a child with a promising future.

The financial burden follows immediately. Families face financial problems caused by the rapid accumulation of medical bills, funeral charges, and other expenses. Many have difficulty managing these costs while facing the long-term impact of losing someone supporting the household. A wrongful death lawsuit allows you to seek compensation for these costs, helping ease the burden.

However, the emotional impact is more significant. The sudden loss of a loved one, especially one that could have been prevented, creates a void that cannot be filled. You lose the companionship of a spouse, the wisdom of a parent, or the prospects for a child. Money cannot replace these losses. The grief and emotional suffering that follow are immeasurable, but you can nonetheless seek compensation for them.

What is a Wrongful Death Claim?

A wrongful death claim comes about when somebody dies as a result of the careless or intentional behavior of another party. In the case of a drunk driving incident, family members or the estate representative of the deceased can seek financial compensation from the driver responsible for the accident.

To establish your claim, you need to prove that the drunk driver was negligent when he/she used a vehicle while under the influence. His/her negligent actions violated the driver's duty to ensure the safety of other road users, ultimately leading to the victim’s death.

As the plaintiff, you bear the burden of proof. You must establish critical elements, which include:

  • The drunk driver acted negligently (without due care)
  • The negligence of the drunk driver is directly related to the death of your loved one
  • You are a surviving family member or beneficiary

Let us look at these elements in detail.

  1. Negligence

In a wrongful death lawsuit resulting from driving under the influence case, you need to establish that the driver was negligent. The negligence is his/her failure to exercise reasonable care, which led to the accident. You can gather evidence to show that intoxication prevented the driver from driving safely.

An analysis of a breath, blood, or urine sample can expose the driver’s alcohol limit to be above the legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit at the time of the crash. You could also look for details in police reports, including erratic driving like wavering, speeding, or not following traffic signals, to support your claims. Furthermore, witness statements provide critical insights, especially when they point out the driver’s behavior leading up to the accident. They could assert that the driver was stumbling, mumbling, speaking incoherently, or had other unmistakable signs of intoxication.

You have a solid foundation for your claim when you show that the driver’s impairment compromised their ability to drive safely.

  1. Causation

Causation requires establishing a link between the driver’s negligent actions and the fatal accident. You must show that the driver’s intoxication significantly contributed to the crash that resulted in the victim's death.

The accident scene has a lot of evidence to support your claim. In most cases, police officers will have gathered it if you were not at the crash site to do so. Your attorney will help you with this. By merging car placement visuals with skid marks and road condition data, attorneys, with the help of accident reconstruction experts, can show the conditions that preceded the collision. Police reports issue an official recount of how the driver's actions led to the incident. On top of that, witness testimonies offer valuable perspectives on the events leading up to the accident that could point to a driver’s intoxication. The testimonies will support the argument that driver intoxication was a crucial factor.

  1. Surviving Family Members or Beneficiaries in Wrongful Death Lawsuits

In wrongful death lawsuits, the victim’s death and its impact on surviving family members are central to the claim. The emotional difficulties, economic problems, and dramatic life changes are some of the challenges family members endure after a family member's death.

In California, the surviving family members or beneficiaries eligible to file a wrongful death lawsuit typically include:

  • Spouse — The surviving legal partner of the deceased has the right to initiate a claim. Spouses include married couples and those registered as domestic partners under California law.
  • Children — The biological and adopted children of the deceased can pursue a wrongful death claim. This includes children who lived with and relied on the deceased for over 180 days before the victim's death. Should there be no surviving spouse, the children generally have the primary right to file.
  • Parents — Should there be no surviving spouse or children, the parents can begin a wrongful death lawsuit.
  • Other dependents — People financially dependent on the deceased could also file a claim. This category can include siblings, grandparents, or anyone who relied on the victim for help.
  • Putative spouse — These individuals can demonstrate a marriage-like relationship, even unmarried, and file a claim.

The 'one action' rule under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 377.62 requires plaintiffs to bring only one suit resulting from wrongful deaths arising from the same event. The law smooths the process of managing all claims resulting from a death, preventing multiple lawsuits from different lawsuits.

As a surviving family member and other eligible parties, you must work together in the same lawsuit to seek damages. Integrating these claims allows the court to adequately examine the circumstances of the death. Collaborating is necessary to ensure that each person's loss is represented collectively. When you present a united front, you strengthen your case and increase your potential for just compensation.

This law serves significant purposes. It mitigates the chance of diverging opinions from multiple courts managing cases from a single event, thus reducing the possibility of injustice or confusion. Moreover, combining claims streamlines the legal process, making it more efficient and effective for everyone involved.

Damages Recoverable in a Wrongful Death in a Drunk Driving Incident

In a wrongful death claim, you can seek damages that address each financial loss and the emotional toll of losing your loved one. The two primary categories are economic and non-economic damages.

  1. Economic Damages

Economic damages are meant to pay you back for the financial losses you suffer from an injury or death. These losses are measurable, as documented by reliable sources like bills, receipts, and financial statements.

In a wrongful death case, you can recover a range of expenses, including:

Funeral and Burial Costs

In a wrongful death lawsuit, you can secure reimbursement for funeral and burial expenses. Contributing to the costs are the funeral itself, the casket, the burial plot, the transportation required, and fees for preparing the body for burial or cremation. You have the right to demand the entire amount of these necessary expenses.

The courts decided to set compensation based on your reasonable costs. The courts arrive at the final amount by reviewing documentation, which includes receipts and invoices. Though courts work to compensate you for the total financial impact, they impose limits on the reimbursement for unjustified or unneeded costs. This offers a fair and accurate reimbursement without inflating the claim's value.

Medical Expenses

When a loved one needs medical attention before their passing, you can pursue compensation for those medical costs in a wrongful death lawsuit. The costs for these services include:

  • Emergency treatment
  • Hospital stays
  • Surgical procedures
  • Diagnostic tests
  • Medications
  • Vital medical care before they pass away

You have the right to claim compensation for all related expenses, regardless of the length of the victim’s treatment.

Recovering these medical costs helps you steer clear of financial distress that could arise from the negligent or unlawful behaviors of the drunk driver. The financial obligation for medical treatment can quickly add up, compounding the emotional burden of what you are already managing. Seeking compensation can help ease some of this financial burden during this tough period.

To bolster your claim, you have to collect records of the medical care received. This includes medical expenditures, hospital summaries, and all important evidence required. Courts use this data to determine the total medical costs payable, ensuring you receive just compensation.

Lost Financial Support

Wrongful death lawsuits allow you to recover the financial contributions the deceased would have made if they had lived, commonly referred to as lost earnings. These damages address the economic effects of your loved one's death on yourself and your family. Going after these damages gives you the ability to deal with pressing financial issues and develop future plans without the help your loved one would have given.

Lost earnings include more than the deceased’s current pay. Attorneys consider several factors when calculating lost earnings, which include:

  • Your loved one’s annual income
  • His/her health insurance benefits
  • Saved retirement plan contributions
  • The usual commissions or bonuses they would receive

Attorneys also examine the victim’s career growth trajectory and consider the raises or promotions the victim would have expected.

To strengthen your case, it is important to have all relevant paperwork, which includes pay stubs, tax returns, and work records. This evidence establishes the deceased's earning potential and creates a solid basis for your computations. More evidence demonstrating income levels and possibilities for future earnings is necessary if the departed was self-employed or worked on commission.

The courts will estimate these issues and determine a fair value of lost earnings. You will then receive fair compensation for the financial support your family has lost.

Lost Benefits or Gifts

You can seek lost benefits, including pensions or health insurance. These benefits are important to your family's financial well-being. Future benefits include various forms of financial support that your loved one would have provided. You can claim their current value should the deceased have a pension plan or retirement benefits. The amount includes what your loved one has contributed and what is expected for the growth of those funds over the years. You should also consider benefits that are not yet available but would have greatly aided your family's financial stability over time.

Health insurance benefits also play a crucial role in your claim. Without that primary health coverage provided by your loved one, you and other family members may face serious financial hurdles. You have the ability to seek compensation for your predicted health insurance premiums combined with any out-of-pocket costs resulting from losing that coverage.

The courts will require relevant documentation to bolster your claim for future rewards. This includes:

  • Pension plan statements
  • Employment contracts
  • Information about health insurance benefits

  1. Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages are losses that are beyond what is financial in nature and difficult to quantify. These damages address the emotional and relational impacts you experience because of the wrongful death of your loved one. Examples include:

  • Loss of companionship — You can seek compensation to cover the emotional void from losing your beloved's companionship, aid, and guidance. This loss shows your previous strong connection and the overwhelming impact the loss has caused you.
  • Pain and suffering — Even though you may not recover from the pain of losing your loved one, you have the opportunity to assert a claim for damages related to your own emotional pain, grief, and anguish caused by their death. The courts consider the mental and emotional strain their absence causes.
  • Loss of consortium — As a spouse, you can legally claim compensation for the loss of marital companionship, affection, and intimacy you received from the deceased. Courts appreciate the irreplaceable nature of this connection and will compensate you for it.

Timeline for Filing Wrongful Death Lawsuits in Drunk Driving Incidents

In California, the deadline for filing a wrongful death lawsuit due to a drunk driving accident is within two years of your loved one’s death. If you miss this deadline, you forfeit your right to pursue compensation for what you have lost.

Some conditions can cause this time limit to toll or to pause. If you were a minor when your loved one died, the statute of limitations does not become active until you turn 18. After that, you have two additional years to file your claim. Furthermore, if the cause of death is uncertain at first, and you later discover new evidence linking it to the drunk driver’s actions, the time limit begins from the day you reasonably learned that information.

Should your case involve a government agency, the timeline will change. You have to file your claim within six months of the incident. Should the government reject your claim, you can still file a lawsuit, but the original two-year deadline remains in effect.

Find a San Diego Personal Injury Attorney Near Me

The loss of a loved one, especially if it was preventable, is tough. The emotional impact can be staggering, forcing you to confront not only your grief but also the reality of life without that person. You could face unforeseen expenses, including funeral bills, medical care charges, and various financial obligations resulting from this unfortunate loss. The enormity of these challenges can be overwhelming, making it difficult to see a way forward.

In this painful time, a wrongful death claim provides you an opportunity to seek financial compensation from the drunk driver who caused the death of your loved one. You can hold the at-fault party responsible and seek compensation for your financial losses. This award by the courts will help you solve several financial issues, so you can concentrate on your recovery and rebuilding your life.

If you are in this painful situation, consider contacting the San Diego Personal Injury Law Firm. We specialize in wrongful death cases and can offer legal support with both expertise and kindness. Working together with us ensures your rights are upheld as you pursue fair compensation for your loss. Do not journey through this alone. Call us at 619-478-4059 today to discuss your case and begin the path toward justice.