There are many of potential causes of wrongful death. A wrongful death occurs when someone loses their life due to the negligent, reckless or intentional acts of others. Knowing these potential causes can help families seek legal action against the responsible party.
Vehicle Accidents
Many of the wrongful death cases handled are a result of automobile, motorcycle and pedestrian collisions in which the defendant negligently operates their vehicle which causes an accident resulting in a loss of life. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, roughly 40,000 individuals die each year as a result of car accidents in the United States.
Product Liability
When a manufacturer is negligent in the design or manufacturing of a product, or they fail to warn about a potential danger, it can cause serious harm. Some product defects are bad enough to cause death and the manufacturer may be to blame.
Trucking Accidents
Truck accidents are some of the most serious on the road because the large size of these commercial vehicles can have devastating results in a crash. Some truck drivers may be distracted while others may be too tired from driving beyond the number of allotted hours. There are also mandatory maintenance checks for the steering, braking and coupling system that should be performed before each haul, but are often reviewed in a very basic way, or not at all. This can have fatal consequences for other using the roadway.
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Landlords must ensure that all rentals have proper carbon monoxide detectors to ensure tenants are safe from this silent killer. The odorless, tasteless, and colorless gas has the ability to cause significant brain damage or death when inhaled. Roughly 15,000 victims visit the hospital due to carbon monoxide poisoning each year with 500 of them passing away from fatal damages.
Workplace Accidents
We expect that the places we work are going to be safe and keep us free from harm. Unfortunately, some occupations involve serious risk of injury if there are insufficient safety equipment or protocols put into place. For instance, a fall into an unmarked drop-off at construction zone can be fatal and therefore should be properly marked with safety tape and pylons. Also, one subcontractor can injure another on the same job and be responsible for damages. The only workplace accidents we don’t handle involve injuries at work that are either the fault of the employer, or injured employee.
These accidents often involve serious acts of negligence or reckless behavior. Our San Jose wrongful death lawyers at Caputo & Van Der Walde recognize the potential parties who may be held accountable in these types of cases and work hard to help families navigate the legal matters that follow.