Carbondale, PA Fatal Car Accident Lawyer

Every year in Pennsylvania, more than 1,000 people will die in a car accident. Though nothing can bring them back to their families, there are legal options the loved ones of the deceased can take to secure financial compensation for the losses the accident caused.

If you have lost a loved one in a car accident in Carbondale, the Carbondale fatal car accident attorneys of Munley Law can provide legal guidance to you during this challenging time.

How Can a Carbondale Car Accident Attorney Help After a Fatal Wreck?

Our Carbondale car accident attorneys can guide you through the following legal steps following a fatal car wreck in Carbondale, PA.

Determine a Cause of the Collision and Establish Negligence

We know that determining the cause of a fatal wreck can be a challenge as one of the most critical eyewitnesses is unable to share their testimony. However, there are still ways to determine the cause of the collision and establish negligence.

Your attorney can work through the investigation to establish liability by:

• Reviewing the police reports
• Meeting with witnesses
• Working with accident reconstruction specialists
• Establish the conditions of the accident (such as weather, road conditions, time of day intoxication, etc.)

While no two car accidents are the same, certain conditions and actions are most likely to occur in a fatal car accident, such as:

• Fatigued driving after working a late night shift in Carbondale, PA
• Poor weather conditions
• Swerving the vehicle to avoid hitting something or someone
• Reckless driving
• Failing to abide by traffic laws includes failure to yield, stopping at red lights, etc.
• Overreacting to avoid something or someone in the roadway, leading to a collision
• Careless and distracted driving
• Improper lane merging
• Driving while under the influence in Carbondale
• Speeding

Once a cause has been determined, negligence will be established. From there, a wrongful death claim can be pursued.

Pursue a Wrongful Death Claim

For your fatal car accident case to be considered for a wrongful death claim, you must prove negligence led to the death of your loved one. Carbondale car accident attorneys do this by establishing that the at-fault party had a duty of care owed to other drivers, which they breached. From there, it must be provable that the breach caused the death of the car accident victim. Finally, your attorney must establish that actual damages were suffered due to this conduct.

It is not enough for the other driver to have been part of the accident that led to death; they must have been negligent in their conduct, which resulted in the death of the victim.

Winning a wrongful death claim can be challenging without the right lawyer by your side. Munley Law can help.

Evaluate the Value of the Claim

Part of establishing a wrongful death claim for a fatal collision is calculating the value of the accident. This is not only the financial losses your family endured but also the emotional ones. Car accident lawyers can help you calculate the value of your claim by reviewing the following:

• Medical bills that resulted from the accident, especially if the death was not immediate
• Lost wages that you may have from time away from work, as well as the wages your loved one made before the accident
• Property damage
• Pain and suffering

In cases where the victim was a parent or spouse, the family also suffers from loss of companionship, consortium, and more, all of which can become an emotional and financial burden to bear.

Recover Compensation For Your Short and Long-Term Losses

Once the value of your claim has been established, your lawyer will fight for the maximum compensation available to you. In addition to the losses mentioned above, you may be entitled to punitive damages if the at-fault driver was grossly negligent or their actions were intentional.

Unlike car accidents where the victim suffers injury but recovers and can return to work, in these cases, you can also recover compensation for wages they would have earned had they not been killed in the wreck. Further, you may be entitled to compensation for funeral and burial costs.

Your fatal car accident lawyer will walk you through all potential modes of recovery.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim for a Fatal Car Accident in Carbondale?

Only certain people can file a wrongful death claim for a fatal collision. Under Pennsylvania law, only the spouse, children, or parents of the deceased can file a wrongful death claim for the accident.

However, if no spouse, children, or parents can bring about a case, the estate’s representative can bring a claim forward. This person is named in the descendants will. When the estate brings forth a claim, this is known as a survival action.

Your Carbondale car accident lawyer will help you determine your rights and if an estate lawyer needs to be brought in to decide what beneficiaries are applicable.

What is The Average Settlement for a Fatal Car Accident?

There is no average settlement for fatal car accidents, as every case is unique. However, standard factors determine a settlement amount.

• Age of Deceased: One of the first factors that will be used to calculate a settlement is the age of the deceased. This is because while losing a child is devastating, the economic impact of their loss will not be as significant as losing an adult who was the primary income earner or caregiver in the family.
• Income of the Deceased: The more income the deceased made, the more the claim is worth, as their income will now be considered damage in the case.
• Family Size: How many people depend on the deceased will significantly impact the claim’s value. For example, a young man who dies leaving behind a spouse will not yield as high of a settlement compared to a man who dies leaving behind a spouse and multiple minor children.
• Shared Fault: Pennsylvania is a comparative negligence state, which means your damages will be adjusted based on your percentage of fault in an accident. For example, if the deceased were 20 percent responsible for the wreck that led to their death, the damages would be adjusted by 20 percent.

If it is found the deceased was more than 50 percent at fault, the family likely won’t recover any compensation under the law. Experienced car accident lawyers will guide you through the process to ensure that the fault is calculated correctly.

Keep in mind if the deceased was at fault for the accident due to drowsy driving but was on the clock at work and forced to maintain unsafe work hours, the employer may be held accountable for the wreck. In these cases, discussing all aspects with your attorney is important.

What if the At-Fault Driver was Uninsured?

Unfortunately, if the driver responsible for the accident was uninsured, the family may be unable to collect compensation. This is especially true in cases involving hit-and-run accidents.

However, your lawyer can look at other ways to bring forth legal action, including the possibility of holding other parties accountable.

For example, if the deceased was involved in a drunk driving accident, but what contributed to their death was that their airbags did not deploy, the vehicle manufacturer could be held responsible for the collision.

Further, if other vehicles contributed to the accident, they may be liable parties. Reviewing the police report and working with a lawyer in Carbondale will help identify all potential parties in the car accident claim.

What is the Statute of Limitations on Fatal Car Accidents in Carbondale?

Like most personal injury cases, under the Pennsylvania statute of limitations for fatal car accidents and wrongful death claims, the family has two years from the date of the accident victim’s death to bring forth a claim.

The filing timeline allows little wiggle room, so you must consult a law firm immediately to ensure you get the guidance and support you need.

What Injuries Commonly Cause Death in Car Accidents in Carbondale?

Not all fatal car accidents result in immediate death. Sometimes, victims succumb to catastrophic injuries after receiving medical treatment. Below are some of the most common injuries that lead to death.

Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI)

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), traumatic brain injuries are one of the leading causes of death and disability in the United States.

A bump causes severe TBIs, hits, or jolts to the head, as well as an object penetrating the skull. For people who survive a severe TBI, the results are often life-long pain and disability.

Data shows that 22% of people who suffered a severe TBI died within five years of the injury.

Spinal Cord Injuries

In many cases, a spinal cord injury may result in partial or total paralysis, as well as difficulty breathing. However, if the spinal cord is completely severed, it can lead to death.

Internal Injuries

Unfortunately, car accident victims may not realize they’ve suffered a severe internal injury at the time of the car crash. However, in some cases, without treatment, these injuries can become fatal, even if the person seemed relatively fine before death.

Common internal injuries may include a broken bone piercing an organ, leading to internal bleeding, or the impact of the wreck, causing internal swelling and damage that leads to death.

What is critical to understand with all of these injuries is that if you can prove that the injury from the accident is what led to death, you can recover compensation for your losses, even if the accident happened more than two years ago. Wrongful death cases do not relate to the date of the accident unless that is also the date of death.

Carbondale personal injury attorneys with experience in fatal car accidents will provide you with a free consultation to determine if your claim falls under the scope of wrongful death.

A Carbondale Fatal Car Accident Lawyer From Munley Law Is Here For You

Not all car accident lawyers can handle the delicate nature of fatal car wrecks. These cases can be lengthy compared to traditional auto accidents as not only are the standard factors of lost wages, medical bills, and pain and suffering at play, but you must also consider the long-term losses and needs of the family left behind in the accident.

At Munley Law, we combine our experience in personal injury law with compassion to meet your family where they are at this difficult time. We know the last thing you mind is reviewing insurance negotiations in a conference room.

If the case goes to trial, you may be unable to sit before a judge and review every detail, but we can do that on your behalf.

If someone else’s negligence resulted in the death of your loved one, you have options for financial recovery. No amount of money will bring them back, but it can help you recover from the economic aspects of the collision.

If you lost a loved one in a car accident, Munley Law is ready to take on the negligent parties.

For a no-obligation, free consultation, contact the Carbondale fatal car accident lawyers of Munley Law. For decades, we’ve represented Pennsylvania’s injured. Now, let us represent your family in your time of need.

With a track record in car accident litigation that has won clients millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts, we will use that experience to help you navigate this difficult time. No two accidents are the same, and we will create a customized strategy for you.

Our lawyers work on a contingency basis, which means there is only payment due once compensation has been won–making your injury claim one less worry at this challenging time. Call us today to begin the process. Don’t delay.

Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys

41 N. Main St.,
Carbondale, PA 18407
(570)280-2502