Fatal Car Accidents

Experienced Nashville attorney determined to get justice

A car accident can leave people with serious injuries. Too often, those injuries are fatal. Family members are left in grief and may experience financial stress if their loved one was a provider. If you lost a loved one in an accident that was caused by a negligent driver, you have the right to seek financial compensation.

For more than 20 years, people in the Nashville area have trusted The Law Office of Eric Beasley to handle car accidents involving fatal injuries. Car accident attorney Eric Beasley knows the impact that losing a loved one have on families. That’s why he puts in the hard work needed to help families recover the compensation they deserve.

The aftermath of the death of someone close to you can be devastating. The lives of your family members are forever changed. If a negligent driver was responsible for the accident, your loss may seem even more senseless because it could have been prevented. You may want the negligent driver who caused the crash to be held accountable.

What causes fatal car accidents?

Like many collisions, fatal car accidents often involve mistakes made by one of the drivers. The difference is fatalities occur in such car accidents because the severity of the crash is much greater. Examples include:

• At-fault driver driving excessively fast. Speeding is a common cause of fatal car accidents.
• Driver was completely asleep at the wheel when they crashed into another car.
• Drunk drivers completely unaware of their surroundings when they crash into another vehicle.
• Reckless drivers who don’t follow the rules of the road, including running a red light.
• Aggressive drivers who put everyone on the road at risk, whether it’s changing lanes without warning, tailgating or weaving in and out of traffic. All of these high-risk driving habits can easily result in a fatal car accident.

How fatal car accident investigations work

Fatal car accident investigations can be very in-depth and detailed. Local police or state troopers from the Tennessee Highway Patrol often conduct an investigation to determine who was at fault and if any drivers broke any traffic laws.

You can also expect the insurance companies for all the drivers involved in a fatal car accident to conduct an in-depth investigation as well. But unlike the police, they have a different objective. They’re focused on determining who was at fault since that driver – and the at-fault driver’s insurance company – are responsible for compensating injury victims and the families of people who died in a fatal car accident.

This is why it’s important that you have a Nashville fatal car accident lawyer on your side who knows how to conduct such investigations. Your attorney can search for evidence and figure out exactly what happened. Your lawyer can also demand the financial compensation your family rightfully deserves for the loss of your loved one.

Wrongful death car accident settlement

After a fatal car accident, it’s common for the at-fault driver’s insurance company to make a settlement offer to surviving family members. Make sure you carefully consider such a settlement offer before you agree to accept it. In most cases, once you accept a settlement offer, that’s it. You cannot ask for more money in the future, even if the financial burden of your loved one’s death turns out to be much bigger than you initially anticipated.

An experienced attorney can review any settlement offer you receive from an insurance company. Your lawyer can advise you on whether your family should accept such an offer or request more money. If you believe your loved one’s wrongful death settlement claim should be worth more money, your attorney can then negotiate with the at-fault driver’s insurance company.

Wrongful death car accident lawsuit

Sometimes, the best way to get the money your family rightfully deserves in the event of a fatal car accident is to file a wrongful death lawsuit. Sometimes, families choose to take legal action because the at-fault driver’s insurance company makes a lowball settlement offer and refuses to offer more money. Other times, families might not receive any settlement offer since the at-fault driver’s insurance company might try to claim that the deceased driver was actually at fault.

Whatever the circumstances of your loved one’s fatal car accident, make sure you fully understand your legal rights, including the right to file a lawsuit. A knowledgeable lawyer can review your case and advise you on whether you should take legal action and file a wrongful death lawsuit seeking damages, the legal term for financial compensation.

Ready to guide you through the legal process

A wrongful death claim is a type of personal injury lawsuit that can be brought on behalf of your loved one and is brought by either the court appointed “personal representative” or a close family member. Typically, representatives seek to recover damages on behalf of victims, their spouses and children.

The negligent driver in your loved one’s accident may have been speeding, operating recklessly, texting or driving drunk. Proving negligence in a wrongful death suit can be complicated. The driver may deny doing anything wrong and refuse to accept responsibility or what happened. That leaves you having to prove negligence.

Insurance companies aren’t your side. They know there’s a lot of money at stake and will try to pay you as little as possible. They may argue that your loved one was partially responsible or what happened. Or they may offer you a settlement – but it will fall far short of covering all the damages you suffered.

Nashville car accident attorney Eric Beasley knows how to build strong cases that insurance companies can’t ignore. Our legal team investigates your loved one’s crash to get the facts. We carefully review accident reports and medical records. We gather evidence and interview witnesses. If needed, we consult accident reconstruction experts and other specialists.

Helping your family recover financial compensation

Damages in a wrongful death claim are slightly different from those in a typical negligence action. They include the losses that the surviving family suffered as a result of the death. Often, these include funeral expenses, medical costs related to the treatment of your loved one prior to death, lost income provided by your loved one, and lost inheritance by the children.

Other damages you may be able to recover include mental anguish that your loved one suffered as a result of injury before death. In some cases, families can also seek punitive damages.

An action for wrongful death must be brought within one year from the date of the victim’s death. If a case is not filed within this time, it likely will not be heard by the court. That’s why it is important to get legal advice from a trusted attorney as soon as possible. Our firm keeps fighting for clients until we get the results they need, either through a negotiated settlement or a jury verdict.

Learn more about how we can help. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.