1 dead, 1 injured in single-car accident

On behalf of Aiken and Aiken P.C. Personal Injury Attorneys posted in Car Accidents, on Monday, May 2, 2016

A student who was attending a Massachusetts university was killed in a single-vehicle car crash that occurred on April 23. According to authorities, the deceased student, a 19-year-old man from Vermont, was a student at Endicott College. A second man, age 20, suffered critical injuries.Police stated that the accident took place at about 12:15 a.m. on Hale Street. The 20-year-old man was driving a BMW when the vehicle slammed into a telephone pole. It appeared that excessive speed and alcohol may have been factors in the crash. The 20-year-old driver was still in critical condition when the report was made. Endicott College confirmed that the deceased 19-year-old was a student at the college. Grief counselors were available for students. Authorities stated that the Beverly Police and the state police were still investigating the accident. When a person is killed in a motor vehicle accident, the decedent’s surviving family members often suffer immediate adverse financial consequences in addition to having to cope with the sudden loss of a loved one. Funeral and burial expenses have to be paid, and in many cases the person who was killed was the primary breadwinner or otherwise contributed to the household’s finances.An attorney representing the decedent’s survivors may suggest filing a wrongful death lawsuit if the auto accident was caused by an impaired, speeding, distracted or otherwise negligent driver. A wrongful death lawsuit is similar to a personal injury lawsuit in that it is grounded on the theory of negligence. However, in many states the damages that can be sought are limited to those contained in the applicable statute, so an attorney’s advice can be helpful in this regard.Source: NECN, “One Student Dead, One Critical in Overnight Accident“, Glenn Marshall and Noelle Graves, April 23, 2016