Massachusetts car-motorcycle crash kills father and daughter

On behalf of Aiken and Aiken P.C. Personal Injury Attorneys posted in Wrongful Death, on Thursday, September 11, 2014

A 62-year-old Holyoke man and his 29-year-old daughter from Brooklyn, New York, died in Easthampton when the motorcycle on which they were riding was hit head-on by an SUV driven by a 45-year-old Springfield man, according to police. The car accident occurred slightly after 3 p.m. on Aug. 25 when the southbound car crossed into the oncoming lane of Route 5. Authorities said that the driver of the SUV was under the influence of narcotics. He was held on $100,000 cash bail after pleading not guilty the following day to charges of heroin possession, operating under the influence and motor vehicle homicide. His passenger, a 27-year-old Greenfield woman, was held on $2,500 cash bail after pleading not guilty to a Florida fugitive charge and possession of heroin. When allocating fault for a head-on collision, the temptation can be to assign blame to the driver of the errant vehicle. This is particularly so when the driver faces serious criminal charges in connection with the car accident. However, the possibility does exist that the vehicle may have been forced into the wrong lane by a road hazard or because of a mechanical problem with the vehicle. The family of a fatal accident victim might seek the assistance of a personal injury lawyer to help them pursue a wrongful death claim against the driver or other party deemed to be at fault. A plaintiff for such a lawsuit could recover damages for reasonable funeral and burial expenses of the decedent in addition to the loss of income, assistance, care, protection and companionship. If the death was caused by the willful or reckless conduct of the defendant, punitive damages may also be awarded. Source: Boston.com, “Father, daughter killed in car-motorcycle crash“, August 29, 2014