Evansville Legal Issues Blog

The loss of a loved one can be an emotionally devastating event. Family and friends must carry on without their loved one. Particularly for families, it can also be a financially devastating event. Funeral expenses and loss of income can be problematic. If the death in question happened because of the wrong actions of another party, there may be a way to hold that party accountable for their actions.

A few weeks ago, we told you about a car manufacturer facing questions about the design of one of its minivans. Last year, a teenager died after he was pinned inside his minivan after a foldaway seat allegedly malfunctioned. Members of Congress have raised questions about whether the tragic incident happened because of a defective seat design. Across the political spectrum, lawmakers and government officials have called on further investigation of the situation.

Routine activities in a vehicle may prove to be fatal if the vehicle contains design flaws.

Information about the death of a high school sophomore crushed by a seat in his Honda Odyssey is being sought by the incoming chairperson of the House subcommittee that oversees the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This fatal accident demonstrates how allegations of unsafe design and inaction can combine into a potential wrongful death case.

Deaths from crashes involving large trucks and buses rose in 2017, the latest year that figures are available. Speeding was among the major culprits of this increase in commercial vehicle accidents, according to the assistant administrator and chief safety officer of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

There were 5,005 people killed in a fatal truck or bus crash in 2017. This was a steep rise from the 3,193 fatalities reported in 2009. Class 3 vehicles, essentially pickup trucks being used for commercial business, were a rising percentage of these deadly crashes. Most of those fatalities were occupants of the passenger vehicles in those crashes.

Stretch limousines have been used as transportation for weddings or birthdays because these vehicles can hold more than dozen partiers and keep drunk drivers off the road. However, the absence of regulations have increased the odd of commercial vehicle accidents involving limousines.

Statistically, limousines are comparatively safe. There was only one limo-related death among 34,439 traffic fatalities in 2016. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported 12 accidents involving limousines over the last five years. But the death of 17 limo passengers, its driver and two bystanders in a New York crash in Oct. raised concerns about the safety of these vehicles.