PASSENGER DEATH IN SURREY MAY LEAD TO WRONGFUL DEATH LAWSUIT

For some people in British Columbia, being behind the wheel of a car seems to bring out the worst in them. Perhaps some drivers feel empowered when driving, exhilarated by controlling a lustrous and impressive machine. It seems inconceivable that anyone leading a law-abiding life, or anyone who respects the lives of others as well as their own, would leave the scene of an accident involving a victim. Yet, as in this deadly incident in Surrey, the driver of an SUV did just that, allowing for the possibility of a wrongful death lawsuit.

Witnesses were plentiful at the intersection of 132nd Street and 72nd Avenue where the afternoon collision occurred. Accompanying the driver of the nearly demolished vehicle, the passenger lost her life in the sheer force of impact. Surrey RCMP recounted that a general duty officer was present at the time and questioned witnesses on-site. Some good Samaritan witnesses pursued the SUV, which allowed authorities to swiftly identify and apprehend the driver.

Immediate causes for the mid-July Surrey crash, including alcohol, drugs and dangerous driving, are still being investigated. It is likely that, in addition to leaving the scene, the SUV driver was at fault and will face charges. It beggars the imagination to consider the trauma suffered by the driver whose passenger died. While his or her bodily injuries were not life-threatening, he or she would conceivably have cause to consider a personal injury claim.

There are no redeeming features to tragedies of this kind yet the survivor can take some comfort in the quick action of the good Samaritans who tracked down the hit-and-run driver. In seeking their own legal recourse, the victim’s family might also discover a way to move beyond their devastating loss. The presence and advice of a British Columbia lawyer helping to navigate through a wrongful death claim would go some way toward facilitating, among other things, end-of-life and related expenses, as well as providing at least some sense of closure to the tragedy.

Source: news1130.com, “Female passenger killed in Surrey collision“, Renee Bernard, Accessed on July 29, 2017