Drunk drivers are menaces to all who share the roadway with them. When a Pennsylvania driver who is intoxicated at the wheel causes a collision that results in a fatality, immediate family members of a decedent may seek financial recovery for documented losses by filing a wrongful death claim in a civil court. Such collisions also often lead to criminal charges, as is the case for a 62-year-old man from Montgomery County who reportedly caused a fatal crash in November.
It was just after 9 p.m. on a Friday evening when the man’s vehicle spun out of control on a bend in the road. He wound up in the opposite lane of traffic and collided with another vehicle. Three people in that vehicle suffered injuries in the crash. Rescue workers who responded to the scene had to extricate both the man and the 57-year-old woman who was his passenger at the time.
Sadly, however, the passenger traveling in the Montgomery County man’s vehicle died after being transported to a nearby hospital for emergency care. Toxicology test results showed that the man’s blood alcohol content level was .132% at the time of the collision. He is now facing criminal charges for DUI, homicide by vehicle and other formal accusations related to the incident.
When a Pennsylvania resident files a wrongful death claim in connection with a motor vehicle collision, it is filed in a civil court. If criminal charges were also filed, that information may possibly be used in the civil case to help substantiate the claim. If the court awards compensation for damages to a grieving family, they can use it to help offset funeral expenses and other financial burdens associated with their loved one’s death.
