Aronberg & Aronberg Retained in a Wrongful Death Case

Early on Monday, June 17th, a young man was riding his bicycle on Kirk Road in Lake Worth, Florida, heading northbound. Also driving northbound on Kirk Road at that same time was a 30-year-old intoxicated man behind the wheel of a heavy, fast-moving car, rather than behind the handlebars of a small bicycle, as was the young man in front of him. The man behind the wheel smashed into the back of the bicycle, dangerously tossing the young man from his bicycle, onto the car and into the road. Not caring to stop – or not being aware of the deadly hit he had initiated in his drunken stupor – the driver of the vehicle continued on.

Fortunately, witnesses of the crash stopped and reported the incident to local authorities. Shortly thereafter, a Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office deputy saw the impaired driver operating his vehicle recklessly on Lake Worth Road and pulled him over, at which point he was deemed to be impaired. The impaired man has been charged with manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident, and operating a vehicle without a valid driver’s license. Those are the charges he will face in criminal court from the State of Florida.

But what about the young man who died as a result of the driver’s negligence? Here’s where the wrongful death case, which our law firm has been retained to handle, comes into play. A wrongful death case differs from a criminal case in that while our attorneys will use the law as a basis for arguing our case, the goal of the case is to make sure that the victims in the case receive the compensation they deserve – the end goal is not, as it is in the criminal case, to punish the defendant for violating the law. The state (or federal government, in federal criminal cases) handles criminal cases, which seek to punish offenders; civil attorneys, like those at our firm, seek to fight for the victims. In this case, the family of the victim is seeking compensation for a wide range of damages that they have incurred as a result of the horrible crash that left their loved one dead on the side of the road.

So, what are the requirements for a viable wrongful death case? The death has to be attributable to the wrongdoing of another. Clearly, based on the evidence in this case, the driver of the vehicle was in the wrong. Not only was he behind the wheel at the time of the accident, he was driving while impaired at the time of the crash, an example of further negligent, reckless endangerment of others. In this case, the danger was not hypothetical – his misconduct resulted in the death of a human being. What can the family of the deceased sue the defendant for? The family can consider a wide host of areas in which they’ve experienced loss due to the crash. For example, the young man would have earned a certain amount of money over the course of his life, as will be calculated by financial experts. Obviously, his life having been cut short, he will earn none of that. If he was a contributor to the family, they will suffer as a result of this. If he was an emotional support for his family members, that loss, too, will be considered. And so on. There is hardly any limit to the losses experienced by a family when they lose a loved one, especially in such a senseless manner.

Civilian witnesses came to the rescue in reporting the reckless driver to authorities. Now, we are calling on witnesses to come forward and aid in supporting the victim’s mourning family in attempting to seek justice.

If you or anyone that you know has any first-hand information about the crash that left this young man dead, please reach out to us at 561-266-9191 or email us at daronberg@build.simple.biz immediately.

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