When another party's negligence causes a person to die unnecessarily, the family of the victim can file a wrongful death lawsuit and possibly recover compensation for expenses caused by the accident. In addition, a lawsuit can financially punish the parties for their actions. That is what several Ohio parents are doing after their teenage children were killed in a fatal car crash allegedly caused by hazardous road conditions.
Three Ohio parents have filed wrongful death lawsuits against CSX Transportation, Lorain and Medina County Commissioners and engineers and the trustees of Liverpool and Columbia Townships for the 2012 car accident. Four teens - ages 16-18 - were killed when the car they were riding in, which was being driven by one of the 18-year-olds, went over railroad tracks, hit a culvert and rolled over. The details of the lawsuit are unknown, but the families are seeking more than $25,000 in damages.
The dangers associated with the railroad crossing were documented before the crash, but nothing was done to remedy the conditions, likely due to a lack of funding. In fact, there had been multiple crashes at that same site before the one involving the teens. The crossing was finally fixed the following year, with $450,000 spent on improvements.
In this case, it must be proven that the dangerous conditions at the railroad crossing caused the teens' deaths. Even though there have been other crashes at that site, that is not necessarily enough to prove the point. The driver could have been speeding or driving in a reckless manner. A jury will probably be the ones to decide if the driver was at fault or if the railroad track's flawed design caused the crash.
Source: FOX 8, "Wrongful death lawsuit filed two years after Brunswick teen tragedy," Bill Nethers, June 3, 2014
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