WRONGFUL DEATH LAWSUIT MAY FOLLOW DEADLY BRITISH COLUMBIA CRASH

Some time in the late 1990s, car pooling became increasingly prevalent on major British Columbia highways. Sharing one’s vehicle with one or more passengers is a partial solution to saving on fuel and reducing traffic volume. Passengers, however, like drivers, take on virtually all the same risks associated with road travel. In a shocking turn of events last week, a passenger lost her life, conceivably giving her grieving family cause to consider a wrongful death lawsuit.

Construction going on alongside Lougheed Highway in Coquitlam was not an unusual sight for drivers just hitting their stride as rush hour started. Yet the hilly terrain skirting that stretch of the highway may not have been the best place to park a dump truck. Certainly if parking a truck on a hill were commonplace in a construction zone near a busy thoroughfare, it would be imperative to ensure that all its brakes were in good working order and fully activated.

Not so, apparently. The runaway truck gathered momentum plunging down the hill and plowed into three vehicles passing by at that very same moment. Six victims were transported to hospital with serious injuries. The female passenger in one of the mangled vehicles died as well as a 30-year-old construction worker.

Coquitlam RCMP deployed a collision investigation team immediately given the two fatalities. Cause or causes must be determined and fault attributed, if fault there was. The tragic loss suffered by the 60-year-old woman’s family could potentially be assuaged by pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit. A British Columbia personal injury lawyer experienced in quantifying damages accrued through loss of life, such as end-of-life expenses, may help the bereaved family find a way forward through the aftermath of their sad loss.

Source: tricitynews.com, “UPDATE: Two dead in Lougheed Highway dump truck crash“, Gary McKenna, Sept.5, 2017