Just before 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 26, a 29-year-old man from Fredericksburg, Virginia, was killed in a head-on collision while driving northbound on Ridge Road in Severn. After the accident, paramedics took him to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore where he was later pronounced dead.
According to Anne Arundel County Police, the wreck occurred when a 73-year-old Hanover woman driving a Audi Q7 SUV failed to follow a curve in the road. Her vehicle crossed the centerline and collided head-on into the now-deceased man’s Kia Optima.
Along with the driver, a 63-year-old female passenger in the Audi was taken to the trauma center to receive treatment for injuries authorities said were non-life-threatening. According to police, driver error is suspected to be the main cause of the accident.
In a case such as this, the decedent’s family members may be able to file a lawsuit in order to receive compensation for damages. Negligence is a large factor in determining compensation, and a lawyer could possibly use evidence provided by authorities and other sources to assemble and evaluate a claim. This claim would then be taken to a judge, or both parties could attempt to reach a settlement without going to court.
Duty of care is a concept that legal representatives frequently draw upon when attempting to prove negligence. It is a legal obligation that requires individuals to take reasonable care when performing an action that could foreseeably cause harm to another, such as driving a vehicle. In this situation, it would likely not be too difficult for a personal injury lawyer to show that the driver of the Audi is liable for the motor vehicle accident per this requirement.
