Chattanooga Wrongful Death

Wrongful death claims can arise in a variety of situations, including:

• Car accidents – in serious car accidents, such as head-on collisions or accidents where the car rolls over, like an SUV rollover crash, passengers can sustain fatal injuries.
• Truck accidents – collisions involving commercial trucks are often deadly due to the size and weight of the trucks. This is especially true in override, underride, and T-bone truck accidents.
• Medical malpractice – when a doctor’s conduct falls below their professional standard of care, the results can be deadly. This includes situations where the doctor fails to diagnose a condition, misdiagnoses a condition, gives patients the wrong medication, or improperly performs a procedure or surgery. A wrongful death attorney can advise Chattanooga families on whether a claim may be appropriate in a certain situation.
• Workplace accidents – many people work with or near heavy and dangerous equipment on a daily basis. If a mistake is made, equipment is not properly maintained, or safety procedures are not followed, employees can lose their lives. A third party claim may exist if the worker was killed on another business’ property.
• Product liability – if a product has been designed or manufactured in a defective or dangerous way, use of that product can be fatal. This includes medical products as well, such as prescription medication.
• Negligent security – in areas with a high crime rate, victims are sometimes killed during the course a criminal attacks, including robbery, burglary, murder, or rape. If the death occurs at an apartment complex or another place of business, the victim’s survivors may be able to bring a wrongful death claim based on inadequate security measures.

Proving negligence will be key in a Tennessee wrongful death action. In a Chattanooga car or truck accident, the legal elements of negligence are establishing a duty owed to the plaintiff to drive safely, breach of duty, causation (proximate and direct), and damages. For example, if a tanker truck driver who is intoxicated is driving on Interstate 75 in Chattanooga, crashes into the median, and a loved one is killed in a subsequent explosion, it is likely you can prove negligence due to the defendant’s drunk driving. Driving with a blood alcohol concentration of .08% or higher is against the law in Tennessee.

Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-5-113, surviving family members can pursue damages for wrongful death that include medical bills incurred prior to the deceased’s death, pain and suffering that the deceased experienced before their passing, funeral expenses, the pecuniary value of life, future loss of earnings, loss of consortium, and more. Consulting with an experienced wrongful death lawyer in Chattanooga can help surviving family members ensure that they are seeking all forms of compensation to which they are entitled. A wrongful death attorney will also be able to assist the survivors in obtaining maximum compensation against the at-fault party.