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Can people that cause a car accident be charged with a crime?
Can people that cause a car accident be charged with a crime even if one of the victims live or die?
My aunt and uncle was in a car accident the other day. My uncle is fine, but my aunt's eye popped out, she broke her leg and she's unresponsive in the hospital. The doctor says she has fluid on her brain. My aunt & uncle were on the free way and 3 cars crashed together because someone's car stopped on the freeway and the second car hit the first car, the 3rd car hit the second car. The cars crashed because of the first car stopping in the middle of the freeway. If something happens to her can the people that caused the accident be sued and charged for what happens to her?
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Short answer to your question is yes they can be sued if they caused the accident and under certain circumstances criminal charges can be brought.
Not all accidents that cause someone’s death is the responsible party charged with a crime. An example of this would be the accident that was in the news recently about a 75 car pileup that caused 3 deaths. The cause of the primary accident was fog. What the secondary cause(S) may be have yet to be determined.
For criminal charges to be filed there has to be some form of intent or other criminal wrong doing such as driving under the influence. An example of intent would be that the first car intentionally stopped causing the accident. If the car had an engine malfunction and the driver was unable to get to the side of the road, there would be no intent and most likely no criminal charges against the first car. The crash investigators would then look at the second and third cars to see why they were unable to stop or avoid hitting the first car. If the second car was able to stop and the third car hit the second car causing the accident and injuries the crash investigators would focus on car 3 to see why the driver of that car was unable to stop in time.
While it may be determined that car 3 is the car responsible for the accident it is still very possible that no criminal charges will be filed. That does not stop anyone involved in the accident and their insurance companies from seeking restitution from the driver of car 3 for damages and injuries.
For right now your Uncle needs to focus on your Aunt. He does need to report the accident to his insurance company, as soon as possible, and let them begin their investigation. When hopefully your Aunt recovers and is out of the hospital he needs to retain an Attorney who practices in the area of casualty law. Advise your Uncle not to speak to any of the Adjusters from the other insurance companies representing the other drivers. He tells them; “he is intending to retain legal counsel an when he has done so his counsel will contact them.” He needs to tell them those exact words. Once he tells them that they are not allowed to contact him again or you’re Aunt when she recovers.
Holding good thoughts for your Aunts speedy recovery.
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yes, absolutely. if you cause a preventable death in most places it's considered manslaughter, which is a criminal offense.
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