Teenager causes fatal accident on Long Island

It is still not entirely clear what happend earlier this month, but it appears that a teenager swerved into oncoming traffic, causing serious injuries and some of his or her passengers’ deaths. Without knowing who was actually behind the wheel, it is impossible to say whether the driver survived the crash, or if he or she was one of the few survivors. Ultimately, however, the families of passengers who died or the fortunate few who survived the crash can still file wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits, respectively.

When the individual who causes a fatal accident also dies in the crash, a victim or his or her family can file a lawsuit against the responsible driver’s estate. Before of the individual’s family and friends were to inherit, a personal injury or wrongful death award would need to be paid out. Oftentimes the insurance company will also contribute to the award.

Again, it is not entirely clear who was behind the wheel of a car of five teenagers earlier in the month, but four of the five passengers were killed. The other suffered serious injuries and was rushed to the hospital. The driver, for some unknown reason, swerved into oncoming traffic and smashed into an SUV. Both the driver and the passenger in the SUV were also seriously injured.

Police in Farmingdale, Long Island, are still trying to pieces together what happened and the families of those killed are reeling from their losses. The town itself is trying to cope with the loss of so many teenagers.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, “Long Island Community Devastated by Deaths of Four Teens in Car Accident,” Phil Helsel and Joe Jackson, May 11, 2014