Texas Wrongful Death Claims

• Motor vehicle accidents. According to the Texas Department of Transportation, approximately 1 person is killed every 2 hours and 21 minutes in a car accident in Texas. Fatal motor vehicle accidents are often caused by reckless driving, drunk driving, and road defects.
• Workplace accidents. All employers have a legal responsibility to provide their employees with a safe working environment. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen, and the failure to provide an employee with a safe working environment can be particularly problematic in inherently-dangerous industries, such as the oil and gas industry and the agricultural industry. 
• Medical malpractice. We trust doctors, physicians, and medical staff with one of the most important things of all: our health. However, healthcare specialists are human and can make mistakes. When a medical error leads to the death of a patient, a wrongful death has occurred. Common medical malpractice incidents that result in wrongful death include misdiagnosis, delayed or improper treatment, and surgical errors.

• Bicycle accidents. Biking is becoming more and more popular in Texas and across the street. Unfortunately, the increased popularity has lead to a rise in bicycle accident fatalities. Similar to pedestrians, bicyclists have little protection when they’re in an accident.
• Defective products. Most manufacturers take the appropriate steps to ensure their products are safe for public consumption and use. Nevertheless, thousands of defective products slip through the cracks each year, some resulting in death. Defective products that can lead to death include pharmaceutical drugs, children’s toys, automobiles, chemical products.
• Pedestrian accidents. In Texas, there were 615 pedestrian fatalities in 2017. Since a person on foot is completely unprotected, any types of vehicle on pedestrian accident has the potential to result in death.

• The spouse of the deceased

• Children of the deceased (including a legally adopted child if their adoptive parent is the deceased)

• Parents of the deceased (including adoptive parents)

Sovereign immunity prohibits lawsuits against the government without its consent unless the state waives this right. A majority of states, including Texas, have disregarded sovereign immunity in wrongful death cases.

As a result, surviving family members can sue the government if the government was responsible for their loved one’s death. A common example of government liability is when a child dies in a swimming pool accident at a public pool.

• Medical expenses
• Funeral expenses
• Lost care, maintenance, and support (including loss of victim’s work wages)

• Lost love, companionship, and comfort
• Lost inheritance (such as what the deceased would have accumulated and left to family members)