A community near Seattle is struggling to cope with the recent death of a 16-year-old boy who was killed in a car accident earlier this month.
The Stanwood, Washington, boy was a passenger in a car that went off the road when its driver, a teenage girl, lost control on Pioneer Highway, rolled and went into a ditch.
Five of the vehicle’s six occupants were hurt, but the 16-year-old boy is the only one who did not survive the car accident.
Authorities said they are confident that alcohol was not a factor in the crash, but they do believe that excessive speed was. They also believe the boy was not wearing a seatbelt and was sitting on the laps of other passengers, who were belted in.
Although we are certain the boy’s family members have other priorities at the moment, at some point, they may want to investigate whether they have any cause of action against the driver of the car.
That does not mean the young woman who was driving is a bad person or that she had anything against the deceased boy. It just means that under the circumstances, driving as fast as she seems to have been may have been a mistake, and a mistake that had very real and very sad consequences for the teenager and his family. In our justice system, we believe that some types of serious mistakes ought to be atoned for.
If you have any questions about the process of filing a lawsuit, you may want to discuss them with an attorney.
Source: KOMO News, “Stanwood community mourning teen killed in car crash,” Michelle Esteban, July 8, 2013