Understandably, most young people feel as though they have many more years ahead of them. They look forward to going to college, claiming their dream jobs and even starting their own families one day. Sometimes, however, their lives are cut short and their dreams snuffed out due to another party’s mistake behind the wheel. In other tragedies, a young person could sustain serious injuries that end up incapacitated. Driving while distracted or speeding, for example, can easily lead to an auto accident that causes major injuries or death in Illinois.
In a recent incident, a 17-year-old girl who graduated from high school was involved in an Illinois vehicle accident. She suffered severe injuries from the crash and lost her life as a result. Another former student was in the vehicle as well.
The former student, a man, suffered critical injuries in the collision. It was unclear which person was driving the car, authorities said. It also remained unclear as to whether the two individuals were romantically involved.
The person who was driving the vehicle may be held financially responsible for the auto accident. If the girl was driving, the injured man may file a personal injury claim against her estate as well as any separate owner of the vehicle involved, seeking financial damages to cover hospital bills. Meanwhile, if the man was driving, the girl’s family might elect to file a wrongful death lawsuit, seeking damages to cover end-of-life expenses and monetary damages tied to the fatal accident. In either case, it will be necessary for the plaintiff to establish in an Illinois civil court that the wreck and resulting injuries and/or death stemmed from the negligent actions of another party to the collision.
Source: abclocal.go, “Shepard student who graduated early killed in crash”, , April 1, 2014