Tragedies happen on the road, and some are preventable. Take, for instance, the details surrounding a Jan. 25 two-vehicle collision less than 30 miles east of Madison. Two people died and another was injured when a wrong-way driver on Interstate 94 collided with another vehicle.

A 76-year old man was operating his vehicle westbound in the eastbound lane of I-94. It collided with an eastbound vehicle driven by a 20-year-old woman. Both drivers died in the collision and a passenger in the woman’s vehicle sustained injuries. The nighttime accident is even sadder in learning that the wrong-way driver reportedly suffered from dementia.

Driver reportedly had dementia

An accident such as this one could be considered a wrongful death case. If the man suffered from dementia, he should have surrendered his driver’s license and should not have been driving. In this case, according to news reports, the man’s family was unaware of his whereabouts in the six hours leading up to the 7 p.m. crash.

Negligence points to somewhere in cases like this, and all families involved suffer hardship and grief. In a wrongful death lawsuit, survivors may seek compensation for matters that include:

• Medical expenses as life-saving efforts proved futile leading to death that may occur hours or even months after an incident
• Funeral and burial costs related to the funeral home, minister fees, memorial services and death certificate. These costs can prove to be a financial setback for some families.
• For the personal sorrow, grief and mental anguish experienced due to the death of a loved one.
• Lost income and services, dealing with the money the decedent would have contributed to your family’s household.

Families who abruptly lose loved ones need time to recover from their grief and the loss of a person they held so near and dear to them. Therapy may help with your emotional recovery. A wrongful death legal action can help with financial recovery.