Aurora Fatal Truck Accidents

Aurora Lawyers for the Families of Fatal Truck Accident Victims

Most people think of Aurora as being part of Kane County, but it also spans three other counties: DuPage, Kendall and Will. As of 2020, its population was 180,542. It is the second most populated city in the state of Illinois, and the 144th most populous in the country. Interstate highway I-88 serves Aurora. Other interstates by which you can travel in the area include I-55 and I-294. Local highways provide access; these include US 34, IL 59, and Kane County Highway 29. Aurora sees a lot of commerce, and often that comes with a significant number of trucks on its roads. Due to the weight and size of commercial trucks, the accidents in which they are involved are often deadly. If your loved one was killed in a truck crash, you should call the seasoned Aurora fatal truck accident lawyers of Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca. We have more than 60 years of experience fighting for those who have lost their loved ones in a fatal truck accident.

Aurora Fatal Truck Accidents

Wrongful deaths occur when someone fails to fulfill a legal duty and thereby causes a death to happen. A wrongful death lawsuit can be filed by certain surviving family members or by a personal representative of the deceased’s estate. Our lawyers will need to establish that the defendant behaved negligently or intentionally perpetrated misconduct and that these acts were the direct cause of a death and that survivors of the decedent or his estate suffered actual losses as a result. When a truck driver acts negligently, he may be held responsible for the damages that result.

Other parties may also bear responsibility for a fatal truck accident including the trucking company, the mechanic, and the third party loading company. A trucking company can be held vicariously liable for a fatal truck accident, if the truck driver involved in the accident was its employee.

However, the trucking company can also be held accountable if it acted negligently in hiring, supervising or training the driver. For instance, if the truck driver had a history of DUIs that would have been revealed in a background check that the company failed to perform, and then killed a pedestrian while driving drunk, the trucking company could be responsible for negligently hiring the driver. This could become a critical issue, for instance, if there were multiple accident victims, all claiming against the truck driver’s policy such that coverage limits are quickly exhausted.

Proving Wrongful Death Damages

Compensatory damages we may be able to recover if we are able to establish liability in a wrongful death lawsuit stemming from a fatal truck accident include pecuniary losses such as any loss of benefits, money, services, goods or society experienced by survivors. Pecuniary losses can include economic damages such as loss of income or inheritance and medical bills. It can also include noneconomic damages such as loss of consortium and grief.

To figure out the amount of a damages award, the jury is supposed to consider the money, goods, benefits and services provided by the decedent to the survivor, what would have been contributed in the future, the decedent’s personal expenses, the instruction the decedent might have given a surviving child, the age of the decedent, the decedent’s health, the grief and mental suffering of those that survived the decedent, the relationship between the decedent and survivors, and other factors. When a child has died in a fatal truck accident, the jury is entitled to consider how much money the parents would have spent on the child had he or she survived.

Consult an Aurora Fatal Truck Accident Lawyer

If you were injured or a loved one died in a fatal truck accident in Aurora, you should call the trustworthy truck accident lawyers of Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca. We have fought for best results in truck accident lawsuits and other wrongful death claims for more than 60 years. Call us at 312-724-5846 or complete our online form.