Each year, many Mississippi residents die after living a long, fulfilling life due to natural reasons such as old age, a longstanding illness, or another factor, but there are situations where countless other people here in Jackson lose their lives much sooner than they should. These unexpected, premature passings don’t often happen because a person falls ill or for reasons of their own doing, but instead due to someone else’s negligence. If you’re curious about what a wrongful death is, while we’ve given some hints above, there’s more to this legal construct that you need to know, which we’ll detail below.

You’ve been hurt in an auto accident, and now you need help with your medical bills, car repairs, daily expenses, and more. Where do you turn for help? If another driver’s negligent or reckless behavior behind the wheel played a role in your wreck, Mississippi state law affords you the right to recover compensation for your accident-related damages.

Compensation for motor vehicle accidents is typically paid through the at-fault party’s auto insurer. In the majority of cases, these injury claims are settled without anyone ever having to go to court. However, Pittman Roberts & Welsh, PLLC cautions against accepting the first settlement offer that comes your way. Let’s take a more in-depth look at when car accident claims should be settled.

Data compiled by the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for the latest reporting year shows that in 2020, 3,630 injuries occurred on Mississippi highways. There were 752 fatalities that same year. While that federal data doesn’t highlight how many motorists were injured or killed on other types of roadways, multiple sources suggest that our state’s roadway safety indicators tend to be just a little worse than the national average.

The reason we bring up these statistics is that they’re indicative of the fact that a lot of victims likely find themselves needing to file insurance claims to recover compensation for their losses after these accidents occur. These may include medical bills, lost wages, property damage, and other crash-related costs.

Beginning the process of filing a wrongful death claim is an important step in the lives of many grieving families. Pursuing justice on behalf of a loved one can hold wrongdoers accountable, prevent future harm, ensure the financial stability of surviving family members, and help loved ones achieve a sense of peace and closure after injustice.

But before taking this step, you may be asking: How long does a wrongful death lawsuit take?

There is no one, single timeline that all wrongful death cases follow. Most wrongful death cases take somewhere between two and four years. Some cases, however, settle within a year or even within several months. Some take much longer, especially those that are not able to settle out of court.

Being in a car accident is a scary experience for anyone—no matter how minor or severe the crash. Your first concern should always be the safety and well-being of yourself and any passengers that were in the vehicle at the time of the collision.

But once all injuries are treated, and the dust has settled, there’s often another looming issue: determining the value of a car after an accident.

Any vehicle property damage incurred in the collision will have an effect on the value of your car post-crash. It’s very possible that you will be dealing with diminished value, which can impact how much you can sell your car for in the future. Even a new car completely repaired after an accident can have a lower market value than an older one that was never involved in a crash.

Sharing the road with tractor-trailers can be stressful, but we trust that commercial vehicle drivers do everything within their power to travel safely on Mississippi roads. A recent report indicates that some of that trust could be misplaced.

Drug use among truck drivers and operators is at its highest levels since the establishment of the Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in 2019. Let’s take a closer look at current drug use trends in the trucking industry and what that could mean for the safety of Mississippi motorists.

For more than 30 years, the drinking water at U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune was contaminated with a variety of toxic chemicals and known human carcinogens, including trichloroethylene (TCE), perchloroethylene (PCE), vinyl chloride (VC), and benzene. Exposure to this contaminated water has since been linked to the onset of a number of serious and fatal health conditions, affecting active duty servicemembers and their families, contract workers, and civilians alike.

For anyone who was stationed, lived, or worked at this base, it is imperative that you know what diseases are associated with Camp Lejeune water contamination.

A spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the most life-altering injuries a person can suffer. What causes most spinal cord injuries? The top causes of spinal cord injury in the U.S. are:

• Motor vehicle accidents
• Falls

Other causes of spinal cord injuries will be discussed further below. If you suffered trauma to the spinal cord because of another party’s negligence, recklessness, or wrongful actions, contact Pittman Roberts & Welsh, PLLC to discuss the legal recourse available to you or your loved one.

The greatest tragedy of most motor vehicle deaths is that they could have been prevented. While statistics tell us how many car accident fatalities happen in Mississippi each year, these numbers can never convey the devastation each family experiences when a loved one is lost.

The Jackson personal injury law firm of Pittman Roberts & Welsh, PLLC advocates for victims of Mississippi motor vehicle crashes involving wrongful death. If you have questions regarding a motor vehicle collision in which you or a loved one were involved, please contact our office to schedule a free case evaluation.

If you were involved in an accident with a large tractor-trailer, you may be owed compensation for expenses like medical bills, lost wages, auto repairs, and much more. Securing that compensation can be an uphill battle, though, especially if you are dealing with an insurance company that refuses to acknowledge liability.

Your ability to recover, repair your vehicle, and return to as normal a life as possible hinges on your ability to negotiate a full and fair settlement with the trucking company and its insurer. This is no small feat, and even the most well-intentioned accident victim will not have the skills and knowledge required to hold the trucking company accountable for what happened.