Schools, daycares, and other institutions responsible for the safety of children are held to very high standards. These facilities have a legal obligation to make the premises safe and free from unreasonable dangers. This includes keeping the buildings and grounds free from hazards like broken stairs as well as making sure children are adequately supervised. Sadly, one California family is grieving after their teenaged son passed away in an incident at a Colorado school.

Drunk Driver Hits 15-Year-Old Student Who Wandered from Campus

The young teen who tragically lost his life was adopted by his parents at age three. He had been in foster care and was suffering from symptoms related to a traumatic brain injury. The parents struggled to find a school which could appropriately meet their son’s unique needs, so they sent him to a school specializing in behavioral health issues. In August of last year, the 15-year-old wandered off of the school campus and was stuck and killed by a drunk driver. The driver, who had a blood alcohol content of 0.189 percent, fled the scene of the crime but was later found and arrested by the police. He pled guilty to vehicular homicide-DUI and leaving the scene of an accident involving death.

Parents Say Special Needs Teen Was Not Properly Supervised

Parents of the young man who passed away believe that their son would still be alive if school personnel had been more vigilant. The school is designed for students who suffer from intellectual and developmental disabilities and mental health issues. The young man’s parents say that school staff knew that their son needed constant monitoring and close supervision. They believe that the school was negligent in their failure to properly supervise their child and keep a secure facility. They are suing the facility for negligent supervision and wrongful death. If they are successful in their suit, the school will likely be forced to pay the parents compensation for damages related to the teen’s death. These damages could include compensation for medical bills related to their son’s death, funeral expenses, the loss of love and companionship of the child, and for destruction of the parent-child relationship.

Society has changed over the last few decades. With the emergence and development of social media accounts, everything from the birth of our children to the funeral arrangements of a family member is on public display for those on our contact lists to see. In daily life, this is fine to do and even has several benefits for many Americans. However, when an individual is involved in a courtroom battle of any kind, including wrongful death or personal injury, it is best to avoid posting anything on social media accounts.

Prove it to Win it

Although a wrongful death claim and a negligence case are different in various ways, the aspects necessary to create a winning case are similar. Insurance companies and other attorneys understand that these types of cases must be treated similarly to a criminal investigation—both sides scour social media posts and all other avenues for evidence on either side.

On Friday, December 2nd, 2016, the city of Oakland experienced a significant tragedy. An old converted warehouse, known as the “Ghost Ship,” caught fire with more than 100 individuals reportedly inside. The incident is still under investigation. This location functioned as a workplace as well as a living facility for a number of struggling artists and musicians from the Bay Area. Several reports indicate that structure was dilapidated and not in compliance with municipal building and safety codes. While officials have not released the cause of the blaze, questions abound regarding the possible liability for wrongful death.

Deadliest Fire in Recent History

According to official reports, the fire claimed the lives of 36 individuals, at least one a legal minor. The location was run by a husband and wife team, who also lived there with their children. Early reports claim that the couple collected rent from tenants and had even gone so far as parking half a dozen RVs on the first floor for residents. The converted warehouse was also full of rugs, pianos, old sofas, and statues, which blocked exit routes and ignited quickly once the fire started. It also appears that a nightclub of sorts operated inside of the building.  

A bicyclist in California was killed on Oct. 27 when a cargo container fell on top of him. The accident took place at around 5:05 p.m. while the victim was riding his bicycle along Santa Fe Avenue in Long Beach. A large container fell off of the truck right as it was passing the bicyclist.

A witness to the fatal accident said that he had seen another container fall off of a different truck the day before. No injuries apparently occurred as a result of the first incident, but the witness expressed concern about trucking companies cutting corners on safety. He said that while truck drivers in Los Angeles and Long Beach have been on strike, trucking companies have been hiring flatbeds and strapping 40,000-pound containers onto them.

While the investigation into the fatal bicycle accident was going on, the Teamsters union called for more safety precautions to be taken by transportation companies. A spokesperson for the Teamsters said that truck drivers are under pressure to drive faster because they are being paid by the load rather than by the hour. She went on to say that the large trucking companies have a responsibility to ensure that the cargo they are delivering is being transported safely.

California residents know that breaking the rules of the road, such as by speeding or driving while under the influence, can have very serious consequences. Most people would assume that a driver who does so and then ends up in an accident is responsible for the ensuing damages. However, there have been cases where it has been found that a motor vehicle defect may have been a contributory factor as well.

This is the situation in the case of the late actor Paul Walker, whose daughter recently filed a lawsuit against Porsche for wrongful death. Walker was riding in a 2004 Porsche GT Carrera, which has been described as practically a race car on the street. He died when the vehicle crashed into a lamppost and subsequently burst into flames. The official police investigation report concluded that the driver of the vehicle had been going at about 94 miles per hour when it crashed. However, according to the lawsuit, the vehicle was actually going between 63 and 71 miles per hour.

The lawsuit claims that the automaker is responsible because it failed to make this car safe enough to protect its riders from car accidents by not installing a stabilization sensor system, which it has installed in many of its other vehicles. Additionally, the suit also states that the actor was trapped in the burning vehicle due to a defective seat belt system.