When a child dies there are no words of consolation for the victim’s family. And so it goes without saying that when a baby — a young infant — passes away as a result of a traffic collision, the sadness and grief felt by all concerned is sometimes too much to bear. As Maryland personal injury lawyers, representing the parents of a minor child killed as a result of another person’s negligence is both humbling and heartrending.
Any accident that causes a death, by its very nature, is a tragedy; but automobile wrecks that take lives and injure people are especially deadly and many times preventable. The fact that car, truck and motorcycle collisions can typically be prevented, or the effects lessened, makes any serious injury or fatality that much more distressing to everyone involved.
Children, of all people, are the most innocent among us. To most any reasonable individual, it is a sad and tragic event when a young child is critically injured or killed in a passenger car or commercial trucking accident. For the parents, siblings and other relative, losing a young family member is horrible beyond words.
And, while no amount of money or compensation can bring back that young life or relieve the personal torment and anguish, parents and/or guardians who have lost a child to the negligent actions of another individual have a right to recover damages for the loss of that child. This includes the loss of their child’s affection or love.
If a minor child survives a serious car or truck crash, yet has received severe and possibly irreversible personal injuries because of the wreck, legal guardians/parents may also be compensated for current, future, and past medical expenses, not to mention any possible added costs that may be required for that child to recover from the injury(s) received in the crash in order maintain a good quality of life and care.
Not long ago, a small baby was killed in a car fire resulting from a highway collision between a tractor-trailer and a smaller passenger car. According to news reports, the crash occurred in the Southwest U.S. and involved a Beltsville, MD, truck driver.
Based on reports, car-truck crash happened rush hour, around 6 pm on a Thursday. Local police reports indicate that the passenger vehicle was being driven by a 43-year-old woman and was carrying a13-year-old girl and a four-month-old infant. The driver, Emma Barrios, had reportedly stopped or slowed her car on the expressway due to some kind of reduced visibility in the right lane of the roadway.
The accident occurred when an 18-wheel semi, driven by 52-year-old Natanael Dasilva ran into the rear-end of Barrios’ car, pushing the driver’s vehicle off the road and onto the median. Following the collision with the tractor-trailer, Barrios’ smaller vehicle caught fire and began to burn.
Based on police reports, a number of bystanders helped Barrios and the teenager, Josilyn Rabago, escape from the burning vehicle; however no one was able to rescue the baby, who reportedly died in the conflagration.
DPS: Baby from Glendale killed in fiery crash on Interstate 10 near Eloy, ABC15.com, August 26, 2011