Recently, the estate of a deceased Rhode Island woman received significant damages after hiring the Woonsocket Car Accident Attorneys at d’Oliveira & Associates. The auto accident attorneys at d’Oliveira & Associates recently recovered a settlement of $250,000 for one of their clients. The client represented was the Administrator of the estate of an 88 year old Woonsocket woman, who was killed as a result of an automobile accident caused by a construction company during the construction and maintenance of a road in northern RI. As a result of the company’s alleged negligent construction and maintenance, the woman, who was traveling on that road, had an automobile accident, which led to her death.
The estate of this woman was represented by d’Oliveira & Associates, specifically Attorney Cara Gallucci. Attorney Gallucci was able to negotiate a settlement out of court for $250,000 for the estate of the deceased.
Attorney Gallucci stated that “I am very pleased that we were able to obtain the maximum recovery allowed by the Wrongful Death Statute in RI for the Estate and for this woman’s family. Nothing can bring this lovely woman’s back to her family, but we were able to get the maximum remedy available under law.”
The WRONGFUL DEATH STATUTE IN RHODE ISLAND General Laws, Chapter 10 Section 10.7 and its subsections outline the requirements for holding persons or corporations liable for any of their actions that cause a wrongful death and also the calculations and limitations on recovery amounts. The statute states that if the action or negligence of a party caused the wrongful death, then they are liable for all the prospective income and earning capacity that the deceased person would have gained in the remainder of their lives minus all the anticipated expenses of that party adjusted for current market value. However, for parties where the expected future income is very little or negligible, as in the case of elderly persons, the Rhode Island Statute 10.7.2 limits the recovery for wrongful death acts at $250,000.
Attorney Paul d’Oliveira stated that “$250,000 was the maximum compensation allowed by law under the Wrongful Death Statute in RI as the woman had no surviving spouse and no earning capacity, thus I feel it was an excellent settlement. It is unfortunate that the RI Wrongful Death Statute does not allow an estate and heirs to recover more money in this type of case, but the law is the law and unfortunately we were bound by it. I personally would like to see the law changed and anyone who is negligent should at a minimum be liable to pay at least $1,000,000 for the wrongful death of another person, but it is up to the Legislature in RI to change the law.”
In studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration, it is reported that in 2010 alone, there were 87,606 auto accidents occurring in work zones. Additionally, 2010 saw 514 specific car accidents at construction zones resulted in 576 fatalities. That meant, on average, a fatality resulting from a construction zone accident occurred every 15 hours. Therefore, even when construction crews know of the hazards caused by their operation on busy roads and that even when those same companies try to mitigate the risks and improve safety, the threat of auto accidents at construction sites resulting in severe harm and death is still significant.
Source: http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/wz/resources/facts_stats/injuries_fatalities.htm
d’Oliveira & Associates is a Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts law firm that focuses on personal injury and disability cases, including auto accidents, slip and falls, dog bites as well as other types of negligence cases. They also handle social security disability cases. The firm also works with some of the leading attorneys in the United States for dangerous drug, defective medical product and medical malpractice cases. For a free legal consultation, call 1-800-992-6878 or fill out a contact form.
Paul d’Oliveira
Attorney Paul d’Oliveira has been practicing personal injury and disability law for over 30 years. He started his personal injury law practice in 1989 with two offices in Fall River, MA and East Providence, RI. Today his firm has 16 offices in RI and Southeastern, MA.
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