When a motor vehicle accident happens, it is never a good thing. However, it can be particularly upsetting when it results in the loss of life. Families of the victims may wonder how such a thing could have happened and whether there was anything that might have prevented the crash. This could be what one Nebraska family is going through after authorities say that a man driving a dump truck without a proper license is to blame for a truck accident that took the lives of two children.
According to police, the accident happened recently on a state highway. They say that the man was driving a dump truck hauling a load of boulders and that he struck a minivan. A 16-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy died and three other people had to be rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.
At a recent hearing, officials reported that the man’s commercial driver’s license had expired because he didn’t have a medical card on file with the state. They also say that there is evidence that he was on a cellphone less than two minutes before the collision. State police claimed that the truck didn’t have a working horn or brake lights and also said that the air brake lines were leaking. He has been charged with two counts of felony motor vehicle homicide.
However this particular criminal case turns out, it serves as a reminder that families in Nebraska should be able to hold responsible parties accountable for the deaths of their loved ones. The family of these children may decide to file a wrongful death claim against the dump truck driver, and likely his employer. Doing so could result in a judgment for monetary damages that could be used to cover any outstanding medical bills, funeral expenses or other financial losses that resulted from the truck accident.
