Has a loved one died in an automobile accident and you are wondering how to make sure justice is served? The first thing you will want to do is consult a wrongful death attorney. If the death was the result of a driver's negligence or a defective car part, you might have a case.

Passenger of Negligent Driver

Was your loved one a passenger in a vehicle and the driver was negligent? Did the driver not obey traffic rules or was the driver impaired by alcohol or drugs? If you can answer yes to these questions and prove the following, you might have a wrongful death suit.

First of all something called "due care" must be established. This means the driver had a responsibility to not allow harm to come to any passenger in the vehicle. Once this has been established, usually by a jury and not a judge, it has to be proven the driver was acting negligently. This is called a breach of duty. If it can be proven that a driver's breach of duty did indeed cause any kind of damage - or in this case death - it would be considered a wrongful death.

Defective Parts

Did your loved one die in an automobile accident because their vehicle had a defective part? If so, this is typically a situation that warrants contacting a wrongful death attorney. For instance, if it is proven that they applied the brakes to stop at a red light and the car did not function as it should have, it could be considered a wrongful death. Other defective parts that have been known to cause death in a vehicle include:

• Defective fuel systems causing fires after a collision
• Defective restraint system or poorly designed seat belt
• Defective airbag systems that deploy prematurely or too late
• Defective accelerators that cause the car to speed up without applying pressure

Since vehicles are supposed to be designed and manufactured with the safety of its occupants in mind, any time a defective part causes death, it is the responsibility of the car maker to compensate for damages. In order to prove that your loved one died as a result of a company's negligence, it often requires expert analysis from a variety of professionals including doctors and engineers.

Wrongful death suits cannot be filed in every case where a car accident results in death. But when a driver is suspected of being negligent or a car part was defective, you should contact a wrongful death attorney.