Wrongful Death Cases & Causes in the Summer

While summertime is often associated with fantastic fun and great memories, it can also be deadly. In addition to summer vacations, these months can also mean wrongful deaths. What is it about summer?

1. Increased number of car accidents

The number of highway accident fatalities is greater in the summer months. Increased travel, congestion, more teen drivers, more drinking and driving, severe storms, more occupants, and more highway construction and maintenance all add up to more opportunities for deadly accidents.

2. More outdoor activities

More outdoor recreational activities also bring more occasions for wrongful deaths. Many of these are associated with recreational vehicles, such as personal watercraft, boating accidents, ATVs, and motorcycles. Other activities can also be deadly, like hiking, walking, and bicycling. Motor vehicles or other vehicles striking pedestrians or those on bicycles can also cause deaths. Swimming, diving, and water sports can also turn deadly when the negligence of others is at play. Electrocutions, poor signage, defective products, poor designs, and failures to make repairs can turn an innocent summer activity into a nightmare. Heat-related deaths are also more frequent during the summer months.

3. Construction Sites

Better summer weather means more construction. Highway construction, home construction, and commercial construction all increase when the days get longer and the weather improves. So, too, do deaths on construction sites. More people on job sites necessarily leads to more deaths. They can be caused by falling objects, defective products, lack of safety devices, unsafe worksites, electrocutions, falls, and many other hazards.

4. Children’s Summer Activities

Kids are out of school and their summers are often quite busy. Summer camps, trips, daycare, and other activities that aren’t available or necessary during the school year soon fill the calendar. Unfortunately, these can also prove deadly. A lack of training, dangerous conditions, heat, outdoor activities without proper supervision, inadequate or nonexistent safety policies, and other gross negligence can result in the tragic and avoidable death of a child.

5. Farming Accidents

Along with summer comes increased agricultural activities, which means the use of large and dangerous equipment. Whether a professional farmer or one who engages in it on a part-time basis, farm accidents can result in death. Farming equipment is not just large but most of it has many dangerous moving parts whose hazards are not always obvious. When this type of equipment is poorly designed or lacks adequate warnings, death can result.

The lawyers at Jinks Crow are experienced wrongful death lawyers. No matter the cause, we have the resources and know-how to tackle the most complicated of cases. Hopefully, your summer will be safe. If not, give us a call.