I’m sure the last morning Brian Payne, a Portsmouth, Virginia (VA), FedEx driver, got ready for work he was expecting to come home to his family. Unfortunately, he died in a traffic accident while trying to do his job and deliver packages. The fatal accident occurred on US Route 58 while the FedEx driver was waiting to turn onto Chappel Drive.
A tractor-trailer rear-ended the FedEx truck, smashing it into a culvert and into another car who was trying to turn right. My thoughts go out to the family of this young man. As a Virginia wrongful death attorney, I hope that his family is able to recover financially and emotionally.
But how much is a human life worth? That is a million dollar question.
When calculating wrongful death settlements, attorneys, judges and jury members have to ask
- How many future wages were lost for the family?
How much household support was lost?
How much potential did this person have?
What emotional suffering will the survivors feel from the loss of this person?
Virginia, like most states, has laws stating that a person or corporation whose negligence caused a person to die can, and should, be held responsible for the harms and losses their negligence produced.
CT