Losing a loved one is an incredibly difficult experience. It’s something you can never fully prepare for, and it’s impossible to know the extent of the pain until it happens.
Yet, when this loss is furthered by the knowledge that the accident could have been prevented, grief can take on another level of complexity.
Pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit can help you seek justice and find the closure that you need to heal. In this blog, one of our Kansas City wrongful death attorneys will explain more about these cases and how we can prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future.
Understanding Wrongful Death
Wrongful death is a legal term that describes when a person’s life is lost due to the negligence, recklessness, or intentional actions of someone else. When this happens, surviving family members or beneficiaries have the right to hold the responsible party accountable for their actions.
The law allows for recovery of both economic and non-economic damages, including:
- Medical expenses
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Loss of future income and inheritance
- Cost of household duties you can no longer perform
- Loss of love and companionship
- Cost of pain, suffering, and mental distress
In these cases, it’s essential to have legal representation from a qualified attorney who can fight for justice on behalf of you, your family, and your loved one.
Preventing Wrongful Death
Many cases of wrongful deaths are preventable. As dedicated Kansas City wrongful death attorneys, our commitment extends beyond legal representation—we aim to make our communities safer. Through awareness and education, we fight to prevent similar accidents from happening in the future.
Below, we will discuss some of the causes of wrongful death in Kansas City and what you can do to minimize your risk of injury.
Preventing Amusement Park Accidents
Millions of people visit amusement parks, water parks, and carnivals each year. While most of these visits are exciting and enjoyable experiences, when an accident occurs, the consequences can be tragic.
It’s estimated that over 1,000 ride-related injuries occur each year from fixed-park rides alone. Some of the common reasons amusement park injuries happen are due to:
- Poor equipment design (inadequate restraints, lack of signage and warnings, poor structural integrity of a ride, etc.)
- Negligent operation (untrained operators, failure to enforce safety regulations, inadequate staffing, etc.)
- Improper maintenance (insufficient inspection schedules, failure to fix known issues, inadequate record-keeping of known issues, etc.)
Ensuring the Safety of Amusement Parks
Amusement park operators need to take proactive measures to maintain the safety of the park and its patrons. Some of the essential steps park operators must take include:
- Consistent and thorough ride inspection and maintenance
- Rigorous training programs for employees that cover all safety protocols
- Use of clear safety guidelines and signage throughout the park
- Use of surveillance and monitoring throughout the park
Ensuring Your Safety at Amusement Parks
While park safety ultimately rests on the shoulders of park operators, there are ways to minimize your risk of injury, including:
- Avoiding rides if you sense danger
- Reporting anything that doesn’t look right or seems off
- Following all ride guidelines and instructions
If you lost a loved one in a tragic amusement park accident, it’s crucial to contact a Kansas City wrongful death attorney who can handle your case.
Preventing Motor Vehicle Accidents
Unfortunately, car accidents are a common sight on our roadways. In Kansas City, it has become normal to see damaged cars on the side of the road and flashing police lights on our daily commutes. While many of these accidents are considered minor, there are lives lost every day in motor vehicle accidents across the US.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 42,795 lives were lost in motor vehicle accidents last year alone. These accidents are often the result of many complex factors, but some of the most common include:
- Impaired driving
- Driver fatigue
- Distracted driving
- Speeding or traffic law violations
- Unsafe roadways
- Unsafe weather conditions
Ensuring the Safety of Our Roadways
Government agencies, law enforcement, road engineers, and individual drivers all play a role in the safety of our roadways. To help prevent motor vehicle accidents, it’s important that there is:
- Strict enforcement of traffic laws
- Awareness and education surrounding the risks of reckless driving
- Proper infrastructure to accommodate traffic
- Clear signage and working traffic lights
- Proper maintenance and repair of road surfaces
Ensuring Your Safety on the Road
You can reduce your risk of involvement in a motor vehicle accident by:
- Storing cell phones and other distractions out of reach while driving
- Staying focused on the road and your surroundings at all times
- Abiding by the posted speed limit
- Adjusting your speed based on traffic and road conditions
- Designating a sober driver if you plan to drink
- Avoiding getting into a vehicle with an impaired driver
- Pulling over if you start experiencing signs of drowsiness
- Avoiding driving alone overnight
Preventing Accidents in Healthcare
Our healthcare system is designed to keep us safe and healthy, but unfortunately, mistakes can and do happen. In fact, mistakes in medicine are more common than most people realize. Recent studies show that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States.
Medical errors are often attributed to three main causes:
- A missed diagnosis (which can happen from failing to complete testing, misinterpreting test results, or failing to recognize symptoms)
- A delay in treatment (can be due to poor communication or failing to order a diagnostic test promptly)
- Failure to properly treat (due to prescribing the wrong medication, performing a procedure incorrectly, or failing to recognize concerning symptoms)
Ensuring Safety in the Healthcare System
To ensure our healthcare system is maintaining the safety of all patients receiving care, it is necessary to:
- Provide continuous staff training and education
- Implement effective communication between staff
- Promote a culture of safety
- Implement reporting systems
- Implement medication safety measures
- Perform regular audits and quality assessments
Ensuring Your Safety in Healthcare
Taking an active role in your care can help minimize the risk of falling victim to medical error. While you are receiving treatment, it is important to:
- Ask questions about your diagnosis and treatment plan
- Advocate for yourself and seek a second opinion if you feel that something is not right
- Educate yourself about your medical condition
- Communicate all symptoms and concerns with your healthcare provider
- Ensure that healthcare providers are verifying your identity prior to administering medications
- Follow up on test results if you do not hear from your provider after undergoing tests
- Report any unexpected experiences or adverse events that happen during your care
Related: Navigating Medical Malpractice in Kansas City
Preventing Workplace Accidents
Every day, workplace accidents occur across the United States. Despite efforts to prioritize safety in professional environments, workers still experience a high rate of injuries, and in the most tragic cases, workers can lose their lives.
In 2020, 4,764 workers lost their lives on the job. Accidents in the workplace can happen from a variety of factors, including:
- Insufficient training to operate machinery or handle hazardous materials
- Poorly maintained machinery or tools
- Inadequate personal protective equipment
- Inadequate safety procedures
- Insufficient supervision
Ensuring Safety in the Workplace
To minimize the risk of accidents and injuries in the workplace, employers must:
- Provide comprehensive workplace safety training
- Enforce safety protocols
- Provide sufficient personal protective equipment
- Maintain all equipment
- Develop emergency procedures and plans
- Conduct regular workplace inspections to identify potential hazards
- Stay informed and compliant of all safety regulations and standards
Ensuring Your Safety in the Workplace
There are several ways to reduce your risk of injury at work, including:
- Familiarize yourself with all safety procedures and protocols
- Wear appropriate personal protective equipment
- Report unsafe conditions
- Use tools and equipment properly
- Avoid distractions while operating machinery
- Ask for help, clarification, or assistance when needed
How a Kansas City Wrongful Death Attorney Can Help
Cases of wrongful death are extremely complex. There are a multitude of factors that can contribute to these cases, and it’s important that you hire an experienced wrongful death attorney to help you navigate the process.
Experienced attorneys will collect and maintain crucial evidence for your case, serve as your advocate to ensure that your rights are protected, and establish liability for the responsible party.
A wrongful death attorney should not only fight for the best legal outcomes, but they should help you find the closure and healing you need to move forward.
Contact Bartimus Frickleton Robertson Rader for a Wrongful Death Attorney in Kansas City
The lawyers at Bartimus Frickleton Robertson Rader understand that your case is your only case. When we represent a client or a family after a wrongful death, we devote the time, resources, and experience for the best possible result.
If you lost a loved one due to someone else’s negligence, contact our team today for a consultation at no cost.
The above is not intended to be legal advice. Each individual case is different and must be analyzed on its own set of facts and circumstances. If you believe you may have a case, it is critically important that you timely contact a lawyer to ensure your rights are protected.
