Boyes Turner’s fatal injury solicitors secured a substantial settlement for the bereaved widow and children of a man who was killed by a hit-and-run driver. Our client’s husband was jogging on the carriageway and died instantly when he was hit by the defendant driver’s car which was being driven dangerously and at high speed. Having fatally injured our client in the collision, the driver drove away but was later identified by the police from shreds of evidence at the scene of the collision. He was arrested and was found to have been driving an unroadworthy car, which was held together in places by duct tape and had inadequate lighting, at a speed of 70mph in a 40mph area. Police investigations unfortunately resulted in the driver only being charged with dangerous driving related to post-collision events, despite the fact that he was already awaiting a court hearing on a previous driving charge at the time of the collision, and was subsequently arrested and remanded for yet another (third) driving offence for which he received a custodial sentence. We supported our widowed client at the inquest, at which the overtly remorseless defendant attended via video link from prison but refused to testify and his solicitor claimed to have no instructions. In the months before the inquest, we had gathered and served on the defendant’s insurers a schedule of loss and supporting evidence of the widow and children’s loss of dependency on their husband and father’s income and ‘services’. Once the inquest had taken place, we entered into negotiations with the insurers, resulting in settlement for the family. As the settlement involved apportionment of the compensation between the deceased’s widow and two children, the children’s ‘infant’ settlements were approved by the court. If you have suffered the loss of a family member as a result of somebody else’s negligence, you can talk to one of our personal injury solicitors, free and confidentially, to find out more about making a claim by contacting us.
