The Seattle Times reported that yesterday Matthew McDonald, who plead guilty to four counts of vehicular homicide, received a sentence of 8 years in prison by Snohomish County Superior Court Judge David Kurt. McDonald had a clean record before driving through a stop sign in Marysville into the side of a car carrying four adults. The impact killed all four vehicle occupants: Brad and Melissa Agerup and Thomas and Hilda Woods.
If McDonald’s vehicle was insured at the time of the collision, then the survivors of the estates of the four deceased adults have a wrongful death civil cause of action against McDonald. McDonald’s insurance company will step in and handle the claims.
Minimum insurance policy limits in Washington State are $25,000.00 per person/$50,000.00 per accident. Maximum limits are typically $300,000.00/$500,000.00 and then any (typically, $1 million) umbrella limit will kick in thereafter.
Under Washington State’s wrongful death statute, the personal representative of the estate of the decedent may bring a cause of action against the tortfeasor who negligently caused the death. The beneficiaries of a wrongful death action include spouse, state registered domestic partner, and children (including stepchildren).
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