Updated on: 12/21/2020
A 19-year-old woman is dead after a hit-and-run accident in University Place early Sunday morning.
The crash occurred around 1 a.m. along 35th Street West in University Place where a blue Mazda was found with the woman unresponsive inside.
Authorities later discovered a damaged vehicle belonging to a 17-year-old that had left the scene and made it nearly a block before fleeing on foot.
The parents of the 17-year-old minor were contacted and he was found to have recently been checked into a local hospital, missing a shoe that matched the one left at the scene.
Pierce County Sheriff's Officers obtained a warrant to test the blood of the injured teen to determine if there may have been intoxicants in his system and are investigating if the collision may have been connected to a party that was reported nearby the scene.
Fatal Accidents Involving Minors
Unfortunately, this accident encompasses some of the most devastating accident types we see as an office, wrongful death, involving a teen, due to a potentially drunk driver, who chose to flee the scene.
Unlike many hit-and-run accidents in these situations, it does appear authorities were able to quickly apprehend the fleeing driver meaning the victims loved ones may have an easier time achieving a settlement.
Hit-and-run accident victims often don't have the opportunity to make a claim against their at-fault driver and while we do not have all the details confirming exactly what lead to this collision, loved ones of the victims can request their police report to begin their investigation into this collision.
Because the suspected at-fault driver is a minor at 17-years-old the victim's loved ones may have additional avenues to claim a recovery from beyond his individual insurance thanks to the Washington State family car doctrine, allowing the guardians of a minor at-fault driver to be held liable for damages.
Wrongful death accident claims like this one can be long, drawn-out, and complex and the loved ones of the victim only have one opportunity to make a recovery from the at-fault party.
Complex accident claims like this one require expert care and attention and the experienced team of car accident attorneys at Davis Law Group provides free case evaluations for accident victims and their loved ones who are unsure of how to proceed with their claim.
To request your case evaluation at no charge and with no pressure to sign call 206-727-4000 or use the chat or contact options on this page today.
