Police investigators say that alcohol and high speed are to blame for the recent death of a young Montana man. The 22-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene of a rollover auto accident that sent two passengers to a local hospital and the driver to a Billings hospital on December 17.

According to reports of the Montana Highway Patrol, the accident took place at around 9:30 in the morning when a pickup truck containing four occupants rolled down a 60 foot embankment adjacent to an exit ramp off Interstate 90 in Hardin. The driver attempted to stop at a stop sign, but failed and skidded into the ditch. After rolling down the embankment, the truck came to rest upside down.

The extent of the passengers’ injuries was not reported, but the driver required an airlift to Billings for treatment. The other two surviving passengers were transported to a hospital in Hardin.

Given that driver negligence appears to be the cause of this tragic accident, the two injured passengers may be entitled to pursue a personal injury suit against the driver to seek compensation for medical expenses and other accident-related costs, such as pain and suffering or loss of future earning capacity.

The family of the young man who died in the accident may want to consider filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the driver. A wrongful death claim seeks to compensate surviving family members for the loss of financial contributions and other contributions that the victim of a fatal accident would have made if his life had not been cut short by the negligence of another. An experienced auto accident attorney can help the victims of this accident determine the strength of their cases and find the best route to recovering fair compensation for their losses.

Source: KFBB, “One Man Dead, Three Others Injured After I-90 Accident,” Kasey Drescher, Dec. 18, 2012