Head on Collision Causes 1 Dead and 1 Dog Injured

Yes. Under California Code of Civil Procedure § 377.60, surviving spouses, children, and financial dependents may file a wrongful death lawsuit against an impaired driver whose negligence caused the fatality. California Vehicle Code § 23152 establishes DUI as a statutory violation, and a criminal conviction creates negligence per se in the civil proceeding — though your civil case proceeds independently and does not require a criminal conviction to succeed. Where the driver acted with malice or reckless disregard for others’ safety, California Civil Code § 3294 allows the jury to award punitive damages in addition to compensatory recovery.

Yes. California courts treat dogs as personal property, and under California Civil Code § 3333 — the general tort damages statute — an at-fault driver is liable for all detriment proximately caused by their negligence. In practice, this means the full cost of emergency veterinary care, surgery, hospitalization, medication, and rehabilitation is recoverable, along with the animal’s fair market value if it dies from crash-related injuries. While California does not yet allow non-economic “loss of companionship” damages for pet injuries the way it does for human victims, the financial losses from serious animal injuries routinely reach thousands of dollars and are fully compensable as part of the overall accident claim.

California Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1 gives surviving family members two years from the date of the crash to file a wrongful death or personal injury lawsuit. However, if a government agency — such as a city responsible for road design or Caltrans for freeway maintenance — is among the potential defendants, a Government Tort Claim under Government Code § 911.2 must be filed within just six months of the incident. Because surveillance footage is often deleted within 30 to 72 hours and physical evidence degrades rapidly, retaining legal counsel in the days immediately following the crash — not months later — is strongly advisable regardless of which deadline applies.

Under California’s wrongful death statute (CCP § 377.60 and § 377.61), eligible family members may recover funeral and burial expenses; the present value of the deceased’s expected future financial contributions; the value of household services the deceased would have provided; and non-economic damages for the loss of love, companionship, comfort, care, and moral guidance. Separately, the deceased’s estate may bring a survival action under CCP § 377.30 to recover the victim’s pre-death medical expenses, lost wages from the crash to the moment of death, and — where applicable — the victim’s own conscious pain and suffering before dying. California imposes no cap on wrongful death damages outside of medical malpractice cases.

You are not legally required to hire an attorney, but head-on collision wrongful death cases involve complex liability determinations across potentially multiple defendants, actuarial calculations of future economic losses, contested medical causation, and hard-fought insurance disputes that favor experienced advocates. The Insurance Research Council found that represented claimants receive settlement offers averaging 3.5 times higher than unrepresented claimants. Compass Law Group handles wrongful death and serious injury cases exclusively on a contingency fee basis — no upfront fees and no attorney’s fee unless we achieve a recovery for your family. A free consultation carries no obligation and gives you a clear picture of your options.