7 Mistakes That Ruin Personal Injury Cases
Get our FREE guide and find out how you can protect your rights with Hepworth Holzer, LLP
Call Our Boise Personal Injury Lawyers Today
If you’ve been seriously injured in any of the above-mentioned personal injury cases, please do not hesitate to reach out to us as soon as you possibly can. Your case will be treated as a priority. You will get strong and dependable representation from our Boise personal injury lawyers. We want to encourage you to reach out to us today to set up your free initial consultation. You deserve justice and we can help you get it. Call us today.
Wrongful Death from a Truck Accident in Idaho
When a commercial truck crash takes someone you love, Idaho law gives your family the right to pursue justice
Losing a family member in a truck accident is one of the most devastating experiences a person can go through. The grief is immediate and overwhelming. The practical consequences — lost income, medical bills from before death, funeral expenses, and the long-term financial impact on the family — are also very real and very serious. Idaho law recognizes that families who lose a loved one due to someone else’s negligence have the right to pursue compensation for both. Our page on truck accident compensation in Idaho covers the full range of damages available, including those specific to wrongful death claims.
Hepworth Holzer has represented families in wrongful death cases involving commercial trucks in Idaho. Our Boise truck accident lawyers secured a $5 million judgment in a wrongful death commercial truck collision case and have the trial experience to take these cases through every stage of the legal process, including through jury verdict when necessary. If your family has lost someone in a truck accident in Idaho, call us. The consultation is free, and there is no fee unless we recover for your family.
Hepworth Holzer also helps residents of Idaho with Personal Injury Matters in: Ada County, Caldwell, Canyon County, Eagle, Garden City, Gem County, Kuna, Meridian, Nampa and Star.
Idaho Wrongful Death Law
Idaho’s wrongful death statute is codified at Idaho Code Section 5-311. The law allows the heirs of a person killed by the wrongful act or negligence of another to bring a civil claim for damages. Heirs under Idaho law include the deceased person’s spouse, children, stepchildren, and parents. In cases where none of these exist, more distant relatives may qualify.
A wrongful death claim is separate from any criminal proceedings against the driver or trucking company. The criminal justice system addresses whether laws were broken. The civil wrongful death claim addresses what compensation your family is entitled to receive for the loss you have suffered. These two processes can proceed simultaneously, and the outcome of one does not determine the outcome of the other.
Why Truck Accident Wrongful Death Cases Are Different
Commercial truck crashes kill people at a disproportionate rate compared to crashes involving only passenger vehicles. The physics are straightforward — a loaded semi-truck striking a passenger car at highway speed delivers a force the smaller vehicle simply cannot survive. When a family loses someone in a truck accident, they deserve representation from lawyers who understand the full complexity of these cases.
Wrongful death cases involving commercial trucks require the same thorough investigation as serious injury cases — often more. We obtain the truck’s black box data, driver logs, maintenance records, drug testing files, and hiring records. We investigate whether the trucking company’s own conduct contributed to the crash. We work with accident reconstruction specialists to establish exactly what happened and why. All of this feeds into building a case that accurately reflects the scope of the wrongdoing and the full extent of your family’s loss.
Who Can Be Held Responsible
In a wrongful death truck accident case, multiple parties may be legally responsible. The driver bears personal liability for negligent, reckless, or impaired driving. The trucking company is often responsible as well — either because the driver was acting in the course of employment, or because the company’s own failures in hiring, training, supervision, or vehicle maintenance contributed to the crash.
Cargo loaders, freight brokers, vehicle manufacturers, and maintenance contractors may also share responsibility depending on the facts of the case. Identifying every responsible party is essential because it determines how much total compensation is available and which insurance policies apply. Commercial trucking policies often carry $1 million or more in coverage, and in cases involving gross negligence or reckless conduct, punitive damages may significantly increase the total recovery.
What Damages Can Your Family Recover
Idaho’s wrongful death statute allows surviving family members to recover compensation for:
- The grief, sorrow, and mental anguish suffered by the surviving heirs
- The loss of the deceased person’s companionship, society, comfort, and guidance
- The economic value of the services the deceased would have provided to the family
- Lost financial support the deceased would have contributed over their expected lifetime
- Medical expenses incurred before death
- Funeral and burial expenses
In addition to the wrongful death claim brought by the heirs, Idaho law also allows a survival action — a claim on behalf of the deceased person’s estate for damages the deceased suffered from the time of the crash to the time of death. This can include the conscious pain and suffering experienced before death, lost wages during that period, and other losses.
When the trucking company or driver acted with reckless disregard for human life — for example, knowingly putting an impaired driver on the road, or operating a vehicle with known brake failures — punitive damages may also be available to punish that conduct and deter similar behavior in the future.
The Timeline and Why Early Action Matters
Idaho’s statute of limitations for wrongful death claims is generally two years from the date of death. But waiting anywhere close to that deadline is a serious mistake in a trucking case. Critical evidence — black box data, surveillance footage, driver records, and maintenance files — disappears quickly. Trucking companies begin managing their legal exposure immediately after a crash. Your family needs a legal team doing the same thing on your behalf from the beginning.
We also understand that families in the immediate aftermath of a devastating loss are not in a position to think about legal strategy. You are grieving. We handle the legal work so you do not have to, and we do it with the sensitivity and respect that a situation like this demands.
Hepworth Holzer Has Handled These Cases in Idaho
The W.D. review on this page comes from a family we represented after their mother was killed in a crash involving a drunk driver employed by a negligent company. The driver had a history that the company chose to ignore. We worked the case tirelessly through both the civil and criminal proceedings, and we secured a result for the family that reflected the full scope of what they had lost.
That is what we do. If your family has lost someone in a truck accident in Idaho, please call us. We will listen carefully to what happened, explain your family’s legal options honestly, and if we take your case, pursue it with everything we have. If you are still in the process of choosing who to hire, our page on how to choose a truck accident lawyer in Idaho explains what to look for and what questions to ask. We also handle all wrongful death cases in Boise beyond truck accidents. Call Hepworth Holzer today for a free consultation.
Do You Need Legal Help?
Related Truck Accident Videos
Client Reviews
