Residents of Beverly and Salem, Massachusetts, might not know that more than 30,000 people are killed in crashes every year in the United States. Among these thousands are hundreds of Massachusetts residents who lose their lives in preventable fatal motor vehicle accidents. Many of those lives lost could have been saved had the negligent driver who caused the accident followed basic traffic rules and cared about the safety of others on the road. A negligent driver’s minor error could prove fatal, impacting a victim’s family emotionally and financially in a big way. It could be worse for a family if the victim of a fatal crash was the main financial contributor to the household. Any driver or passenger of a vehicle, or a pedestrian near a road, can be a victim of a tragic crash. A fatal car accident causes financial losses not only for a victim’s family, but also billions in medical expenses spread across the country. In 2005, deaths as a result of car crashes cost the U.S. $41 billion in medical expenses and lost wages. According to this data, the cost to Massachusetts victims and residents was a staggering $394 million in medical expenses and lost earnings. The cost of unidentified crash fatalities was more than half of the financial costs, with motor vehicle occupants, motorcyclists, pedestrians, and bicyclists filling out the fatality victim statistics. A family affected by the death of a loved one has a legal right to seek compensation from a negligent vehicle operator