Utah woman suing herself over car crash death of husband

FILE PHOTO

The Utah Court of Appeals has given the green light for Barbara Bagley to sue herself for negligence concerning the auto accident that killed her husband in 2011.

Essentially, Bagley is bringing a wrongful death suit as the representative of her late husband’s estate against Bagley in her capacity as the driver in the crash. She even has two sets of attorneys to handle the opposing sides of the case.

Negligence is a broad legal term that covers everything from being remiss on repairs — one recent survey showed that <a href=”http://www.creechimport.com/dont-wait-auto-repairs-see-mechanic-immediately/” target=”_blank”>77% of cars</a> need some type of fix to truly be considered road-ready — to simply not paying attention. In this case, Bagley is arguing she is guilty of “failing to maintain a proper lookout” while driving. She lost control of the car when the pair were driving across the Nevada desert and collided with a large sagebrush bush. Her husband was thrown from the car and died 10 days later.

The motivation for <a href=”http://www.sltrib.com/news/2189925-155/utah-woman-can-sue-herself-over” target=”_blank”>Bagley suing herself</a> is that her insurance company has apparently refused to cover any of the medical expenses or funeral costs for her husband. If Bagley (as a driver) is found at fault, then Bagley (as a widow) will be entitled to compensation, referred to as damages, from the insurance company of the at-fault driver. In this instance, of course, that would be Bagley’s insurance company.

A Third District judge had dismissed the case last year, but it was reinstated last week in a 3-0 decision. The judges agreed that, technically, the law does not prohibit Bagley from suing herself.

One of the attorneys representing Bagley as a wronged spouse, Reid Tateoka, maintained that even if she does receive damages as a result of the lawsuit, Bagley will not personally profit from it, and is seeking only enough to cover medical and funeral expenses, as well as creditors that would be paid out of her husband’s estate before she received anything. According to the <a href=”http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11435964/Bagley-vs-Bagley-Widow-sues-herself-after-her-husband-dies-in-crash.html” target=”_blank”>Telegraph,</a> Tateoka said that the remainder “might just take care of a headstone.”

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!