Four years post the fatal crash in Seattle, on Tuesday; the Washington Senate approved a much required update to the parts with state’s incorrect death law. This proposal shall remove the requirements that date way back to 1909. This requirement wanted that after any accidental death occurring in the state, the family members need to have lived in the U.S. and should be dependent economically on the said victim to receive eligibility for claim of wrongful death.
This law received the lime light during a fatal crash that occurred in the year 2015. This was when a tourist vehicle stuck onto the oncoming traffic while killed 5 victims and injuring about 69 in the fatal incident. The affected vehicle was a tour bus packed with foreign students. From this, 1 family member of the victim happened to challenge the law post crash and stated that it was discriminatory.
The lawmakers approved this proposal pending a 30-17 vote win. This sent the proposal to state house. During the initial debate before placing the vote, the sponsor of the bill mentioned that this provision actually stemmed from the efforts made by businesses during the start of 20th century in order to block any claims being made by the Chinese family members that had miners killed during workplace accidents.
