Responsibility

Grief is expected when you lose a loved one. Nowadays, a lawsuit often is too.

The father of the St. Louis Cardinals pitcher killed in a car crash last month has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

The suit filed by Dean Hancock, father of Josh Hancock, said these “legal actions (were) necessary against those who contributed to the untimely and unnecessary death of my son at the age of 29.”

The suit names the restaurant where Hancock was drinking the night he died.

It also names the tow-truck driver who was responding to an accident — and the owner of the vehicle involved in that accident.

The younger Hancock died when his SUV smashed into the rear of the tow truck on an interstate highway. The truck was preparing to remove the first vehicle.

You could make an argument that the restaurant helped Hancock get drunk that night.

The family’s lawyer said drinks were handed to the young pitcher for the entire 3½ hours he was there.

You could make an argument that the tow truck shouldn’t have been in the way, too, when Hancock was driving home late at night.

The truck and the vehicle it was about to tow were on the highway, not on the shoulder. The family’s lawyer said the tow truck may have been behind the vehicle for up to 15 minutes but didn't get it out of the way.

All those things should be considered.

But something else should be considered too: The person most responsible for the fatal accident was Josh Hancock himself.

His blood-alcohol level when he died was 0.157 percent. That’s almost twice the 0.08 that defines intoxication in most states.

However this case ends, it won’t changed what happened in the beginning.

No one forced Josh Hancock to drink that night.

No one forced him to drive after he drank too much.