Duty to warn oncoming drivers - traffic

Duty to Warn - Blocking Road - Interesting accident in the ISP crash reports this week. Unfortunately it resulted in the death of a 39-year-old man from Fremont

Failing to stop at a stop sign can be deadly

October 1, 2010 – Hamilton County, Iowa - In this intersection collision on Second Street in Webster City, Iowa we have an accident due to one of the driver’s not stopping for a stop sign. The result is one person died and several others were injured. The location is the intersection of D20 and R27 in Webster City, Iowa. A 2004 Chevrolet Venture Van driven by Mr. Arnold, 19 years-old and from Des Moines is driving northbound on Second Avenue and is approaching the intersection with D-20. In a 1993 Cadillac a 75-year-old driver, Larry Donahe from Webster City is heading in a westerly direction on D-20. From the police report the young driver failed to stop at the stop sign and t-boned the other car. It appears as though a passenger in the Donahe car was killed.

Clear indication of negligence in Roseville’s woman’s motorcycle accident

The news item has a woman from Roseville riding her 1993 Honda motorcycle west on Highway 18 at about 9:40 a.m. A semi truck driver, Brian Hanley, 43 of Buda, Illinois crosses the center line causing Diane Mackenzie, 56 to maneuver to avoid hitting him; she losses control goes off onto the shoulder and when coming back onto the road losses control, crashes and is killed.

Wrong-way driver on a four lane divided highway

Yesterday we took up the case of negligent passing while on a two-lane highway. In this case today we take on a wrong-way driver on a four lane divided highway. First the facts.

On February 23, 2009 the Greeneville Sun reported that Matthew Hall, 52, was driving north but in the southbound traffic lanes of I-81 when he collided with a semi-tractor trailer being driven south by James Pierson, 36 or Gate City, Virginia. What Tripper James Fillers figured happened was that as Hall got closer to the semi-truck the semi-driver in an attempt to avoid a collision drove onto the median. Hall continued onward not realizing he was heading the wrong way on this divided interstate highway and collided with the rear side of the trailer.

I’ve been looking at a lot of these cases lately and as is true in many alcohol and OWI or DUI as it’s referred to, was involved. The trooper hit him with everything he could which included charges against Hall of DUI, violating the implied-consent law, driving on a suspended license, possessing Schedule II drugs, possessing drug paraphernalia, having no proof of insurance, violating the seat belt law, having a switched license plate and driving on the wrong side of the road.

The negligence in this case is clear; Hall is driving in the wrong direction on a four-lane divided interstate highway. Failure to drive using due care is apparent. But in this crash, as in many the alcohol adds a complexity that will not be welcomed by Hall. Driving while under the influence of alcohol may allow Pierson to assert a claim for punitive damages. This collision occurred in Tennessee and their laws may be different than those in Iowa. The laws of the state where the collision occur will govern a collision on an interstate highway. In Iowa you would be allowed a claim for punitive damages that may or may not be covered on insurance. But we’ll save that discussion for another day.

I’m not sure it can get much worse for Hall, although he didn’t die so that could be worse.