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1/5/2011
Steve Lombardi
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Another head-on collision in Palo Alto County

The next collision we have is out of Palo Alto County, Iowa involving a pickup truck and a mailman who is working and delivering the mail. The Trooper, Drost describes that collision below in the narrative. The mailman was driving a 1991 Buick and died. The officer's report indicates the first event was "evasive action (swerve, panic, braking, etc.). The driver was 45-years-old and it doesn't appear at least at this stage that any charges were noted against him; although none should be since he was fatally injured. The other driver was cited for failing to wear a safety belt. This driver was taken to the hospital in Palo Alto by the West Bend Ambulance.

What I find of interest in the officer's report is the drawing that shows vehicle 1, Buick being used to deliver mail, drawn across the center line. While the narrative doesn't seem to make any conclusions as to fault the drawing may be giving us a hint of what the officer's observations were at the scene. Today I'll try something new and include the complete report in the post. Because of Word's formatting the pasted content isn't always readable. But today we'll try it and see if I can get it to work.

AT APPROXIMATELY 1253 HRS ON 12-27-10 THOMAS JOSEPH LICHTER OF BURT, IA WAS DRIVING A 1991 BUICK REGAL NORTH BOUND ON 540TH AVE, A GRAVEL ROAD, APPROXIMATELY .6 MILES SOUTH OF COUNTY ROAD B55 IN PALO ALTO CO. LICHTER WAS DELIVERING MAIL AND WAS DRIVING FROM THE PASSENGER SIDE OF THE VEHICLE. AT THAT SAME TIME, MARK ROBERT BESCH OF RODMAN, IA. WAS SOUTH BOUND ON 540TH AVE, DRIVING A 2003 CHEVY SILVERALDO PICKUP. THE VEHICLES MET AT A HILL CREST AND COLLIDED IN A NEAR HEAD-ON MANNER. RICHTER WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD AT THE SCENE. BESCH WAS TRANSPORTED TO THE PALO ALTO CO. HOSPITAL. THERE WERE NO OTHER PASSENGERS IN THE VEHICLES. THE COLLISION IS STILL UNDER INVESTIGATION BY THE IOWA STATE PATROL WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE PALO ALTO CO. SHERIFF DEPARTMENT. ALSO ASSISTING AT THE SCENE WAS EMMETSBURG AMBULANCE, WEST BEND AMBULANCE, AND THE RODMAN FIRE DEPARTMENT.

Crash Information

L O C A T I O N	Date of Accident 12/27/2010	Time of Accident 12:53 PM	County Palo Alto - 74	Accident occurred within corporate limits of (city)	Law Enforcement Case Number: 2010073536
	Literal Description .6 MILES SOUTH OF B55 ON 540TH AVE				Legal Intervention? No	Private Property? No
					X-Coordinate: 376019.2
					Y-Coordinate 4763601.

U N I T 1	Driver's Name - Last LICHTER			First THOMAS			Middle JOSEPH		Suffix
	City BURT			State IA - Iowa, US				Zip 50522
	Driver's Age 61					Citation Charge Code 1		Citation Charge 1
	Gender Male	State IA - Iowa, US	Class D - Chauffeur	Endorsements 1 - Trk - Trctr Semi-Trailer Comb	Restrictions None	Citation Charge Code 2		Citation Charge 2
	Alcohol Test Given?			Drug Test Given?		Citation Charge Code 3		Citation Charge 3
						Citation Charge Code 4		Citation Charge 4
	Seating Position 03 - Front: Right Side	Injury Status 1 - Fatal	Occupant Protection 2 - Shoulder and lap belt used		Airbag Deployment 6 - Not applicable	Airbag Switch Status 3 - No ON/OFF switch present		Ejection 1 - Not ejected	Ejection Path	Trapped 1 - Not trapped
	Transported to: PALO ALTO CO. HOSP.					Transported by: PALO ALTO CO. AMB
	Insurance Co. Name
	Year 1991		Make Buick - BUIC		Model REG		Style 4D		Approximate Cost to Repair or Replace 2000
	Initial Travel Direction 1 - North	Vehicle Action 01 - Movement essentially straight	Speed Limit 55	Point of Initial Impact 01 - Front	Most Damaged Area 01 - Front	Extent of Damage 5 - Severe, vehicle totaled	Underride/Override 1 - None
	Total Occupants 01	Traffic Controls 01 - No controls present	Vehicle Config. 01 - Passenger car	Cargo Body Type 01 - Not applicable	Vehicle Defect 01 - None	Driver Condition 1 - Apparently normal	Vision Obscured 06 - Hillcrest	Contributing Circumstances, Driver (up to 2)
	SEQUENCE OF EVENTS			First Event 06 - Evasive action (swerve, panic braking, etc.)	Second Event 04 - Crossed centerline/median	Third Event	Fourth Event	Most Harmful Event (by vehicle) 21 - Vehicle in traffic
	Emergency Vehicle Type 1 - Not applicable					Emergency Status 3 - Not Applicable
	Carrier Name			City		State			Zip
	Number of Axles			Gross Vehicle Weight Rating		Placard #			Hazardous Materials Released?

U N I T 2	Driver's Name - Last BESCH			First MARK			Middle ROBERT		Suffix
	City WEST BEND			State IA - Iowa, US				Zip 50597
	Driver's Age 45					Citation Charge Code 1 321.445		Citation Charge 1 FAIL TO WEAR/MAINTAIN SAFETY BELTS
	Gender Male	State IA - Iowa, US	Class C - Non-commercial vehicle or commercial Veh w/26000 GVWR or less & either 16 Pass Design or Hazmat	Endorsements None	Restrictions None	Citation Charge Code 2		Citation Charge 2
	Alcohol Test Given? 1 - None			Drug Test Given? 1 - None		Citation Charge Code 3		Citation Charge 3
						Citation Charge Code 4		Citation Charge 4
	Seating Position 01 - Front: Left Side / Motorcycle Driver	Injury Status 3 - Non-incapacitating	Occupant Protection 1 - None used		Airbag Deployment 1 - Deployed front of person	Airbag Switch Status 1 - Switch in ON position		Ejection 1 - Not ejected	Ejection Path	Trapped 1 - Not trapped
	Transported to: PALO ALTO CO. HOSP.					Transported by: WEST BEND AMB.
	Insurance Co. Name
	Year 2003		Make Chevrolet - CHEV		Model SLV		Style PK		Approximate Cost to Repair or Replace 10000
	Initial Travel Direction 3 - South	Vehicle Action 01 - Movement essentially straight	Speed Limit 55	Point of Initial Impact 01 - Front	Most Damaged Area 01 - Front	Extent of Damage 5 - Severe, vehicle totaled	Underride/Override 1 - None
	Total Occupants 01	Traffic Controls 01 - No controls present	Vehicle Config. 02 - Four-tire light truck (pick-up, panel)	Cargo Body Type 01 - Not applicable	Vehicle Defect 01 - None	Driver Condition 1 - Apparently normal	Vision Obscured 06 - Hillcrest	Contributing Circumstances, Driver (up to 2)
	SEQUENCE OF EVENTS			First Event 21 - Vehicle in traffic	Second Event	Third Event	Fourth Event	Most Harmful Event (by vehicle) 21 - Vehicle in traffic
	Emergency Vehicle Type 1 - Not applicable					Emergency Status 3 - Not Applicable
	Carrier Name			City		State			Zip
	Number of Axles			Gross Vehicle Weight Rating		Placard #			Hazardous Materials Released?

ACCIDENT ENVIRONMENT		ROADWAY CHARACTERISTICS Major Contributing Circumstances:	WORKZONE RELATED?	SEQUENCE OF EVENTS
Location of First Harmful Event 1 - On Roadway	Weather Conditions (up to two) 01 - Clear	Environment 1 - None apparent	Location	First Harmful Event of Crash (use codes 11-42 only) 21 - Vehicle in traffic
Manner of Crash/Collision 2 - Head-on	Weather Conditions (up to two) 01 - Clear	Roadway 01 - None apparent	Type
Light Conditions 1 - Daylight	Surface Conditions 6	Type of Roadway Junction/Feature 01 - No special feature	Workers Present?

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NARRATIVE

Officer DROST	Badge No. 388	Time Officer Notified of Accident 12:59	Time Officer Arrived At Scene 13:34
Name of Agency P06	Date of Report 12/27/2010	Investigation made at scene? Yes	T.I. #

Category: Car and Tractor Trailer Accidents

Labels: accidents car death Highway 218 I235 I35 I380 I80 injury iowa lawyer Lombardi negligence personal semi truck

For good advice see a lawyer and if you have questions about this blog, the law or your case write or call me directly. Steve Lombardi, sdlombardi@aol.com and 515-222-1110. I handle all types of personal injury cases including car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, workers' compensation cases. We help truckers all across the country who come through Iowa and end up in an accident. If we need other lawyers from other states we hire them and it costs you no more than what you would pay us; in other words, we split the fee between us. So call 515-222-1110 or email us at sdlombardi@aol.com.
Steve Lombardi, Attorney