Fatal Accident Investigations – You can grieve later, right now make the call.

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

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3/28/2011
Steve Lombardi
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Fatal Accident Investigations – You can grieve later, right now make the call.

I promised to review the full reports of fatalities today so let's have at it.

First we have four fatality reports from Des Moines County, Muscatine County, Adair County and from Franklin Counties. Interesting that only one involves multiple vehicles, the other three are single vehicle accidents. The multi-vehicle accident is between a car and a bicyclist. The bicyclist died.

With single vehicle accidents the only people that need a personal injury lawyer are usually the passengers, the drivers in single vehicle accidents have themselves for the most part to blame. The lawyers they need are hired by their insurance companies to defend their actions and to try and obscure the truth by twisting reality about what they did wrong. If there are no passengers the drivers are left to living with the decisions they made before the sound of twisting metal and breaking glass have stopped. It sounds crass to say it aloud but that's the cold hard truth. You don't have to like it but you do have to live with it. So what about this bicycle accident has my attention?

Well, it's crash report number one out of Des Moines County on March 16, 2011. The accident takes place at around 5:59 pm on U.S. 61 in a southbound/westbound direction, or so the report states. [SB/WB US 0061 / US 61 measuring 379 Feet West from US 0061 / US 61 and ROCK SPRING RD] According to the report the speed limit is 65 mph and it's a four-lane divided highway. I can tell from the way the report is written that the officer isn't quite sure of the facts when he's writing the report. Where exactly was the bicyclist, what speed was the Taurus driving at, why didn't the car driver see the bicyclist and what kind of reflective gear was on the bike? Any booze or other mind altering substances consumed by either? Was the sun involved? I'm not sure how the sun's glare could be involved since the direction of travel is south and the sun sets in the west. Nevertheless the sun's glare is mentioned for whatever effect that's supposed to have. What does it mean when the officer writes, "The southbound vehicles were travelling west..."? And what is meant by the statement, "into the setting sun which caused a glare."? And what about this statement, "It is unknown if the bicycle was in the travel lane or on the concrete portion of the shoulder when it was struck."? All of this creates uncertainty about the cause of the collision and doesn't allow us to draw firm conclusions. Of course as critical as I may be about the analysis the officer's report is acceptable because he or she can't draw firm conclusions; so don't think I'm being critical of the officer because Webster is just doing the best he can with what he has to work with. That said, as lawyers presenting a case to a fact finder we aren't excused from having a lack of answers. We are paid and our clients' cases are won and lost by having firm conclusions. We don't get to argue what-ifs and maybes. The burden of proof is on the injured plaintiff and if you can't pony up sufficient evidence to prove your case, then you lose.

Which brings us right back to the investigation and that establishes a call to action. The guy on the bike died and his relatives will be grieving, dealing with estate lawyers, funeral directors and all the necessary things one has to do when a person loses their life. That's all well and good but the law doesn't care if evidence is lost and you can't later recreate it. There is no excuse for not getting right on the investigation and discovering the facts. So if you're in this situation as much as you want to grieve you have no choice but to act. My advice is you will have plenty of time to grieve but a small window to investigate to gather and preserve the evidence, (like skid marks, saving the bike and photographing dents on the car.) so call a lawyer to get the investigation underway so that while you grieve he or she can be running the investigation.

As they say in this business, money talks and bullshit walks. Enough said, enjoy your day.

Full Reports

1. A crash occurred in Des Moines County on March 16, 2011

UNIT 01 WAS SOUTHBOUND ON HWY 61. A BICYCLIST WAS SOUTHBOUND ON HWY 61 IN FRONT OF UNIT 01. THE PASSENGER SIDE FRONT BUMPER OF UNIT 01 STRUCK THE REAR TIRE OF THE BICYCLE. AFTER IMPACT THE BICYCLE AND CYCLIST WERE THROWN ONTO THE NORTH DITCH AND SHOULDER. THE DRIVER OF UNIT 01 PULLED ONTO THE NORTH SHOULDER AND STOPPED. AT THIS LOCATION HWY 61 CURVES AND IS TRAVELING EAST AND WEST. THE SOUTHBOUND VEHICLES WERE TRAVELING WEST, INTO THE SETTING SUN WHICH CAUSED A GLARE. AT THIS LOCATION HWY 61 IS A 4 LANE DIVIDED ROADWAY. THERE IS A CONCRETE PORTION OF THE SHOULDER WHICH EXTENDS PAST THE FOG LINE. THE BICYCLE WAS NEAR THE FOG LINE AT IMPACT. IT IS UNKNOWN IF THE BICYCLE WAS IN THE TRAVEL LANE OR ON THE CONCRETE PORTION OF THE SHOULDER WHEN IT WAS STRUCK.... [Gasaway of Ft. Madison in a Ford Taurus and Garrels on a bike.]
2. A crash occurred in Muscatine County on March 14, 2011

VEHICLE #1 WAS TRAVELING SOUTHBOUND ON X30 WHEN IT WENT OFF THE ROADWAY. VEHICLE #1 WENT ON THE WEST SHOULDER INTO THE WEST DITCH, WHERE IT STRUCK AN EMBANKMENT. VEHICLE #1 AND DRIVER #1 VAULTED INTO THE AIR AND CAME TO REST IN THE WEST DITCH.... [Good of West Branch on a motorcycle.]
3. A crash occurred in Adair County on March 13, 2011

VEHICLE 1 WAS WESTBOUND. THE DRIVER OF VEHICLE 1 LOST CONTROL FOR SOME UNKNOWN REASON. VEHICLE 1 WENT INTO THE MEDIAN, ROLLED OVER, AND CAME TO REST ON ITS WHEELS IN THE MEDIAN FACING NORTH. THE DRIVER OF VEHICLE 1 WAS EJECTED THROUGH THE SUNROOF OF THE VEHICLE. THE DRIVER OF VEHICLE 1 WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD AT THE SCENE. [Ogden of West Des Moines in a 2008 PRT, SW - whatever that is.]
4. A crash occurred in Franklin County on March 13, 2011

UNIT 1 WAS NORTHBOUND ON BALSAM AVE WHEN THE DRIVER LOST CONTROL ENTERING THE EAST DITCH. UNIT ONE THEN ROLLED AT LEAST 3 TIMES IN A FIELD BEFORE COMING TO REST RIGHT SIDE UP. DRIVER OF UNIT 1 WAS EJECTED FROM THE VEHICLE. [Holmes of Rowan in a 1998 Ford F-150.]

Blog for I-35 I-80 I-235 I-380 Collisions/Accidents

Category: I-35 I-80 I-235 I-380 Collisions/Accidents

Labels: accident car crash reports death fault Highway 218 Highway 30 I235 I-235 I-29 I35 I-35 I380 I-380 I80 I-80 injury iowa Iowa State Patrol ISP lawyer Lombardi negligence personal semi truck

As a service to our clients living outside of Iowa we provide this list of crash reports from the Iowa State Patrol. We understand the difficulty our clients from out of state have in resolving a car, motorcycle, SUV, semi or truck accident case from outside of Iowa. We are here to assist you. If you have had an accident in Iowa but live in another state please give us a call and we will provide whatever services are needed to assist concluding your insurance settlement. 515-222-1110 or sdlombardi@aol.com. Our website is www.lombardilaw.com. We look forward to hearing from you. See also the Iowa Edict .
Steve Lombardi, Attorney

If you or an interested person are in a collision and you would like the crash analyzed you'll need to contact Attorney Lombardi. This may or may not result in an attorney-client relationship and simply asking for a review does not in and of itself create such a relationship. If you ask and Mr. Lombardi thinks you have a case he will say so and provide an agreement for representation that then creates an attorney-client relationship. The bottom line is that Mr. Lombardi has to agree to take you on as a client; the first step of course is asking him. You've got two ways: telephone 515-222-1110 or email sent to sdlombardi@aol.com.