Today there are five full reports. The first is out of Mills County and I've covered that accident on the preliminary reports blog post so you can follow this link to review it and I'm not going to review it again here. The other four are out of Johnson, Webster, Marshall and Lee Counties. 

The Johnson County case is a two-vehicle accident on Highway 6. The sequence of events leading to this deadly crash started when the right side tires dropped off the paved surface and onto the shoulder on a curve. That drop and probably the resulting loss of steering ability caused the driver to pull hard to the left which then started the deadly sequence of accident events. The car ended up across the center line probably right in the path of an oncoming car. Drivers started making split-second decisions and that's when things really started getting ugly and a collision ensued.

So who is involved in this accident? Zachary Swenka (vehicle 1), 18, Bryan Cooling, 47 (vehicle 2); passengers included Toni Cooling (42), Daniel Bechtel (15), Dustin Cox (16), Chloe Keith (14), Claire Riggan (14) and Mackenzie Lown (14). The first car, the Chevy Lumina appears to have had 6 people in it. The second, a 2010 Honda had two people in it. This is a mess with all these lives disrupted. From the report it's my opinion fault will be placed on Swenka and certainly not on Cooling. I wish it were easy to say I don't see a lot of this, but I do and many of these accidents are being caused by digital distractions by drivers not paying attention to their driving. I'm not saying this one was but I am seeing a lot that are. If we can help, give us a call (Barbara will probably answer the phone) or drop me an email. Steve Lombardi 5150222-1110 or sdlombardi@aol.com. Link to this full report.

I'm going to skip the Konecne accident out of Webster County since it appears to be of the second category of accidents. To read the report you can follow this link.

This brings us to the fourth accident for today, the Yeager-Clapsaddle Accident out of Marshall County, Iowa on October 12, 2011 on Highway 30 at Jessup Avenue. This is a failure to yield case or in layman's terms, a stop sign case. We have the guy driving vehicle one not stopping and the car that has the right of way crashing into him. Pretty simple really; involved were Gordon Yeager, 94 (age related also?), Charles Clapsaddle, age 64, Norma Yeager (90) and Barbara Clapsaddle age unknown. To read the report follow this link: 2011.10.12. Marshall County Yeager vs Clapsaddle Iowa State Patrol Crash Reports.

Okay I've got grass to mow and leaves to pick up so let's get to the final fatality report from an accident out of Lee County. The accident location is south of Highway 2/W-78 in a farm pond. Hoyt Reynolds is reported as the 26 year old driver of the first car, a 1994 Pontiac Grand Prix. No other car is noted to be involved. A passenger, Thomas Walljasper was noted to have died. The description is of particular interest because of the facts described. We have a car not stopping for a stop sign, then entering a farm yard, continuing on to a pond, going into the pond where the passenger is noted to have drowned. The accident time is noted to be 10:30 pm although I'm not sure how that was determined. Read the description below. Very strange to say the least because one is led to believe alcohol may have been involved due to the fact the report indicates a blood and urine test were performed to determine if alcohol was involved. The autopsy of the passenger will be instructive on his level of sobriety. No conclusions can be reached about the facts of this accident until after all chemical tests have been finalized. I do see quite a few drunk driver civil lawsuits and lawsuits against the bar for serving someone either while intoxicated or to the point of becoming intoxicated. The intoxicated driver then goes out and kills themselves or causes injury to someone else. If the drunk driver kills themselves the dependents can sue the bar for damages. If you have such a case and we can help you either call the office of drop me an email. sdlombardi@aol.com or 515-222-1110. Fax us the report if you have one and follow this link to read this report. Fax: 515-222-0718. 

Full Reports 1.    A crash occurred in Mills County on October 19, 2011

UNIT 1 WAS EASTBOUND ON HIGHWAY 6 AND UNIT 2 WAS WESTBOUND ON HIGHWAY 6. AS UNIT 1 TRAVELED THROUGH THE CURVE, WEST OF THE 242 MILE MARKER, UNIT 1'S LEFT THE TRAVEL LANE TO THE RIGHT AND THE RIGHT SIDE TIRES DROPPED OFF ONTO THE SHOULDER. DRIVER 1 STEERED TO THE LEFT AND UNIT 1 CROSSED THE CENTER LINE. DRIVER 1 THEN STEERED TO THE RIGHT ATTEMPTING TO AVOID ONCOMING UNIT 2. UNIT 2 COLLIDED WITH THE LEFT REAR SIDE OF UNIT 1 CAUSING MASSIVE DAMAGE TO THE LEFT REAR PASSENGER COMPARTMENT OF UNIT 1. UNIT 2 SUSTAINED SEVERE CRUSHING DAMAGE TO THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. THEIR WAS NO INTRUSION TO THE PASSENGER AREA OF UNIT 2. UNIT 1 CAME TO REST IN THE NORTH DITCH OF HIGHWAY 6 FACING EAST. UNIT 2 CAME TO REST FACING SOUTH ON THE NORTH SHOULDER OF HIGHWAY 6. 

2.    A crash occurred in Johnson County on October 17, 2011

UNIT 1 WAS EASTBOUND ON HIGHWAY 6 AND UNIT 2 WAS WESTBOUND ON HIGHWAY 6. AS UNIT 1 TRAVELED THROUGH THE CURVE, WEST OF THE 242 MILE MARKER, UNIT 1'S LEFT THE TRAVEL LANE TO THE RIGHT AND THE RIGHT SIDE TIRES DROPPED OFF ONTO THE SHOULDER. DRIVER 1 STEERED TO THE LEFT AND UNIT 1 CROSSED THE CENTER LINE. DRIVER 1 THEN STEERED TO THE RIGHT ATTEMPTING TO AVOID ONCOMING UNIT 2. UNIT 2 COLLIDED WITH THE LEFT REAR SIDE OF UNIT 1 CAUSING MASSIVE DAMAGE TO THE LEFT REAR PASSENGER COMPARTMENT OF UNIT 1. UNIT 2 SUSTAINED SEVERE CRUSHING DAMAGE TO THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. THEIR WAS NO INTRUSION TO THE PASSENGER AREA OF UNIT 2. UNIT 1 CAME TO REST IN THE NORTH DITCH OF HIGHWAY 6 FACING EAST. UNIT 2 CAME TO REST FACING SOUTH ON THE NORTH SHOULDER OF HIGHWAY 6.. 

3.    A crash occurred in Webster County on October 15, 2011

UNIT ONE A MOTORCYCLE WAS NORTHBOUND ON BRUSHY CREEK RD AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED. UNIT ONE FAILED TO NEGOTIATE A CURVE AND WENT OFF THE ROAD RIGHT AND STRUCK A TREE... 

4.    A crash occurred in Marshall County on October 12, 2011

UNIT 2 WAS WESTBOUND ON HWY 30 WHEN UNIT 1 FAILED TO YIELD FROM THE SOUTHBOUND STOPSIGN AT JESUP AVE. UNIT 2 ATTEMPTED TO AVOID UNIT 1 BUT WAS UNABLE TO AVOID STRIKING UNIT 1. ALL OCCUPANTS WERE TRANSPORTED AWAY FOM THE SCENE PRIOR TO TROOPERS ARRIVAL AND POSITIVE CONFIRMATION COULD NOT BE MADE THAT OCCUPANT RESTRAINTS WERE IN USE DURING THE TIME OF COLLISION.. 

5.    A crash occurred in Lee County on October 11, 2011

UNIT ONE WAS SOUTHBOUND ON W78. UNIT FAILED TO STOP AT THE STOP SIGN AT THE HWY 2 INTERSECTION. UNIT 01 CONTINUED SOUTH ACROSS HWY 2 AND ENTERED A RURAL RESIDENCE YARD. UNIT 01 CONTINUED SOUTH, ENTERED A FARM POND AND SUBMERGED. DRIVER OF UNIT 01 ESCAPED FROM THE VEHICLE AND APPARENTLY BECAME UNCONSCIOUS NEAR THE POND. THE DRIVER WENT FOR HELP ON THE MORNING OF 0CTOBER 12TH. THE PASSENGER WAS REMOVED FROM THE VEHICLE WHEN IT WAS LOCATED AND RETRIEVED BY DIVERS THE MORNING OF OCTOBER 12TH. THE TIME OF THIS COLLISION IS UNKNOWN. ACCORDING TO THE DRIVER IT WAS APPROXIMATELY 22:00 HRS TO 23:00 HRS. DRIVER STATED THAT HE WAS ATTEMPTING TO MAKE A CELL PHONE CALL JUST PRIOR TO THE COLLISION.