Weird case because impact is made to appear slight, but death ensued

Today is a busy day so let’s get today’s car accident post published and then I have to get back to work. I’ve already been interrupted several times and there is a webinar at 11:00 so I’ve got to get this published and get back to work that pays the bills. There are some injuries my clients sustain from car and truck accidents that I just can’t understand. These aren’t my clients of course, but this is one of those accidents that leave me scratching my head.

A car accident in Mike Bryant’s neck-of-woods (Minnesota) involves and Iowa family from Riverside. This 8-year-old is a passenger in his family’s car and is killed when a second car sideswipes the car he’s in causing his death. From the report it appears the sideswiping between the two cars occurred when they were traveling in opposite directions. There are few details about the mechanics of the crash.

How is it that three other passengers in the car were okay but this one young boy ends up dying? Well, in this instance I’ll never know because there aren’t enough facts of the accident published to learn the mechanics of where he was seated, where the impact took place, how severe was the impact or what caused the boy’s death. The last story by Waseca County News points out the at-fault vehicle was a semi-truck which may explain a question about the impact.

Unanswered questions both legal and medical might include these.

• During the crash did he strike his head on something?
• What would the autopsy show was the medical cause of the death?
• Were there any pre-existing medical conditions that enhanced the condition?
• Did the vehicle design contribute to the cause of death? You know the inside of vehicle use to contribute to the severity of passenger compartment injuries. Thanks to the pi lawyers in Michigan the car makers got the message and designed safer passenger compartments. They became more crash friendly. People thought the lawyers were a problem for suing over crash-injuries enhanced by or caused by compartment design flaws; but looking at today’s passenger compartment designs no one can seriously argue about how those lawsuits helped with reducing injuries and deaths.
• What was the load inside the tractor’s trailer, how was it secured, did it move during the crash and contribute to the driver of the semi-truck having a difficult time controlling the movement after the first impact?
• What did the semi-truck driver’s log look like? How long had he been driving? Was the trip legal under DOT regulations?

Practice Pointer: Insurance adjusters love this kind of case because they have three other passengers to point to and say the injured person is faking it. Of course in this situation there is a death so that’s not likely to happen or to be very effective.

Recommendation: Never assume, always investigate and hire an honest lawyer experienced with claims such as yours. You’ve got out-of-state accident victims so this case will require coordination between two firms with location and expertise to cover the necessary investigation and then the collection and preservation of the damages. Don’t delay, get moving and get organized; if you snooze you lose because the insurance company for the semi-truck will move quickly to scrap out the trailer.

Date of accident: July 16, 2010

Time of accident: 11:00 a.m., Friday

People involved in Car 1: Frantz family from Riverside, Iowa. Four passengers.

Place of Accident: U.S. Highway 14, Owatonna, Minnesota

Investigative Agency: Minnesota State Patrol and Steele County Sheriff’s Office

Apparent At-Fault Driver: A. Routh, age 22 of Hartland, Minnesota.

Vehicle 2: Brittany Rodgers, 20 of Winona, MN.

Vehicle 3: Irma Hacmac, 78 or Owatonna, MN.

Decedent: 8-years-old

Ambulance and EM Services Involved: Owatonna Fire, Owatonna Police Department, Gold Cross Ambulance and Mayo One.

Hospitals: St. Mary’s Hospital, Mayo

 

Further reading:

Iowa boy, 8 dies in Minnesota crash, Iowa City Press-Citizen, July 20, 2010

Head-on Collision Kills Iowa Child, St. Cloud, Minnesota, Mike Bryant, July 20, 2010

Riverside boy killed in Friday morning car accident, July 18, 2010, KWWL

UPDATE: 8-year-old boy dies in Highway 14 crash, July 16, 2010, Wendy Reuer, Waseca Country News

Accident in Minnesota Injures Three, Kills Child from Southeast Iowa, KCCI, July 20, 2010