Will the judge excuse any negligence if ice causes me to slide off into another car?

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Steve Lombardi, Attorney

Blog Category:

Large Damage, Major-Serious Injury and Death Cases

1/22/2012
Steve Lombardi
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Will the judge excuse any negligence if ice causes me to slide off into another car?

Next we have a Mahaska County accident on Iowa 92. The Iowa State Trooper’s description is really pretty straightforward: VEHICLE #1 WAS TRAVELING EAST OH HIGHWAY 92. WITNESSES ADVISED THAT VEHICLE #1 WAS ALL OVER THE ROADWAY. VEHICLE #2 WAS HEADING EAST ON HIGHWAY 92. VEHICLE #1 ENTERED WESTBOUND LANE OF TRAVEL HITTING VEHICLE #2 HEAD ON.

One has to wonder why the first vehicle was all over the road, but certainly the driver of the second car, Jessica Grahek and a passenger, Georgia Parashos, are fault free, at least in terms of how the trooper describes the pre-collision events.

For additional information read: What Cheer Woman Killed in Mahaska County Crash by KCRG and State Patrol, one dead in Sunday accident by the Oskaloosa Herald.

Crash Information

L O C A T I O N	Date of Accident 1/8/2012	Time of Accident 03:25 PM	County Mahaska - 62	Accident occurred within corporate limits of (city)	Law Enforcement Case Number: 2012001288
	Literal Description Iowa 0092 / IOWA 92 and OSBURN AVE measuring 651 Meters West from Iowa 0092 / IOWA 92				Legal Intervention? No	Private Property? No
					X-Coordinate: 533230.9
					Y-Coordinate 4571710.

U N I T 1	Driver's Name - Last HAZEN			First LORI			Middle LYNN		Suffix
	City WHAT CHEER			State IA - Iowa, US				Zip 50268
	Driver's Age 45					Citation Charge Code 1		Citation Charge 1
	Gender Female	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? 2 - Blood			Drug Test Given? 3 - Urine		Citation Charge Code 3		Citation Charge 3
						Citation Charge Code 4		Citation Charge 4
	Seating Position 01 - Front: Left Side / Motorcycle Driver	Injury Status 1 - Fatal	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: MAHASKA COUNTY HOSPTIAL					Transported by: AMBULANCE
	Insurance Co. Name
	Year 1996		Make Pontiac - PONT		Model GRAND AM SE		Style 2-DOOR		Approximate Cost to Repair or Replace 3200
	Initial Travel Direction 2 - East	Vehicle Action 88 - Other (explain in narrative)	Speed Limit 55	Point of Initial Impact 01 - Front	Most Damaged Area 01 - Front	Extent of Damage 4 - Disabling damage	Underride/Override 1 - None
	Total Occupants 1	Traffic Controls 01 - No controls present	Vehicle Config. 01 - Passenger car	Cargo Body Type 01 - Not applicable	Vehicle Defect 01 - None	Driver Condition 6 - Under the influence of alcohol/drugs/medications	Vision Obscured 01 - Not obscured	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?

U N I T 2	Driver's Name - Last GRAHEK			First JESSICA			Middle LYNN		Suffix
	City OSKALOOSA			State IA - Iowa, US				Zip 52577
	Driver's Age 19					Citation Charge Code 1		Citation Charge 1
	Gender Female	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 4 - Possible	Occupant Protection 2 - Shoulder and lap belt 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: MERCY HOSPITAL DES MOINES					Transported by: AIRCAR
	Insurance Co. Name
	Year 2000		Make Hyundai - HYUN		Model SONATA GLS		Style 4-DOOR		Approximate Cost to Repair or Replace 4000
	Initial Travel Direction 4 - West	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 2	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 01 - Not obscured	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) 02 - Partly cloudy	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) 02 - Partly cloudy	Roadway 01 - None apparent	Type
Light Conditions 1 - Daylight	Surface Conditions 1	Type of Roadway Junction/Feature 01 - No special feature	Workers Present?

P
E
R
S
O
N

I
N
J
U
R
E
D

Name- Last
PARASHOS

First
GEORGIA

Middle

Suffix

City

State

Zip Code

Age
19

Sex
Female

Unit No.
2

Seating Position
01 - Front: Left Side / Motorcycle Driver

Injury Status
4 - Possible

Occupant Protection
2 - Shoulder and lap belt used

Airbag Deployment
1 - Deployed front of person

Airbag Switch Status
1 - Switch in ON position

Ejection
1 - Not ejected

Ejection Path
1 - Not ejected/not applicable

Trapped
1 - Not trapped

Transported to:
MAHASKA HOSPITAL

Transported by:
AMBULANCE

NON-MOTORIST

Type

Location

Action

Condition

Safety Equipment

Contributing Circumstances

Unit No. of Vehicle Striking

D
I
A
G
R
A
M

0

NARRATIVE

VEHICLE #1 WAS TRAVELING EAST OH HIGHWAY 92. WITNESSES ADVISED THAT VEHICLE #1 WAS ALL OVER THE ROADWAY. VEHICLE #2 WAS HEADING EAST ON HIGHWAY 92. VEHICLE #1 ENTERED WESTBOUND LANE OF TRAVEL HITTING VEHICLE #2 HEAD ON.

Officer STEIGLEDER	Badge No. 433	Time Officer Notified of Accident 15:30	Time Officer Arrived At Scene 16:10
Name of Agency P13	Date of Report 1/8/2012	Investigation made at scene? Yes	T.I. #

Every Saturday this law firm posts the current Iowa State Patrol fatality and injury report list so our out-of-state clients and potential clients have access to the latest word from the Iowa State Patrol. If you have questions about what the investigating officer's report means, or how to interpret it, give Steve Lombardi a call at 515-222-1110 or send him an email at sdlombardi@aol.com. Here are the injury reports for this past week.

If you follow this link to the Lombardi Law Firm category Interstate 35, I-80, I-235, I-380 Collisions/Accidents you can find most Iowa State Patrol crash reports linked and some, but not all, are analyzed. Look along the left column under The Verdict to see if the date of your accident is shown; if it is simply click on the linked title that should include a date. There are two for every Saturday. One is for fatality reports and the other for injury crash reports. 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.