(Update to the post below: When this post was written, the name of the driver of the Plymouth Voyager was released as public information. The driver has since died, and the name is now listed as "Undisclosed." We have therefore edited this blog post to take out the name of the deceased. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family.)

This morning at about 8 a.m. a head-on collision on Highway 169 near Chisholm, Minnesota, resulted in fatal injuries to a Chisholm man, who was airlifted to St. Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth. According to the Minnesota State Patrol, a Jeep driven by Susan Waller of Virginia, Minnesota, was heading westbound on Highway 169 when it ran off the left side of the road, went through the median and collided head-on with a Plymouth Voyager driven by the deceased.

Sadly, as the family is trying to cope with the physical and emotional difficulties of this situation, insurance companies are going to be contacting the family regarding the accident. As we state in our online Minnesota car accident FAQ:

Whether it's five minutes or five weeks after an accident, don't discuss it with the other person's insurance company representative. These people are called adjusters. They're not bad people, but their job is to get as much information about your accident or your injuries and then try to use it against you. You can talk about the accident with your insurance company. In fact, your policy says you must cooperate with your insurance company. But even so, your insurance company is going to look out for its own interests before it looks out for yours. That's why it's a good idea to talk to a lawyer before you talk to any insurance company.

Our Minnesota Car Accident FAQ page answers many questions families have after a car accident. We also welcome people to contact our office for a free consultation with a Minnesota car accident lawyer regarding a Minnesota wrongful death lawsuit. To contact a Minnesota car accident lawyer at PritzkerOlsen, you may call toll-free at 1-888-377-8900 or submit the firm’s online consultation form. If you call after business hours, our on-call attorney will get back to you as soon as possible, usually within a few hours.

Labels: accident, collision, injury, Minnesota

ROLLOVER RESISTANCE RATINGS

In addition to doing frontal- and side-impact crash testing, NHTSA does rollover-resistance testing. NHTSA rollover-resistance ratings measure the chance that your vehicle will roll over if you are involved in a single-vehicle crash. The rollover resistance rating is based on: (1) an at-rest laboratory measurement known as the static stability factor (SSF) which determines how “top heavy” a vehicle is, and (2) the results of a driving maneuver that tests whether a vehicle tips up. In short, the rollover rating brings together a measure of how “top-heavy” a vehicle is with how well it performs in a severe turning maneuver on a test track. NHTSA’s rollover resistance ratings reflect the real-world rollover characteristics of vehicles involved in more than 86,000 single-vehicle crashes. As with side-impact crash test ratings, you can compare vehicles from different weight classes when looking at rollover ratings. NHTSA rollover resistance ratings can be found at www.safercar.gov.

Thomas Gabriel of Stillwater, Minnesota, was killed when his moped was rear ended by a Chevy Tahoe. Mr. Gabriel was stopped and waiting for traffic in order to turn on Oak Glen when the accident occurred.

When a person dies in a car accident, the family is faced with expenses, loss of income, and the loss of the love and care of the deceased. To compensate family members for the expense and loss, the family members can sue the responsible party in a Minnesota wrongful death lawsuit.

In Minnesota, wrongful death claims are governed by Minnesota Statutes, section 573.02. According to the statute, “When death is caused by the wrongful act or omission of any person or corporation, the trustee appointed as provided in subdivision 3 [the trustee represents the surviving spouse and the next of kin] may maintain an action therefor if the decedent might have maintained an action, had the decedent lived, for an injury caused by the wrongful act or omission.”

Any family member of the deceased person can contact a lawyer regarding a Minnesota wrongful death lawsuit. To contact a lawyer at PritzkerOlsen, please call toll-free at 1-888-377-8900 or submit the firm’s online consultation form. The firm is a nationally-recognized personal injury law firm with offices in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Our attorneys are sought-after speakers and have been interviewed by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Lawyers USA and other publications. We are currently representing several families in wrongful death cases.

A California woman, Eleanor Belshaw, died in Oregon Thursday afternoon when a commercial truck crashed into her parked motor home. The woman's husband received minor injuries and was transported to Mountain View Hospital in Madras for treatment.

The woman was seated in the driver's seat of the motor home while her husband was outside the motor home standing on a ladder repairing an awning.

At the same time a Freightliner truck pulling a semi-trailer was southbound on Highway 97 approaching a northbound 2000 Kenworth truck towing a semi-trailer. As both commercial vehicles were passing in the opposite direction, the Freightliner truck sideswiped the left rear semi-trailer axle pulled by the northbound Kenworth truck. After impact, the northbound truck continued off the highway before stopping. The southbound Freightliner truck drove across the northbound lane and crashed into the driver's side of the parked motor home.

Eleanor Belshaw did not have a safety belt on while seated in the parked motor home (it wasn't moving) and was ejected. She was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Her husband, Alexander Belshaw, was thrown off the ladder and was transported by ambulance to a Madras-area hospital for treatment.

As is usually the case in commercial truck accidents, the driver of the truck that struck the Belshaw's motor home was not injured.

Truck accidents are different than other vehicle accidents because of the federal laws that govern the trucking industry. Federal regulations require that certain evidence must be maintained, but only for a limited amount of time. For example, the semi truck driver’s log may be destroyed after six months if a truck accident lawyer does not obtain a court order or take other immediate action.

PritzkerOlsen represents people injured in commercial truck accidents and the families of people killed in commercial truck accidents. Attorneys Fred Pritzker, Elliot Olsen and Eric Hageman have been named "Super Lawyers" by a legal magazine. To contact an attorney at Pritzker | Olsen, please call toll-free at 1-888-377-8900 or submit the firm's online consultation form.

Crash Test Ratings

Crash tests provide information on how well a vehicle protects the driver and passengers during a crash. Crash tests are performed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an agency of the Department of Transportation, and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), a nonprofit organization financed by insurance companies.

Both NHTSA and IIHS conduct crash tests of new vehicles to determine the level of protection for drivers and passengers during frontal- and side-impact crashes. For frontal impacts, NHTSA crashes are full-width and IIHS crashes are offset from the center, exposing only 40% of the vehicle’s front to the impact. For side impacts, NHTSA uses a low barrier and IIHS uses an elevated barrier to simulate the impact of an SUV.

In addition to frontal and side-impact crash testing, IIHS conducts rear crashes that focus on whiplash protection.

Because NHTSA and IIHS crash tests can result in different ratings for the same vehicle, both organizations’ crash test ratings should be considered before purchasing a vehicle. The latest NHTSA crash test and rollover ratings can be found at www.safercar.gov. IIHS crash test ratings can be found at www.iihs.org.

FEATURES THAT PROVIDE PROTECTION DURING A CRASH

Safety Belts
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) recommends that new buyers sit in a vehicle, buckle up their safety belts, and check the fit. Buyers should also check the Available Features chart for each vehicle at www.safercar.gov for the availability of additional safety belt features such as adjustable upper belts, safety belt pretensioners, energy management features, integrated safety belt systems, safety belt extenders and innovative belt reminder systems.

Integrated Child Safety Seats
There are pros and cons to integrated child safety seats. On the plus side, they are generally installed properly and are very safe if they fit your child properly and are used correctly. Disadvantages to consider include the following:
• Emergency personnel often prefer to remove a child in a separate car seat. This keeps the child immobilized in case of head/spinal injury, and allows for safer transport in the ambulance.
• Integrated seats do not function rear-facing. Rear-facing is safest for babies and very young children.
• Integrated seats do not usually have any form of side-impact protection. Many child safety seats that can be purchased at retail have some form of side-impact protection. Deep wells on the side also help keep a sleeping child's head more upright.
• Harnesses on some integrated seats can be difficult to adjust, and may not fit tightly, especially on smaller children. This can lead to an unsafe fit and make it easier for a child to remove all or part of the restraint. Some integrated seats have limited or no harness height adjustment.

Airbags
Frontal airbags for both drivers and passengers have been standard equipment in all vehicles since 1998. Beginning with 2004 vehicles, advanced airbag systems are required in a portion of each manufacturer’s production. By September 1, 2006, all new vehicles will have advanced (frontal) airbag systems. Most advanced airbag systems use sensors that automatically detect the severity of the crash, the occupant’s size, safety belt use, and/or seating position, and deploy the appropriate level of power to the driver’s and passenger’s frontal airbags.

Side-impact airbags (SABs) are being offered as standard or optional equipment on many new passenger vehicles. SABs are inflatable devices that are designed to help protect your head and/or chest in the event of a serious crash involving the side of your vehicle. NHTSA estimates that if all the vehicles on U.S. roads were equipped with head protection SABs, 700 to 1,000 lives would be saved per year in side-impact crashes. NHTSA also estimates that, in side-impact crashes involving at least one fatality, nearly 60 percent of those killed have suffered brain injuries. For specific information about SAB systems in vehicles, go to the NHTSA site, www.safercar.gov.

Vehicle Weight
A heavier vehicle will generally protect you better in a crash. NHTSA research has shown that occupants in passenger cars are at a greater risk of being fatally injured when struck in the front or the side by a heavier and higher-riding light truck or SUV. Weight should be a primary consideration when purchasing a vehicle that a teenager will be driving. Car accidents are the leading cause of death for teenagers in the United States.

Pritzker | Olsen has decades of experience representing victims of car accidents. To contact the firm, please call toll-free at 1-888-377-8900 or submit the firm’s online consultation form.

Source: SaferCar.gov

Rollovers are dangerous incidents and have a higher fatality rate than other kinds of crashes. Although only about 3% of the car accidents each year involve a rollover, rollovers usually account for about 33% of all deaths from passenger vehicle crashes. The majority of rollover fatalities, over 70%, were not wearing seat belts.

1. Buy a Vehicle with a Good Rollover Rating. All types of vehicles can rollover. However, taller, narrower vehicles such as SUVs, pickups, and vans have higher centers of gravity, and thus are more susceptible to rollover if involved in a single-vehicle crash. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) test-crashes vehicles and rates them. You can check NHTSA rollover ratings at http://www.safercar.gov/ before purchasing a vehicle.
2. Do Not Drive at Excessive Speeds. Each year about 40% of fatal rollover crashes involve excessive speeding.
3. Do Not Drink and Drive. Nearly half of all fatal rollover crashes involve alcohol. Impairment can result from any blood alcohol concentration (BAC) above .00. Even a small amount of alcohol will negatively affect your judgment, muscular coordination, and vision, making you more likely to lose control of your vehicle.
4. Use Caution on Rural Roads. Rollovers are more likely to occur on rural roads and highways—particularly undivided, two-way roads or divided roads with no barriers. When a vehicle goes off a rural road, the vehicle can overturn when it strikes a ditch or embankment, or is tripped by soft soil. Nearly 75% of all rollover crashes occur in rural areas, so practice caution when driving on rural roads.
5. Be Attentive and Don’t Drive Impaired. Over 90% of the vehicles in fatal, single-vehicle rollover crashes were involved in routine driving maneuvers (going straight or negotiating a curve) at the time of the crash. Furthermore, nearly 85% of all rollover-related fatalities are the result of single-vehicle crashes. These statistics suggest that driver behavior (distraction, inattentiveness, speeding, and impaired driving) plays a significant role in rollover crashes.
6. Stay on the Road. NHTSA data show that 95% of single-vehicle rollovers are tripped. This happens when a vehicle leaves the roadway and slides sideways, digging its tires into soft soil or striking an object such as a curb or guardrail. The high tripping force applied to the tires in these situations can cause the vehicle to roll over.
7. Avoid Panic-like Steering. Many rollovers occur when drivers overcorrect their steering as a panic reaction to an emergency—or even to a wheel going off the pavement’s edge. At highway speeds, overcorrecting or excessive steering can cause the driver to lose control, which can force the vehicle to slide sideways and roll over.
8. 8. Know Proper Maneuvering. If your vehicle leaves the roadway, gradually reduce speed. Then, when it's safe to do so, ease the vehicle back onto the roadway.
9. Maintain Your Tires. Improperly inflated and worn tires can be especially dangerous because they inhibit your ability to maintain vehicle control, the most important factor in reducing the chance of rollover. Worn tires may cause the vehicle to slide sideways on wet or slippery pavement, sliding the vehicle off the road and increasing its risk of rolling over. Improper inflation can accelerate tire wear, and can even lead to tire failure. It is important to maintain your tires properly, and replace them when necessary.
10. Load Vehicles Properly. Consult your vehicle's owner’s manual to determine the maximum safe load for your vehicle, as well as proper load distribution. If you’re using a roof rack, pay special attention to the manufacturer’s instructions and weight limits. Any load placed on the roof will be above the vehicle’s center of gravity, and will increase the vehicle’s likelihood of rolling over.

Pritzker | Olsen is a national law firm and represents people injured in rollover accidents throughout the United States. To contact the firm, please call toll-free at 1-888-377-8900 or submit the firm’s online consultation form.

Source: SaferCar.gov

Labels: injury, product liability