Fire Department spokesman Steve Zacard told the Star Tribune newspaper that the girl, Mai Yer Moua, was struck by a pickup truck in the 900 block of Rose Avenue East about 9:30 a.m. Saturday. The little girl died at St. Paul Regions Hospital.

St. Paul Police spokesman Peter Panos said the driver of the pickup truck was badly shaken, but early reports did not include details of how the St. Paul car accident death  happened.

According to the most recent edition of Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s annual Crash Facts report, Minnesota pedestrian deaths and injuries were higher in 2007  than they were in any of the previous three years.¹ 

According to a breakdown of  Crash Facts by Pritzker Olsen attorneys, a leading personal injury law firm in Minnesota, 30 percent of motor vehicle drivers in pedestrian crashes in 2007 were described by the reporting officers as failing to yield the right of way.

In another 24 percent of cases, the reporting officers said drivers were inattentive or distracted at the time of the accident. In half of the injury and death pedestrian crashes in 2007, the motor vehicle was going straight ahead at the time of the accident.

Minnesota has a no-fault insurance law, but when someone dies in a car accident due to the negligence of another, next of kin can recover monetary damages.

Attorney Fred Prtizker, founder and president of Pritzker Olsen, has more than 30 years of experience and has recovered millions of dollars for accident victims. If you or somone you know needs an attorney in connection with a Minnesota car or pedestrian accident, call Pritzker Olsen at 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or complete one of our free case consultation forms online.

The Minnesota car accident lawyers at Pritzker Olsen have the resources to conduct their own investigations of serious accidents. They represent injured victims and surviving family members in St. Paul, Minneapolis and throughout the state.

 ¹Statewide in 2007, there were a total of 957 crashes in which a Minnesota pedestrian was injured or killed. 33 pedestrians were killed.

The charges against Gregory T. Benedix, 43, relate to his SUV hitting 86-year-old Jerome Meuwissen as he crossed Highway 41 at Second Street in a marked crosswalk on December 3. Meuwissen died from his injuries.

The Star Tribune newspaper reported the charges and said the incident prompted some Chaska residents to rally for a stoplight at the intersection. Minnesota Department of Transportation officials began a safety study but the intersection is still without a stoplight.

If you have been in a Minnesota car accident and the other driver did not yield the right-of-way, you may have a claim against the driver, the owner of the other vehicle and others for medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, cost of care and other damages.

To contact PritzkerOlsen, P.A., for a free consultation on your MN car accident, call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or submit the firm’s free online case consultation form.

Joan LeVasseur, 26, of Apple Valley, was walking to Cub Foods a little after 9 p.m. when a large neutral-color vehicle ran into her in the crosswalk at Cedar Avenue and 153rd Street. There were witnesses, but no one got a license plate and the description of the vehicle is not precise.

Ms. LeVasseur, who is hearing impaired and engaged to be married, remained in critical condition Sunday at Hennepin County Medical Center, according to the Star Tribune. Besides suffering traumatic brain injuries, she has been treated for broken bones in her legs and pelvis.

Her family members have pleaded for public help in finding the hit-and-run driver. Anyone with information is asked to call 952-953-2700.

PritzkerOlsen Attorneys is a nationally recognized leader in representing survivors of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Fred Pritzker, founder and president of the firm, is former director of the Minnesota Brain Injury Association. Our Minnesota traumatic brain injury lawyers regularly present seminars on TBI to other lawyers. To contact our firm, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or complete a free case consultation form.

Police told the Star Tribune that the woman was walking across Cedar Avenue at 153rd Street when she was struck by an unidentified vehicle, possibly a tan-colored van. That accident happened about 9:11 p.m. Friday.

Police said the victim was taken to Ridges Hospital in Burnsville, then transferred to a regional trauma center.

If you have information on who was driving the hit-and-run vehicle or have a description of the vehicle, please call 952-953-2700.

In a separate accident Friday, 24-year-old Patrick Welsh of Warroad, Minnesota, died when the vehicle he was driving rolled into a ditch 15 miles north of Fargo on Interstate 29. Highway Patrol officials told The Associated Press that a 19-year-old female passenger in the vehicle was taken to a Fargo hospital to be treated for injuries that were not life-threatening.

If you or someone you know has been injured in a motor vehicle collision, call a car accident lawyer at PritzkerOlsen Attorneys, or complete a free case consultation form. PritzkerOlsen is a premier personal injury law firm with many years of experience obtaining just compensation for accident victims.

In most fatal crashes and in crashes that result in serious injuries, there can be complex legal issues not always made apparent to you by insurance companies. To contact a Minnesota car accident lawyer at PritzkerOlsen, call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free).