Minnesota Dram Shop Liability Laws Help Prevent DUI Fatal Accidents
This post was written by Eric Hageman, an accident attorney with the Pritzker law firm in Minneapolis, MN. He represents accident victims throughout Minnesota and has won several settlements and verdicts over $2,000,000. He is available for a free consultation.
In this week’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that alcohol-impaired driving accounts for nearly 11,000 fatalities per year, or about one third of all crash fatalities in the United States.
The CDC estimates that in 2010, there were approximately 112 million alcohol-impaired driving incidents and “binge drinking” played a big role in those incidents:
- 85% of alcohol-impaired driving episodes were reported by persons who also reported binge drinking; and
- The 4.5% of the adult population who reported binge drinking at least four times per month accounted for 55% of all alcohol-impaired driving episodes.
One strategy Minnesota has used to prevent driving under the influence (DUI) and the resulting fatal accidents is dram shop liability laws, which hold alcohol retailers (both on premises and off premises) legally responsible for harms caused by serving alcohol to visibly intoxicated patrons. The Minnesota dram shop law reads as follows:
A spouse, child, parent, guardian, employer, or other person injured in person, property, or means of support, or who incurs other pecuniary loss by an intoxicated person or by the intoxication of another person, has a right of action in the person’s own name for all damages sustained against a person who caused the intoxication of that person by illegally selling alcoholic beverages.
The dram shop laws are an important part of accident prevention, and we have used them to hold bars and other alcohol retailers accountable for their actions.
Minnesota has also initiated an ignition interlock device program to help prevent drinking and driving. An ignition interlock is, in essence, a breathalyzer installed on the dashboard. As of July 1, 2011, first-time alcohol offenders with an alcohol concentration of 0.16 or above and all second-time alcohol offenders have the option of regaining their driving privileges by participating in the program. Drivers whose licenses are canceled and whose privileges are denied as “inimical to public safety” are required to enroll in the ignition interlock device program for a period of three to six years in order to regain full driving privileges.
Our attorneys represent families in DUI wrongful death lawsuits throughout Minnesota: Twin Cities, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester, Duluth, Moorhead, Mankato, Brainerd, Bloomington, Eagan, Eden Prarie, Apple Valley, Maple Grove, Edina, Plymouth, Minnetonka, Stillwater, Thief River Falls, Bemidji, Grand Rapids, Austin, Worthington, Woodbury, Maplewood, Golden Valley, Shoreview, Blaine, Anoka, South St. Paul, White Bear Lake, Roseville, St. Cloud, Arden Hills, Brooklyn Park, Forest Lake.
Cars Rear-Ended by 18 Wheeler Causes Fatal Wreck
According to the State Patrol’s MN fatal accident report, westbound traffic was slowing down for a backup caused by a car fire. “The semi was coming in too fast for the slowdown and the following crash occurred,” the State Patrol said in its report.
In this detailed area of law, the truck accident attorneys at PritzkerOlsen, P.A., have proven expertise in performing independent accident investigation and sorting out liability issues to assure victims just compensation for injuries, pain and suffering that stem from another driver not being in control of a commercial vehicle.
Driver Using Cell Phone Rear Ended a Car and Killed a Baby in a Columbia Heights Accident
On March 18, a woman was speeding down Central Avenue in Columbia Heights and looking for the cell phone she had just dropped. She rear-ended a car stopped at an intersection and killed a baby, a 14-month-old. The baby was properly strapped into his car seat, but the force of the impact (remember she was speeding) caused fatal head injuries.
The woman, Jessica Howe, was charged today with criminal vehicular homicide in Anoka County.
A reconstruction of the accident determined that Howe was driving 55 miles per hour when the speed limit was 40. According to the accident report, Howe’s car left no skid marks, meaning she did not even try to stop, which makes sense since she said she was looking for her cell phone.
According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety:
Each year in Minnesota, distracted or inattentive driving is a factor in one in four crashes, resulting in at least 70 deaths and 9,000 serious injuries. The Office of Traffic Safety estimates these numbers are vastly underreported due to law enforcement’s challenge in determining distraction as a crash factor.
Talking on a cell phone while driving is an especially dangerous form of driver distraction. A few states have made it illegal to use a cell phone while driving. In Minnesota, texting while driving is prohibited but talking on a cell phone while driving is still not illegal with a few exceptions. It is time to ban cell phone use while driving.
For more information, please see “Accident Caused by a Cell Phone.”
Beer Truck-SUV Crash in Minnesota Kills Three
Three people died yesterday when a beer truck carrying a trailer full of beer crashed into an SUV with three people inside. All three people died, including the driver, Lucila Rojas, a wife and mother of two daughters.
“Families are grieving today and looking for answers,” stated Attorney Fred Pritzker, who has won millions of dollars for families who lost loved ones in commercial truck accidents. “When a semi truck crashes into another vehicle, the result is usually serious injury and death. What we need to find out in this case is how fast the beer truck was going, whether the driver was distracted and how much sleep the driver had. It can take a lot of digging to find the answers.”
Pritzker Olsen attorneys Fred Pritzker and Eric Hageman recently obtained a hard-fought $2,560,000 semi truck accident settlement for a husband and wife whose car was hit from behind by the semi. To win the case, our Minneapolis, MN law firm hired an expert to make a video reconstruction of the accident.
“The video reconstruction of the accident was the winning element of our case,” stated Pritzker. “Because our law firm is successful, we have the money needed to take on trucking companies and win. The video in this case cost $25,000, but we won over $2 million dollars.”
Attorney Fred Pritzker is listed in the current edition of The Best Lawyers in America. To contact him, please call 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE) or submit our online form for a free consultation.
Drunk Driver Liability in MN: DWI NightCAP Arrests Up in July
If the driver’s alcohol concentration is .08 or more, the driver is in violation of Minnesota Statute, Section 169A. If someone violates this law, it is prima facie evidence of negligence in a civil case (Minnesota Statutes, Section 169.96 (2006)). When a drunk driver is involved in an accident, people injured in the accident and the families of persons killed in the accident can file suit against the driver seeking compensation from the driver, his insurance company and a dram shop (bar, restaurant or other place that serves alcohol) if one is involved.
The injured party can ask for punitive damages, which, depending on the circumstances, can be significant. For example, our Minnesota car accident lawyers won $6,000,000 on behalf of a 26 year-old female passenger whose right leg was amputated when the motorcycle on which she was a passenger was struck by a drunk driver. Contact Attorney Fred Pritzker about this and other settlements and verdicts for victims of drunk driving accidents.
Even though there are severe criminal and civil consequences, drunk driving continues to be a problem in Minnesota.
According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, July Operation NightCAP (nighttime concentrated alcohol patrol) DWI enforcement campaigns resulted in 196 DWI arrests — the highest monthly total for DWI arrests in 2009. NightCAP is funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and is coordinated by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
NightCAP targets the 13 deadliest counties for impaired driving: Anoka, Blue Earth, Crow Wing, Dakota, Hennepin, Itasca, Ramsey, Rice, St. Louis, Sherburne, Stearns, Washington and Wright. During 2005–2007, these counties accounted for more than half of the state’s alcohol-related deaths (272) and serious injuries (663).
NightCAP efforts have generated 1,284 DWI arrests since enhanced DWI patrols began in fall 2008: Anoka (372), Blue Earth (89), Crow Wing (26), Dakota (61), Hennepin (270), Itasca (36), Ramsey (165), Rice (43), St. Louis (61), Sherburne (66), Stearns (36), Washington (36) and Wright (23).
Attorney
Fifth Person Dies In Crash Caused By Drunk
A fifth person has died from injuries suffered in a Minnesota fatal car accident caused by a drunken driver.
Carter Newell, 2, of Rochester, died Friday. He was the son of 19-year-old Heidi Newell, who died in the crash last Saturday, May 23. That leaves only one survivor from the mini-van that was broadsided in an intersection by a vehicle driven by Steven Frisch, 25, of Winona. The survivor is Heidi’s mother, Rita Seha, who remained hospitalized Friday in Rochester.
Police have said Frisch had a blood-alcohol content of 1.9 percent, more than twice the legal limit. Frisch told investigators that he had fallen asleep when he drove through a stop sign at the intersection of highways 30 and 63 in Olmsted County. He has been charged with 16 counts of criminal vehicular homicide and 8 counts of criminal vehicular operation and is being held in the Olmsted County Jail under $250,000 bail.
A touching story in the Star Tribune written by reporter Abby Simmons says Heidi Newell had achieved a joyful milestone on the day she died: the director of her alternative high school in Rochester had presented her with her graduation diploma. It was much later that day — 11:36 p.m. — when the crash occurred.
Minnesota is a no-fault insurance state, but when a tragic accident like this results from the horrible negligence of drunkenness – special laws apply that make large recoveries possible. There is Minnesota’s wrongful death law and provisions for punitive damages when the accident is caused by a drunk driver.
The Minnesota fatal car accident lawyers at Pritzker Olsen Attorneys have years of experience representing victims and survivors of serious motor vehicle crashes. When alcohol is involved in a crash, the firm investigates for possible dram shop claims against bars and other retailers who may have supplied alcohol to the drunken driver. Our lawyers know how to fight for fair compensation from all responsible parties, including money to cover a client’s pain and suffering. Over the years, Pritzker Olsen has collected tens of millions of dollars for crash victims and their next of kin.
For more information, contact the firm by calling 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or write to us online for a free case consultation.
