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.

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.

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.”

“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.

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).

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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.

The accident Saturday was the worst of eight Minnesota fatal accidents that took place over Memorial Day weekend.

The State Patrol identified the driver in the Olmsted County van crash as Christopher S. Frisch. The people who died  in the crash were driver Terry Milholland, 45, of Beecher, Ill., and passengers Heidi Newell, 19, and Jarah Beers, 23, both of Rochester, and Raymond Milholland, age and hometown unknown. The Star Tribune reported that two others were hospitalized with critical injuries: 2-year-old Carter Newell of Rochester and Rita Seha, 43, also of Rochester.

The collision reportedly happened late Saturday at the intersection of state highways 63 and 30.

When someone dies in a Minnesota car wreck caused by the negligence of another, the spouse and next of kin can recover monetary damages under the state’s wrongful death law. And when someone dies in a drunk driver accident in Minnesota, the spouse and next of kin may have a claim for punitive damages.

Minnesota-based Pritzker Olsen Attorneys is a nationally recognized law firm that has the resources to perform its own accident investigations. When alcohol is involved in a crash, the firm researches dram shop claims against bars and other retailers who 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.

 Pritzker Olsen has recovered tens of millions of dollars for victims of  motor vehicle accidents that cause serious injury and death, including Minnesota motorcycle accidents. The number of fatal motorcycle accidents in the state has been on the rise.

The Minnesota traffic deaths this weekend included two passenger on motorcycles. One motorcycle was struck by a car on Highway 371 in Cass County. The car was northbound when it braked to avoid hitting another vehicle ahead. Then, according to reports in the Star Tribune, the car swerved into the southbound lane and struck the motorcycle head-on. A couple from Oak Grove, Minnesota, was on the bike.

According to the State Patrol, 59-year-old Judy Hubers died from her injuries. John Hubers, 51, was taken to North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale. On Monday, Mr. Hubers remained hospitalized in critical condition.

Another six people were killed over the weekend in six separate accidents in Carver County, Fillmore County, Dakota County, Wright County, Olmsted County and Aitkin. 

According to the Star Tribune, one of the six was motorcycle passenger Amber Frandup, 25, of Eagan. She died when the motorcycle she was riding on crashed into the back of a car on the Mendota Bridge in Dakota County.

To contact a Minnesota car accident lawyer or motorcycle accident lawyer at Pritzker Olsen, call 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or write to us online for a free case consultation.

Our professional lives are dedicated to upholding the constitutional rights of our clients including the right to trial by jury. We believe that wrongdoers and their insurance companies should be held accountable for the harms and losses they cause and the families of injury victims should be fairly compensated for the damages they suffer.

Those are some of the details in a criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County District Court against Tito F. Campbell, 33, of Crystal. Campbell, who has a lengthy criminal record with more than one previous drunk driving citation, was tested with a blood-alcohol level of .16 percent after the fatal collision.

Killed in the crash was 48-year-old Shoua Vang, a church-going mother of six boys, who was an innocent passenger in a vehicle driven by her husband, Zong Xiong. The couple was less than a mile from their home when Campbell exited I-35E at Larpenteur Ave. and was seen running a red light at an estimated 60 mph, the Star Tribune newspaper reported. Zong Xiong was treated at Regions Hospital and released Sunday.

The Star Tribune said Campbell faces three charges: Fleeing police resulting in a death; first-degree drunken driving and fleeing police resulting in great bodily harm.

Under Minnesota Law, when someone dies in a drunk driver accident, the spouse and next of kin may have a claim under MN wrongful death statute. Minnesota car accident attorneys at PritzkerOlsen, P.A., have years of experience in wrongful death cases and are highly visible in the Minnesota legal community.

If you have been in a Minnesota fatal car accident and want to understand your legal rights against insurance companies, dram shops, vehicle manufacturers and others, call PritzkerOlsen at 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or go online for a free case consultation.

In the St. Paul fatal accident, driver Tito Campbell had been reported by his ex-girlfriend as having just stolen her car. According to the newspaper, Roseville Police pursued him on Highway 36 at speeds of up to 90 mph, but reportedly stopped the pursuit because Campbell was driving dangerously.

The State Patrol said the monthly total was the highest since the program known as NightCap started last October.

The program targets the 13 counties with the highest number of fatal accidents: Anoka, Blue Earth, Crow Wing, Dakota, Hennepin, Itasca, Ramsey, Rice, St. Louis, Sherburne, Stearns, Washington and Wright.

Since last Fall, NightCap enforcement efforts have resulted in 850 drunk driver arrests.

The March NightCap news release from the State Patrol didn’t mention how many fatal accidents occurred during March, but State Patrol records reviewed by the  Minnesota car accident lawyers at PrtizkerOlsen, P.A., showed there were nine fatal accidents on state-policed roads for the month of March.

The records include information as to whether alcohol was a factor in any of the crashes.

The Minnesota fatal car accident occurred early Monday, just after midnight, the patrol said. One of the vehicles apparently went against a red light but the preliminary accident report does not say which vehicle had the right of way.

The two who died were car driver Timothy J. Schlies, 26, of Duluth, and a passenger in his car, Hans C. Warren, 27, also of Duluth, the Duluth News-Tribune newspaper reported.

 According to the State Patrol, the men were westbound on Arrowhead Road northwest of Duluth in Hermantown. The Yukon was northbound on Highway 53 when the broadside collision occurred minutes after midnight.

The patrol identified the driver of the SUV as Daniel D. Dougherty, 50, of Hermantown. The report said he did not suffer any apparent injuries.

The Minnesota car accident lawyers at PritzkerOlsen Attorneys can answer your questions about fatal accidents involving family members, including questions about car accident settlements. The firm has a national reputation for excellence in representing clients throughout the Midwest and United States. To contact a representative of our firm, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or complete a free case consultation form.