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.”

Dead are Jeremy M. Cox, 32, of Houston, Minn., and his daughter, Isabel Cox, 3. His baby son was also in the SUV and suffered what the state patrol classified as “minor injuries.”

As a father of young children, I know the mother is living every parent’s nightmare.  Sadly, there are a number of legal issues that need to be addressed quickly in wrongful death cases.  State and federal forms need to be filed, property needs to be transferred, and a personal injury attorney has to be hired to gather and preserve evidence.

I have represented many families who lost loved ones in accidents.  Please feel lfree to call me for help at 1-888-377-8900 (toll free).  Because our law firm has had numerous multi-million-dollar recoveries for our clients, we have the resources to take on insurance companies in wrongful death cases.

Altura, Minnesota car accident: Three teenage girls died on County Rd. 27 on April 23 and a fourth was injured. The girls were found in a ditch where their pickup truck had overturned.  Authorities told local news sources that it did not seem as if the girls were wearing seat belts.

Onamia, Minnesota car accident: A teenage girl was killed at the intersection of Hwy 27 and Hwy 169 Saturday night when her vehicle crossed Highway 169 while she was traveling eastbound on 27. She had stopped at a stopsign and proceeded into the intersection when a Jeep Grand Cherokee struck her Chevrolet Lumina broadside.

Cambridge, Minnesota car accident: In the deadliest car wreck of the three-day period, six people died near County Road 70 on Highway 95 early Sunday morning. The driver, a 16-year-old girl who reportedly had just gotten her license weeks prior, was the only survivor. The four passengers in the Pontiac Grand Am were killed when the car struck an oncoming SUV head-on. The two men in the SUV were killed in the head-on collision. News sources report alcohol was involved.

Bloomington, Minnesota car accident: A 23-year-old Burnsville woman was killed when her Honda hit a bridge pillar at high speed near the intersection of Interstate 494 and Interstate 35W.

Minnesota car accident attorneys at Pritzker Olsen law firm investigate the circumstances surrounding fatal car accidents and car accident injuries on behalf of victims and their families. Our attorneys learn as much as they can about their clients’ cases so they can obtain the maximum car crash settlement possible. A car accident settlement in a fatal accident case could include:

• Funeral expenses
• Medical expenses
• Potential earnings
• Loss of advice, comfort, assistance, protection, counsel and society
• Punitive damages against the defendant if the defendants actions show deliberate disregard of others’ rights or safety.

News sources:

http://www.winonadailynews.com/news/local/article_31e11456-501a-11df-a00d-001cc4c002e0.html

http://www.brainerddispatch.com/stories/042610/new_20100426023.shtml

http://www.startribune.com/local/north/92041709.html?page=2&c=y

“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.

Tao Thao has been the sole breadwinner in the family since Yia Vang was laid off of his welding job.

A benefit fund has been set up in Yia Vang’s name. Donations can be taken at all Wells Fargo locations.

Lao Thao, Tao Thao’s brother has asked the community for help because the Vang family is not able to buy food or clothes or to pay for housing.

Minnesota Dram Shop Laws: Holding Sellers of Liquor Accountable

State Patrol spokesman Capt. Matt Langer told the Star Tribune that Connie Stroud, 42, of Minneapolis, “had way too much to drink to be driving.” She was driving a Toyota pickup truck. Given the size of Ms. Stroud’s vehicle, it is amazing more people from the Vang family were not killed.

It has not been reported where Ms. Stroud drank before she drove, but if it was a “dram shop,” that establishment could be liable for the wrongful death of Jaylee Chang Vang, the unborn child who was killed in the head-on crash, and the injuries suffered by Tao Thao, Yia Vang and the other children.

Minnesota law holds dram shops responsible for the dangerous actions of an intoxicated person when they illegally sell liquor to that person. Dram shops can include bars, liquor stores, restaurants, social clubs, and even private events where liquor is sold.

Under Minnesota Statutes, Section 340.801, Subdivision 1:

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.

If your family has been hit by a drunk driver, contact Pritzker Olsen law firm for a free consultation: 1-888-377-8900 (toll free), email Fred Pritzker or submit our online consultation form.

Pritzker Olsen attorneys have been interviewed and quoted by The Star Tribune, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Lawyers USA and other publications.  Attorneys Fred Pritzker, Elliot Olsen and Eric Hageman were named Minnesota Super Lawyers by Law & Politics magazine (Aug. 2009), and Fred Pritzker is listed in the current edition of The Best Lawyers in America.

Throughout the afternoon and into the evening, we all learned more about the accident.  Tomorrow the Minnesota State Patrol will probably post more names.  We have a few from news reports.  Names are important because they give a tragedy a face.  Names aren’t just statistics.

One of the passengers on the bus was Bill Kesler, who was related to almost half of the other passengers.  Here is what the Star Tribune wrote about him:

On the way home from an Iowa casino, Bill Kesler found out how lucky he really is.

The Rochester man walked away from a bus crash and rollover Wednesday afternoon on Interstate 90 near Austin. Two people aboard were killed, and the 21 others aboard were hurt, three of them critically.

Most of the passengers on board were older adults. Some were ejected as the bus rolled, a State Patrol spokesman said.

Kesler, 64, and his wife were part of a group of 10 coming back from the Diamond Jo Casino, off Interstate 35 near the Iowa-Minnesota border. With them: her four sisters and their husbands.

“We don’t even know what happened,” said Kesler. “It happened so fast. I was sitting toward the back, and the next thing I knew, the bus went over the median and flipped.”

Mr. Kesler walked away, but he has injuries, and they may be worse than he thinks.  Some brain injuries take days or weeks to manifest.

We have had clients tell us they did not realize how injured they were and would have settled for inadequate amounts if they had not come to us.

We have recently recovered money for families in several wrongful death cases involving elderly people.  Our experience has been that insurance companies place little value on the life of an older person.  Our job as attorneys is to prove that they are wrong and that every life has substantial value.

For those who would like a free consultation with one of our Minnesota bus accident lawyers about a Strain Tours lawsuit, we welcome you to call our law firm at 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or submit our online consultation form.

If you would like to learn more about our lawyers, visit our “About Us” page on our main website, www.pritzkerlaw.com.  There is information about each attorney and links to even more information.

Chrysler is offering to have dealers install a “hot oil” message with a chime that indicates transmission fluid needs attention. We are wondering if this will work.

Our law firm represents victims of traffic accidents nationwide.  If you have had an accident with a Jeep Wrangler, contact a Minnesota car accident lawyer for a free consultation: 1-888-377-8900 (toll free), email Attorney Fred Pritzker or submit our online consultation form.

If your child has been injured, you may have a claim against Lerado, the manufacturer of Mia Moda child safety seats, and others.

To contact a car accident lawyer for a free consultation about a Mia Moda car seat recall lawsuit, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free), email Attorney Fred Pritzker or submit our online consultation form.  If you retain our law firm, you will have no up-front costs, and we will not be paid unless you win.

We are a Minnesota law firm with a national practice.

To contact a car accident lawyer for a free consultation about a Jaguar recall lawsuit, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free), email Attorney Fred Pritzker or submit our online consultation form.  If you retain our law firm, you will have no up-front costs, and we will not be paid unless you win.

We are a Minnesota law firm with a national practice.

If you or a family member has been involved in an accident involving a Nissan Sentra, contact our law firm for a free consultation by calling 1-888-377-8900 (toll free), emailing Attorney Fred Pritzker or submitting our online consultation form.  If you retain our law firm, you will have no up-front costs, and we will not be paid unless you win.

We are a Minnesota law firm with a national practice.