Semi Truck Accident Lawyer in Minnesota: Hugo, MN Accident was Inexcusable
Photo by Paul Dols, White Bear Press
“Two women have died and one has been seriously injured. Although the investigation is ongoing, it appears that the semi truck driver that rear-ended their minivan near Hugo, Minnesota was not paying attention and/or was going too fast,” stated Attorney Fred Pritzker. “This was a ‘professional’ driver hired by a company to transport goods over the road. This accident is inexcusable, and the surviving victim and the families of those killed should be compensated.”
On August 27, 2009 a little after noon, three women, all related, were in a minivan going northbound on Highway 61. The minivan was slowing down to turn onto 159th Street when it was rear-ended by a semi truck.
The force of the collision sent the minivan into the ditch and instantly killed Carolyn Anderson, the driver of the minivan.
Semi Truck Driver Negligence
Semi truck drivers must operate their commercial trucks with the highest degree of care. Under Minnesota and federal laws, truck drivers are negligent if they do one or more of the following:
- Drive over the speed limit
- Drive too fast for conditions
- Fail to keep a careful lookout
- Fail to maintain proper control of their truck
- Fail to stop, swerve, slacken speed, and/or maintain control of a truck when there is a reasonable likelihood of a collision with another vehicle
- Drive a motor carrier in excess of the hours allowed pursuant to §395.3 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations
- Fail to keep a current record of his or her duty status as required by §395.8 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations
- Drive a commercial truck when impaired through fatigue or likely to become impaired through fatigue in violation of §392.3 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations
- Drive in a careless and imprudent manner
- Operate a motor vehicle in a defective condition
Protect the Public from Unsafe Semi Truck Drivers
Current laws, regulations and policies are not adequately protecting the public from unsafe semi truck drivers. Part of the problem is that trucking companies are rarely inspected to determine if they are compliant with the law with regard to who they hire as drivers, how they are trained and how often the drivers are tested for alcohol and drug abuse. Regular inspections should be required under the law, and trucking companies should be required to report more information to federal and state departments of transportation.
Safety should always be the number one priority. We recently received a comment on one of our blogs from a woman who was a dispatcher. She had been hassling a semi driver to speed up and get a load delivered on time. That driver ended up rear ending a car and killing the driver.
Our Minnesota law firm represents victims of semi accidents and families in injury and wrongful death lawsuits. Our top priority is to obtain justice for our clients by recovering as much money as possible for them. We also are public safety advocates. When our clients want to pursue changing the law to prevent injury and death, we stand with them. Recently, one of our clients appeared before Congress to tell them about the tragic loss of his mother and to argue for tougher regulations.
Free Consultation with Attorney
To contact Pritzker Olsen law firm, please call 612-388-0202, call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or submit our online form for a free consultation with one of our experienced Minnesota semi truck accident lawyers. WE DON’T GET PAID UNLESS YOU WIN.
Attorney Fred Pritzker has again been named a “Top 100 Minnesota Super Lawyer” and “Top 40 Minnesota Personal Injury Lawyer” by Law & Politics (August 2009). He has also been notified that he will again be listed in The Best Lawyers in America (2010 edition). He has recovered millions for truck accident victims and their families.
Mr. Pritzker has appeared on the CBS News, Fox’s “Geraldo Live,” KARE-TV, KSTP-TV and WCCO-TV.
Tags: critically injured, minivan-semi accident, semi accident lawyer, wrongful death mn
