Semi Car Accident Lawyer in MN for Free Consultation Regarding Death and Critical Injury
Minnesota semi truck accident lawyers at Pritzker Olsen have recently won several truck accident cases for over $2 million dollars each. In one of these cases, a semitrailer rear ended a car and critically injured the passenger of the car. Read about our top truck accident verdicts and settlements.
Our attorneys are available for a free consultation to the families of those critically injured and killed in the semi car accident on I94 near St. Cloud, MN. There is no obligation, and if you hire them, you will have no up front fees. Our law firm is only paid if we win your case.
Semi Car Accident Video: Attorney Brendan Flaherty on Investigating a Semi Accident
Wrongful death and critical injury semi v. car accident cases generally involve both state and federal laws and a number of defendants (people being sued). When our law firm takes one of these cases, we immediately begin our own investigation into the accident, which usually involves the following:
- Hiring experts in accident reconstruction
- Doing a physical inspection of the semi truck, including sitting in the semi driver’s seat to get a sense of what was happening right before the crash
- Doing a physical inspection of the car and any other vehicles involved in the semi accident
- Obtaining a copy of the driver’s log (federally required log of all hours driven)
- Obtaining copies of trucking company documents regarding the maintenance on the semi truck, the specific load being transported, the semi driver (past driving record, drug testing, training record, etc.), corporate ownership
- Getting the testimony of witnesses, the driver, trucking company executives and others
We also take the time to get to know the accident victim and his or her family. We have found that our clients get a better result if we do this.
If your loved one has been injured or killed in a semi accident in Minnesota, you have a lot of questions. We can answer them. Contact Fred or Eric at 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or submit our online form for a free consultation. We have experience with both wrongful death and critical injury cases.
Types of Semi Accident Cases We Handle:
- Semi vs Car Accident
- Semi vs Motorcycle Accident
- Semi vs Bicycle Accident
- Semi vs Snowmobile Accident
- Semi vs Pedestrian Accident
- Semi vs Train Accident
Rear Ended by a Semi Tractor Trailer Truck
Pritzker Olsen, P.A. is a Minnesota personal injury law firm with the expertise and resources available to conduct our own investigation into your accident. Our lawyers represent people who have been rear ended by a semi or other commercial truck. Fred Pritzker has been named for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, 2010 edition. Fred has appeared on the CBS News, KARE-TV, KSTP-TV and WCCO-TV. To contact a Minnesota semi accident lawyer, please call 1-888-377-8900 or submit our free consultation form.
FREE CONSULTATION WITH A MINNESOTA SEMI ACCIDENT LAWYER >>>
Semi truck drivers have a duty of care to drive safely. When we investigate a rear end semi accident case, we look for evidence of speeding, tailgating or distracted driving. We also look at the road and weather conditions at the time of the accident to help determine whether the driver was driving responsibly.
Rear Ended by a Semi Truck Compensation
Commercial truck accident victims can sustain serious life-changing injuries, including burns, kidney damage, kidney failure, amputation, traumatic brain injuries (TBI) or spinal injuries. The amount of compensation awarded depends on many factors, including:
- Severity of the injuries
- Financial, physical and emotional impact of the injuries
- Number of parties liable
- The available insurance benefits
- Other specific facts about the case
If the victim of a rear end accident sustained critical injuries, we take time to get to know the family dynamics and the overall affect of these injuries. This is a critically important step in order to obtain the needed and deserved compensation.
Our attorneys have successfully litigated hundreds of complex truck accident cases. To contact a semi accident lawyer at Pritzker Olsen, P.A. for a free consultation about your rear ended by a semi accident case, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll-free) or submit our online form for review by one of our attorneys.
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Wrongful Death Fuel Truck Accident Trial
A wrongful death fuel truck accident lawsuit in Olmsted County, Minnesota will not go to trial a second time, according to a decision made by an Olmsted District judge. The August 2008 fatal truck accident happened on Interstate 90 and resulted in the death of a 19-year-old Winona, MN man.
The truck accident lawsuit resulted in a trial in April 2010. Attorneys for the family of the deceased Winona man contended that his car rear-ended the Midwest Industrial Fuels truck because the fuel truck driver was negligent in several ways:
- The driver made an illegal U-turn from the I-90 eastbound to westbound lanes
- The driver did not turn on the truck’s flashers when entering the highway from the cross over
- The driver did not merge into the right lane as soon as possible
- The driver failed to signal the lane change
Jurors found that both drivers were at fault, and although the plaintiff’s lawyers requested a new trial, citing juror misconduct, an Olmsted district judge denied the motion.
Truck Driver Negligence Laws
Whether a driver is at fault in a car or truck accident case is based on the question of whether the driver was negligent or not. There are four elements to a negligence claim that a car or truck accident attorney must prove in a truck or car accident lawsuit:
- The driver had a duty
- The driver breached that duty
- This breach caused the accident
- The accident resulted in damages to you (medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, etc.)
More information regarding the duties of drivers, especially commercial truck drivers, and truck lawsuit liability, is provided by experienced car and truck accident lawyers at Pritzker Olsen law firm.
Source:
http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=2&a=456752
Fatal Truck Accident Lawsuit Filed in Southern Minnesota
A wrongful death truck accident lawsuit filed last year went to trial this week in Olmstead County, Minnesota, according to reports in the Rochester Post-Bulletin.
In August 2008, a 19-year-old Winona State University student was killed on Interstate 90 near Eyota, Minn., when his car rear-ended a fuel truck. The lawsuit, filed against the truck driver and Midwest Industrial Fuels, Inc., alleges that just before the accident, the driver made an illegal U-turn. As the fuel truck turned from eastbound I-90 to westbound I-90, the plaintiff’s attorney alleges that the driver remained in the left lane of the westbound side of the road while driving less than the minimum speed.
The victim was en route to Rochester, Minn., to meet his mother, who lived in Burnsville. They had planned to go over student loan paperwork at a restaurant and when he didn’t arrive on time, the victim’s mother began driving toward Winona on I-90. According to the Rochester Post-Bulletin:
“She came across the accident, and recognized her son’s car, wedged beneath the rear bumper of a fuel truck. “She ran over, screaming” and was stopped by a State Patrol trooper… Her son was dead.”
The defense is contending that the accident was caused only by the victim’s negligence.
Driver Negligence in Truck Accident Cases
There are four basic legal elements in a driver negligence case:
- It must be shown that the driver had a duty (essentially, the duty to be a safe and responsible driver)
- It must be shown that the driver breached that duty. This is known as breach of duty.
- Lawyers must then show that the driver’s breach of duty is what caused the victims injuries. This is known as causation.
- The severity of the injuries suffered by the victim need to be clearly shown so that the victim can receive the maximum amount of compensation, or damages, he or she deserves.
Truck drivers are subject to both state and federal laws, and are regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Safety Administration (FMCSA). Therefore, commercial drivers have to follow certain rules that noncommercial drivers don’t need to follow, such as:
- Hours of service. (How many hours a driver can legally work without becoming fatigued, which can endanger others on the road. This information must be recorded in the driver’s log.)
- Drug and alcohol requirements.
- Driver qualifications. (Truck drivers must have qualifications above and beyond an everyday driver.)
- Truck parts and maintenance. (There are FMCSA requirements regulating types of parts and maintenance standards trucking companies must follow to ensure the safe operation of their vehicles.)
There are many more specific regulations and a good truck accident lawyer will closely examine these rules to see whether the driver in the case has violated them.
News source:
http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=2&a=448442
Semi-Snowmobile Accident Lawyer Represents Family in Wrongful Death Case
Attorney Eric Hageman of the Pritzker Olsen law firm is representing the family of a 16-year-old who was killed when his snowmobile hit a semi that was parked across a snowmobile trail in Ashby, Minnesota. The driver was reportedly unloading fertilizer at the time of the accident.
Semi-Snowmobile Accident in MN Takes the Life of 16-Year-Old
“The snowmobile crash that took the life of our clients’ son was wholly preventable,” stated Eric. “According to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, neither the driver of the semi nor the fertilizer plant had permission to park into the snowmobile trail to unload the fertilizer. It was the responsibility of the owner of the fertilizer, the driver of the semi and the fertilizer plant to park the semi in a location that would not jeopardize the lives of people using the snowmobile trail.”
“My clients’ son was a young man with almost limitless promise who died far too young, leaving a large hole in his community,” continued Eric. “Helping people like the family of this young man get justice is the reason I became an attorney.”
The semi-snowmobile accident happened on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 3:21 p.m. The sheriff found my client’s son severely injured and struggling for breath. The boy was taken by ambulance to the Douglas County Hospital in Alexandria, Minnesota. He was pronounced dead at 4:32 p.m. on January 19, 2010.
According to the sheriff’s report, the driver of the semi tractor “stated that it is a common practice for him to be parked where he was parked and that this is how he has unloaded his fertilizer in the past.” Similarly, a spokesman for the fertilizer plant stated that the plant always unloaded trucks at the location in a similar manner, i.e., with the semi across the snowmobile trail.
This particular snowmobile trail is “rail bank property” owned by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. According to Minnesota State Statute 222.637, Subd. 9, it is a petty misdemeanor to overhang or abandon any unauthorized vehicle on, across or over the limits of any rail bank property. According to the sheriff’s report, the Minnesota Deaprtment of Transportation had not given approval to the fertilizer plant to utilize the trail for their use.
Minnesota Semi Accident Leaves Car Driver With Serious Injuries
A Minnesota man is in critical condition after his 1998 Mercedes Benz E320 was struck by a semi truck on Highway 169 in Northern Mankato at about 9:30 Monday morning according to a Minnesota State Patrol incident report. The driver of the semi hit the man’s car broadside as the man was trying to cross the northbound lanes of Highway 169 to turn into the highway’s southbound lanes. The report listed no injuries for the semi truck driver.
“In my experience with cases like these, a driver has often failed to yield the right-of-way, which is prima facie evidence of driver negligence,” stated Attorney Fred Pritzker.
Minnesota semi accident lawyers Fred Pritzker, Elliot Olsen and Eric Hageman have been named “Super Lawyers” by Law & Politics magazine (August 2009). Fred Pritzker has been named a “Top 100 Minnesota Super Lawyer” and a “Top 40 Minnesota Personal Injury Lawyer” by Law & Politics (August 2009). He is also listed in The Best Lawyers in America (2010 edition). Fred has appeared on the CBS News, FOX’s “Geraldo Live,” KARE-TV, KSTP-TV and WCCO-TV. To contact our Minnesota semi accident law firm, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free), call 612-338-0202 or submit our free consultation form.
