Well we have a foot of snow on the ground here in Wisconsin, which was waiting for me when I got off my last airline flight. The drive home was one of the most anxious I can remember, largely because all of the people who had forgotten how to drive in the snow. Among the idiots out that night were way too many truckers. Fortunately, when I got out of the Milwaukee area, it was only the professional drivers on the road and everyone was content to drive at a reasonable speed, single file. Yet, even at that, we got stopped in one place for almost an hour because a semi had jacked knife across both lanes of the Interstate and it took that long to tow it and the other car away.
Today I read another story about a truck and car collision, with considerably more dire consequences. See http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/263011/ This time, a woman was killed. According to InForum of Fargo/Moorhead Minnesota, the victim pulled out in front of a truck. With the large snow piles in the Midwest right now, that isn’t a huge surprise. But what drew my attention to this story was this paragraph, where another cause of the accident was discussed:
“About 40 accidents have led to six deaths at that intersection (Clay County Highway 12 and U.S. Highway 75) in the past two decades, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.”
Sometimes, assessing the full fault in a wreck is more complicated than just looking at the driver. Earlier this year, we were involved in a case where the State of California paid $10 million because of a faulty highway design. We are doing more and more of these cases every year.
Trucker’s toxicology results admitted in Pa. crash
Date: 11/13/2008
BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) _ A judge says an expert witness may testify about toxicology test results on a truck driver involved in a fatal May 2007 accident in central Pennsylvania.
Peter Carrara’s truck struck a car that changed direction as he was overtaking it on Route 64 in Walker Township, northeast of State College. Fifty-seven-year-old Bonnie Weaver was killed.
President Judge David Grine ruled that District Attorney Michael Madeira can call an expert witness to testify that having methamphetamine in his system caused Carrara to take risks or lack adequate attention to drive safely. Carrara’s attorney, Brian Manchester, had filed a motion arguing that the expert isn’t qualified.
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Information from: Centre Daily Times, http://www.centredaily.com
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) _ A judge says an expert witness may testify about toxicology test results on a truck driver involved in a fatal May 2007 accident in central Pennsylvania.
Peter Carrara’s truck struck a car that changed direction as he was overtaking it on Route 64 in Walker Township, northeast of State College. Fifty-seven-year-old Bonnie Weaver was killed.
President Judge David Grine ruled that District Attorney Michael Madeira can call an expert witness to testify that having methamphetamine in his system caused Carrara to take risks or lack adequate attention to drive safely. Carrara’s attorney, Brian Manchester, had filed a motion arguing that the expert isn’t qualified.
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Information from: Centre Daily Times, http://www.centredaily.com
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
