Iowa Edict - Commentary on Injury & Accident Law

Here are another 12 wrong-way interstate highway driver accidents in the news. This group includes wrong-way driving events from the following states: Connecticut (intoxicated driver); Alabama (driver being sought); Texas (intoxication manslaughter); Montana (driver reportedly charged with six misdemeanors including driving under the influence and drug possession.); another Montana wrong-way on I-90 (appears to be a mental health issue); Wisconsin (erratic driving with cause unknown driver died), South Carolina (I-26, DUI arrest); Texas (Sam Houston Parkway, driver died, cause not stated); Montana on Highway 40 (driver died cause unknown); Forth Worth, Texas on I-35 and arrested for suspicion of intoxication manslaughter and endangerment of a child; Lake Mills, Wisconsin on I-94; Houston, Texas on Highway 290, raw video still working; and Montville, Connecticut (charges related to drunken driving).

"Let's take away their right to buy booze. Taking away the driver's license isn't enough."

Wrong-way driver charged with DUI
Norwich Bulletin
4, 2010, Ellen H. Noordzy, 22, was reportedly driving the wrong way on the southbound side of I-95, in the area of exit 93, when state police said she struck a southbound car head-on. The two occupants of the car Noordzy hit, Bruce A. Wall, 22, ...

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To answer that question let’s look at some of the recent accidental deaths while on the job.

• In the first case out of Salt Lake City a worker identified as Kelton Lee (55) a construction worker who was lifting a heavy piece of pipe when his legs gave out and the pipe struck him in the head. Although he regained consciousness he later died of the head injuries. Read more here from the Vernal Express.
• Next we go to South Dakota where an article discusses the number of deaths in that state. It’s interesting that all workers killed in South Dakota last year were men; men must be taking more jobs with higher risk of injury. Here is a quote from that article. “All but one of those killed in South Dakota last year were men. The Labor Statistics bureau groups farming with forestry, fishing and hunting, and that sector had the highest number of worker deaths, 14. The construction industry followed with seven.
• Every year since 2003, driving associated with work has been as dangerous as or more dangerous than fatal accidents involving equipment or objects and falls. Among fatalities last year, 16 were caused by transportation accidents, including nine highway deaths and seven nonhighway accidents.
• Ten deaths occurred in accidents involving objects and equipment and five were caused by falls.
• South Dakota closely tracks a national trend regarding transportation fatalities. Nationwide, 21 percent of the 4,547 people killed on the job last year died in highway accidents. The nine highway deaths in South Dakota represents 25 percent of the total work-related deaths.
• Nationwide last year, 11 percent of those killed at work were murdered. South Dakota had no such cases.”
• You can read that article from the Argus Leader here. 

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The dangers of Anhydrous work - In Pilot Mound, Iowa a Boone County farmer died a 74-year-old man, Richard Shaw died after exposure to anhydrous ammonia leaking from a faulty hose. It’s the nitrogen that makes good fertilizer but it can also cause skin, eye and lung damage when a person is exposed to it. As the Des Moines Register article points out accident prevention is about maintenance. If this man were an employee his widow would be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits, assuming the farmer bought the coverage. Buying workers’ compensation insurance can be an inexpensive way to ensure life, limb and medical care. Get a quote for your own and your spouse’s sake.

Grade School Bus Accident - In Janesville, Iowa an 11-year-old boy, Justin Bradfield got off the bus, dropped something and then ran in front of the bus, was struck and killed. The driver is not being charged, at least not yet, the article indicates the matter continues to be under investigation by the Iowa State Patrol. Questions about the driver’s focus and understanding of which way the boy would normally head home will be of interest. A photograph of young Justin can be seen by following this link. That article discusses the Kensett school bus death from May 10, 2011 involving Aaron Gunderson, 32 of Northwood. The article indicates vehicular homicide charges by operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated and then leaving the scene of an accident can be criminal sanctions for this type of accident. Drivers always have to keep a watchful eye on disembarking students.  Update: No charges are expected against the bus driver or the school. 

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What’s going on in Iowa courts? That depends on what you read and who you talk with. There are many different cases of interest from the Heartland. There is one I just couldn’t help but report about.

High speed chase in Urbandale following a Medicap Pharmacy burglary call. This reminds me of the case involving the burglar who stole the erectile dysfunction drugs. The APB was for a hardened criminal. Which brings us right on to our next criminal case, one for assault.

A better way to get men to ask you out than joining eHarmony, Match.com or any of the other dating sites. This method beats having a Facebook page although the FB page might enhance the publicity you get. Woman Accused Of Hitting Boyfriend Who Refused Sex

A Johnson County judge declared a mistrial in a first-degree murder trial involving a 19-year-old man allegedly shooting a landlord. Whether the prosecutorial misconduct reaches the level where it triggers double jeopardy will be later determined. The mistrial declaration followed the showing a video tape that included references to excluded evidence. Oops!

Big brother has a very fat finger. Traffic cameras capture one license plate but the fat fingered operator entered another and sent a ticket to the wrong person. Poor Sarah Sharpnack has a car with the license plate 972YOB and the video shows a white pickup truck with license plate 972YDB. Hmmmm…. Garbage in garbage out. 

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Today we will discuss drunk driving and related civil lawsuits that can be brought – the dram shop claim.

What’s a dram shop claim? It’s a lawsuit filed against the bar that sold and served (note the two parts.) to a drunk who later drove and caused someone else to be injured. The selling and serving has to be to a drunk person or to the extent that he/she gets drunk. So the key is while intoxicated or to the point of intoxication.

I’ve never really figured out why bar owners don’t just take keys away from drunks and send them home in a cab. But hey who am I to tell them how to put me out of business.

Officer Tran has been moved from University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City to another facility.

He suffered bleeding of the brain, broken ribs, a punctured lung and other internal injuries, authorities reported earlier.

http://youtu.be/pbxR00X3uSs

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This story is about job creationg and how to create your own job by being a MoJo. A MoJo is a mobile journalist. In this instance the MoJo is one who covers the Cedar Rapids area of Iowa. The Internet has redefined most everything so why not journalism too? A MoJo can take photos, write stories and then sell content via a web links etc. This MoJo journalist is Jeff Raasch from SourceMedia Group News. That’s a great idea Jeff – I like that, a MoJo.

I’d suggest Jeff carry workers’ compensation insurance and higher limits of auto coverages including uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. Also consider a libel policy.

Taking this one step further this could be a money maker for students in college or at one of our state Universities. Give it some thought; you never know where it could lead.

Click here to e-mail Jeff.

View all posts by Jeff Raasch/SourceMedia Group News →

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This week I’ve been featuring Lacrimosa, a musical duo – he’s German and she’s Finnish – based in Switzerland. Today’s video is My Last Goodbye, with their interesting imagery. As I said to Katrina, this is my new favorite group. Between the two of us I change more often than she does. Neuschwenstein Castle is at 2:59 on the video. We've visited the castle in Germany, it's what Disney's castle is modeled after and really worth the visit. Iowans would be surprised at how similar Germany and Iowa are.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0rAacH-tqg

We have a slew of roll-over accidents that speaks volumes about speed, high c-g's in modern day SUV's and how speed kills.

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Making fun of the Fountain Lady shows just how miserable and desperate America has become.

My mother has a saying, misery loves company and it applies to all those enjoying the misfortune of the fountain lady.

What is a red herring? - A red herring is a misleading clue something to distract or to divert attention or mislead. A female red herring will dart in front of it's enemy to distract the bigger fish from eating it's young. It is a deliberate attempt to divert attention by being led astray.

Misery Loves Company

Before we begin I'm going to let you laugh one last time at the Fountain Lady and the fact she almost broke her neck. For the life of me I fail to see why this is funny in the least bit? Are most of us that miserable with the life we lead?

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Cedar Rapids Iowa has found a different way to cash in on law breakers; traffic cameras catching people being people have raked in $2.6 million in fines during 2010 just in tickets for red lights and speeding infractions. It cost just over $1 million to operate the cameras. That’s one heck of an investment return. Bernie Madoff would be proud of Cedar Rapids City Fathers. But is this how we want to live? Do traffic cameras really add to the quality of our life in Iowa? Do we want to live in a Communist styled state of paranoia? This is a slippery slope and one that leads to corruption of thought.

Perhaps we should have a contest to see how many ways we Iowans can come up with, to dehumanize our cities and towns.

• How about sidewalk cameras for those that don’t shovel their sidewalks?
• Or we could pay people a bounty to snitch on their neighbors. That would be a real communist community builder.
• And let’s not forget spitting. If we pass a spitting ordinance we could make a bundle with camers where people do a lot of spitting.
• Ugly tattoos or tattoos with little or no taste. If we commission tattoo police we could increase revenues for the road construction companies and others that pay so much in campaign contributions to politicians who then need to pay them back with spending from the public till.
• Fashion police! Oh that would be great and we could air it on YouTube or one of Iowa’s TV stations and have wagers as to who is dressed the worse; sort of like dancing with the stars. The Iowa State Fair would take on a whole new meaning.
• And how about selling corporate naming rights for the prisons? We'll need more prisons so perhaps Kinnick Stadium could used as a prisoner exercise yard.

Hey all you young minds, send in your suggestions and I’ll print them. If we are going to act like a communist country we might as well do it right.

The Cedar Rapids police are reported to have issued an arrest warrant charging the driver of a pickup truck with failing to yield and causing a crash that killed a female bicyclist last summer. They also charged him with driving without insurance, but the true crime isn’t with the uninsured drivers on the road, the real crime is with the legislature that allows people to drive with as little as $20,000 in coverage to cover the financial consequences of their actions while driving a ton of metal on the public highways at breakneck speeds. Think about it, this driver would be considered “financially responsible” had he had as little insurance coverage as $20,000. With it costing $15,000 just to bury someone how can this minimum coverage be considered responsible?

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Like everyone else I’m reading the Des Moines Register story about the UPS worker who while making a delivery at Des Moines’ International Airport was run over and killed. The worker is Daniel Raber who they describe as opening a gate to make a delivery when he was run over by the rear duals. The news report is difficult to comprehend and appears to say another driver was involved or a second truck was involved; it’s just difficult to decipher from the way the article is written.  Like you I’ll have to await the follow-up reporting or the OSHA investigative reporting. Right now it’s as clear as Delhi Lake.

Even without all the facts what’s the likely cause of this death on the job?

Today's feature video is from Russia. I did like Russia, it's an interesting country and people although I would never want to live there. Listen as you read because today's post is another example of the more we rush the father behind we get.  As personal injury lawyers we continuously see the worse. So listening to beautiful music is one way to escape. Listen as you read; and I should mention, the name is Russian, and should be spelled VIAgra or Via Gra and it means a cappella.

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Today in the email bag was a question and although it’s a bit before 7:00 a.m. as I’m trying to understand what the person is asking me I have to wonder if I’m 30-years younger and going through the experience of once again being a 1-L. A 1-L is how we refer to first year law students. Scott Turow made a similar term popular in his book by that same name. Here is the question. Read it and see how far you can get before scratching you head and wondering, “What is he asking me?”

If a company providing services, in which those services are paid for and terms of service are placed in which the paying parties have signed an agreement to and said company does not deal with violators whom breech these terms of service where everyone is expected to adhere to in a timely fashion. Is said company in breach of contract due to negligence of protecting those very people who agreed to said company's contract?

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Texting while driving is like driving while drunk and sooner or later we will have to pass a law requiring people to just think. 

It applies to adults and to teen drivers so get the message. Reading, writing and sending text messages while driving a car, a truck, a motorcycle or any other motorized vehicle is now banned under Iowa law. If an officer determines the violation of this law led to an accident the fines are stepped up.

But how will we know if the officer doesn’t confiscate the driver’s phone?

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