Articles Posted in Car Accidents

A few weeks ago in LaPorte County, a massive accident took the lives of several motorists and injured dozens more. According to a report by FOX 59, the police named heavy snowfall and high winds as leading causes of the accident that involved cars, pick-up trucks, and semi-trucks.When emergency crews arrived, they found several people stuck in their cars. Some people were trapped in their vehicles for hours while rescue workers attempted to free them. So many people were involved in the accident that two city buses were dispatched to the scene to bus the accident victims to warming stations and to the hospital. At the time of the article’s publication, it was believed that at least 30 vehicles were involved in the gigantic accident.

Record Winter Still Causing Traffic Problems Across Indiana

No one can argue that this is one of the harshest winters Indiana has seen in years. The cold temperatures and the relentless rain, sleet, and snow have created a veritable mess on Indiana highways for what seems like months now. Every other week there are multiple-car accidents or pileups caused by the inclement weather. While the weather should relent in the coming weeks, it’s difficult to say for sure when Spring will come.
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As January and February bring record storms and snow totals across Indiana, the highways and surface roads can get ugly. One article by the Weather Channel from earlier this week notes a nasty pile-up on I-65, near Lafayette. According to the report, the snowy roads combined with fog and general low visibility led to an accident involving 13 vehicles.According to local police, one semi-truck caught fire and several motorists were sent to the hospital as a result of the crash. None of the injuries reported were life-threatening.

Winter Driving Tips
Thankfully, no one was seriously injured in the accident described above. However, that will not always be the case when the conditions are as bad as they have often been this winter season. To make sure that you and your family are safe out there on the road, follow these basic winter driving tips:

• Check that all tires are properly inflated and in good working condition.
• Ensure that you have an adequate amount of windshield wiper fluid.
• Clear all snow and ice off of your car completely before driving.
• Keep your gas tank at least half-full to avoid frozen gas lines.
• Drive slow when the conditions are bad or there is low visibility.
• Know how your car handles on slick, wet, or snow-covered roads.
• Never drive tired and always keep 100% of your attention on the road.
• Finally, always wear your seatbelt.

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Last month, right in the middle of the holiday season, a two-car accident injured seven passengers, including two young children. According to a story by CommercialNews.com, the Vermillion County accident occurred shortly after 2:30 p.m. near State Route 63 at West Market Street in Newport, Indiana.According to the police report, a driver in a Pontiac was heading south on State Route 63. As the driver attempted to make a left turn onto West Market Street, the Pontiac was hit by a car traveling north on State Route 63. All occupants-including a 9-month-old infant and a 7-year-old child-were taken to Union Hospital in Clinton with non-life-threatening injuries. All occupants were wearing either a seatbelt or were in a child safety seat. Police do not believe that drugs or alcohol were involved in the accident. However, the driver of the Pontiac was cited with failure to yield.

Failure-to-Yield Accidents in Indiana
Hundreds of times per day, the average driver encounters situations where they must yield to another driver. Many times, this becomes instinct; after having driven for a number of years, most of us are familiar when we have the right-of-way and when we must yield the right-of-way. However, sometimes drivers are not paying attention or are driving aggressively and do not yield to the other driver when they should.
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The holiday season is a time to spend time and celebrate with loved ones. Sometimes this celebration takes the form of drinking. When it does, it is critically important that we all do so responsibly and find alternate methods of transportation other than driving.Many recent stories warn holiday travelers to make sure they practice safe driving over the holidays and especially to refrain from drinking and driving. The dangers on the road this time of year are numerous, and certain precautions should be taken due to the ever present possibility that a seemingly dry road is covered in ice. For example:

• Be sure to keep about a 3 second distance between you and the car in front of you. This distance should be increased in icy or snowy conditions.
• When in doubt of whether you are within the legal limit, call a friend for a ride home, or stay where you are until you are safe to drive.
• Be sure not to drive when fatigued.
• Be sure all of your attention is focused on the road.

  Be Sure to Practice Safe Driving this Holiday Season

  Many Indianans have time off of work for the holiday season. This may create a temptation to stay out a little later, drink a little more, and be a little less responsible. However, the truth is that drinking and driving is never a good idea, especially when roads can be covered in ice during this time of the year.
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In a tragic accident that occurred earlier this week in Indiana, a man who was married for only a few hours was struck and killed as he stopped to render aid to another motorist in need. According to a story by CNN, the couple had just gotten married and was on their way home after their wedding reception when they passed a motorist that had slid into a ditch. The man told his wife that the driver probably needed help and pulled the car off to the side of the road to see if the driver needed assistance. As the man exited the car and began to help the woman, the two were hit by several cars. Both died at the scene.All drivers involved stayed at the scene of the accident, and police do not believe that alcohol was a factor in the fatal accident. Police are, however, still investigating the scene to determine the cause of the accident.

Proving Negligence in Civil Cases

In cases such as this, the man’s wife may have a civil cause of action against one or more of the drivers who hit and killed her husband. Whether or not that is the case will depend on whether any of the drivers who hit her husband are found to be negligent in a court of law.
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The Indiana state prosecutor’s office has determined that a fatal accident involving a church bus that occurred over the summer was not due to any criminal conduct. Therefore the driver of the bus will not be criminally charged for his role in the accident. According to a story by USA Today, the driver of the bus was issued a citation because the light was red when the bus entered an intersection shortly before the accident. However, the prosecutor’s office explained that the red-light citation, without more, is insufficient to press criminal charges against the driver.The accident, that occurred back in July of this year, resulted in three fatalities and 26 injuries. According to another USA Today report, the bus was returning from a camp in Michigan to Colonial Hills Baptist Church in Indianapolis. The bus was about a mile from its destination when the driver ran a red light at a high rate of speed. Then, shortly after, the driver was unable to negotiate a turn, resulting in the bus toppling over, injuring many and killing three.

Civil Remedies May Still Be Available to the Victims

The victims and their families may have been disappointed to hear that there were no criminal charges filed against the driver of the bus. However, this does not necessarily mean that they will be left uncompensated for their injuries and losses. The victims may very well still have the ability to file a civil cause of action based on the driver’s failure to operate the bus in a safe and responsible manner. Such a suit would be under the legal theory of “negligence.”
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Some accidents are clearly one party’s fault. For example, a drunk driving accident: there is little that an innocent victim of a drunk driving accident can do to avoid the collision. In these cases, determining liability is usually not all that difficult. However, there are also accidents in the parties each share some of the blame for the collision. These cases can occupy a grayer area of the law. The outcome of such a case will depend on the negligence laws in the state where the accident occurred and whether the state uses a pure comparative, modified comparative, or contributory negligence model to resolve accident claims.Comparative Fault and Contributory Negligence

Contributory negligence is used by a minority of states across the United States. This legal theory states that if one party is even the slightest bit at fault for the accident, they cannot recover at all from anyone else involved in the accident.

Comparative fault is a bit more forgiving to accident victims and is used by most states. Comparative fault does exactly what it sounds like it might do; it compares each driver’s fault and allows them to recover an amount reduced in some way by their amount of fault. There are two kinds of comparative fault:
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Country music star, Jason Aldean, was on his tour bus driving across Indiana when the driver struck and killed a pedestrian in Knox County. According to a report by Fox News, at about 1:28 am, a man walking in the northbound lane of highway 41 stepped out in front of the star’s tour bus. The man was pronounced dead at the scene with head and chest injuries.

Jason Aldean was on the bus at the time and tweeted the following statement:

With a heavy heart, I’m sad to say that a man passed away last night after stepping out in front of my bus in Indiana. In all the years I’ve been touring and all the miles we’ve driven, nothing prepares you for something like this to happen. I’m praying for Albert Kennedy’s family and friends today and ask that you do the same.

Auto-Pedestrian Accidents Are Among the Most Fatal

Of all the kinds of accidents involving motor vehicles, it should come as no surprise that those involving pedestrians most often result in a fatality. In fact, in Indiana alone there were 63 pedestrians killed in 2011. This number represents the highest number of pedestrian deaths in recent years.
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