St. Cloud Personal Injury Lawyer - Criminal Vehicular Homicide

Drunk Driver Charged With Killing Buffalo Teen

Mike Bryant — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 21:17:00 GMT

Last week, I looked at the head on collision that killed a Buffalo High student on Wright County Road 35. At that time there were questions about how this could happen. The road is straight there. Why would a pickup cross the center line? Investigation has now disclosed that the truck was speeding, had no headlights, was in the wrong lane, and the driver had been drinking.

The Minneapolis Tribune captured the feelings of the family in the way you see so often in these case:

"It seems like each day we find out a little bit more about this," said Adam Hoglund, Kramnic's uncle. "It's hard not to be incredibly angry."

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(The) family is anticipating the next day in court. "We'll be there every step of the way to see he gets what's coming to him," Hoglund said.

The driver has been charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide in the death.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Bryant

Drunk Driver Found Guilty For Killing Woman After Running Red Light

Mike Bryant — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:15:00 GMT

Late last week, a Crystal man was found guilty of fleeing police and causing the April 18 death of a woman after he sped through a red light at the top of an exit ramp off Interstate 35E and crashed into the car she was riding in with her husband. Hopefully, her family will find a little solace in the drivers going to prison. Sympathy goes out to all those that suffered from this loss.

Recent research indicates that deaths involving motor vehicles are down in Minnesota, but deaths linked to drinking and driving have also increased. The rules are simple and must always be followed:

Don't Drink and Drive
Use designated drivers
Always remember that the more you drink, the more your odds of making bad choices increase.
As drivers on the road: It's also worth keeping in mind, the deadliest roads in Stearns county to try to stay away from at night.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Bryant

Drunk Driver Sentenced To 41 Months For Killing Mother In Crosswalk

Mike Bryant — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 09:33:00 GMT

Early this week, a Edina man was sentenced to 41 months for running over a mother of two that was in a crosswalk. The woman had been crossing in a group after attending the fireworks of the Father Hennepin Festival. The senseless tragedy happened at Hwy. 169 at Hayden Lake Road. Hopefully, her family will find a little solace in the drivers going to prison. Sympathy goes out to all those that suffered from this loss.

Recent research indicates that deaths involving motor vehicles are down in Minnesota, but as my partner, Joe Crumley, recently wrote about, the numbers of pedestrian deaths are up. Deaths linked to drinking and driving have also increased. The rules are simple and must always be followed:

Don't Drink and Drive
Use designated drivers
Always remember that the more you drink, the more your odds of making bad choices increase.
As drivers on the road: It's also worth keeping in mind, the deadliest roads in Stearns county to try to stay away from at night.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Bryant

Recent Drunk Driver Caused Deaths Need To Be A Warning

Mike Bryant — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:49:00 GMT

While highway deaths continue to be reduced, the number of deaths caused by drunk drivers continues to rise. This just isn't acceptable and needs to be addressed.

Last year, 190 people in Minnesota died in accidents where someone had been drinking. That's up from the year before and the year before that.
Most alcohol-related crashes happen Saturday between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m.
More than 75 percent of those drivers are men and 56 percent are between the ages of 20 and 34.
About 40 percent have drunk driving records and their average blood alcohol level is 0.15.
About 12 percent of Minnesotans have been arrested for drunken driving.

This past week, two separate deaths will hopefully increase the attention to this issue.

On Tuesday, Christopher Iverson's family took him off life support. Prosecutors say a drunken driver hit him early Sunday morning while he stood at a Minneapolis bus stop.

That same morning in Champlin, police say a drunken driver hit and killed Heather Solberg and then took off. She had been walking home with friends from a fireworks display.

The numbers suggest problems that law enforcement and maybe the legislature will have to further address. It may require another look at the joint and several laws. When the recent law was revised, bars were granted reduced liability when they serve a drunk and the drunk causes a tragedy. It's time that the law change be revisited.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Bryant

Sobering Facts About Drinking And Driving

Mike Bryant — Thu, 14 May 2009 12:27:00 GMT

I recently came upon an article from the Rochester Post-Bulletin that looked at DUI's on both the statistical and the real story level. The stories are sad and a lot like we see in our personal injury practice. The numbers were a little staggering:

one in eight licensed motorists in Minnesota has a DWI incident on their record;
one in 39 has three or more convictions;
In Olmsted County the last 10 years have seen more than 9,000 people charged with misdemeanor DWI;
A person died in an alcohol-related accident every three hours in Minnesota;
A crash involving a driver younger than 20 occurred every 28 minutes in the state;
A motorist not wearing a seat belt was killed or injured in Minnesota every three hours.
Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for Minnesota teenagers, eclipsing suicide, other accidents, cancer and homicide combined.
The risk of dying in a crash doubles when a teen driver has a teen passenger in the car and is five times greater with two or more passengers.

These numbers need to be reduced. Hopefully, continuing to review the stories and looking to more education on the issues, we can do that.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Bryant

Hit And Run Driver Admits To Drinking Half A Bottle Of Vodka Prior To Killing Pedestrian

Mike Bryant — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 09:42:00 GMT

Wednesday afternoon, a woman was entering a Bloomington Sam's Club when she was struck by a hit and run driver. She was in a marked crosswalk and at the time of the impact. Her husband was one of the witness's that saw the tragedy and watched as the driver gunned his car and fled.

The driver was apprehended and charged with third-degree murder and three counts of criminal vehicular homicide. His blood-alcohol level was 0.41 percent, according to the charges. The legal limit in Minnesota is 0.08 percent. He admitted to the police to have been drinking a half-liter of vodka Wednesday and that he fled because he had been drinking.

This is a tragedy for all involved. Recent research indicates that deaths involving motor vehicles are down in Minnesota, but at the same time those deaths linked to drinking and driving have increased. The rules are simple and must always be followed:

Don't Drink and Drive
Use designated drivers
Always remember that the more you drink, the more your odds of making bad choices increase.
As drivers on the road: It's also worth keeping in mind, the deadliest roads in Stearns county to try to stay away from at night.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Bryant

Teen Driver Admits To Six Drinks Prior To Accident That Kills Passenger

Mike Bryant — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:24:00 GMT

Friday, a 19 year old Anoka county woman, was charged with criminal vehicular homicide after the death of her passenger. The complaint claims she admitted to drinking six alcoholic beverages prior to driving. The teenager told investigators that she had been drinking vodka at a party and did not remember driving north on Hwy. 65 the night she allegedly rear-ended another car stopped at a traffic light at NE. 93rd Lane in Blaine.

A witness told police the car never broke and was traveling 85 to 90 mph before the impact. Two other drivers were also injured as a result.

Don't Drink and Drive
Use designated drivers
Always remember that the more you drink, the more your odds of making bad choices increase.
As drivers on the road: It's also worth keeping in mind, the deadliest roads in Stearns county to try to stay away from at night.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Bryant