Minneapolis Motor Vehicle Accidents Law Blog

Last July, a police officer was about to pursue a speeding car when he collided with a car turning left. The passengers in that vehicle died from their injuries, either at the scene or later in the hospital. The car accident is tragic, but questions lingered regarding the circumstances of the crash. Was the officer negligent in the build-up to chasing the speeding car?

An investigation into the crash has found that the officer was not watching the road - instead, he was checking a GPS device - and that he did not turn his emergency lights or siren on to notify nearby cars of his presence. The investigation also reconstructed the crash and found the officer to be going about 72 miles per hour before colliding with the other car.

Residents of the Twin Cities have seen their fair share of car accidents over the years, and inclement weather - especially in the winter - only adds to the dangers on the road. It is uncommon for these car accidents to involve a train, but over the weekend a car carrying a Minneapolis man was struck by a train in Medina, Minnesota.

The crash is still under investigation and there were no fatalities in the car accident. The man in the car was in his 50s and taken to a nearby hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Details were limited to his condition, but it being hit by a train would indicate that he was seriously injured.

Just before the new year, we covered a story out of Roseau, Minnesota where a school bus full of children was struck by a semi-truck and flipped on its side. Eight children were sent to the hospital because of the crash, though the injuries suffered were not life threatening. The incident called into question driver negligence and general road safety during a time when car accidents caused by distracted drivers are on the rise.

A very similar car accident happened in Chisago County, where a school bus was hit while waiting at a stop sign by an SUV. The vehicle apparently skidded along an icy patch on the road and smashed into the bus, causing at least one elementary school student to suffer minor injuries. The student had a cut along his hairline and a contusion on his head.

It started off like any other normal day for a group of children riding the bus to school. Their parents walked them to the bus stop, said their goodbyes, and believed that their kids were going to be safe as they were escorted to school. Instead, the school bus was rear-ended by a semi-truck and flipped on its side by the impact.

The truck accident sent eight children to the hospital, though fortunately none of the injuries were life-threatening. The crash occurred in the morning hours of December 13 near Roseau, Minnesota.