Teenager Driver- Alcohol? Drunk driving?
My parents warned me often that nothing good happens after ten and bad things happen after midnight. Today we have a write-up from the Iowa State Patrol about a single-vehicle accident that happened at 2:30 AM in the 2400 195th Trail northeast of Winterset. The collision involved four teenagers in a 2003 GMC Sierra with a sixteen-year-old behind the wheel. According to the Iowa State Patrol report his name is Jacob Ryan Short, 16 and from Indianola. The other three passengers are Renee Halley Brown, Blake Charles Feuring and Cameron Ryan Johnson. None of them are wearing seat belts.
According the report here is the accident summary:
VEH TRAVELING NE ON 195TH TRAIL AT EXCESSIVE SPEEDS LOSING CONTROL ENTERING RIGHT DITCH STRUCK A TREE DRIVER WAS TRAPPED ALCOHOL IS SUSPECTED IN THE ACCIDENT NAMES WITHHELD UNTIL NOTIFICATIONS COMPLETED PENDING
FURTHER INVESTIGATION, NAMES UPDATED
OFFICER NAME: TRP HOBART 129 61 484. POST: 02
This write-up is not about casting blame, it is about the use of alcohol by teen drivers and teen passengers; or for anyone for that matter. In this case we have three teen passengers who were in the car, not wearing seat belts and who may or may have not been out drinking. The driver died. Not sure how seriously the passengers were injured. No matter, this post is about where claims like these go when the teens’ parents get involved and head off to the lawyer’s office to see about how to get casualty insurance involved with paying some of the medical bills.
First keep in mind that no one except the lawyer you hire is on your side of your child’s side.
Second, you should interview your children involved in the crash and find out where they were drinking. Call the other kids and ask them to. Was it a private get-together or did they drink in a tavern? If in a tavern that makes a difference in terms of there being other insurance besides just the driver’s auto insurance. There may be dram shop insurance that can pay for the medical bills. Well, if you wait seven months and then go see an attorney, you are one month too late for the lawyer to be able to put the dramshop on notice of your claim. Remember me saying no one is on your side, no one except the lawyer you hire? Well, that’s true. The Iowa legislature cares more about putting road-blocks and speed-bumps in the way of injured kids being compensated than they do her of him being able to fully recover.
So, today’s message is pretty simple. If your kid or even if an adult is involved in an accident with a drunk driver, then get to the lawyer’s office pronto. And if you can’t go to a lawyer, call them from the hospital and let them come to you.
I have handled drunk driving and dram shop cases for more years than I care to count. If you need help, send me an email at sdlombardi@aol.com or call and leave a message. 515-222-1110
Be well, and remember what my mother said about nothing good happening after 10:00 PM.
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