Five Die in Four Separate Crashes This Week In Minnesota

In four separate motor vehicle highway collisions, five Minnesotans were killed this past week:

• On Saturday, a SUV in northbound Interstate 35 south of Moose Lake, lost control went through the median, rolled and was struck by a car heading south. A passenger in the vehicle was killed. Three others were injured.
• On Sunday evening, a pick up truck drove off Hwy. 28 in Stearns County and hit trees. The Driver was killed and the passenger sent to the hospital.
• Also Sunday night, a SUV rolled over on 1st Street in Duluth. The driver was thrown from the vehicle and killed.
• Early Monday, on Interstate 35 near Sandstone, a northbound car crossed the median and struck a pickup truck head-on killing both drivers.

The deaths come a month after the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (MDPS) report that more than 300 people have died so far this year in Minnesota traffic collisions. According to the MDPS calculations, 450 deaths are projected for 2008. This would be a drop from 510 in 2007.

As with any death in a Minnesota motor vehicle collision, there are a number of issues that will need to be reviewed. My partner, Joe Crumley, addressed this topic in a recent article for the Minnesota Lawyers Trial magazine. I was interviewed last year on the same topic. In all of these cases sorrow for the families of those involved goes out.