Utah Law Talk

A man driving a Plymouth Shadow, who ran a stop sign in Genola, Utah (in southern Utah County, near Santaquin), was broadsided by a pickup truck near 800 East and State Road 141, causing a car accident. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the driver, Jose Guadalupe Almanza, 34 years of age, is now dead due to injuries sustained in the car crash. Three others in the car are currently in serious condition and were life flighted to Salt Lake City hospitals.

This is a very sad case. I sincerely hope that the other three injured in this accident come out of it okay. Unfortunately, it appears that the driver of the car made an error that took his life and seriously injured his passengers. The rules of the road dictate that we stop at stop signs — always. When you break one of these basic rules of the road, under Utah law, you are responsible for the consequences.

In this case, the driver of the pickup truck, if his medical bills exceed $3,000 , has a claim against the insurance company of Mr. Almanza. The others in the car that Almanza was driving also have a claim against the insurance company for him. If they or a family member carried auto insurance, then they additionally could have an “underinsured” motorist claim against their own insurance company. If the brakes on the Plymouth Shadow failed or if the accelerator somehow became stuck, then Jose Almanza’s family may have a “wrongful death” claim against Chrysler for a product defect.

Published by: Ron Kramer

A woman making a lane change in Ogden, Utah, triggered a car accident in the afternoon on January 4, 2009, when she overcorrected after realizing that there was another car in that lane. According to KSL News, the woman, Liliya M. Barinova, 61 years of age from Pleasant Grove, was traveling in Ogden with her grandson when the car accident occurred. Unfortunately, her overcorrection lead to her losing control of her vehicle, which was subsequently broadsided by a pickup truck. Barinova, sadly, died at the scene of this accident. Her 10 year grandson, who was in the car, sustained a broken arm in the crash and was flown to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City.

While it does appear that the woman lost control of her vehicle, it isn’t entirely clear that she is the sole person responsible for her death. The family should contact an Ogden personal injury lawyer to investigate whether the driver of the pickup bears any blame for the crash happening.
Another potentially huge issue here is whether Chrysler, the manufacturer of the PT Cruiser that Ms. Barinova was driving, failed to adequately construct this car so as to withstand side-impact crashes like the one she received. From the pictures I reviewed, it appears that the driver’s door became detached from the middle pillar, allowing it to intrude into the cabin where the driver was sitting. The manufacturer should have made sure that in impacts such as this one, that the driver’s door would stay firmly attached to the middle pillar. The family could very well have a “products liability” claim against Chrysler for what might be an engineering defect that led to Ms. Barinova’s death.

Published by: Ron Kramer

Four teens, traveling in an Audi bound for a resort to go snowboarding, were traveling in Provo Canyon, presumably eastbound, when their car lost control yesterday, December 22, 2008. Sadly, two of the teens, Batnyam Enkhturiin of Heber City, Utah and Neal Harlan of Mapleton, Utah, perished from injuries caused by the crash. The other two teenagers, Andres Vergara and Easton Olivas, both from Springville, Utah, were also injured. Easton Olivas remains in serious condition at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.

According to an account in KSL News, witness Lee Robinson told reporters that the Audi veered onto the other side of the road and hit him in the back end of his car. This caused Robinson’s car to spin out of control and end up in the oncoming lane of travel. Troopers are still piecing together the story, but they do say, however, that it appears that speed and the weather were contributing factors in causing this car accident to happen. The boys, who were traveling in an Audi which had all-wheel drive, still spun out of control, despite the all wheel drive feature. Troopers cautioned: “Just because you have all-wheel drive doesn’t make you invincible, that you can make it up the hill. If you’ll look at the snow and roads behind us, it wasn’t even this type of condition. The roads were actually plowed and cleared,” UHP Trooper Janet Kerbo said.

I offer my sincere condolences to the family of the boys who died prematurely in this car crash. It is always sad when someone dies before their time, but especially when they have only lived such a small portion of their lives.

Car accidents, it seems, are almost always the result of an error of some sort. It may be a mechanical error or a product defect, such as a tie rod failing, which causes the car to go out of control. It could be a case like the one I have in my office where a mechanic didn’t fix the brakes properly and the brakes failed, causing the vehicle to roll on a turn. Or, as it is in the majority of car or truck crashes, it may be caused by human error.

In this case, the UHP believe that excessive speed played a factor in this case. Investigators should also look at the possibility that there was a vehicle defect that caused the driver to lose control. According to news reports, the road was in not too bad of shape when the crash occurred. If the driver was seriously going to fast, however, on a twisty canyon road, then that very well could be the human error that caused this crash to happen. The surviving teens will hopefully be able to fill in some of the pieces of the story.

Obviously, if the driver is seen at fault, then the parents of the other teens may have a claim against that driver. In Utah, if the vehicle is owned by an adult and furnished to a teenager, than that adult, or owner of the vehicle, can be brought into the claim under Utah law. Further, if the teen driver has a history of driving too fast, then the parents could also be on the hook for entrusting a car to their son with this kind of history. I would encourage the families of these teens – all of them – to consult with an attorney regarding the legal rights and remedies they may have in this case.

As a parent of a teenage driver, I would also like to add that the whole concept of teenagers driving in a car by themselves is just a bad idea. Insurance company data show that teenagers are much more likely to be in a car accident than those who are older. This is mainly because they are far less experienced in driving than an adult who has been driving for years. Teenagers further are less likely to appreciate the seriousness of distractions while they are driving, such as fiddling with the radio, cell phones, or even text messaging. I would encourage parents to share the news of this crash with their teens to impress upon them the fact that careless driving can have dire consequences to themselves and those who may be passengers in their car.

Published by: Ron Kramer