A 51-year old man lost his life this morning in a Salt Lake City pedestrian accident after trying to cross at 3666 South State, says KSL News.  South Salt Lake Police Department reported that the accident turned fatal after the man attempted to cross two lanes of traffic, and hit the front windshield of an on-coming vehicle. He was taken to a local hospital and later passed away.

I send my condolences to the family for this horrible loss. With such an unneeded death, I would hope for this to be a wake-up call for everyone to pay attention to and obey the traffic laws as they exist to protect both pedestrian as well as motorist. Although crossing at an intersection can be more of an inconvenience, it is less inconvenient than suffering serious injury or worse.

Ron Kramer is a Salt Lake City auto accident attorney with offices in West Jordan, Orem, Bountiful and now in Ogden.

Although the cause of the accident is unknown, 48-year old Louis Cisneros perished instantly when the semi truck rolled while heading west bound on Interstate 84, reports the Standard-Examiner. At the time of the crash, the tanker was full of butane, but, “These tanks are really resilient,” and the “icy winds blowing in from Weber Canyon helped maintain the safety of the overturned flammable payload,” explains Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Chris Simmons.

Ron Kramer is owner of Kramer Law Group, he and his personal injury attorneys have offices in Draper, Bountiful and Provo, Utah

Utah Department of Transportation’s Zero Fatalities campaign brought together the 25 families who lost a child in a car accident, reports Fox13 News. For those who have lost an child in a car accident, it can undoubtedly be a heart wrenching experience, and these family connected in hopes of alerting and educating Utahans be more alert to the dangers of inattentive driving.

My thoughts and prayers are with these families in dealing with their devastating loss.

Although many states have previously required a medical examiner to be at the scene of a fatal vehicle accident, Utah has previously not required one, which is likely to change reports KSL News. “The cause of death is not always apparent,” tell Utah Highway Patrol Maj. Michael Rapich.

Having a medical examiner on the scene of the accident helps Utahns in more than one way. First, they can help put the correct causation to the death, i.e. a toxicology report can help pinpoint whether the death was caused by chemical or natural causes. Second, it can help the family and relatives speed up the legal process. Getting a death certificate and an insurance payout can be a cumbersome process, especially if trying to get the necessary paperwork from a hospital emergency room, which are usually too busy with patients who have not already passed. Having a medical examiner present helps prevent the “legal limbo” that is created with a situation where the proper documentation wasn’t done soon enough, and also helps free up “time and resources at the hospital.”

Lonnie Walker Brady, a 6-year-old girl from Duchesne, was stuck in the intersection of 100 West and U.S. Highway 40 by a man in a pickup truck. The driver of the truck is being charged with driving under the influence of methamphetamine, along with other related charges, reports KSL News.

The young girl, Utah Highway Patrol trooper Matt Pratt describes, was thrown about 43 feet. Mr. Pratt, who also witnessed the accident, recalls the driver was not speeding at the time, and also appeared to apply the brakes before cashing into the girl.

Originally Lonnie was taken to a local medical center, but soon after was flown to Primary Children’s in critical condition. Even with such a serious crash, “The doctors have a very optimistic outcome for her,” says UHP Cpl. Rex Olsen.

With this being one of many car accident traumas in the family, we offer our sympathy to the family for going through such a heart-wrenching tragedy of a young loved one.

To avoid causing or being involved in a semi truck accident in Utah, it’s good to follow the tips put out recently by TACT of Utah. TACT stands for Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Trucks. Their website is http://tactutah.com.

Tips for driving smart around big rigs in Utah:

-Before pulling in front of a semi, allow one car length for every 10 miles an hour of highway speed.

-Remember that a semi truck cannot stop like a car: it takes over 500 feet for a loaded semi truck to go from 65 miles per hour to a complete stop.

-A truck driver has blind spots in front of his or her cab, on both sides of the big rig and at the rear of the trailer.

-If you can see both mirrors of the cab on the semi truck that you are following, you are probably at a safe distance behind it.

Ron Kramer is a Salt Lake City truck accident attorney who handles trucking cases throughout Utah.

In 2009, Utah residents saw the fewest traffic fatalities in 35 years. Across the state, 245 people were killed in traffic related fatalities as reported by the Utah Department of Transportation. This number is an 11 percent drop since 2008 and a 34 percent drop since 2000. The last time Utah had fewer than 245 traffic fatalities was in 1974, during the heart of the nation’s oil crisis.

Officials attribute the drop in fatalities to several key factors, including an increase in public transportation options, improved driver safety courses, new safety measures on state roads and extensive public awareness campaigns.

Although Utah residents should be happy with the progress, UDOT executive director, John Njord reminds that a majority of the fatalities were still preventable, and 245 lives were still lost. “The numbers show great progress, but I will never feel comfortable saying that 245 people died on our roads. Even if we get to 100 fatalities or 50 fatalities or five fatalities, we won’t be satisfied until we can say that there were zero fatalities on Utah’s roads,” he said.

According to standard.net, UDOT analyzed the 245 fatalities in 2009 and found that 19 were fatigue-related, 29 involved impaired driving, 67 were speed-related and 96 were attributed to drivers who were not wearing their seatbelts. A total of 196 of the 245 fatalities were on dry roads.

Ron Kramer is a Salt Lake City, Utah personal injury attorney with offices in Bountiful, Draper and Provo, Utah.

I just read an article concerning an accident caused by a person talking on his cell phone that I had to blog on. Turns out the accident victim hired a personal injury lawyer to exact some justice from the culprit who took away the life he enjoyed before this auto accident happened. Sounds like they got a good result.

The car accident happened in Palo Alto in 2006 when a city employee Rubin Salas ran into the rear-end of the car that victim Silvio Obregon was driving. The thing that sets this apart from a normal cell-phone talking accident is that the employee was not actually on the phone, but was reaching for the phone and allowed himself to be distracted. The injuries to Silvio Obregon were severe: he experienced a significant spinal cord injury which left him debilitated.

After what appears to be a time of legal wrangling, the case was resolved against the city in December of 2009 for almost $1.5 million. The employee that hit Obregon, predictably, no longer works for the city. The City Attorney Donald Larkin said that the payout was the largest that they had in some time for a personal injury accident claim. He did acknowledged, though, that the injuries to Mr. Obregon justified the amount of the settlement.

This accident claim is similar to one we took to trial in Ogden, Utah back in March of 2008. In that case, my client received a spinal cord injury in an Ogden car accident case from the driver of a billboard company that failed to look when he pulled out from a neighboring Ogden, Utah business. We tried to resolve this Ogden, Utah auto accident case with the insurance company, but the most that they would offer was $230,000, for what was a significant spinal cord injury that effectively prevented my client from working. So … we took the case to trial. After a seven days, the jury returned a verdict of $1.63 million – an amount well above the insurance company’s top offer before trial. After the verdict, the insurance company threatened to file a motion reducing the amount of the verdict. We later reached an agreement to resolve the case.

So kudos to the attorneys who helped Mr. Obregon get some justice for the wrong that was committed against him.

Ron Kramer is a Utah personal injury and trial lawyer who handles personal injury and accident cases, with offices in Bountiful, Draper and Provo, Utah.

When I came into my office this morning, I read that a 19 year old woman from Provo, Utah died early this morning in an apparent one-car crash near Sugar City, Idaho.

Idaho State Police are saying that Kristan R. Lusvardi, driving alone around 12:30am was traveling eastbound on U.S Highway 20 just north of Sugar City. For some reason, Lusvardi’s car appears to have drifted across the center median and all the way across the oncoming westbound lanes, finally crashing through a fence and into a ditch.

Various reports suggest Lusvardi was still alive when first-responders came to her aid, but unfortunately she did not survive the life-flight to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

Investigators are still working to determine the cause of the crash, but they are suggesting alcohol or drugs may have been involved, and that Lusvardi was sadly not wearing a seat belt.

I can only imagine that with a young lady driving alone, late at night a long way from home, fatigue may have also been a factor in this tragic accident. My condolences go out to Kristan Lusvardi’s family and loved ones.

Please folks, be careful out on the road. Wear your seatbelt. Don’t drink and drive. Be safe.

Police reported a fatal car accident that occurred at 40th and Wall Street. According to KSL.com, the police say a car was speeding on Wall Avenue, southbound, around midnight when the driver, Sheila M. Dominguez, tried to navigate a left turn at 40th Street. She subsequently lost control of the car and it clipped some wires to a power pole, causing the car to roll. Ms. Dominguez partially ejected from the car and, sadly, died at the scene. A woman in the car suffered minor injuries in the car accident and was treated.

I offer my condolences to family and friends of the Dominguez family.

Ron Kramer is an experienced personal injury attorney with offices in Draper and Provo, Utah.