Taylor Sauer, an 18-year old Utah State University student from Caldwell, Idaho, lost her life on January 14, 2012 while heading west on I-84, just east of Mountain Home, Idaho. According to KTVB News, the accident happened when her car slammed into the back of a slow-moving semi truck. Her car was then hit from behind by another semi driven by Slawomir Porada of St. Louis, MO. Sauer was pronounced dead at the scene. The truck driver who rear ended her was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

I offer my deep condolences to the family of Taylor Sauer for their tragic loss.

Posting on Facebook is alleged to be the major factor in causing this crash. Police say that just
minutes prior to the crash that Sauer had posted a message on Facebook. Furthermore, they say, there were no skid marks, suggesting, they say,  that she was distracted by something she was doing in her car.

While being on Facebook might explain the distraction and her rear-ending the semi in front of her, what’s the explanation for why she was rear-ended by a semi? That collision was sufficiently serious to send that truck driver to the hospital in an ambulance. I suspect that if Taylor had not been rear ended by the semi truck driver, that she very well would still be around today.

So was Mr. Porada distracted as well? Why didn’t he keep a proper distance between his truck and Sauer’s vehicle? He sat high in his cab and was likely able to see over Sauer’s car to see the truck’s lights, which should have been flashing if it was moving up the hill at slow speed.

There are a lot of unanswered questions. I would recommend that the family contact a wrongful death lawyer to get to the bottom of what happened here. As I see it, there are possible claims against both semi truck drivers, especially the one that rear-ended young Taylor Sauer.

The above opinions are those of Salt Lake City personal injury attorney Ron Kramer.

While personal injury claims in Utah will generally have a four-year statute of limitations, Utah wrongful death claims can be much shorter – as little as just one year.

According to Utah law, Utah wrongful death claims need to be made no more than two years after the death occurs. See Utah Code 78B-2-304. If the wrongful death claim is against a Utah governmental agency, a “notice of claim” will need to be filed within one year of the death occurring.

In Utah, wrongful death heirs will include: (1) the spouse of the deceased, (2) the children of the deceased under U.C.A. 75-2-114, and (3) the natural parents of the deceased. Step children have recently been added to the list of potential claimants, but only if they are under 18 and are “primarily financially dependent” on their deceased parent.

Ron Kramer is a Salt Lake, Ogden, and Provo wrongful death and personal injury attorney.

While personal injury claims will generally have a four-year statute of limitations, wrongful death claims can be much shorter – as little as one year.

According to Utah Code 78B-2-304, Utah wrongful death claims need to be brought no more than two years after the death occurs. If the claim is against a Utah governmental agency, a prerequisite “notice of claim” needs to be filed within one year of the death occurring. Underlying all Utah wrongful death claims is the ability to show that someone acted wrongfully or was negligent in causing the death. A claim does not arise just because someone died.

In Utah, wrongful death heirs include: (1) the spouse of the deceased, (2) the children of the deceased under U.C.A. 75-2-114, and (3) the natural parents of the deceased. Step children are also included if they are under 18 and are “primarily financially dependent” on their deceased parent.

Ron Kramer is an Ogden, Salt Lake and Provo wrongful death and personal injury attorney.

In Utah, the following are wrongful death heirs: (1) the spouse of the deceased, (2) the children of the deceased under U.C.A. 75-2-114, and (3) the natural parents of the deceased.

Utah, however, is one of three states (along with California and Idaho) that have recently added step children to the list of Utah wrongful death heirs. Therefore, if you are a step child, then you may have a wrongful death claim if you are under the age of 18 (at the time of decedent’s death) and are “primarily financially dependent” on your deceased step parent.

Source: Utah Code 78B-3-105

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.”

ABC News 10 reported an Amtrak collision with a gravel dump truck on Friday, June 24th. According to their report, the accident happened at 11:25 am on US 95 approximately 70 miles east of Reno, NV. The Amtrak Train had traveled from Chicago through Salt Lake City, where it stopped and picked up passengers. The train was heading to Emeryville, California., according to the Amtrak spokeswoman in the ABC News 10 report. The Deseret News later reported that one of the passengers on the Amtrak train that had been killed in the crash was 34-year-old Cheuy Ong, of West Jordan, Utah.

The article in The Deseret News also stated that Alexandra Curtis of Evanston, Illinois, had filed a lawsuit in Washoe County District Court, alleging negligence in her injuries on the part of truck driver, who died in the crash, and his employer, John Davis Trucking Co. The investigation in regards to the collision is still ongoing.

While early reports indicated that this horrific collision only caused the loss of two lives, the death toll has risen to six. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of the victim’s families, friends and other loved ones during this time of loss. I hope those injured in this incident to have a speedy recovery. If early reports of the crossing gates and warning lights are true, then this horrific collision could have been easily avoided. Yet, the negligence of the dump truck driver by ignoring those warning lights and crossing gates caused not only a tremendous loss of life, but a great deal of unnecessary pain and suffering for families across the nation.

The Brooklyn Paper is reporting that Michael Dalton, from Fort Greene, NY, intends to sue the Treasury Department for the wrongful death of his wife, Aileen McKay-Dalton, last July. According to the article, last July 8th, Mrs. McKay-Dalton was riding her Vespa scooter when she was hit and killed by a Ford SUV driven by Joel Murphy, an agent at the Treasury Department. The witnesses interviewed for this article stated that Mr. Murphy ran a red light and was speeding when he hit Mrs. McKay-Dalton. NYPD called the crash an accident, however, the District Attorney reopened the case after complains.

Since the accident, Mr. Dalton has quit his job to take care of the couple’s three children. When the suit is filed, Mr. Murphy won’t be on trial; the Treasury Department will be. Mr. Murphy was traveling in an official capacity when he hit Mrs. McKay-Dalton at the intersection of DeKalb and Clinton Avenues with the SUV.

My thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Dalton and his children while they still mourn the death of Mrs. McKay-Dalton. However, I am intrigued by the decision to file suit against the Treasury Department and not Mr. Murphy. I also find it interesting that when the NYPD and the District Attorney’s office investigated the accident, they both found that Mr. Murphy was not criminally negligent and only received a ticket.

According to The Salt Lake Tribune, in an order filed Thursday, the Utah Supreme Court denied a request from Rocky Mountain Utah, Inc., the parent company of Sportsman’s Fast Cash, and Westley Wayne Hill to appeal a previous ruling from 3rd District Court judge, Judge Glenn Iwasaki.  Sportsman’s Fast Cash sold a pistol-grip shot gun to Trolley Square shooter Sulejman Talovic back in 2007.  Trolley Square survivor Carolyn Tuft is suing Rocky Mountain Utah, Inc. for the wrongful death of her daughter, Kristen Hinckley, 15, who was gunned down by Talovic. Three others were wounded in the attack on Trolley Square and four others were killed before Talovic died in a shootout with police. Stacy Hanson, another survivor, is also suing Sportsman’s Fast Cash.

My thoughts and prayers are still with the families of the Trolley Square shootings.

Federal law prohibits the sale of a pistol-grip shotgun to anyone under 21.  However, the issue being raised during this case is whether the weapon sold to Talovic qualified as a pistol-grip under the law. According to the pawnshop’s attorney, the weapon has a removable pistol grip and is designed and intended to be used with a shoulder stock, making it a shotgun.

According to The New York Times, the mother of a 19-year-old Cornell University sophomore who died after drinking too much at a fraternity house has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the fraternity. The lawsuit alleges that when George Desdunes joined a chapter of Sigma Alpha Epislon at Cornell University, he was kidnapped in the early morning by fraternity pledges who bound his wrists and ankles with zip ties and duct tape, then forced him to drink until he passed out.

At autopsy, Mr. Desdunes had a blood-alcohol level of 0.409 percent, which is five-times the legal limit for driving in New York, the article stated. Since the incident Cornell University has withdraw the recognition of the fraternity and the chapter was suspended by the fraternity’s national headquarters.

My thoughts and prayers are with the family of Mr. Desdunes during this difficult time. It is always trying to lose a child and when a death could have been prevented, as it could have been in this case, it is often harder. While Cornell University and the Sigma Alpha Epislon national headquarters are taking steps by not only closing the fraternity by suspending it, it won’t ease the pain for the loved ones of Mr. Desdunes.