Rural Iowa driveway ditch crossings can be very dangerous

Steve Lombardi

Attorney
(866) 735-1102 Ext 335

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In this crash a 23-year-old young man was killed in a one-car crash. He was driving a 1996 Pontiac Bonneville northbound on L48 in O’Brien County. The speed limit is 55 mph in this area, the time of the accident was 6:55 PM, he was wearing his seat belt, he was not ejected and his car movements were essentially straight. According to ISP his vision was not obscured and I can see no indication that weather was a factor.

This video, while somewhat humorous, gets across some very serious points about rural roads and driver safety.

From reviewing the damage report this one vehicle collision involved at least 8 collision events. Here is my assessment from the ISP report.

1. Car enters the east ditch.

2. Car comes into contact with a field drive and then goes airborne.

3. Car comes down in the east ditch, then exits this ditch.

4. Car careens across Highway L48.

5. Car enters the ditch on the west side of the roadway.

6. Car strikes the west side fence line and finally comes to rest.

7. Car starts on fire.

8. Car suffers explosion from fire.

You may wonder what could have caused this sudden loss of control. It could be a lot of things but deer do come to mind. Young people should learn if you see a deer in the roadway and you can’t stop; then hit it. Strike it directly; don’t swerve and attempt to avoid it, just hit it. I read about E.R. doctors studying moose strikes in Maine. The moose are so tall they can come over the hood and inside the passenger compartment but they recommended the same as I did. Just hit them.