Domina Law Group has deep ties to Nebraska and the good-hearted, hard-working people of the Midwest, and are saddened to hear recent news of a fatal multi-vehicle crash on Highway 370.
Dave Domina and our team grieve with all the families affected by the four-vehicle collision which took place Wednesday morning. While details about the crash are still emerging, there are things we currently know:
- The crash occurred on Wednesday morning shortly before 10:00am when a mother and her four children, who had been stopped in their 2016 Toyota minivan at a red light on Nebraska Highway 370, were struck from behind by a dump truck.
- Two of the children – siblings ages 10 and 16 – died in the crash. Seven others also suffered injuries in the crash.
- According to police reports from the Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office, the surviving family members (the mother and her two other sons, ages 14 and 12) were transported to a local hospital.
- Two other vehicles were involved in the collision, but authorities did not provide details as to the nature of their connection with the crash. Officials did report three additional victims were taken to the hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
Determining What Happened
Following tragedies like these, there exist many questions. Chief among them are what caused the crash, and whether it could and should have been prevented. According to reports, the driver of the dump truck was identified as a 37-year-old Papillion man. He was not injured in the crash, and his employer – a west Omaha landscaping supplier – publicly stated it is investigating the incident.
An article published by the Omaha World Herald took a closer look at publicly available information regarding the truck driver. It notes the driver had several driving infractions on his record, and last year pleaded guilty for failing to stay in his lane in Washington County – for which he paid a $25 fine. Records from over a decade ago show citations for failures to use a turn signal, as well as three speeding tickets, one of which was dismissed.
For now, the crash remains under investigation by local and state authorities – who say they’ve been dealing with a sharp increase in devastating crashes statewide this year.
Legal Firepower. Justice for Families.
Though details about what led to this unfortunate tragedy are still to come, what we do know is that the United States is one of the leading countries for fatal car accidents. Even with traffic laws and regulations regarding commercial carriers, it’s clear American drivers often fail to uphold their legal obligations for obeying the rules of the road, and for driving safely so as to keep others around them free from preventable harm.
While the U.S. continues to grapple with high car accident rates, and explores meaningful methods to reduce them, innocent victims and families still face tremendous risks on public roads. That’s especially true when crashes involve tractor-trailers and large commercial trucks, which pose greater risks of serious injuries and death than standard vehicles.
Over the years, Domina Law has seen these tragedies time and time again, and has fought passionately for families who often suffer profound, permanent, and inexplicable losses, as well as the public at large – who benefit from ensuring wrongdoers, corporations that take shortcuts, and negligent parties are held accountable.
- In this particular crash, it appears there may be clear liability – that is, for the driver of the dump truck who struck the family’s stopped minivan and pushed in into the intersection. However, more details may reveal why that may have occurred – and whether it involved trucking regulation violations, truck driver cellphone use, negligent hiring or retention, or other failures and acts of negligence committed by drivers, trucking companies, or other parties.
Our firm grieves for this family and all those who suffer similar fates. As we share their story, we want to remind residents across Omaha and Nebraska to make safety a priority behind the wheel.