A young mother was critically injured when her SUV was hit by a semi truck.
The driver of a semi truck was traveling westbound on Cliff Road in Eagan, Minnesota, when it ran a red light and hit an SUV on the left side, according to a preliminary investigation by the Eagan Police Department and the Minnesota State Patrol. The driver of the SUV, Alayna Tanaka, was transported to Regions Hospital, a level-one trauma center.
After hitting the SUV, the semitrailer, which was hauling sand, rolled on its side. The weight of a semitrailer hauling sand can be 80,000 pounds. The weight of an SUV is around 4,000 to 5,000 pounds.
There is no excuse for running a red light with a fully-loaded semi truck. The factors causing and contributing to this crash remain under investigation. Investigations like this generally look at whether the truck driver had consumed alcohol prior to the crash and whether the truck driver was distracted. Distractions can include use of a cell phone, eating, changing radio channels, looking at a map, and just day dreaming. When a driver is in control of a vehicle of this weight, extreme care should be taken to drive safely. Apparently, that did not happen in this case.
The crash happened on August 13 at about 11:30 a.m at the intersection of Cliff Road and Pilot Knob Road. Eagan Police officers responded to the crash, and the Minnesota State Patrol was called in to assist with the investigation. Pilot Knob Road and Cliff Road were closed for approximately 4 hours while the Minnesota State Patrol completed a crash reconstruction.
We did not find a GoFundMe account set up for the driver of the SUV. If there is one, we would be happy to add a link to it here.
Attorney Fred Pritzker Helps Accident Victims and Their Families
Attorney Fred Pritzker and his team help accident victims and their families get answers, compensation and justice. Our semi truck accident lawyers have won multimillion-dollar settlements from trucking companies. When a truck company vehicle is involved in a crash, the company immediately sends people to the scene. Even in cases like this one that appears to be a slam dunk, our experience is that the company will fight hard to pay nothing or as little as possible.
Attorney Fred Pritzker and our other Minnesota truck accident lawyers can be contacted for a free consultation about a personal injury lawsuit against a truck driver and company using the form below.
Fred has over 30 years of experience helping accident victims and their families.
