Legal Question in Traffic Law in Minnesota

accident

I was involved in an accident where the roads were iced over with freezing rain. I was exiting from an interstate going about 10mph following an SUV aproximately 2-5 car lengths behind. At the bottom of the ramp on the left side there was a 1 car accident and the SUV and I were going right. The bottom of the ramp splits in a V dividing the flow of traffic. As we neared the bottom of the ramp an police car without its lights on came the wrong way up the ramp on the right side causing the SUV to brake fast. I did the same only hitting a large patch of ice sliding my car into the rear of the SUV. What is the officers liability in this case? What is mine and what is the SUV's? The officer also refused to write me a report when I asked or to provide me with a badge number.


Asked on 12/20/04, 12:56 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
David Kelly-952-544-6356 Kelly Law Office

Re: accident

Sounds like the kind of question they would ask in a test a law school.

Let me just say this. Minnesota is a comparative negligence state. In a situation like yours, the court - if you ever got to court - would try to assign a percentage of liability to everyone involved. Most of the time, you get a few percent just for being there. Before anyone is liable, however, they need to have a percentage over 50.

Frankly, I don't see where anyone is over 50% responsible, so the answer might be that none of you can make any claim against the other. I hope everyone had good insurance.

I might want to blame the police officer, but I bet he has a good story about why he had to do what he was doing.

He should have given his badge number. I hope you got the number off his car. You could file a complaint with internal affairs over how he acted, but I don't see you getting any money out of it.

Good luck.

This response is for general information purposes only and does not create an attorney-client relationship. You are advised to seek the advice of the attorney of your choice.

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Answered on 12/20/04, 3:14 pm


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