Personal Injury Law

Iowa Workers Compensation: Single car accidents where the working driver is killed

By Steve Lombardi

Normally we think in terms of car accidents being about liability against another driver. But when a driver falls asleep at the wheel or for whatever reason loses control of a company owned vehicle or even their own vehicle in some instances; crashes, rolls and dies, the dependents may still be entitled to receive Iowa workers' compensation benefits. This is true even when the driver is the negligent party or the party at fault.

In the instance of the I-35 crash I discussed yesterday, I haven't any further information about this situation than what you are now reading and I'm not implying Mr. Buckner has a widow or minor dependent children or that he was working; but his story brings this to mind when I read about it. Here is the news item from Radio Iowa about this single driver collision.

Matthew Buckner was driving his Northbound on 315^th St. when he lost control of the van he was driving approximately 100 yards north of the Highway 34 intersection. He entered the east ditch and rolled several times before coming to rest on its side trapping Mr. Buckner inside. He was freed by mechanical extrication and was taken to Creighton Medical Center in Omaha, dying later that morning.

He was driving a 1989 GMC van. Under Iowa law, if he had dependents they should be entitled to workers' compensation benefits; assuming that at the time of the collision the driver was working.

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on April 15, 2009 (boomark / email).