Snow and Speed cause Interstate 69 Fatalities
The recent multiple vehicle, snowstorm accidents on I-69 near Indianapolis that resulted in two deaths and numerous injuries were a somber reminder for one of our clients. The headline story for the Sunday edition of the Indianapolis Star on Feb.15, describing the accounts, closecalls and ironies of some of the 34 drivers and victims involved in the Feb. 3 catastrophic pileup, was even harder to absorb.
On Feb. 14, 2006, Kevin Minglin was returning home from work on southbound I-69 just south of mile marker 8 when he was struck head-on by an oncoming vehicle. The other vehicle had lost control and crossed the center median. Because of recent heavy snow, the center median was packed up to and over the guardrail, permitting the car to "fly" over the guardrail and into the windshield of the Minglin car. Numerous vehicles were involved, and Kevin was killed instantly, leaving behing his wife and 2 teenage girls.
Over the past 2 years, the Minglin women have been forced to move on with their lives, but Kevin remains in their thoughts daily. Although our firm was able to help them secure a settlement with the insurance company that has made them financially secure, their lives have been filled with events that are constant reminders of their loss.
This past Sunday's story moved us to consider again the "what-ifs" that might have prevented Kevin Minglin's death. What if he had left work at his normal time, instead of helping "one more account" to make the customer happy? What if he hadn't called home on his cell phone moments before the collision--would he have been in a different lane or gone a little faster, and been out of harm's way? What if he hadn't slowed to let a car pass him moments before? If the snow hadn't been packed in the median, would the other car have collided with the guardrail instead of going over it?
Snow and speed killed Kevin Minglin, too. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. But his family's faith has allowed them to accept that it couldn't have been avoided.
