Posted on 12/03/2021 5:32:26 PM PST by Fester Chugabrew
The Kleven family is suing under the Child Wrongful Death Act.
A minivan driven by Brooke Kleven slid off an icy University Drive in Mishawaka on Dec. 31, 2019, sinking into a retention pond.
4-year-old James and 2-year-old Natalie Kleven both died. Brooke and her 3-month-old son Hendrik miraculously survived.
Three St Joseph County 911 dispatchers resigned in the wake of the crash. An investigation showed "multiple mistakes" were made handling the call, including locating the pond, mistakenly muting the phone, and how the call was dispatched-- first as an accident, not as a "vehicle in the water."
The lawsuit says the retention pond did not have a barrier or signs.
And at least two other incidents had happened before which resulted in vehicles sinking into the pond.
There are other issues noted in the lawsuit about issues with dispatch.
A true disappointment to read that the 911 dispatchers were woefully negligent in communicating the nature and location of the incident. The plaintiffs, I believe, have good reason to sue for wrongful death. I'm just not sure their targets and objectives square with reality. It is probably customary for lawyers to "go for it all" and see what happens.
Any idea why this lawsuit is being brought now, almost two years after the tragedy? Maybe the surviving family was so traumatized, it took them this long to become clearheaded and organized enough to do all the paperwork and contact the right lawyer. That would certainly be understandable.
And the driver of said minivan bears no responsibility for out driving the road conditions? Even if dispatches crews could have reached them, there’s no guarantee they would have prevented the deaths.
I think you answered your own question. Maybe add the virus factor, which has been emergent since shortly after the incident. Hard to imagine the impact this had on the family.
I’m sure the defense will raise that point, but the details revealed in the lawsuit point to a negligence that greatly impacted the response in a negative way.
Pretty soon nobody will be taking these jobs for fear of being sued....People are sue crazy these days.
Icey roads, accident, car goes into pond, people died.
Not the first time nor the last.
The suit goes overboard, but the negligence on the part of some merits remedy. Lawsuits happen all the time, too. Some of them are legit.
41.720762, -86.166460 Google coordinates. Shows two ponds, both on the East of the intersection. Couldn't print the map.This pond is on the Southwest side, and completely dry at the time Google took this picture
"At all relevant times, the Subject Pond was at least eight (8) feet deep at or near its center."
The driver may have been negligent, but the deceased kids were not. Whether the driver was negligent or not has no bearing on wrongful death suits brought against the county by the estates or surviving family members (other than the driver) of the deceased kids.
The script-writer for the 911 center (most use “canned” Q & A scripts from outside vendors) should be listed as an additional defendant.
My sense is that the respondents to the 911 call did not even make use of any script writing product. The second 911 call was muted while giving instruction to the party in distress! New Year’s Eve vodka may have played a part, given what transpired.
Mebbe.
But the script-writers and vendors need accountability.
They have basically robbed 911 Telecommunicators of reason and common sense.
Might as well just go full automated “if your vehicle is sinking, enter 1 now”
/s
Good point. To be sure, if 911 dispatchers and call receivers are by policy mandated to make use of scripted product, then accountability lands there, too. In this case I doubt it.
Er, did you not notice the recent pandemic that caused courts and law offices to be closed for months?
On top of that, there was probably quite a while spent grieving, demanding answers and then attempting to be ‘nice’ by asking them to pay compensation for their gross incompetence. The pace of government (adjusted for the pandemic) would account for this as well - perhaps they got the run around and only recently got the “FOAD” reply from the government.
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