Lake Andes, SD — Police believe that a single-vehicle rollover crash in Lake Andes, South Dakota, on Sunday, May 3, 2015, may have been caused by alcohol use. The accident happened on 291st Street, around 9:15 at night.
The two victims have been identified as 223-year-old Joshua Think Elk and 20-year-old Lacey Honomichl. Thin Elk was traveling west when he lost control of his vehicle and drove into a ditch on the left side of the road, causing the vehicle to roll.
Police say that speed and alcohol contributed to the crash. Both Thin Elk and Honomichl sustained minor injuries and were taken to Wagner Community Hospital.
Police say that no one has yet been ticketed and that the accident is still being investigated.
Read commentary below.
Scene of the Accident
View from the Road
Commentary
Unfortunately, South Dakota doesn’t have much in the way of dram shop laws, which say that if a bar had sold the two victims the alcohol they drank before the crash, and the driver was visibly intoxicated when the sale took place, the bar could potentially be held liable for the crash. Hopefully, this is an area in which the state makes some progress in the coming years, as laws like this an literally save lives. However, the driver in this accident can still be held liable for injuries sustained by his passenger, as he clearly breached the duty of care he owed her as a passenger in his vehicle.
— Grossman Law Offices
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