Nebraska High Court Rules Farmers Not Liable for Fatal Crash

The Nebraska Supreme Court has affirmed that two farming brothers should not have been found negligent in a 2007 fatal crash where tall corn created a blind intersection.

The crash occurred on Oct. 6, 2007, in Saunders County, when two pickups collided at an intersection where the view was obstructed by 7-foot-tall corn planted only feet from the road. The crash killed one passenger and left another, Thomas Latzel, a quadriplegic who died from his injuries three years later.

Latzel’s wife, Amanda, sued the truck drivers and the farmers who planted the corn. But a Saunders County District Court judge granted a motion to dismiss the farmers – Ronald and Doug Bartek – from the lawsuit, saying the fault was with the truck drivers for entering a blind intersection.