Second Lawsuit Filed Over Hayride Accident

WHAT CHEER – A second lawsuit has been filed against Daniel Brubaker, the driver of last year’s hayride accident that left several local middle-schoolers in the hospital. A previous lawsuit was filed by Amy Stewart and Bronson McCulley, parents of a 12-year-old girl injured in the hayride accident. The new lawsuit was filed by Wesley Snakenberg and Angela Snakenberg, both individually and on behalf of their 13-year-old daughter, who was injured in the accident.

The incident occurred on October 14 of 2023, at a party arranged by parents of middle-school-aged students at a park in What Cheer. Brubaker drove a truck pulling a goose-neck trailer covered in haybales as part of a hayride. Brubaker drove into a ditch, flinging children from the trailer and, according to both lawsuits, running several of them over with the trailer. In their lawsuit, the Snakenbergs accuse Brubaker of operating the trailer in a negligent manner, resulting in their daughter’s injuries. The lawsuit accuses Brubaker of operating the vehicle at an excessive speed, failing to keep a proper lookout, failing to keep the vehicle on the traveled portion of the roadway, failing to maintain control of the vehicle, and most damningly, of operating the vehicle following the consumption of alcohol or other intoxicating beverages.

Also named in the lawsuit are Brubaker’s business, Daniel Brubaker Trucking, to whom the trailer was registered, and Grinnell Select Insurance Company, who provide Brubaker’s business with insurance. The lawsuit alleges that Brubaker does not have sufficient insurance coverage to pay for the damages and injuries sustained by the Snakenberg girl and others injured, meaning the family is entitled to additional compensation from the insurance company.

A jury trial has been requested.