Missouri Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Police in Waynesville are looking for a hit-and-run driver after a car versus pedestrian accident in Missouri, which killed a 51-year-old woman. Officials say that the woman was found lying along the roadside on Highway 17 North. The vehicle that hit her did not stop at the scene of the accident. She was rushed to a local hospital, but did not survive her injuries.

Leaving the scene of an accident is a serious crime under Missouri law. Under Missouri Revised Statutes section 577.060.1.: "A person commits the crime of leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident when being the operator or driver of a vehicle on the highway or on any publicly or privately owned parking lot or parking facility generally open for use by the public and knowing that an injury has been caused to a person or damage has been caused to property, due to his culpability or to accident, he leaves the place of the injury, damage or accident without stopping and giving his name, residence, including city and street number, motor vehicle number and driver's license number, if any, to the injured party or to a police officer, or if no police officer is in the vicinity, then to the nearest police station or judicial officer."

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A report card recently released by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety says Missouri has done a reasonable job of enforcing state traffic laws and protecting drivers. But the report card also states that Missouri lawmakers have some work to do in order to save lives on the road. According to a KY3 report, the advocacy group grades each state based on 15 laws addressing teen driving, distracted driving, drunk driving and the required use of seatbelts, child booster seats and motorcycle helmets.

Where does Missouri stand? On a scale of green to red, Missouri is a yellow. The state has continued its requirement of motorcycle helmets and booster seat laws. Lawmakers have also fixed the state's graduated licensing law for teens. However, to move to the next level, state lawmakers must adopt an all-driver texting ban, advocates say. Right now, Missouri only bans texting for drivers under 21 years of age. There are five bills that have been proposed to ban texting for all drivers. The report card also puts a new emphasis on tougher ignition interlock laws for convicted drunk drivers.

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Pedestrian accidents can cause some of the most serious injuries seen in auto accidents, posing a tremendous and unfortunate risk of wrongful death, especially when vehicles traveling at high speeds are involved. The impact of a pedestrian either hitting concrete, the vehicle itself, or any other object near or on the road or sidewalk, can be enough to inflict catastrophic head injuries, spinal injuries, and other severe injuries.

A recent pedestrian accident has sadly taken the life of an 83-year-old man in St. Louis. According to reports, the elderly man stepped in front of a vehicle driven by a 17-year-old young man who was traveling on Virginia Avenue around noon on September 14, 2009. The elderly man hit the windshield of the car after being struck and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

It is not known at this time whether the teenage driver will be charged for the pedestrian’s death; however, police were reported as saying that they didn’t expect such charges to be filed. Fortunately, the driver stayed at the scene of the auto accident and cooperated with police, otherwise, circumstances for facing charges may have been different. Some may argue that one of the causes of this auto accident was driver inexperience in addition to other feasible factors.

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According to a recent report, on Wednesday, July 29, a 5-year-old boy crossing the street was struck and killed by a car going 10-15 mph. Apparently the young boy was in a hurry to catch up with some of his friends when he was hit. Police are ruling this incident an accident and the driver of the vehicle is not facing charges at this time. What concerns law enforcement, however, is why the young child was unsupervised in the first place. The pedestrian accident in Missouri occurred at 7:45 pm along Livingston Avenue in St. Ann.

The Missouri Department of Transportation’s 2007 traffic crash report indicates that there were 42 fatalities and 240 injures in pedestrian accidents in Missouri. That means that out of all the fatal traffic accidents in the state, 11.3% involved pedestrian deaths. On a more positive note however, the study reported that pedestrian fatalities decreased 18% during the one year period of 2007 to 2006.

Considering that 76% of pedestrian fatalities and 43.5% of pedestrian injuries in 2007 took place during the hours of darkness, both pedestrians and drivers have a serious responsibility to use extreme caution and awareness when traveling. If you are walking at night, remember to avoid wearing dark clothing and do not trust that a vehicle’s driver sees you.

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A car veered onto a sidewalk, striking two Cahokia teens, killing one and injuring another as they were walking to a friend’s house. According to this report, an 18-year-old male and 17-year-old female were walking between the 700 and 800 blocks of Falling Springs Road near Cahokia around 7:50 in the evening when a car left the road and traveled along the sidewalk where it struck the 18-year-old male victim. Cahokia Police officials are still investigating the car accident in Illinois, but reports state that the vehicle dragged the male victim about 100 feet until the car hit a tree.

The female victim sustained bone fractures and received treatment at Cardinal Glennon Hospital in St. Louis.

The male victim’s family has been unable to make funeral arrangements because they cannot afford to pay for the costs of a funeral. According to the report, a family friend established a trust for the funeral costs at a local bank.

Law enforcement officials have not issued any charges related to the car accident, but expect to after completion of a report from an accident reconstruction team investigating the incident. It is unknown whether the driver was ill, driving recklessly or under the influence of drugs and alcohol, but the evidence suggests that the driver was negligent in the operation of the vehicle.

Continue reading "Cahokia Car Accident Kills One Teenager, Another Wounded" »