Missouri Injury Law Blog

A previous entry discussed a specific case wherein my client was the victim of a rear end car accident in Belleville Illinois when a drunk driver failed to stop at a stop light and crashed into her at about 60 mph. See Injury Lawyer - Illinois Drunk Driving Car Accident.

The driver that hit my client plead guilty to drunk driving (DUI) in St Clair County Illinois. His plea of guilty, despite being granted probation, is evidence that he was legally intoxicated at the time of the accident thus justifying the imposition of punitive damages. See Illinois Complaint for Car Accident resulting from Drunk Driver and Imposition of Punitive Damages.

In Illinois, as in Missouri and most other states, the imposition of punitive damages is justified if the defendant's conduct is egregious enough to rise above mere negligence and rise to a level of intentional misconduct. Often described as "wilful and wanton" conduct or conduct that shows a "conscious disregard for the safety of others".

In a drunk driving case the defendant did not intentionally hit the other driver, however, the conscious disregard for the safety of others by engaging in the reckless conduct of drunk driving allows the imposition of punitive damages. Despite the lack of an intent to hurt anyone (as in an assault case where intent to harm is clear) the engagement into such reckless conduct implies that intent. Missouri and Illinois courts have both upheld punitive damage awards in drunk driving car and truck accidents.

St Louis Injury lawyer was contacted after Zhelev, who was traveling on eastbound highway 40 and stopped due to traffic congestion, was struck from behind by a negligent driver who told the police that she "was falling asleep at the wheel and could not stop". Additionally, the officer that responded to the St Louis Missouri car accident stated "it appeared that vehicle #1 [the at fault driver] did not brake prior to impact." To further emphasize the severity of the impact, the cars were on an uphill grade when the car accident and collision occurred. Clearly, a St Louis injury lawyer would agree with the officer and argue the brakes were never touched.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is a great car accident resource with videos showing the body movement in car and truck collisions. Clearly, the side picture evidences the sever impact my client suffered, as the entire trunk and rear end of his Nissan Altima was crushed in as a result of the car accident and rear end collision.

According to the National Transportation and Safety Board's (NTSB) most recent statistics, over 6 million crashes occurred in the U.S., killing more than 41,000 people and injuring about 3.4 million. Rear-end collisions accounted for almost one-third of these crashes (1.848 million) and 11.8 percent of multi-vehicle fatal crashes (1,923). Moreover, 40% of the fatal rear end accidents involved commercial vehicles, mainly large trucks causing these deaths.

Car Accident Resource - Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

NTSB Studies and Special Reports - Car Accidents - Truck Accidents - Highway Safety

As a St Louis Missouri personal injury attorney I speak to dozens of bikers that are hit by cars. In most cases, injured bicyclists are the victims of driver inattention, which causes or allows the motorist to strike the bicyclists and cause a bicycle accident. The primary cause of bicyclists being hit by cars, driver inattention. In my experience as a personal injury lawyer, the most critical injuries occur when a motorists underestimates a bicyclist's speed, over takes them, and then makes a right turn directly in front of the bicyclist, thus causing a collision. The results are often severe injuries to the bicyclist. In most cases I handle, the bicyclist suffers from broken bones, road rash, multiple bruises, and lacerations.

This type of bike accident or injury is often referred to as the "The Right Hook" (see diagram). It is very common and i am currently representing two Missouri bike accident victims that were injured as a result of this very type of action by a driver. In both cases, the driver swears they never saw the bike or the cyclist or that they passed them and made an extra wide turn, but someone they still cut the off. Fact of the matter is, motorist often are hostile to cyclists and do not respect their own duty to share the road.

The "RIGHT HOOK" - Bike Accident

Bicycle Safety - Top 10 Most Common Causes of Bike Accidents

Bicycling Safety Tips - Be Predictable to Avoid an Accident and Injury

Bicycle Crash Statistics - Bicycle Almanac

My client, Kevin, was involved in a St Louis Missouri car and truck accident after the driver of a truck lost control of his vehcile on Highway 44 near Antire Road in St Louis County. The driver that lost control of his truck and hit my client's car claimed a large semi truck caused the accident by cutting him off and causing him to lose control of his truck and thus striking my client's car. The collision caused my client to lose control of his vehicle, spin out, and hit the median.

As the result of the two truck drivers' negligence, Kevin sustained a knee injury consisting of a torn meniscus cartilage. This injury required minor surgery and physical therapy amounting to about $14,000 in medical bills.

A claim was made against the insurer for the pickup driver, Progressive Insurance, and my client's uninsured motorist coverage, Fireman's Fund, to cover the negligence of the unidentified semi truck driver. Many personal injury lawyers would have only made a claim against the primary truck driver as the only evidence of the large semi truck driver's negligence was the pickup driver's own statement to the police about the semi truck cutting him off.

Aggressive pursuit of my client's primary claim and the pursuit of the uninsured motorist claim yielded a result over and above the primary at fault driver's insurance limit of $25,000. Instead we were able to recover additional amounts over the $25,000 insurance limit and ultimately recover a $55,000 personal injury settlement for our client.

DEMAND LETTER - Personal Injury Auto Accident - Demand to Liability Insurer and Uninsured Motorist Carrier

National Transportation Library - Large Truck Accident Causation

Missouri Uninsured Motorist Report

Missouri car accident attorney contacted soon after two minors, between the ages of 10 and 15, were passengers in a 16 year old's car when he lost control of his vehicle near Cape Girardeau Missouri on highway 51 due to catching the shoulder and driver inattention. The driver over-corrected and went off the road and head on into a tree. Both of my young clients that were passengers were seriously injured and the driver was severely injured as well. All three occupants were taken to St Francis Hospital in Cape Girardeau Missouri for emergency medical treatment. The father of the minor children contacted me, an experienced Missouri car accident lawyer.

The driver was quoted by the reporting officer as saying: "I was coming down the road and ran off the edge of the roadway. I steered back onto the road and was going to cross over the centerline into oncoming traffic and I steered back to the right and overcorrected, ran off the road and hit the tree."

The driver has auto insurance coverage limits of 50/100, meaning that the insurance company is responsible for up to $100,000 in liability coverage per accident with an additional limit of $50,000 per injured person. Sadly, my clients are young teenagers who have both suffered permanent injures that have required surgery and in one victim the removal of intestine and colon. $50,000 will never be enough to compensate him for his personal injuries.

Often times political ads put out false propaganda about abuse of the legal system by trial lawyers and Missouri and Illinois victims of personal injury; but, you never hear about the thousands of injured Missouri and Illinois residents who every year suffer severe injuries and never recover the amounts they deserve, because insurance limits are too low and or state legislatures are now protecting insurance companies with laws that seriously inhibit an injured victims ability to recover. You never hear about the people that deserve hundreds of thousands, but only receive a few thousand. Missouri and Illinois should require $100,000 auto insurance liability minimums; until then, make sure you protect yourself by maxing out your uninsured and under-insured motorist coverage.

Car Accident Insurance - Auto Liability Insurance Minimums By State

Continue reading "Southern Missouri Single Car Accident - Driver Error and Over-correction when Vehicle Control Lost - I represent Two Minor Passengers that were Severely Injured - Insurance Limit Issues - Health Insurance Coverage and Subrogation Problems" »

Gina was the victim of a high speed rear end collision car accident in St Clair, Illinois, after a drunk driver's inattention, negligence, and drunken recklessness allowed his vehicle to crash into Gina's car at about 60 MPH. The drunk driver was issued three citations, failure to reduce speed and avoid a car accident, no insurance, and driving under the influence (DUI).

ARTICLE FROM BELLVILLE NEWS DEMOCRAT
"Aug. 26--BELLEVILLE -- A man and woman were injured Friday night when police said a drunken driver rear-ended their car at the intersection of Green Mount Road and Carlyle with such force the woman had to be freed from the wreckage. Police were not releasing the name of victims, who Belleville Police Officer Dusty Kallal said live at Scott Air Force Base and were taken to St. Elizabeth's Hospital with nonlife threatening injuries. Kallal also withheld the name of the other driver pending charges. He described him as Belleville man in his mid-40s who he said will be ticketed for driving under the influence of alcohol and "various traffic violations." The accident occurred about 7:30 p.m. The Toyota driven by the man and woman was stopped at a traffic light on westbound Green Mount Road. Witnesses said the Ford Mustang was driving at an accelerated speed and did not appear to slow down when it struck the vehicle, Kallal said. The impact caused the front bumper of the Mustang to become embedded in the rear of the Toyota."

My client, The victim of the car collision above, initially hired a St Louis, Missouri based personal injury law firm well known for their personal injury advertising featuring their bearded mascot that you will never see come near a courtroom. They were able to negotiate an average offer on the case, but then refused to pursue the claim further or file a lawsuit to get a better result for the client. Instead, they ignored her phone calls and then consistently pushed her to take the settlement.

As a result of the conduct above, they were fired and the case was transferred to us to file a lawsuit and prepare for trial. The offer on the case is decent, but by no means a good offer; especially considering the culpability on the drunk driver; we will not rest until our client has an excellent offer or a verdict is reached. The choice of an Illinois personal injury lawyer is an important one; as my client learned, many claimed personal injury lawyers are happy to get you an ok offer and make an easy dollar, but I am committed to getting the absolute best for my client; unless my client does not want to pursue a lawsuit and simply settle.

A serious car accident occurred in Missouri after a vehicle slide of the roadway and then off a 30' cliff in DeSoto Missouri. See Missouri Car Accident from Improper Barrier.

I am representing the driver and front passenger of the vehicle and other Missouri personal injury lawyers are representing the back seat passengers of the vehicle. The driver's policy will be quickly depleted given the driver's limited amount of insurance coverage; however, there is a critical issue of liability on the city of DeSoto for failure to properly maintain and make the roadway safe. Simply put, it is foreseeable that a car can slide slightly off the road through ordinary negligence or just as a result of adverse weather conditions, however, the only thing between the road and a 30' death fall is a weak single cable, shown to the right. At a minimum a three cable guard is appropriate but a steel guard is the standard.

A steel road guard would have keep the car on the road and prevented a minor negligent act of allowing a vehicle to slide off the road a few feet from becoming a catastrophic accident resulitng in persoanl injury. Driver error and slightly running of the road by a few feet is entirely a foreseeable event and the city has a duty to make the roadway safe from these foreseeable errors. Not only is the city legally liable for the injuries to all four people in the car, but the statutory limits of recovery allow for $350,000 per person to recover from the city for its negligence and the causal connection with failing to keep a minor accident exactly that, a minor accident. This allows me and the other Missouri injury lawyers to help out our injured clients in getting fully compnesated for their injuries or at least much closer to full compensation than that offered by the low mandatory limit of insurance most driver's carry; $25,000 per person.

MODOT - Cable Guards

My client was involved in a recent St Louis area car accident or collision that occurred at the intersection of Delmar and Hanley. This intersection has approximately 30 reported car accidents a year. The other driver crashed into the side of my clients car at a high rate of speed causing a violent collision that sent my client's car spinning as a result of the car collision. My client has no clear memory of the collision or the mechanics of the car accident, she simply woke up turned completely around and in a different lane than what she was originally traveling in.

According to witness accounts and the police diagram, shown here, the other driver approached the intersection at a high rate of speed and did not slow down or stop for the flashing red light, thus causing this intersection car accident. The police report further goes on to state the other driver was completely at fault and that she admitted she did not stop for the red light. A story that has since dramatically changed now that she has been issued several citations fro her reckless conduct and her insurance company has been put on notice of a potential St Louis county Missouri car accident lawsuit.

What is unique about intersection car accidents and why do you need an experienced intersection car accident lawyer? Intersection car accidents present a different perspective to damages and culpability on the at fault driver. Some car accidents are caused by forgivable and common mistakes we all make from time to time; such as being momentarily distracted and then hitting the brakes too late and causing a rear end accident. An intersection car accident involving a driver that runs a red light is very different, the level of culpability is much higher as it was not an honest mistake in most cases, but an intentional and reckless disregard for the safety of other drivers. This make the chances of a high jury verdict much more likely as the act was not simple negligence. A good car accident lawyer experienced in case wherein the other driver was culpable beyond a mere mistake is crucial to gear the tone of the case with the insurance company in that direction in order to maximize the client's recovery and damages.

According to US Statistics, more than 900 people are killed and about 168,000 were injured in crashes that involved drivers running a red light.

A few weeks ago in Desoto Missouri 3 teenagers were seriously injured in a car accident when their vehicle slid off the road and went off a 32 foot cliff and landed in a shopping center parking lot. One passenger was very lucky and walked away, however, the other 2 passengers and the driver are all seriously injured. Including head injuries, broken back, hip injuries, fractured facial bones, orbital fracture, and the list goes on.

See MYFOXSTL News Story - Three Teens Injured When Car Falls 30 Feet off Cliff in Desoto

As an experienced Missouri car accident lawyer many legal issues of liability against the city, county, and state come to mind for an improper barrier or guard on the side of the road to prevent a vehicle that runs of the road there from going down a 30 foot cliff. This is especially important given the anticipated limited amount auto insurance that will be available to my client and the other injured teens in this accident to compensate them for their personal injury. Good injury lawyers know where to look to make sure their clients don't just get the easy policy limit from one insurance policy, but to be thorough and creative to find all parties that may be legally liable.

There have been several personal injury car accident cases in Missouri that have resulted in settlements against auto insurers and the local and state governments as well. Many of those cases are discussed on this blog and include the following:

County Liable for Downed Stop Sign

MODOT Liable for Dangerous Intersection - Personal Injury Resulting From Car Accident

It is very likely that I and the other Missouri personal injury lawyers representing the other injured teens will be filing a claim against the city and other government agencies responsible for the lack of a guard rail and simply putting a cable on the side of the road to stop vehicles from going off the highway.