Missouri Injury Law Blog

Previously, I discussed recovery by 3rd parties against Missouri wrongful death settlements or judgments regarding medicare and also health care providers.

How about cases not involving wrongful death? Lets say you are involved in a Missouri auto accident with injuries and your health insurance, that you pay for, covers your medical expenses. Can that heath insurer now demand you pay them back from the proceeds of your auto accident settlement or judgment against the at fault driver? Absolutely not - but they try all the time.

As a St Louis Missouri lawyer with my primary practice focusing on all personal injury cases, I run in to this issue from time to time. Just recently, I had Blue Cross Blue Shield try and claim a lien and subrogation right against my client's money damages recovery against an at fault driver in a St Louis car collision lawsuit.

Under Missouri injury law it is clear that a lien or subrogation claim by a health insurer is against public policy. This standard under Missouri injury law has held since 1965 in the case of Travelers Indemnity Co. v. Chumbley, 394, S.W.2d 418, 425 (Mo.App.1965).

"It is also clear that a health care insurer may not be subrogated to its insured's right to recover from a third party tort-feasor because it would constitute an impermissible partial assignment of the insured's action for damages for bodily injury"

Also see Missouri injury lawsuit - Scroggins v. Red Lobster, No. SD 30214 Court of Appeals, Southern Dist 2010 stating:

“The Participant paid for health care coverage. The Insurer was obligated to provide those benefits regardless of whether the Participant pursued her personal injury claim. Missouri courts have never allowed a provider to be reimbursed for medical expenses that the insured recovers in a settlement from a liable third party under a lien theory, and we decline to do so now.”

Continue reading "Personal Injury Settlement in Missouri: Can Your Health Insurer Demand Payback for Medical Expenses?" »

August 21, 2007, 19 year old Kendra Lymon was driving her Dodge Neon through an intersection and was struck by Robert Bohn, a part time tractor-trailer driver for Bynum Transport, Inc. Another tractor-trailer in the opposite turn lane blocked Bohn’s view, but he turned left anyway hitting Lymon on her driver’s side and crushing the entire vehicle. Bohn insisted he had a green arrow, but it was later found, through eyewitnesses, that Lymon had the green light.

Prior to the accident Lymon was a student of South Florida community College, majoring in psychology. Lymon had a bright future ahead of her. She spoke six languages and was working as an aide for the Florida Institute of Neurologic Rehabilitation. Since the car accident, she has been left with extensive personal injuries, including a traumatic brain injury, which require her to be under constant supervision. She needs assistance with everyday tasks such as bathing, dressing, eating, and all routine tasks and must also use a wheelchair.

On March 18, 2009 a jury returned a personal injury verdict in the amount of $65 million for the plaintiff. Bynum Transport and Robert Bohn argued the amount was excessive, should be reduced and requested a new trial. In their appeal, they specifically challenged the $41,443,401 award for “pain and suffering, disability, physical impairment, disfigurement, mental anguish, inconvenience, aggravation of disease or physical defect, or loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life.”

In a one-page ruling, the Lakeland based appellate court affirmed the decision to award the jury’s verdict.

The family is pleased, as this money will help provide the 24-hour care Kendra needs to live.

A tractor trailer accident occurred around 11:30 a.m. this past Monday, at the Taylor Avenue overpass. The truck struck the median barrier that runs between east and westbound Highway 40 (Interstate 64), killing the driver, Thomas J. Niemeyer. At this time, witnesses and emergency responders are unsure of the reason why the driver lost control of the truck.

Witnesses said that the truck appeared to be traveling eastbound normally, when the driver abruptly veered to the left, hitting the concrete barrier and stuctural beam and was ejected from the truck. Currently, there are still some questions whether the driver suffered a medical emergency or if it was a mechanical issue that caused the driver to lose control of the truck.

We will be following this tragic accident closely.

Around 10:15 this morning 2 people were killed and 40 plus injured from what the Missouri Highway Patrol is calling a Missouri chain-reaction automobile accident on I-44 near Gray Summit. As a semi truck cab – no trailer attached – neared a slowed convergence area, caused by an approaching construction zone, a GMC pickup truck slammed into the back of the cab. The normal speed limit for that area is 70 mph.

Behind the pickup truck two school buses carrying 8th to 12th grade band students were en route to Six Flags for their annual school trip. The first bus carried the female students, while the second bus carried the male students. The driver of the first bus states that she did not see the two vehicles stopped and ran completely over the GMC and up onto the cab of the semi truck – as shown in the picture below. The second school bus then crashed into the back of the first bus.

The female driver of the GMC truck and one female student was killed, while more than 40 more were transported to local hospitals for minor injuries. Two students, aged 16 and 13, are now in stable condition. At this time, no other information is available regarding the condition of the student passengers.

This stretch of highway has seen at least 19 Missouri motor vehicle accidents with 33 fatalities between 2000 and 2007. Most of the Missouri car accidents occur near the Six Flags exit lanes on I-44. See devastating St Louis Missouri truck accident involving family of five as one of many examples. Whether it is defective roadway planning or driver inattention, this area has seen more than their fair share of fatalities.

This is an ongoing and tragic story and the personal injury victims and their families are in our prayers.

St Louis News Video Reporting on I-44 Truck / Bus Accident

On December 11, 2008 a St Louis City school bus transporting Carnahan high school students was involved in a violent crash. The official reports are vague, however, personal injury attorney Ben Sansone represents one of the students that was seriously injured and taken to Cardinal Glennon hospital. According to her, the bus driver attempted to pass traffic, accelerated quickly and then in order to avoid crashing into other vehicles ran off the road and crashed into a post and some utility structures. St Louis Missouri Bus Accident - Story on MyFoxSTL.com

On behalf of my client and as a St Louis Missouri injury lawyer, I will be pursuing damages against the bus company, who exactly that is is still under investigation and significant updates will be posted to this blog. However, it is clear that the bus driver was negligent, additionally, there may be additional issues, as in truck accident cases, of negligent retention, hiring, or training of the bus driver.

Several months ago I posted a Missouri personal injury lawyer blog entry regarding the top causes of bicycle accidents with motor vehicles and trucks, (bike accident article link) and discussed a case I was handling that was caused by the "right hook". Recently I was retained to represent an injured St Louis bicyclist that was injured as a result of "The Right Cross". See image for bike accident description. In this current St Louis bike accident case, my client was riding in a designated bike lane on Russell in downtown St Louis city and the negligent driver was driving a Hummer H2 when she made a right turn directly into him as he was crossing the intersection. Traffic on Russel at that intersection does not have a stop sign, however, cross traffic does. Again, this is a common cause of bike accidents, simple failure of drivers to recognize or even be aware of cyclists around them.

As a practicing Missouri bike accident lawyer, I have handled a lot of bicycle personal injury cases in St Louis and throughout Missouri and Illinois, and in almost every case the police report is written with a clear bias toward the cyclist, however, in this case I must commend the St Louis city police officer for writing a proper and non biased report. As discussed in a previous bike accident injury lawyer post, I had to take a bike injury case to trial because the insurance company refused to pay based on the police report blaming the cyclist. After a St Louis bike accident personal injury trial, the jury decides that it was the driver's fault and came back with a Plaintiff's verdict in favor of the bike rider I represented and blamed the driver for the accident, despite the police officer's report, because they saw the bias and poor reporting that I and other Missouri personal injury lawyers often see.

Just recently, an Alton Illinois bike accident with a large truck resulted in the tragic death of a bicyclist. The details of the accident are being held as the family is still being notified. From what little is known, the Alton bike accident seems similar to an accident in Pennsylvania when a truck hopped a curb when making a right turn and killed a woman bike rider. The truck company settled that case for $5.1 Million. See Personal Injury Wrongful Death Bike Accident Lawyer Settlement.

$18 million was recently paid by a trucking company operating across Missouri to the family of 4 women that were killed in a tragic truck accident on a Kansas City Missouri highway. A jury had returned a verdict of negligence for 3 of the 4 women, the verdict was $15 million; while the jury was deliberating on the punitive damages issue the truck company decided to settle for $18 million to cover the potential punitive damages award.

There was ample evidence that the trucking company did not properly screen the truck drivers and that the at fault truck driver had several problems that were either negligently missed or intentionally overlooked. Problems that would have kept the truck driver off the road.

From the perspective of a St Louis Missouri injury lawyer and a lawyer that handles St Louis Missouri truck accident personal injury cases, it was smart to resolve this case for $18 million, despite the potential for a massive punitive damages verdict. Families need closure, and despite the sensational punitive damages awards that Missouri lawmaker will often use as examples for tort reform, rarely are the punitive damage awards seen by the families as the appeal process drags on and prevents the closure of a tragic chapter in their lives. Additionally, Missouri law required that 50% of the punitive damage award goes to the state.

More importantly, settlement means no appeals, no more expenses, no risk of reversal. Anytime their is a multi million dollar judgment an appeal will follow, extending the case for years. Settlement means closure and money now.

Settlements are more important than Judgments in many wrongful death cases. In June 2007 we settled a case for $4.5 million regarding a St Louis Missouri gastric bypass medical malpractice wrongful death case. A similar case went to trial against the same doctor and the verdict was $7.5 million; however, the family never saw that $7.5 million; they settled for less than $2 million. The personal injury lawyer that got that St Louis death case verdict did excellent work, however, at the end of the day, his clients never saw the money from the large St Louis wrongful death verdict.

Truck Accident Wrongful Death Case

Currently we are handling a St. Louis Missouri personal injury truck accident case that involved a commercial truck driver whose truck was being repaired so his employer a Missouri trucking company rented a similar commercial truck from Penske truck rental. The large sleeper cabin in the back of the semi-truck did not have adequate safety equipment or padding for the sleeping or resting passenger who is often the secondary or relief commercial truck driver. The tractor trailer was involved in large truck accident outside of St Louis Missouri while my client was asleep in the back. He suffered serious personal injury while traveling through Illinois, mainly several cervical fractures from the Illinois truck crash, because the sleeper cabin had no padding and no way to secure a sleeping truck driver. Thus, he contacted us, top St Louis injury lawyers.

As a St Louis personal injury lawyer handling large truck accidents, I see this as a truck accident case against the liable driver, but also a Missouri products liability and a Missouri negligent maintenance case for the truck rental company's failure to have and maintain proper truck safety and security for the truck driver resting in the cabin.

I have handled cases in the past regarding rental cars being improperly maintained as they are often abused and the rental company wants to put as little maintenance money in them as possible to boost profit margins. This is a recipe for disaster, as someone is inevitably going to suffer serious personal injury as a result of the negligent truck maintenance.

Recently U-Haul incurred a judgment of $84 million as the result of serious personal injury to a man who was run over by a truck that he rented from U-Haul. The man parked the truck on a slight incline and when the parking brake failed the truck ran him over causing severe personal injuries, including a broken pelvis preventing him from walking ever again. The rental truck personal injury lawyers discovered the truck brakes to be defective and total lack of maintenance after several hundred thousand miles of rental truck driving.

The problem is the total lack of maintenance. For example, I was able to get a great settlement for a client regarding an Illinois bus accident lawsuit after he stepped in front of a Greyhound bus from in between parked cars, however, the Greyhound bus brakes were malfunctioning and the driver was unable to stop to avoid the collision. See - Illinois Bus Accident Injury Lawyer Lawsuit Settlement.

If you or someone you know rent a truck make sure to drive carefully and check to make sure the truck is operating properly. If you or someone you know are the victim of an unfortunate truck accident personal injury in St Louis Missouri or anywhere in Missouri or Illinois, call us, Missouri truck accident lawyers and Illinois truck accident lawyers.

St Louis Personal Injury Attorneys

Illinois Truck Accident and Injury Lawyer

A truck accident injury lawyer needs to be aware of the primary causes of truck accidents as thees causes and statistics become relevant when investigating a truck accident and determining causation and the specific act of negligence by a truck driver. The Large Truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS) was conducted by the US highway safety administration in an attempt to define the cause of most truck accidents, specifically large trucks, i.e. Semis, tractor trailer, 18-wheelers. The study covered over 900 crashes involving more than 1,100 large trucks and about 950 cars. Out of these 963 crashes there were 249 fatalities and 1,654 injuries.

What are the primary causes of large truck accidents? The primary cause (about 32% of the accidents) were from the truck driver drifting or leaving their lane of travel into another or off the road entirely. The second largest cause (about 29%) is traveling too fast for conditions, cargo shift, mechanical failures, or claimed poor road conditions. Lastly, about 22% were the result of rear end accidents, specifically the truck causing and accident by running into the vehicle in front of it.

Truck accident causation is important to injury lawyers in the prosecution of their client's claims because often the statistics ring very true to us when handling truck accident cases and pining down the cause of the accident and thus the liability on the truck driver's shoulders.

In addition to the critical factors above there are also high risk factors for truck accident causation, specifically, the highest risk factor, cargo shift. To an untrained accident lawyer may mean no fault on the driver, however, cargo shift is often the result of loading the trailer improperly or failing to secure the truck cargo to avoid the cargo shift and the leading cause of truck operators to lose control and cause an accident.

Most of the remaining factors when combined, make up a majority of the high risk factors resulitng in large truck accidents involving injury or death and those are:

1. Truck driver making an illegal maneuver - (9% of truck accidents)
2. Truck driver inattention - (9% of truck accidents)
3. Truck following too close - (5% causation of large truck accidents)
4. Truck driver Over the Counter Drug Use - (17% of truck accidents)
5. Truck driver speeding or traveling too fast for the conditions - (23% of truck accidents)
6. Truck driver failing to keep an adequate lookout - (14% of truck accidents)

LARGE TRUCK CAUSATION STUDY

DOT PRESS RELEASE - Study Concludes Driver Behavior Causes Most Truck Accidents

Ms. Jacobs was traveling on I-70 when a fatigued truck driver fell asleep at the wheel and swerved into her and forced her off the highway. As a result of the truck accident she suffered shoulder impingement that required surgery.

The case was transferred to me after several years of drawn out litigation with another personal injury law firm that initially filed the injury case. The client came to us because she wanted her case pursued aggressively by personal injury trial lawyers. Her prior lawyers were not pursuing the case diligently, they failed to prepare and set the case for trial which keeps continued pressure on the insurance company.

When my office received the case the offer from State Farm Insurance, the insurer for the negligent truck driver, was about $20,000. I prepared the case for trial, primarily by getting the client's treating doctor's medical testimony on the record which supported her injuries, continued symptoms, medical treatment, and the doctor's opinion that the accident was the sole cause for the injuries and resultant symptoms.

More importantly, we amended the Injury Petition to a "Negligence Per Se Petition" based on the fact the negligent truck driver was cited by the police for careless and imprudent driving, moreover, the negligent truck driver plead guilty to and was convicted of the careless and imprudent driving, therefore, the issue of liability was was essentially admitted by the truck driver's plea of guilty and conviction. The negligence per se Petition was allowed by the Judge, thus adding tremendous pressure on State Farm. The issue at trial was not both liability and damages, but only damages now.

The defense lawyers for State Farm increased their offer by more than double within a few days of trial to $45,000. This was an exceptional injury settlement based on the medical bills of about $13,000 and the client's injuries which she recovered from.

In Franklin County Missouri, just outside the St Louis Missouri area, a serious truck accident occurred when a freight-liner model semi truck collided with a fire truck that was stopped on the side of the highway in response to another car accident.

Our client, an injured firefighter contacted us knowing we are experienced Missouri personal injury attorneys and especially Missouri truck accident lawyers. Both the fire truck and the tractor trailer were severely damaged and had to be towed from the scene as the semi truck struck the fire truck at about 60 MPH according to the truck driver's statement to police. The fire truck was hurled 186 feet, and worse yet, my client was in the fire truck when this massive truck accident occurred.

After the truck accident occurred and the trucks came to a rest, my client was evacuated to the hospital for treatment. Luckily, he is recovering from his injuries and hopefully will be back to normal after continued physical therapy.

Generally, a semi truck accident or collision involves another vehicle of much smaller size, such as the passenger vehicles most of us drive. The only thing that saved my clients life is the fact that he was in a vehicle that was the size and weight of the massive truck that slammed into him. Many truck accident victims are not that lucky. Experienced truck accident lawyers are essential as insurance, liability, and regulations are very particular in commercial freightliner and tractor trailer cases.

Bus accident resulting in personal injury: Our injured client was struck by a Greyhound bus at a rest stop when he walked between parked cars and failed to look before crossing. Several other law firms refused to take the case, and understandably so, because he admitted to not looking where he was going.

Attention to detail by us lead us to this great settlement. Upon extensive investigation we learned that the Greyhound bus recently had brake problems and we tracked down a witness who was on the bus that was willing to testify that the brakes were malfunctioning and that was the reason the bus stopped at the rest stop to begin with.

Of course, Greyhound's records did not indicate this problem, however, the bus driver admitted to the brake issue during his deposition. Our client incurred about $12,000 in medical bills and the settlement reached was excellent considering the comparative fault and damages.

Madison County Illinois Court Record of Greyhound Bus Lawsuit