Columbia Missouri Car Accident Lawyer Blog

The death of a family member is always a traumatic experience, particularly if it happens because of a sudden accident or injury. The pain of the loss is only compounded when the loved one died as a result of someone else's negligence.

As our Columbia personal injury attorneys know, under these circumstances, it's important to consider your legal rights so you can ensure your family's interests are protected. This issue can be particularly vital if the deceased was the family breadwinner. Missouri law recognizes that in a wrongful death case, there is more than just emotional loss when a life is taken. It allows you to seek compensation for the loss of the deceased's financial contributions, or contributions to the caretaking of your home or family.

Here is Missouri's definition of wrongful death,explaining who among the surviving family members is entitled to seek compensation:

"Whenever the death of a person results from any act, conduct, occurrence, transaction, or circumstance which, if death had not ensued, would have entitled such person to recover damages in respect thereof, the person or party who, or the corporation which, would have been liable if death had not ensued shall be liable in an action for damages, notwithstanding the death of the person injured, which damages may be sued for:

(1) By the spouse or children or the surviving lineal descendants of any deceased children, natural or adopted, legitimate or illegitimate, or by the father or mother of the deceased, natural or adoptive;

(2) If there be no persons in class (1) entitled to bring the action, then by the brother or sister of the deceased, or their descendants, who can establish his or her right to those damages set out in section 537.090 because of the death."

Continue reading "Wrongful Death & Missouri Law: The Basics Explained" »

A recent two-vehicle accident left one person dead and a second in critical condition after a collision on Missouri's Fort Leonard Wood Military Base. Although government vehicles share the roads with ordinary civilian and commercial vehicles every day, accidents such as this one are uncommon. In this article, Columbia MO car accident lawyers will discuss car accidents involving government and civilian vehicles.

A spokesperson for the Army Base said a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT) collided with a 2005 Dodge Neon on Oct. 11th. The driver of the Neon, 49 year-old Christine Boone, was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency responders from General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital. A passenger in the Neon was transported to Columbia's University hospital and listed in critical condition.

The driver and passenger inside the HEMTT are both reported to be soldiers. Neither of them were injured. The results of this accident are similar to what can happen if a passenger vehicle is in an accident with a commercial truck. Because the truck is so much bigger and heavier than a car, the damage is much worse to the car and its occupants. An HEMTT is a 10-ton, eight-wheel-drive vehicle used by the Army for the re-supply of combat vehicles and weapons systems. In other words, this tank-like vehicle weighs 10,000 pounds versus the Dodge's 4,000 or so pounds.

Both the Fort Leonard Wood Military Police as well as the Army's Criminal Investigation Command are conducting a joint investigation of this tragic accident.

Continue reading "Deadly Accident on Fort Leonard Wood Raises the Question--Can You File a Wrongful Death Suit Against the Federal Government?" »

As Columbia car accident lawyers, we've seen our fair share of pedestrians seriously injured or killed by motor vehicles. These tragic accidents occur in both cities and rural areas, on community streets and even on our highways.

Pedestrian deaths due to traffic accidents include people who are crossing the road at intersections, walking along the side of the road, and even motorists who have left their vehicles to change a tire or lift their hood, when they are hit by passing motorists.

A national report released a couple of years ago showed that Columbia, Missouri citizens, live in one of the safest communities in the country--when it comes to pedestrian accidents. Nationwide, pedestrian fatalities caused by motor vehicle accidents amount to over 5,000 deaths each year. And according to the report, these deaths could have been preventable.

The report, Dangerous by Design: Solving the Epidemic of Preventable Pedestrian Deaths (and Making Great Neighborhoods), ranks various cities across the country, using a "Pedestrian Danger Index" assessment. Columbia turned up with the lowest Danger Index in Missouri--well below the national average. That's the good news! However, the same report also indicated that Missouri on the whole ranks higher than the national average.

MoDot has released statistics indicating that the amount of pedestrian traffic fatalities for this year was already equal to the numbers seen in 2010--at only nine months into 2011. During the first three months of 2011, 21 pedestrians were killed in traffic accidents, compared with only nine during the first three months of 2010.

Continue reading "Preventable Pedestrian Deaths on the Rise in Missouri--Columbia Ranked Safest City for Pedestrians " »

Columbia car accident lawyers have seen many clients come through our offices as a result of an accident with a driver who was speeding over the posted limit, or simply driving too fast for the circumstances. A tragic one vehicle accident involving twelve people highlights the dangers not just of speeding, but also of carrying passengers in the bed of a pickup truck. As a result of this crash, seven people were hospitalized and one died of his injuries.

According to the Highway Patrol's initial report, the accident occurred around 5:45 p.m. on County Road 435 just outside Mexico MO. James D. Rippee was driving a Dodge truck at high speed when he lost control, ran off the road and rammed into a mailbox. The truck then rolled over not once but several times, throwing nine people from the open bed and two from the cab. None were wearing any kind of safety device.

Although Rippee refused treatment at the scene, four others were airlifted to Columbia's University Hospital. In total, the Highway Patrol reported 12 injuries in victims ranging from 10 to 40 years of age. Of these twelve, seven suffered serious injuries and five minor ones. The one fatality was Benjamin Ewens, 20, of Mexico who died at University Hospital.

Troop F reports this as their 48th traffic fatality for 2011. Read the Missouri State Highway Patrol's traffic crash report of this incident here.

It has not yet been reported if any charges will be brought against the driver. In Missouri, it is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to ride in the back of a pickup truck, but legal for those older. It was also not reported at what speed Rippee was traveling when this tragedy occurred.

Continue reading "High Speed Contributing Factor in Mexico Missouri Accident Killing One, Injuring Eleven Others--Can Speed Prove Negligence in Wrongful Death Cases?" »

Jefferson City, Missouri car accident lawyers know that many fatal car crashes occur due to one driver's failure to yield when they are required to do so. A Cole County accident on Wed. August 31 involving three separate vehicles has left two people dead for exactly this reason. The fatal car crash happened at Route C, between South Country Club Drive and Rumsey Lane at approximately 10:44 that morning.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol's report stated that Joan Hamilton, 75, of Lenexa, Kansas and Donald Edwards, 58, of Russellville, Missouri were killed, and Damien Bryan, 40, of Jefferson City sustained minor injuries.

Bryan was crossing Route C and failed to yield to Hamilton's vehicle. Bryan struck the vehicle on Hamilton's passenger side. Fortunately, there was no passenger, or there may have been another fatality resulting from this tragic accident. Hamilton's vehicle overturned as a result of the crash force, and struck Edwards's vehicle on the front driver's side.

Edwards was pronounced dead at the scene by Deputy Rick Worthington, and doctors later pronounced Hamilton dead at Capital Regional Medical Center.

Cole County falls under the jurisdiction of MSHP's Troop F, who reports these as the 37th and 38th traffic fatalities for 2011.

Continue reading "Failure to Yield Leads to Two Dead After Cole County, Missouri Multi-Vehicle Accident" »

Columbia car accident lawyers heard of shocking accident on Friday, July 15. Two pedestrians were hit and killed while adding gasoline to their vehicle on the eastbound shoulder of I 70, near the 129.6 mile marker. The two victims were Edward Taggart, 72, of Prairie Home, and Gilbert Love, 73, of Auxvasse, Missouri.

According to Columbia police, who responded to the accident, the two men who were killed had stopped their two vans on the shoulder, to add gas to one of the vans. They were hit by a Toyota 4-Runner sport-utility vehicle driven by Earl Hutcherson. One man died at the scene; the other was taken to the hospital but died shortly thereafter.

Love and Taggart were coworkers, and reportedly good friends as well. They were working for a car auction service delivering vehicles at the time of the accident. They were apparently assisting one of their fellow drivers who ran out of gas, when they were hit.

Hutcherson, 60, was sent to the Boone County Jail with an undetermined bond amount. He now faces two counts of involuntary manslaughter, and one count of driving while intoxicated. Columbia Police reported that Hutcherson indicated use of a cell phone prior to the crash. Officers at the scene reported the smell of alcohol on Hutcherson's breath.

It is known that he pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated back in August of 1985.

Continue reading "Accident Kills Two Pedestrians on Interstate 70, Columbia Missouri" »

Columbia Missouri Wrongful Death Attorney's are closely watching the progress of a recent NY wrongful death suit, filed by Marie Lourdes Andre. She is the mother of George Desdunes, the college student who died in a fraternity pledging event this past February.

The suit seeks at least $25 million in damages against the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and names 20 former SAE brothers and pledge members as defendants.

Desdunes, 19, a fraternity brother in SAE, was found on a couch at the SAE fraternity house on Feb. 25 and later died at Cayuga Medical Center. According to the wrongful death suit, Desdunes was tied up and given alcohol by pledge members. He became so intoxicated that he "required immediate medical treatment. Instead, he was taken by the pledges, still bound at the wrists and ankles, and dumped on a couch in the SAE house where he was unattended and left to die."

"With the death of my son, I find some comfort in knowing that this lawsuit may bring about changes in fraternities that will prevent other families from suffering as I have," Andre said in a statement given to the Associated Press.

Although this incident did not take place in Missouri, it is exactly the type of tragedy that is of concern to all Columbia, Jefferson City and other Boone County parents.

The lawsuit names as defendants former SAE pledges Max Haskin, Ben Mann and Edward Williams, three men who had previously been charged with misdemeanors in connection with Desdunes' death. The suit also names SAE's former chapter president, vice president and several other undergraduate officers were also named as defendants, along with ten unnamed people who were pledge members or brothers in SAE.

Continue reading "Wrongful Death Suit Filed Against College Fraternity--Twenty Defendants Named" »