St. Louis Car Accident Lawyer Blog

The U.S. Department of Transportation has kicked off the annual "Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest" campaign and, with the help of law enforcement in all 50 states, will be leading a nationwide crackdown through the upcoming Labor Day weekend.

St. Louis car accident lawyers are frequently called to assist victims in dealing with the tragedy caused by the senseless acts of a driver who has climbed behind the wheel after having too much to drink.

Nationwide, about one-third of all fatal traffic accidents involve a drunk driver, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In 2008, drunk driving accidents claimed the lives of 11,773 motorists -- an average of one death every 45 minutes. Missouri drunk driving accidents claimed 364 lives that year -- or almost 40 percent of the state's 960 traffic fatalities.

"Drunk driving is deadly, it's against the law, and unfortunately, it's still a problem," said Secretary Ray LaHood. "With the help of law enforcement around the country, we are going to continue doing all that we can to stop drunk driving and the needless tragedies that result from this reckless behavior."

The federal government reports that 1 in 5 Americans have driven within two hours of consuming alcohol in the past year. Yet 4 of 5 consider drunk driving a major threat to their family's safety. Enforcement efforts will be augmented by a $13 million nationwide television campaign.

The Missouri Highway Patrol has announced plans for sobriety checkpoints in Clay County and saturation patrols in Henry, Cass, Benton and Platte counties. The checkpoint locations have been identified as having a high number of alcohol-related car accidents. Saturation patrols will also be concentrated on highway identified as having a high-number of fatal crashes and alcohol-related violations.

Motorists approaching a checkpoint are reminded to follow directions posted on signs and watch for signals from officers. Drivers will be asked to show their driver's license and proof of insurance. Most drivers will not be asked to exit their vehicles.

"Do not let your life or someone else's life be ruined by an alcohol-related crash or arrest," Captain Robert Powell said. "(We) are dedicated to removing intoxicated drivers from Missouri's highways."

Continue reading "Increased drunk driving enforcement aims to reduce Missouri car accidents through Labor Day" »

The bus driver's inattention and close following distance may have contributed to the deadly Missouri school bus accident on I-44 that killed two students, St. Louis Today reported.

As we reported last week on our St. Louis Car Accident Lawyers Blog, the two buses collided with a semi and a pickup truck. More than 50 people were injured in the crash, which occurred as the buses were en route to a Six Flags amusement park.

The Missouri Highway Patrol said the investigation will take weeks. The National Highway Safety Board said it would be more than a year.

Preliminary indications are that a pickup truck slammed into the 2007 Volvo semi, which was stopped for traffic that had backed up due to road construction. The bus driver reported moving to the left to avoid a vehicle stopped on the right side of the road. She was not able to stop in time and struck the pickup and semi. A Highway Patrol report said she was "inattentive."

The second school bus then rear-ended the first bus, possibly indicating that it was following too closely as well. Both buses are owned and operated by Copeland Bus Service LLC of St. James and were leased to the St. James School District.

Slowing construction was also blamed for another horrific St. Louis semi accident this week; at least two people were injured in a five-vehicle crash on I-64 near New Baden. Vehicles involved included a pickup pulling a trailer, a U-Haul pulling a trailer, a semi, an SUV and a flatbed truck.

The driver of the semi-trailer truck was pulled from the burning rig and flown to St. Louis University Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Continue reading "Missouri school bus accident, St. Louis semi accident, blamed on traffic slowing for road construction" »

A St. Louis, Missouri school bus accident killed two people and injured as many as 50 others on Thursday after a pair of buses collided with a tractor trailer about 40 miles outside the city, CNN reported.

The Missouri Department of Transportation reported that the accident occurred at about 10:15 a.m. on I-44 near mile marker 250. The buses were carrying 8th grade band students from the St. James school district. The kids were on the way to a Six Flags amusement park.

Thirty-six of the children aboard the buses were being transported to the SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center in St. Louis. Four others were taken to St. John's Mercy Medical Hospital in Washington, Missouri and five were taken to St. John's Medical Center in St. Louis.

A St. Louis bus accident lawyer will be able to work with families of injured children in this case. Multiple victims, competing insurance claims, multiple insurance companies and state and federal school bus and trucking regulations will all have to be taken into account in this case. Serious and fatal accidents involving large trucks are a tragically common occurrence. More than 380,000 large commercial trucks were involved in accidents in 2008, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. A total of 4,229 motorists were killed and more than 90,000 were injured. That same year, 117 large trucks were involved in fatal Missouri trucking accidents.

An accident with a school bus full of children is about the worst scenario imaginable. School buses have a better safety record than most large commercial vehicles. Still, the government reports an average of 19 students die each year in school-transportation accidents.

Video footage from the scene shows a school bus resting atop the rear of a semi, with another school bus nearby. The crash happened on I-44 in Gray Summit, about 40 miles southwest of St. Louis.

The St. Louis Today reported that the bus in front was carrying girls, while the second bus was carrying boys.

Cause of the crash remains under investigation. The company that owns the truck said the collision occurred just as the truck was slowing down for construction-related congestion on the highway ahead. The truck is owned by Climate Express, a trucking company out of Washington, Missouri that operates a fleet of 120 tractors and 280 trailers.

The Associated Press report is available here.

The ABC News report is available here.

The New York Daily News report is here.

Continue reading "Two Dead, 50 Injured after St. Louis School Buses Involved in Accident with Semi" »

While a fewer than normal number of Missouri car accidents were reported over the Fourth of July weekend, St. Louis motorcycle accidents and accidents involving motorcycles elsewhere in Missouri continue to be a concern through the summer riding season.

The Missouri State Patrol reported three fatal accidents over the holiday. "Three deaths is still "more than we would like to see," State Patrol Lt. Mark Langer told the Star Tribune. "But it is far less than we have seen in recent years."

One of the accidents involved a motorcycle rider who struck a deer on Hwy. 169 near Garrison. The 63-year-old rider was killed in the crash.

But about half of Missouri motorcycle accidents are the fault of another motorist; the number one cause is failure to yield the right of way to a motorcycle when a vehicle is making a turn or exiting a private drive, parking lot or side street.

At least three riders have been seriously injured or killed this week in Missouri motorcycle accidents, including a man who died after colliding with a city bus in Columbia, CBS13 reported.

In 2008, motorcycle accidents claimed the lives of 5,290 riders nationwide and injured more than 96,000, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Missouri motorcycle accidents claimed 102 lives, placing the state among 17 that recorded more than 100 motorcycle fatalities.

The Motorcycle Safety Foundation offers car and truck drivers 10 Things they should know about motorcycles:

-Fewer motorcycles than passenger vehicles are on the road, making motorcycles more difficult to see. Watch for bikes, particularly at intersections.

-Motorcycles may look further away than they are and their small size can make judging speed difficult. Predict a motorcycle is closer than it appears and, if in doubt, wait for it to pass before proceeding into the roadway.

-A motorcycle is easily hidden in a car's blind spot. Take a moment to check thoroughly for a rider before changing lanes or turning at an intersection.

-Their small size may make a motorcycle appear to be speeding. Don't assume all riders are speed demons.

-Motorcycles often slow down by shifting or rolling off the throttle, making brake lights a poor judge of a rider's intentions. Allow 3 to 4 seconds following distance and anticipate a rider will slow down without warning.

-Many motorcycle turn signals do not shut off on their own, making them a poor indicator of a rider's intentions. Make sure a signal is for real before proceeding.

-A motorcycle is entitled to its own lane. Don't crowd a rider or attempt to share a lane. A rider may move around in a lane to avoid debris, to mitigate wind or for other reasons not apparent to a motorist in a passenger car.

-Maneuverability is one of a motorcycle's better characteristics, but don't expect a rider to always be able to dodge out of the way.

-The required stopping distance for a motorcycle is nearly the same as that of a car. Wet pavement or other conditions can make stopping more difficult. Allow plenty of following distance and don't expect a rider to be able to stop on a dime.

-Think of a moving motorcycle as a person. It is just as vulnerable.

Continue reading "Fewer St. Louis car accidents but Missouri motorcycle accidents remain a summer concern" »

Authorities will be out in force over the Fourth of July weekend looking for speeders, drunk drivers and other unsafe motorists in an effort aimed at preventing car accidents in St. Louis and throughout Missouri.

The News Tribune reports that Missouri ranks sixth on a nationwide list of states with the most speeding tickets.

"If our officers see an infraction, they will write a ticket," said Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Tim Hull. "We are currently experiencing a 15 percent decrease in traffic fatalities, and I think that's due in combination with increased enforcement and public education."

The Missouri Highway Patrol is also urging residents to:

-Practice all-terrain safety to avoid Missouri ATV accidents.

-Obey the law and use headlights when windshield wipers are on.

-Move over and slow down for stopped emergency vehicles.

While New Year's gets the majority of attention when it comes to drunk driving and the high risk of car accidents, Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July have been the deadliest holidays on the nation's roads in recent years, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Nationwide Holiday Traffic Fatalities 2008:

New Year's Day: 104

Memorial Day: 370

Fourth of July: 437

Labor Day: 423

Thanksgiving: 439

Christmas: 364

New Year's Eve: 37

Holiday traffic fatalities in Missouri in 2008:

New Year's: 6

Memorial Day: 10

Fourth of July: 7

Labor Day: 6

Thanksgiving: 12

Christmas: 12

Continue reading "Authorities aim to reduce St. Louis car accidents over the Fourth of July" »

Law enforcement will be out in force this summer, patrolling I-270 in an effort to reduce the number of serious and fatal St. Louis car accidents.

St. Louis Today reports that nine separate law enforcement agencies will be patrolling for aggressive driving and other safety hazards. The effort is part of the statewide HEAT campaign, which stands for High Enforcement Action Teams. It begins this weekend and runs through Sept. 21. Efforts on I-44 will be conducted on Sept. 18-19 and enforcement on I-70 will be increased on June 25-26.

Last year, 1,700 traffic accidents were reported on I-270, many of those resulted from motorists following too closely.

Aggressive driving is a leading cause of Missouri car accidents and traffic accidents nationwide, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. The organization found that aggressive driving factors were present in 56 percent of fatal crashes from 2003-2007, with speeding being the number one contributing cause.

Common forms of aggressive driving include speeding, tailgating, violating traffic control signals and weaving in and out of traffic. One of the biggest challenges is the fact that motorists see it as a problem ... they just don't think they are among the offenders. A 2008 AAA study found that 8 in 10 people rated aggressive driving as a serious or extremely serious safety problem, however many admitted to some form of driver aggression on a regular basis.

-Nearly half admitted to exceeding the speed limit by 15 mph on a major highway.
-15 percent admitted to exceeding the speed limit by 15 mph on neighborhood streets.
-More than half said they speed up to beat yellow lights.
-41 percent honk their horn at other drivers.
-1 in 4 engage in conduct meant to get another driver to speed up.
-22 percent tailgate.
-6 percent deliberately run red lights.

Yet three-quarters said they are more careful than other drivers around them! And almost 60 percent claimed to be substantially in control of whether or not they were involved in a crash.

Continue reading "Police aim to prevent St. Louis car accidents by targeting aggressive drivers (Yes, that means you!)" »

A horrific St. Louis semi accident killed two motorists in a seven-car, chain-reaction collision on I-55, St. Louis Today reported.

The Missouri Highway Patrol reports the tractor-trailer accident was caused by distracted driving after the trucker took his eyes off the road. By the time he returned his attention to the road, he found a line of cars stopped in front of him. The trucker reportedly swerved into one car and drove over another, causing the pileup just after noon Wednesday on northbound I-55 near McNutt Street.

A 52-year-old Perrysville man was in a 2005 Ford Focus the semi ran over, dragging it nearly the length of a football field. He was pronounced dead at the scene minutes after the crash. A 28-year-old Festus woman, who was driving another of the cars involved in the accident, was flown by helicopter to a St. Louis hospital, where she later died as a result of her injuries.

The 32-year-old Texas trucker was driving in the right lane of I-55 when police claim he took his eyes off the road. The patrol's report lists "inattention" as a contributing factor. A trooper said the trucker looked off to his right for some reason and, by the time he returned his attention to the road, it was too late to stop the collision from occurring.

A witness at the scene said the trucker didn't even have time to hit his brakes, and instead plowed into the row of cars at full speed. Construction crews were working on an I-55 widening project in the area and additional road construction is occurring to the north. Troopers said traffic may have been slowed by the road construction.

After striking a Chevy Impala and dragging the Ford Focus, the semi veered away and caused a crash involving five other vehicles, including a Pontiac Vibe driven by the female victim. Rescue workers had to cut the door and roof off the Vibe to free the woman trapped inside.

The Missouri trucking accident is similar to one that occurred in July 2008 on I-64, when an Alabama trucker killed three motorists stopped for slowed traffic. The patrol reported that the trucker had been reaching for his cell phone at the time of the crash. The 51-year-old truck driver pleaded guilty this spring to three counts of involuntary manslaughter. He was released from jail after being given credit for more than a year spent behind bars while the case was resolved.

Truckers are required to obey strict state and federal regulations meant to protect the safety of other motorists. Yet more than 380,000 trucking accidents occurred in 2008, killing 4,229 motorists and injuring more than 90,000, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In Missouri, a total of 117 people were killed in trucking accidents that year.

The summer driving season begins in earnest with Memorial Day weekend. And, while New Year's Eve gets the attention, St. Louis car accidents frequently occur during the trio of summer holidays -- Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day.

Authorities report a Missouri traffic accident will seriously injure or kill someone every 9 minutes over the Memorial Day weekend.

Of the three, Memorial Day was the deadliest in 2008, according to the latest accident statistics available through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Ten motorists were killed in Missouri car accidents over the Memorial Day weekend. Thanksgiving and Christmas reported 12 fatalities each, tying for the state's deadliest holiday for travel.

Nationwide, Thanksgiving has been the deadliest travel holiday and the biggest travel holiday of the year. A total of 439 motorists were killed over the 2008 Thanksgiving weekend.

Missouri drunk driving accidents are a primary cause for concern, particularly during holiday weekends. Alcohol-related traffic accidents cause about one-third of motorist deaths in Missouri each year -- 364 of the 960 Missouri traffic fatalities involved a drunk driver in 2008.

The Houston Herald reports that the Missouri State Highway Patrol will be out in force through the holiday weekend. Officers will be participating in Operation C.A.R.E. (Combined Accident Reduction Effort), meaning all available officers will be on the road enforcing traffic laws and assisting motorists.

Troopers will be specifically assigned to 10-mile stretches of road on Interstates 35, 44, 55, and 70, as well as U.S. 60 and 61. Troopers responded to nine fatal accidentslast year. In all, a total of 511 people were injured in 1,268 Missouri car accidents over the 2009 Memorial Day weekend.

Fatal holiday traffic accidents in Missouri in 2008:

New Year's: 6

Memorial Day: 10

Fourth of July: 7

Labor Day: 6

Thanksgiving: 12

Christmas: 12

Nationwide holiday traffic fatalities:

New Year's: 141

Memorial Day: 370

Fourth of July: 437

Labor Day: 423

Thanksgiving: 439

Christmas: 364

Continue reading "Missouri car accidents will occur every 9 minutes over the Memorial Day weekend " »

Missouri lawmakers spent the final days of the 2010 legislative session debating the merits of a bill that would ban text messaging by all drivers, the News-Leader reported.

By pushing the measure to the governor's desk for signature, lawmakers hope to reduce the number of serious and fatal Missouri car accidents caused by distracted drivers.

The state outlawed text messaging by drivers under the age of 21 last year. The federal government is pushing all 50 states to ban drivers from text messaging. The National Safety Council reports at least 200,000 accidents a year are caused by text messaging while behind the wheel.

The proposed law would exempt drivers who use voice-activated or hands-free phones to text, the St. Joseph News-Press reported.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is aggressively pushing states to ban text messaging. In February 2009, just seven states had banned text messaging by drivers. By February 2010, a total of 19 states had forbidden drivers from text messaging while behind the wheel. A number of others states -- including Kansas, Missouri and Florida -- are tackling the issue this year.

"Our top priority is safety and we are determined to help the states eradicate the dangerous practice of texting while driving," said David Strickland, Administrator for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The federal government has taken a tough stand against text messaging, contending that it involves three forms of driver distraction: Visual, manual and cognitive. Earlier this year, the government launched www.distraction.gov, aimed at educating the public on the dangers of distracted driving.

Other Forms of Distracted Driving:

-Using a Cell Phone.

-Drinking or Eating.

-Talking to Passengers.

-Dressing, grooming or applying makeup.

-Reading.

-Using navigation systems or other on-board electronic devices.

Distracted Driving Facts

-Nearly 6,000 people are killed and more than half a million injured each year by distracted driving.

-Younger, inexperienced drivers under 20 are most at risk.

-Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times more likely to be involved in a serious or fatal traffic accident.

-Using a cell phone delays a driver's reaction time as much as a blood-alcohol level of .08, the legal limit for drunk driving.

Continue reading "Lawmakers consider text-messaging ban in effort to reduce Missouri car accidents" »