St. Louis Car Accident Lawyer Blog

A 22-year-old woman died recently in Springfield after an accident with a tractor trailer on a highway in St. Clair County, the News-Leader reports.

The tragic accident shows how important it is to avoid truck and tractor trailer accidents in St. Charles. These vehicles are large and can cause severe injuries or death. St. Louis Injury Lawyers have devoted their careers to helping people injured or killed by commercial vehicles. If you or a loved one has been injured or even killed in an accident, protect your rights and seek counsel. It's important that justice be done.

In the St. Clair County accident, reports state the woman was driving northbound on Missouri 13 when a westbound tractor-trailer drove into her path. Her passenger, 24, suffered injuries and was taken to Golden Valley Memorial Hospital in Clinton.

The driver of the rig wasn't injured. The accident happened just before noon. Both passengers of the vehicle were wearing seat belts.

Traffic accidents with large trucks typically result in serious or fatal injuries to passenger vehicle occupants. For one, the trauma can result in life-long health complications. Broken bones, long-lasting pain and possibly life-altering injuries can cause job loss, loss of enjoyment for life and even brain injuries that make living very difficult.

St. Charles wrongful death cases are common on the roads. Many traffic fatalities are preventable. Sometimes, they are caused by drinking and driving, but sometimes they are caused by poor decisions by drivers, not paying attention on the roads or other acts of carelessness.

Unfortunately, accidents with tractor trailers and other large trucks aren't uncommon. Because they typically carry large loads of materials, they are heavy in the back, making it more difficult for drivers to slow down quickly. And because of their structure, stopping quickly can also cause them to jackknife on highways, which can cause very bad accidents.

In 2009, there were 3,380 fatalities and 74,000 people injured in crashes involving large trucks, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. What the organization also found is that it's usually not the truck driver killed. In fact, 78 percent of those injured were in other vehicles or pedestrians.

In Missouri, 1,148 vehicles were involved in fatal crashes in 2009 and 83 of them were large trucks. That's about 7 percent of the total vehicles involved in accidents causing death.