Ripley County, Missouri crash injures three
Jeffrey Johnson, 23, and his two young children were injured Sunday in a Missouri head-on collision on highway 142 near Doniphan, Missouri.
Johnson was driving his 1995 Geo eastbound on highway 142 when the accident occurred. He approached a hill crest at the same time as a 2005 Ford, driven by Benjamin Ressel, 32, who was traveling westbound. As they came over the hill, they collided head-on.
Johnson was flown to St. Francis Hospital with serious injuries. His children, ages 1 and 2, both sustained less serious injuries and were taken to Ripley County Hospital. Ressel was uninjured according to the investigating officer.
Johnson was not wearing a seatbelt which probably contributed to his injuries being more severe. Fortunately, everybody else involved was wearing a seatbelt.
From a Missouri personal injury lawyer’s perspective, the first thing to notice about the initial crash report is that it offers no indication as to who is at fault for this accident. The investigating officer from the Missouri State Highway Patrol simply states that the two vehicles collided on a hill crest. He did not indicate which car crossed the center line or explain how they crashed.
Before any personal injury suit could be pursued, this basic information would need to be investigated. Crash reconstructions can look at debris patterns and tire skid marks to determine exactly where each vehicle was and approximately how fast they were traveling.
Should Johnson try to pursue damages for his injuries, the fact that he wasn’t wearing a seat belt makes no legal difference here in Missouri. Some states, though, have a seat belt defense that assigns comparative fault to people who fail to wear a seatbelt. This basically means a person can be considered partially responsible for his injuries by failing to take the necessary precautions and not buckling his seatbelt.
