Four Missourians Injured in Burning Car Accident in Madison County Missouri
Four injured Missourians and two totaled vehicles are the result of a Madison County, Missouri car accident after a driver failed to stop at a stop sign.
The Missouri side impact car accident occurred when Amber M. Lewis, 27, of Bixby, Missouri failed to stop at a stop sign on Business 67 in Cherokee Pass while driving a 1997 Plymouth. Lewis drove into the path of Whitney N. Kemp, 18, of Fredericktown, Missouri. Kemp was driving a 2000 Mercury. The crash caused both vehicles to run off the roadway, down an embankment. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, both vehicles were burned in the accident.
Both drivers were injured, as well as their passengers. Lewis suffered moderate injuries. Her occupant, Bruce E. Copeland of Bixby, Missouri sustained moderate injuries in the accident. Lewis and Copeland were taken by ambulance to Madison Medical Center in Fredericktown, Missouri. Neither wore a safety device during the Missouri auto accident.
Robert D. Berry of Fredericktown, Kemp’s occupant, suffered serious injuries in the Missouri car crash. Kemp suffered minor injuries. They were taken to the Parkland Hospital in Farmington, Missouri by ambulance and private conveyance, respectively.
Missouri statute §304.271 requires drivers to obey the instructions of a traffic-control device, including stop signs. The statute only exempts drivers of authorized emergency vehicles, or drivers being directed to disobey the . A driver who fails to stop at a stop sign violates the statute. Violating §304.271 is a class C misdemeanor.
Statute violations can be used to prove driver negligence. A victim of a successful negligence claim after a Missouri car accident will show that: (1) the driver owed a duty to the victim, (2) the driver breached the duty, (3) the breach was the cause of the injury to the victim, and (3) the victim has sustained a loss as a result of the breach and injury. Traffic statutes establish the legal duties which drivers owe to passengers, pedestrians and other drivers. When a driver violates a traffic statute and causes an accident, they may also be breaching a duty owed to the victim. If the victim can prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant was negligent, the defendant must pay the victim compensation for injuries sustained.
If you are injured in a Missouri car accident that may have been caused by negligence, contact a Missouri auto accident lawyer how statute violations affect your claim.
