Missouri Accident Lawyer Blog

While the region is still reeling from the fatal St. Louis area school bus crash on I-44, some are questioning the safety of school buses in general and looking back on what we can learn from previous incidents. The St. Louis Post Dispatch, for example, published a list of past school bus accidents in the area. Here are just of few examples from that list:

February 2010 - Three people are injured, including a child, in a head-on collision with a school bus in St. Louis.

October 2007 - 32 people are injured when a school bus flips over in Oates, Missouri.

November 2006 - Two people are killed in an Missouri school bus accident involving a bus, two tractor-trailers and a car.

August 2003 - A young girl is killed and more than a dozen more are injured when a bus runs down an embankment in Hillsboro, Illinois.

Despite these notable and tragic cases, school buses are statistically one of the safest ways for children to travel. Every year, there are about 6,000 bus related injuries and 20 deaths. Compare that to 78,000 teen drivers who are involved in an injury accident each year.

Many people note that most school buses do not come equipped with seat belts for many of the riders. While this is the case, the vast majority of injuries and fatalities in school bus crashes come from other vehicles involved in the wreck. Like tractor-trailer crashes, the large size and weight of school buses make them more dangerous to smaller passenger vehicles.

School bus accidents can be very complicated from a legal standpoint and, while they are rare, the injuries sustained can result in months of rehabilitation costing thousands of dollars. Whether an accident is caused by negligence on the part of the bus driver or another motorist, those responsible need to be held accountable and injury victims need to have the resources to make a full recovery. If you have questions about a school bus injury claim, contact a Missouri personal injury lawyer to discuss your case. Many will offer you a free consultation so there is no risk or obligation involved.

Posted by Ryan Bradley | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Choosing a Personal Injury Lawyer , Missouri Bus Accidents , Missouri Car Accidents , Missouri Trucking Accidents

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Photo by KMOV TV

A day of celebration turned into a horrific and tragic incident for students in the St. James School District who were involved in a fatal Missouri school bus accident on their way to Six Flags. Initial reports say two people have been killed, one a female student and another in a GMC pickup, and up to 50 people have sustained injuries.

The investigation is still in the very early stages, but some details have already begun to emerge. The two buses were carrying band members from John F. Hodge High School on an annual trip to Six Flags. Ahead of the buses was a Volvo tractor cab without a trailer that had slowed or stopped due to traffic caused by a construction zone. The GMC pickup collided with the back of the stopped truck. According to numerous local media sources, the driver of the first school bus, which carried all the female members of the band, was changing lanes due to a stalled vehicle and was unable to stop before hitting the pickup and truck tractor. The second bus then rear-ended the first bus, which was pushed on top of the smaller pickup.

The female student who was killed was sitting in the back of the first bus and likely sustained her fatal injuries when the second bus crashed into the first. The driver of the pickup truck was also pronounced dead at the scene.

The rest of the accident victims, including students, bus drivers and the truck driver, were treated at various local hospitals. At least one student was flown to St. Louis Children's Hospital for emergency treatment. More than 30 students were transported by charter bus to Cardinal Glennon Hospital. Others were taken by ambulance to hospitals in Washington, Creve Coeur and Fenton. Many of the injured students were fortunate to escape the wreck with relatively minor bruises and cuts and will not need to be hospitalized.

Climate Express Inc. operates the truck that was initially hit. Examining their safety profile shows the company is above average in their safety inspection ratings. The company has 118 drivers and has been involved in four injury accidents in the past two years.

Our thoughts go out to all those who were involved in this terrible accident and their families.

Officials say it could be up to two weeks before an accident reconstruction can be conducted to determine the exact sequence of events that led to this terrible accident.

From the perspective of a St. Louis personal injury attorney, there are many questions that still need to be answered. We do not know what speeds the vehicles involved were traveling at. We also don't know what caused the pickup driver to crash into the back of the Volvo truck in the initial collision. Why did not one, but two school bus drivers fail to see an accident on the road ahead in enough time to stop? How far apart were the vehicles when they were moving?

The NTSB reported they will launch an investigation concerning the probable contributing circumstances surrounding this Missouri bus crash. The NTSB made it equally clear they would not be commenting or making any conclusions concerning fault or liability. Both fault and liability are legal terms and investigators are hesitant to extend their conclusions into this arena.

The investigators request any witness to this crash immediately contact the Missouri Highway Patrol or the NTSB with any additional information. Sometimes, people are hesitant to give oral statements to investigators because they simply don't want to be involved. However, it is extremely important to overcome this hesitation and realize you have a unique opportunity to help understand how this St. Louis bus crash occurred and who is at fault. Unfortunately, neither the Missouri Highway Patrol or the NTSB have opened the door to emailed information. If you have information concerning this St. James Missouri bus accident, if you dont feel comfortable contacting the authorities, feel free to email me and I will immediately contact officials with your information.

Posted by Ryan Bradley | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Missouri Bus Accidents , Missouri Car Accidents , Missouri Trucking Accidents , Personal Injury News

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A wrongful death case is one that deals with a death that resulted from the negligence of another person or, in some cases, a company or larger group. The unexpected death of a loved one brings a profound sadness, but along with the emotional distress comes more practical issues such as financial hardship. Not only do medical and funeral expenses need to be paid, but the lost wages can leave a family in fiscal insecurity that could take years to stabilize.

Many times, the surviving members of the family or a representative can file suit on behalf of the deceased. The success rate of these cases is actually fairly low. Despite the image of the multi-million dollar personal injury lawsuit that is often portrayed in movies and news media, most damage awards fall well short of a million dollars. Because of these facts, it is important that you seek an experienced personal injury attorney to assist you with your case because your family’s future could literally depend on it.

In order for a wrongful death suit to be successful, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant had a duty that was breached, and that this breach caused the death. This can happen in a fatal car crash, a medical malpractice case, premises liability, product liability, airplane crashes or any other situation where somebody’s recklessness caused the death of someone else.

The standards that apply to determining whether a duty was breached differ from situation to situation. Medical professionals are held to high standards when diagnosing and treating their patients while the average person on the street only has to be responsible for a reasonable amount of care for another person. A driver operating his personal family car is not held to the same standards as a commercial shipping truck driver who operates a tractor trailer for a living. In fact, for businesses that are involved in shipping or public transportation, there is a special category called ‘common carriers.’

Even when you have classified a driver as a common carrier, things are not cut-and-dry. The drivers have different levels of expected care for their own passengers as they do toward other drivers on the road.

All these exceptions and complications further illustrate the need for competent and skilled personal injury lawyers on your case. Do your research and contact a lawyer for a free consultation. Most attorneys will sit down and talk to you for free with no obligation to hire. This first hand experience is the best way to judge whether you want to hire an attorney.

Posted by Ryan Bradley | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Choosing a Personal Injury Lawyer , Medical Malpractice , Missouri Bus Accidents , Missouri Car Accidents , Missouri Personal Injury Lawyer News , Missouri Trucking Accidents , Personal Injury News , Product Liability Cases

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Seven teenagers were injured in a Missouri school bus crash when a small bus run by a river resort crashed Sunday morning on Moon Valley Road near Bennett Springs, Missouri.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the bus was carrying the teens westbound near the Fort Niangua River Resort. The driver, Steven Newman, 53, moved to the right to avoid an oncoming vehicle. In doing so, he ran off the side of the roadway and down an embankment where the bus overturned, coming to a rest on its roof.

Brittnie Pratt, 17, and Chloe Schmidt, 17, were the most seriously injured. Among the others that were injured were Colleen Armstrong, 16; Chelsea Bryant, 17; Brittney Green, 17; Lauryn Salts, 17; and Elizabeth Wadsack, 17. Most of the girls were taken to St. John’s Hospital for treatment.

While many of the girls knew each other from attending Camdenton High School, they were not attending a school function and the bus was not affiliated with the school.

The initial crash report indicates the bus moved to avoid an oncoming vehicle, but it did not list the second vehicle’s driver or if authorities even know who it was.

School bus crashes are relatively rare and usually riding the bus is a safe mode of transportation. When accidents like this happen, however, the people that are injured need to contact an experienced bus accident lawyer as soon as possible. There are several ways to pursue a claim in this situation. If an investigation into the injury crash reveals the bus driver was negligent in operating the bus, the girls and their family may be able to make a claim against him or the river resort. If the bus was indeed forced off the road by a second car and that driver can be located, he may be held responsible for the injuries sustained in the crash.

Posted by Ryan Bradley | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Choosing a Personal Injury Lawyer , Missouri Bus Accidents , Missouri Bus Accidents , Missouri Personal Injury Lawyer News , Personal Injury News

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Seven teenagers were injured in a Missouri school bus crash when a small bus run by a river resort crashed Sunday morning on Moon Valley Road near Bennett Springs, Missouri.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the bus was carrying the teens westbound near the Fort Niangua River Resort. The driver, Steven Newman, 53, moved to the right to avoid an oncoming vehicle. In doing so, he ran off the side of the roadway and down an embankment where the bus overturned, coming to a rest on its roof.

Brittnie Pratt, 17, and Chloe Schmidt, 17, were the most seriously injured. Among the others that were injured were Colleen Armstrong, 16; Chelsea Bryant, 17; Brittney Green, 17; Lauryn Salts, 17; and Elizabeth Wadsack, 17. Most of the girls were taken to St. John’s Hospital for treatment.

While many of the girls knew each other from attending Camdenton High School, they were not attending a school function and the bus was not affiliated with the school.

The initial crash report indicates the bus moved to avoid an oncoming vehicle, but it did not list the second vehicle’s driver or if authorities even know who it was.

School bus crashes are relatively rare and usually riding the bus is a safe mode of transportation. When accidents like this happen, however, the people that are injured need to contact an experienced bus accident lawyer as soon as possible. There are several ways to pursue a claim in this situation. If an investigation into the injury crash reveals the bus driver was negligent in operating the bus, the girls and their family may be able to make a claim against him or the river resort. If the bus was indeed forced off the road by a second car and that driver can be located, he may be held responsible for the injuries sustained in the crash.

Posted by Ryan Bradley | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Choosing a Personal Injury Lawyer , Missouri Bus Accidents , Missouri Bus Accidents , Missouri Personal Injury Lawyer News , Personal Injury News

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