Missouri Accident Lawyer Blog

Five people were hospitalized Sunday after the van they were riding in crashed into another vehicle on Highway 30 in a serious Jefferson County, Missouri car accident.

This Missouri van accident took place shortly after 4:00 p.m. just west of Route B. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the van was a 2008 Dodge Caravan being driven by William Hoare, 72. As Hoare was driving the van east, a 2002 Dodge Ram, driven by Kayla Elder, 16, was approaching on the highway heading west. Elder attempted to make a left turn onto a private drive and pulled directly into the path of the van. Hoare was unable to avoid a collision and crashed into the passenger side of Elder's vehicle.

Hoare and four passengers sustained injuries and were treated at St. Anthony's Hospital. Among the other victims in this St. Louis area injury accident were Nicholas Bendillo, 81; Robert Larson, 80; Carroll Posey, 74; and Joseph Pusateri, 71. Elder was not injured, according to the initial crash report.

Thankfully, everyone involved was wearing a seat belt or the injuries could have been more serious. Hopefully everyone involved in this wreck can make a full recovery.

The initial crash report also leaves out several other key details such as the speed of the two vehicles at the time of the accident and whether Elder signaled before making the turn. The road conditions were also not described.

A terrible collision between a van and another vehicle killed one person Wednesday evening in Callaway County, Missouri and left seven others injured, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

This fatal Missouri van accident happened at the intersection of Highway 54 and Route T at around 7:40 p.m. A 1991 Ford van, driven by Fredtonya Rodgers, 41, was traveling on Highway 54 at the time of the crash. As the van approached the intersection with Route T, a 1997 Dodge attempted to cross the highway and struck the van on the driver's side. The force from the side impact collision sent the van off the road where it overturned.

One passenger in the van, Michelle Lee, 38, was killed when she was ejected from the van after it overturned. Rodgers was seriously injured and taken to University Hospital in Columbia, Missouri. Four others in the van were seriously injured including Martha Krampe, 39; Jamie Jaegers, 30; Cynthia Hopkins, 51; and Martha Gardener, 64. The two people in the Dodge, Tyler Wilson, 20, and Danielle Hosenfelt, 16, were also injured, though their injuries were not life threatening.

Several of the people involved in the accident, including Lee, were not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.

My condolences go out to the family of the deceased and hopefully the people that sustained injuries will make a full recovery.

Even if a full recovery is made, the medical bills from a serious injury accident like this will likely be extraordinarily high. Under Missouri law, the bills arising from an accident must be paid by the at-fault driver's insurance. More investigation into this accident is needed to determine liability, but if Wilson, the driver of the Dodge, is found to be at fault, there might be an issue with the insurance claim. On the initial report, Wilson's insurance was listed as 'unknown', which may mean he was driving without insurance. If this is the case, the injured party may be able to make a claim on their own uninsured motorist coverage.

Sometimes a defendant may invoke the seat belt defense in cases like these to reduce the amount of damages that must be paid to the inured party. The seat belt defense is a form of comparative negligence that says the injured party could have prevented some of the injury had they been wearing a seat belt. Some states allow for this defense while others explicitly restrict it. Anybody that is interested in learning more should contact a personal injury attorney to learn their legal rights.