Under Missouri law, negligence exists when one person owes a duty of care to another, breaches that duty, and causes harm as a result. With respect to driving, the duty owed to others is to operate your vehicle in a safe manner. If another driver breached their duty to operate their vehicle safely and you […]
Continue reading Bringing a Negligence Claim Against Another Driver in Missouri
Tags: car accidents, personal injury
Owner-operators are under intense economic pressure to drive as much as possible and as fast as possible. Their profit margins are usually about 5%. So, for every $20 they earn, they keep $1. Making matters worse, most shipping companies pay drivers by the load instead of by the mile. So, if they miss an early […]
Continue reading What Causes Semi Truck Crashes?
Tags: truck crash claims
In the 1990s, lawmakers and law enforcement agencies began a crackdown to reduce the number of car crashes caused by drunk drivers. Yet alcohol is still a factor in about a third of the fatal car wrecks in Missouri. Unfortunately, that proportion is not much lower than it was in the 1980s, before the crackdown […]
Continue reading A Drunk Driver Hit Me: What are My Legal Options?
Tags: auto accident, car accidents
Evidence is the foundation of all successful car wreck claims. To win at trial, a victim (called a “Plaintiff”) must prove that the other driver was negligent, or failed to use reasonable care, by a preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not). That is a much lower standard of proof than the beyond a […]
Continue reading Evidence Used in Car Wreck Cases
Tags: car accident, personal injury
This question is an important one. In a serious injury crash, the medical bills could exceed $100,000. Frequently, health insurance companies may try to refuse to pay these expenses because they were caused by another person’s fault (although often there is no legal basis for the refusal by a health insurance company to pay). As […]
Continue reading I Was Hurt in a Truck Crash: What About My Medical Bills?
Tags: auto accident, medical bills, truck crash claims
Missouri has one of the highest percentages of uninsured motorists in the country. Additionally, the Show-Me State has one of the lowest auto insurance minimum requirements in the country. Therefore, a number of tortfeasors (negligent drivers) may not have enough insurance coverage to provide fair compensation, especially in catastrophic injury cases. That is one reason […]
Continue reading Vicarious Liability in Car Wreck Claims: What is it and Why Does it Matter?
Tags: auto insurance, car accidents, insurance
Serious burns and other catastrophic injuries are quite common in large truck crashes. These massive vehicles usually carry several hundred gallons of diesel fuel. Since diesel and gasoline burn at different temperatures, many truck crash victims suffer third-degree burns. These injuries always require painful skin grafts, usually from expensive burn centers.
Continue reading Top Three Causes of Truck Crashes
Tags: auto accident, truck crash claims
Each year, motorcycle wrecks seriously injure thousands of victims. Multiple restraint layers, not to mention steel cages, protect vehicle occupants from injury. Motorcycle riders, on the other hand, are completely exposed to danger. The force of the accident usually throws motorcycle riders off their bikes. The resulting impact causes wounds like head injuries, broken bones, […]
Continue reading Your Claim for Damages Following a Motorcycle Accident
Tags: motorcycle crash, personal injury
Prior to the early 1990s, DUIs were rarely enforced on the street, and if they made it to court, they were little more than traffic tickets. Indeed, my own mother was hit by a drunk driver in the early 1980s. It was Christmas Eve, and the sheriff near the small town where we lived in […]
Continue reading Obtaining Compensation Following Alcohol-Related Car Crashes
Tags: auto accident, car accidents
Most car accidents are not “accidents” at all. In fact, some form of driver error causes over 90 percent of these incidents. This driver error usually involves some form of driving impairment, which is a lack of statutory or reasonable care. Car crash victims often sustain serious injuries, such as a traumatic brain injury, and […]
Continue reading The Five Types of Driving Impairment
Tags: car accidents, distracted driving, personal injury
