Personal Injury Law

1 killed and 7 injured in Missouri van crash

By Ryan Bradley, Esq.

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.

Full post as published by Missouri Accident Lawyer Blog on December 16, 2009 (boomark / email).