A serious car accident between St. Joseph and Kansas City sent two people to the hospital. Initial reports indicate that one of the drivers crossed the center line which, if true, could constitute negligence per se.
Car Accident North of Kansas City
The crash happened on the morning of Thursday, February 23, 2017, on the Kansas side of the Missouri River, 35 miles southwest of St. Joseph and 40 miles northwest of Kansas City.
According to preliminary reports, a Ford Fiesta driven by 34-year-old Carl Heugel was going southbound on U.S. Highway 73 when he crossed the center line into oncoming traffic. Unfortunately, at that moment 78-year-old Walter Koehler was driving a Chevy Cruze northbound. The two cars collided in a head-on accident.
Both drivers were hurt in the crash, and both were rushed to area hospitals for treatment.
Crossing the Center Line and Negligence Per Se
If you get hurt in a car accident, a personal injury lawsuit is the best way to ensure that you get the compensation you need to recover from your injuries. Personal injury lawsuits aim to find out who caused the crash and get them to pay for the damage they caused.
Very few car accidents are done on purpose. Most of them were accidental, and happen because someone was negligent. One way to find out who was negligent – and who was, therefore, responsible for the crash – is through the legal concept of negligence per se.
Statutes, laws, and even traffic codes lay out a host of things that you can’t do. Traffic codes prohibit things include speeding, running red lights, or crossing the center line. Because violating the traffic code makes driving far more dangerous, it’s considered to be presumptively negligent to accidentally break one of its rules.
This is a huge help if you were in a car accident that was caused because someone else was breaking the rules. If you were one of the people that the rule was designed to protect and if you got hurt by the kind of conduct the rule was designed to prohibit, it’s up to the other driver to show that their negligence should be excused.
In a case where a driver crossed the center line, negligence per se can be used in a personal injury case. Suddenly, proving that someone else was negligent becomes far easier: All that you have to do is prove that they did, in fact, cross the center line and that crossing the center line violates the Missouri Traffic Code 304.015.
St. Joseph Car Accident Attorneys at the Smith Law Office
Negligence per se is a helpful tool to get the compensation that you need to make a full recovery after a car crash. Having a personal injury attorney like those at the Smith Law Office can help make this happen. We legally represent victims of car accidents in St. Joseph, Kansas City, and Springfield, Missouri, and fight for their rights both in and out of court. Contact us online or at (816) 875-9373.