A fatal car accident to the west of St. Joseph, Missouri, raises an interesting problem in the law: Who is responsible when the road causes a crash?
Single-Vehicle Car Crash Leaves One Dead
The incident happened outside of Cummings, Kansas, around 33 miles southwest of St. Joseph and 55 miles northwest of Kansas City, Missouri.
A local resident found a wrecked pickup truck in a ditch near a soybean field in the early morning hours of Monday, June 11, 2018. When police arrived, they found the body of the truck’s driver. While the investigation is still ongoing, initial reports indicate that the truck was going westward along U.S. Highway 59 when it left the roadway. The vehicle then went 900 feet into a soybean field, crossed a local street, rolled over several times, and ended up in a ravine.
The driver was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.
Stretch of Highway Known for Accidents
Emergency responders know this stretch of road intimately, from the number of accidents they see on it.
“It is just a winding stretch of highway,” Wes Lanter, the director of the Atchison County Emergency Management Office said. “With deer, traffic and other hazards, if you’re not careful, these things can happen.”
Defective Road Designs Can Cause Car Crashes
After a car accident, the person or the people who caused the crash should be held liable for the costs. While responsibility usually falls on one of the drivers involved in the crash, there are exceptions. One of these exceptions is when a defectively designed product caused the crash or contributed to its severity. These can give rise to a products liability claim.
Typically, the defective product in a car crash was installed in one of the cars that was involved in the accident, like the defective airbags made by the company Takata. However, there are times when the defective product was the road, itself.
Roads can be designed in a variety of ways that put drivers at an increased risk of a car accident. For example, roads can have blind turns, sudden dips, or dark corners that make it difficult for unfamiliar drivers to see the dangers they are approaching. These designs can increase the number of crashes and injuries that happen, and put innocent and unwary drivers at a huge risk.
St. Joseph Car Accident Attorneys at the Smith Law Office
When a road is designed in a way that is likely to increase the number of accidents, the people responsible for that design should be held accountable. Unfortunately, because there are so many parties behind the design and construction of a road, determining who was really at fault can be difficult.
This is why the personal injury attorneys at the Smith Law Office in St. Joseph represent car accident victims. By fighting for your rights and interest in court, we can ensure you get the compensation you need and deserve. Contact us online or call us at (816) 875-9373.