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Car Accidents

Recent Posts in Car Accidents Category

  • What are Punitive Damages in Missouri?

    In personal injury cases that involve extremely bad misconduct, punitive damages may be available. When compared to other states, though, Missouri law drastically limits when they can be awarded and how much can be received. What are Punitive Damages? Punitive damages, also known as exemplary damages, are a type of financial compensation that can be awarded in a personal injury case . They go ...
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  • How Does Negligence Per Se Work?

    Negligence per se is a way of proving fault in a personal injury claim . If someone was violating a law when they hurt you, like if they were breaking a traffic law and caused a car accident , that violation can be used to prove that they were being negligent. This can establish liability and make them pay for your losses. Unlawful Conduct Amounts to Per Se Negligence Every state has a long list ...
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  • Compensation for Property Damage in a Car Crash

    If you are driving a car and get hit in a car accident , you will suffer property damage to your vehicle. You can suffer property damage even if you were a pedestrian or bicyclist, though to a much lesser extent. When this happens, you deserve compensation for all of your losses , including for your property damage. Property Damage Can Be Staggeringly High Even if a car crash did not cause any ...
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  • What is the Difference Between First- and Third-Party Car Insurance?

    Car insurance is not something that people like to think about. However, if you have been in a car accident , insurance is often something that you cannot stop thinking about. Understanding the difference between first-party insurance and third-party insurance is essential. It can also help you make an informed decision about what kinds of insurance to carry, which can better prepare you in the ...
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  • What if a Pothole Caused My Car Accident?

    Spring has sprung in St. Joseph and western Missouri, and that means potholes. Potholes and other unsafe road conditions can cause car accidents . When they do, victims may be able to hold the government accountable for their losses, though there are additional barriers and limitations to these personal injury claims . How Potholes Can Cause Car Accidents Potholes can cause a car accident in ...
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  • What is Missouri’s Parental Responsibility Law?

    In our last blog post about car accidents and personal injury law in Missouri, we looked at how Missouri handles minors who negligently hurt you or damage your property, or who negligently contributed to their own injuries. But what happens when a minor deliberately hurts you or destroys your property by, for example, driving a car into your vehicle? Missouri’s Parental Responsibility Law Like ...
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  • Can Minors Be Negligent in Missouri?

    Occasionally, children or young adults can act in ways that unintentionally cause injuries to themselves or to others. This can happen in two ways: The minor can behave negligently and hurt someone else, or The minor can get hurt because they were behaving negligently. If they were an adult, they would be liable for the damages they caused. Because they were underage, though, that would be unfair. ...
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  • How are Lost Wages Calculated for a Personal Injury Claim?

    If you get hurt in a car accident in Missouri, it would be unfair to expect you to suffer if you were not the driver who caused it. By filing a personal injury lawsuit against the at-fault driver, you can recover the compensation you deserve . That compensation includes the wages that you lost while you recovered from the accident. Calculating your wage loss can be easy in some cases, but ...
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  • Are Personal Injury Settlements Taxable?

    If you get hurt by someone else’s negligence, like in a car accident , you can file a personal injury lawsuit and recover financial compensation for your losses . In Missouri, most of that financial compensation is not taxable at the state or federal level. However, some of it is. The General Rule: Personal Injury Settlements or Awards are Not Taxed According to Section 61 of the Internal Revenue ...
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  • What Medical Expenses Can I Recover in a Personal Injury Case?

    If you get hurt in a car accident or any other incident because someone else was negligent, you deserve to get compensated for your losses. If they or their insurance company are unwilling to pay the full amount, you can file a personal injury lawsuit . That lawsuit demands compensation for all of your losses associated with the accident. While there are several common types of losses that you can ...
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  • What is the Tort Lottery in Personal Injury Law?

    In our last blog post about car accidents , which covered holding defendants personally liable for a crash , we mentioned the “tort lottery.” This is a very difficult situation for victims to find themselves in, as their recovery depends on the affluence of the person who hurt them. Unfortunately, it can happen in a wide variety of ways in Missouri. The Tort Lottery The word “tort” is the ...
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  • Holding Defendants Personally Liable for a Car Crash

    It is a cliché in personal injury law to say that “you may be entitled to financial compensation.” However, getting the full amount that victims deserve after they have been hurt in a car accident is not always easy. Especially if the injuries will cost over six figures to recover from, the defendant’s insurance coverage may hit its policy limits. When this happens, you may have to hold the ...
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  • Can I Sue a Drunk Driver for a Car Accident?

    A St. Joseph man pled guilty to driving while intoxicated (DWI) and causing a car accident that killed a local woman and her unborn child. The story raises a question that many accident victims ask: Can I recover compensation in a personal injury lawsuit from a drunk driver that hurt me? The answer is yes, sometimes. St. Joseph Man Pleads Guilty to DWI After Fatal Crash The fatal accident happened ...
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  • U.S. Falls Behind in Fatal Car Accidents

    New data about car accidents in the United States paints a bleak picture about roadway safety here compared to abroad: While the U.S. was once among the safest places to travel, it now has a higher rate of fatalities from road accidents than any other rich nation in the world. According to one analysis, America’s car-centric transportation policies are to blame, as the roadway deaths ...
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  • Who is Liable for Car Accidents Caused by Pets?

    In our last blog post about car accidents , we discussed some instances where someone else could be held liable for your single-vehicle crash . While these accidents are more commonly caused by products liability issues, like a defective car part, occasionally a car accident will be caused by a loose pet, like a dog or cat. In these instances, the pet owner can be held liable even if they were not ...
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  • Can Someone Else Be Liable in a Single-Vehicle Car Crash?

    In our last blog post about car accidents , we looked at whether injured passengers could hold their own driver liable for their losses. The specific crash that we discussed, though, was a single-vehicle accident. That raised an important issue in personal injury law: In single-vehicle accidents, is the driver of that vehicle always responsible for the crash? The answer is no. Aside from the ...
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  • Can Injured Passengers Hold Their Driver Liable for a Car Accident?

    A serious single-vehicle car accident west of St. Joseph put five people in the hospital. The crash is a great example of how the injured passengers in a car can recover the compensation they need after an accident from the driver who was responsible for the crash. Single-Vehicle Crash Sends Five to the Hospital According to both the news report and the police report , the accident occurred just ...
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  • Is Drugged Driving Dangerous or Not?

    As more states in the U.S. legalize marijuana for medicinal or recreational purposes, the use of the drug has exploded. So too has the number of people with marijuana in their systems at the time of a car accident . But determining whether the marijuana was actually the cause of the accident, or how dangerous it is to drive while under the influence of the drug, is not as easy and simple as that. ...
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  • Parking Lot Accidents Can Be Severe

    In our last couple of blog posts about car accidents , we have looked at who has the right of way in a parking lot and how common parking lot accidents can be . The general conception of these accidents is that they are trivial. However, that is not always the case. Some of them can be quite significant, especially when the victim is elderly or a child. Unfortunately, these victims are likely the ...
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  • How Common are Car Accidents in Parking Lots?

    In a recent blog post, we looked at who has the right of way in a parking lot . This might seem like a trivial topic for personal injury law . However, parking lot car accidents are more common than you might expect, and can be far more devastating than you would think , given the low speeds of the crash. In this post, we will look at how common these accidents are. In our next post about car ...
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  • Car Accident Fatalities Increase 7 Percent

    A new federal study estimates that fatalities from car accidents increased at some of the highest non-lockdown levels in decades earlier this year, with Missouri seeing a higher increase than the national average. The data paints an alarming picture of roadway safety. Study Estimates a 7 Percent Increase in Accident Fatalities This month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) ...
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  • Who Has the Right of Way in a Parking Lot?

    Lots of car accidents happen in parking lots in St. Joseph. Some of them can be surprisingly serious , especially when a pedestrian is involved. Understanding who has the right of way in a parking lot is not always easy, but it can help you avoid making a decision that puts others at risk and let you know when someone else can be held liable if you got hit and hurt. The Three Different Areas of a ...
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  • If a Car Accident Involves a Non-Street-Legal Vehicle, What Happens?

    In our last blog post about car accidents , we looked at two important legal issues raised when a car hit an equipment buggy while trying to pass it . Something that we did not cover in that post was just as important, though: What happens when you crash into a vehicle that is not street legal? What Does it Mean to Be “Street Legal”? A motor vehicle is “street legal” if it: Has all of the legally ...
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  • Car Hits Buggy While Trying to Pass

    A victim was seriously hurt in a car accident involving an SUV and an equipment buggy, also known as a side-by-side all-terrain vehicle. The incident raises two important issues in personal injury law and car crashes: The eggshell skull rule, and Liability for crashes caused while passing other vehicles. Car Hits Buggy While Trying to Pass The incident happened on the evening of July 11, 2022. ...
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  • NHTSA Releases Data on Self-Driving Car Accidents

    Recently, there was a huge development in the regulation of self-driving vehicles: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released information about 392 car accidents involving vehicles with driver-assistance technologies over the span of 10 months. While the information is meant to be used to inform the agency about safety trends, NHTSA officials said that there was not enough ...
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