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Car Accidents

Recent Posts in Car Accidents Category

  • St. Joseph to Replace Traffic Lights with Stop Signs

    The city of St. Joseph recently announced a plan to replace most of the traffic lights in the downtown area with stop signs. The decision provides a great opportunity to look at intersection safety and how it can impact the number of car accidents that happen. St. Joseph to Replace Stop Lights with Stop Signs Starting this week on Faraon Street, the Public Works Department will begin replacing ...
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  • Car Crash Dummy Design Puts Women at Risk

    Crash dummies help car manufacturers build vehicles that protect drivers and their passengers. They also help insurance companies understand the risks and the injuries that are often associated with a car accident . This means that the design of car crash dummies can greatly impact people’s safety. Unfortunately, dummy designs leave nearly half of the drivers in the U.S. and western Missouri ...
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  • Motorcycle Helmet Law’s Repeal to Take Effect Friday

    Missouri lawmakers recently passed a transportation bill that abolished the state’s law requiring all motorcyclists to wear helmets. While many are celebrating the governor’s signature on the new bill, there are some serious reasons to be concerned about the safety of people on the roads. Motorcycle and car accidents are likely to become far more serious when the law goes into effect on Friday. ...
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  • Fatal Car Accident After Tires Come Off Truck

    A fatal car accident on Highway 36 appears to have been caused by a tractor trailer’s tires flying off the vehicle’s axle. The freak accident is an example of how some crashes are not the fault of either driver involved, and how products liability law can become implicated in the wreck. Tires Fly Off Truck, Causing Fatal Car Crash The truck accident happened last Tuesday, August 4, 2020, on U.S. ...
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  • Car Accidents are Changing as Lockdown Ends

    The coronavirus has changed how we travel, with lockdowns shuttering businesses, schools, and social destinations. Now that the lockdowns are being lifted, though, some people are hitting the roads, once again. The swing in travelling tendencies, though, are drastically altering the frequency of car accidents . It is even changing the types of accidents that do occur. Car Accidents Plummeted ...
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  • Missouri’s Rules for Car Crashes With Stolen Vehicles

    A recent incident in St. Joseph raises an important question in personal injury law : How does proximate cause work when a car was stolen? Car Theft Leads to High Speed Chase and Gunfire Last week, a St. Joseph man reported to police that his car had been stolen from the Speedy’s Convenience Store on St. Joseph Avenue . An hour and a half later, though, he saw his car being driven by someone else. ...
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  • Motorcycle Accidents on the Rise in Missouri

    As the weather in St. Joseph heats up, motorcyclists are taking their bikes out for a ride. Unfortunately, this has led to the annual increase in motorcycle accidents . Practicing some simple driving techniques can drastically reduce the number of car accidents that involve motorcyclists in Missouri. Missouri Police Note Rise in Motorcycle Accidents In the span of a single week in mid-June, police ...
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  • Cows Escape After Truck Accident: The Line Between Legal and Proximate Cause in Missouri

    A truck accident outside St. Joseph has led to a chaotic scene, with police struggling to round up dozens of cows that escaped from the truck’s trailer. The incident provides another interesting and real-life scenario where the concepts of legal and proximate cause come into play. Dozens of Cows Escape After Truck Accident According to the initial reports, the accident happened early in the ...
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  • How Does Subrogation Work in a Car Accident?

    Subrogation is one of the most confusing aspects of personal injury law. However, it is far from uncommon, as it frequently arises after a car accident . Here is how subrogation works, how it is different in Missouri, and what it means for victims of car accidents. An Example: A Pedestrian Accident Outside St. Joseph It is easiest to understand a complex legal issue like subrogation with an ...
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  • Missouri Lawmakers Press to Repeal Motorcycle Helmet Law

    Once again, the motorcycle helmet law in Missouri could change with the signature of the governor. If this year’s attempt to repeal the state’s universal helmet law succeeds, it would mean more injuries and deaths from car accidents involving motorcycles. Missouri Legislature Passes Another Bill to Repeal Motorcycle Helmet Law In what seems to have become an annual tradition, lawmakers at the ...
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  • Car Accidents, DUIs, and No Contest Pleas

    A car accident in St. Joseph raises some interesting issues in Missouri’s personal injury law , especially its intersection with the field of criminal defense. Car Accidents Leads to DUI Arrest in St. Joseph In the middle of the afternoon of May 12, 2020, a car rear-ended another vehicle on Highway 6 just outside St. Joseph. According to the initial reports , the trailing vehicle ran off the road ...
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  • How Does Excessive Speed Affect a Car Accident?

    The Missouri State Highway Patrol is claiming that it has seen an increase in the number of speeding vehicles since the coronavirus shutdown began in March. Needless to say, excessive speed can make a difference in the odds of a car accident as well as in the severity of the crash. What many people do not know, though, is that speeding can impact their ability to recover compensation in a personal ...
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  • Are Fatal Car Accidents Up Since the Coronavirus Shutdown?

    If there is a silver lining to the coronavirus pandemic, it is that car accidents have plummeted across the U.S. With people staying inside and not driving for errands, to school, or even to work, cities have reported drastic decreases in the number of crashes on the roadways. However, Missouri police are claiming they have actually seen an increase in the number of fatal crashes. They insist that ...
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  • The Coronavirus and Car Accidents are Not Comparable

    The costs of the spread of the coronavirus has recently been compared to the yearly death toll from car accidents that we see in the U.S. Unfortunately, the comparison overlooks the fact that nearly everyone travels in a car – even non-drivers – while only a tiny percentage point of people in the U.S. have gotten COVID-19. Why Comparing Coronavirus to Car Crashes Makes COVID-19 Look Tame To date, ...
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  • Missouri DOT to Patch Nearly 1 Million Potholes

    As the weather warms up, the toll of a Missouri winter on the roads in St. Joseph becomes clear: There will likely be nearly a million potholes for the Missouri Department of Transportation to fill, this year. These are not just inconveniences for drivers – potholes pose a significant risk for car accidents . Missouri DOT Plans to Fill Nearly a Million Potholes Now that the weather is beginning to ...
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  • It’s 2020: Where are the Self-Driving Cars?

    Three years ago, everyone was talking about self-driving cars. Uber and Google were leading the charge in developing cars that could drive themselves without causing a car accident . But then the news stopped coming from the sector. Self-driving cars were still being tested , but the developments were no longer newsworthy. What happened? Self-Driving Cars Hit a Wall in Artificial Intelligence ...
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  • School Bus Accident Hurts 17 Children

    Just two weeks ago, we covered how sovereign immunity can complicate bus accidents . That post focused on a minor car accident involving a passenger vehicle and a bus run by St. Joseph Transit. A new bus crash brings those lessons back into the limelight. School Bus Crashes, Hurts 17 A school bus was taking an entire classroom of children on a field trip when it crashed and flipped on its side in ...
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  • Accident With St. Joseph Bus Invokes Sovereign Immunity

    A car accident involving a St. Joseph Transit bus and a passenger car raises some important questions about how Missouri’s personal injury laws handle claims against the city. St. Joseph Transit Bus Collides With Car The accident happened around 7:20pm on Monday, January 27, 2020, near the intersection of the North Belt Highway and Sherman Avenue . Little information was made available for initial ...
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  • Intentional Car Accidents Create Insurance Complications

    A St. Joseph man has been convicted for assault after deliberately running over his ex-girlfriend with his car. While the outcome of the trial appears to be good for the victim, it can actually keep them from recovering the financial compensation they need after being hurt in the car crash . Man Convicted of Second-Degree Assault for Intentional Car Accident The man was arrested after he ran over ...
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  • Car Accidents in Missouri Will Change With These 2 New Laws

    When new laws are made, they often go into effect on the first day of the upcoming year. 2020 is no exception. In Missouri, there are two important laws that will influence how car accidents are resolved in the state. One can have a significant impact on the compensation that car crash victims can recover in a personal injury lawsuit that is based on products liability . Here are summaries of the ...
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  • How Common are Car Accidents on Christmas?

    Some holidays come with a sharp increase in the number of fatal car accidents . Surprisingly, though, statistics show that the Christmas holiday is not one of them. The average number of fatal accidents that happen per day between 6pm on Christmas Eve and 6am on January 2 nd is actually lower than on a normal day over the rest of the year. Holidays See Fewer Fatal Accidents than a Normal Day of ...
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  • 3 Reasons for Car Crashes on Thanksgiving Holiday

    This Thanksgiving holiday is shaping up to be an especially dangerous one on the roads. The number of car accidents in western Missouri and St. Joseph will not be increased by lots of travel and drunk driving, but also some bad weather that forecasters are saying will hit at just the wrong time. 3 Reasons Why Thanksgiving Can Be One of the Most Dangerous Holidays to Drive One of the leading ...
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  • Car Hits House: What Can the Homeowner Recover?

    Two people were hurt in a car accident in Kansas City, Missouri, when a car ran into a house. The compensation that the homeowners should be able to recover in a personal injury lawsuit would go far beyond just their medical expenses. Can Crashes Into Kansas City House The accident happened just after 9pm on Friday, November 15, at the intersection of 88 th Street and Wornwall Road in southern ...
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  • Proposed Bill Would Help Truck Accident Victims

    While there is rarely anything that can be called a trivial car accident , there are still some that are more severe than others. Among the worst are truck accidents . Many of these crashes end up causing severe or fatal injuries to the person or people in passenger cars. Despite the high likelihood for serious injuries, lawmakers have let the minimum liability insurance coverage requirements for ...
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  • Pedestrian Accident Could Have Harsh Legal Results

    A car accident involving a pedestrian in St. Joseph brings out some of the harsh realities about assigning fault in an accident. While many people assume that the “victim” in a crash was the one who got seriously hurt, the law focuses instead on who was responsible. In some cases, the person who suffered the most can also be legally liable for the other person’s losses and injuries. Pedestrian ...
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