St. Louis Injury Law Journal : St. Louis Personal Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Aaron Farmer Law Firm : Car Accidents, Medical Malpractice : Missouri, Jefferson County

If you are injured in a Missouri hit and run accident you should call the police and wait at the scene of the accident until a law enforcement officer tell you it’s ok to leave. Whether a car wreck involves a pedestrian, a moving car, a parked car, or someone’s property, you must stop and report the accident or you can be charged with hit and run even if the accident was not your fault. Hit and run penalties are severe. Depending on the damage or injuries, you may be fined, sent to jail, or both. You also could lose your driver’s license. Under no circumstances should you attempt to follow someone leaving the scene of an accident because you will not be able to return to the scene of the accident to have a police report taken.

A hit-and-run accident occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, a pedestrian or an object, and the driver of the offending vehicle drives away without stopping first. The general reasons why a driver leaves the scene of a car accident at which there were at fault are they’re scared, intoxicated, or uninsured. If you're the victim of a hit and run car accident, you should call the police as quickly as possible, and report the incident to your insurance company. An accurate police report will be vital to the success of your case. Be sure to ask the officers to take the statements of the other drivers and witnesses. In addition, you should take pictures of your damaged car.

If you are injured in a Missouri hit and run accident, you may be able to make a claim under your own accident insurance policy if you have uninsured motorists' coverage. If the hit and run driver was in a work vehicle, or on a work errand, you may be able to pursue a claim against the employer or vehicle owner. 

In the State of Missouri, leaving the scene of an accident is a misdemeanor unless anyone was hurt in the car wreck, or if the amount of property damage will exceed a thousand dollars, or if the driver has been found guilty of leaving the scene of an accident before. In that case, a hit and run becomes a Class D felony.

For the above reasons, it is imperative that drivers follow the instructions laid out by the Missouri Department of Revenue when involved in any Missouri auto collision:

1. Help anyone who is hurt. Contact the police. 
2. Use flares, reflectors, or flashlights if the accident happened at night or in bad weather to warn other traffic. 
3. Exchange name, address, driver license number, vehicle identification, license plate number, name of insurance company, and policy number with everyone involved. 
4. Do not leave the accident until a law enforcement officer tells you that you may.

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Can I sue the cell phone companies when I’m hit by someone talking on their phone in a Missouri car accident? The answer, according to the Pennsylvania Injury Law Report, is probably not. The recent article recounts a fatal car accident in Indiana where a driver ran a red light while talking on his cell phone.

The driver of the other car, 20 year old Christopher Hill, owed a duty Mrs. Doyle, to operate his vehicle in a prudent and reasonable manner. We all owe that duty to each other when we are driving on the road. When that duty is breached, it gives rise to a claim for negligence. Without the duty, there is no negligence.

The Indiana Court dismissed the case against Cingular, for reasons that include the unforeseeability of the accident and the absence of a legal relationship between the woman and Cingular. The court also said that crashes are caused by driver inattention, not by cell phones, adding that drivers often talk on phones without crashing.

Imposing a duty on Cingular and similar companies to prevent car accidents such as the one in this case would effectively require the companies to stop selling cellular phones entirely because the companies have no way of preventing customers from using the phones while driving. Doing so would place a higher burden on those companies than on other types of manufacturers or sellers of products that might be distracting to drivers. Ultimately, sound public policy dictates that the responsibility for negligent driving should fall on the driver. Legislation has already been drafted to address the issue of cellular phone use while driving and to place the responsibility on the driver to refrain from doing so. We are confident that the legislature is taking appropriate measures to protect public safety, and that is both its right and duty.

This is why it’s so important to carry adequate uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. If you are seriously injured in a St. Louis car accident a minimum 25,000/50,000 policy will probably not cover your injuries. By purchasing uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, usually at pennies on the dollar, you ensure that you will be made financially whole if you have the misfortune of being involved in a Missouri auto collision.

If you are in a St. Louis car accident with someone who has a minimum policy of $25,000 and your medical bills are $35,000 their policy won’t even cover all your medical bills. What about lost wages, future medical bills, and pain and suffering? With underinsured motorist coverage your insurance would cover the difference. This is why it is important to review your insurance policy and consider adding uninsured and underinsured coverage. If you are unsure how the details of your auto insurance policy will protect you if you are in a car wreck, contact an experienced Missouri car wreck attorney.

Underinsured motorist protection covers damages that exceed the amount of coverage carried by a negligent driver. Underinsured coverage typically pays up to the limits of your policy after subtracting the amount paid by the other driver's insurance. This type of coverage applies to you, anyone in your car, and any family member listed on your policy that is injured in another car.

Uninsured motorist protection covers you if you are in an accident with an uninsured motorist. But it also does much more. If you are injured as a pedestrian you will be covered. Best of all, uninsured motorist coverage also protects you and family members traveling in other cars.

See My Other Blog Posts On Car Insurance:
Insurance Companies Still Playing Dirty
Why Everyone In Missouri Should Check Their Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage
Budget Tight? Skip Paying For Car Insurance.

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Lately I’ve received quite a few questions regarding lawyer fees. While there are numerous ways to structure payment of attorney fees, I have highlighted some of the most common below.

A contingency fee means the attorney get a percentage of the total settlement.  Contingency fee’s typically range from 25% to 50% of the entire settlement. The fee is usually the first deduction from the overall settlement. For example, if a St. Louis auto collision case settles for $10,000, and the attorney fee is 35%, the attorney will receive the first $3,500 of the settlement. In most Missouri car wreck cases a contingency fee is used. In this type of agreement the attorney usually finances the cost of litigation including medical records fees, filing fees, copying fees, expert witness fee’s, and much more. At the conclusion of the case, the attorney is reimbursed for all expenses out of the settlement.

A flat fee is when the attorney handles a matter for one flat fee. So, if an attorney quotes you $2,000 to handle a case, then this is how much you will pay, regardless of the amount of work the attorney does. If the attorney does two hours of work, he makes a lot of money for two hours of work. If he takes 200 hours to do the work, he is making close to minimum wage. But you always know how much you are going to pay.

Most people are familiar with the concept of paying an attorney by the hour. Typically a retainer ($3,000 to $5,000) is paid up front. As the attorney works on your case, deductions are taken from your retainer on a monthly or quarterly basis. Time is typically rounded up in increments of a quarter or sixth of an hour. Most retainer agreements have a written component detailing how time is computed and when payments will be taken from the retainer. Any portion of the retainer leftover at the conclusion of the case is returned to the client.

A hybrid attorney fee is any combination of the above attorney fees or any other thing you can think of. I’ve heard stories that lawyers accept jewelry and other consumer goods as payment. A more realistic example of a hybrid fee is a flat fee for up to a specified amount of work, and if the case turns out to require more work then an hourly fee will be charged thereafter. Another example is a flat fee with a contingency fee on any settlement, which is typically how social security/disability cases are handled.

This overview covers the major types of attorney fees. While only contingency fee agreements are required to be in writing under Missouri law, it’s always best to have an agreement for legal services in writing. Always make sure you get a copy of the signed attorney-client fee agreement. Most bar associations have attorney fee arbitration programs where clients can attempt to settle disputes with their attorneys over compensation.

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The Springfield Injury Law Blog recently addressed Missouri’s new ban on texting while driving. Attorney Jason Krebs highlighted some new public safety announcements by the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety designed to focus attention on the deadly consequences of driving while texting. Mr. Krebs also noted that:

Studies by the American Medical Associationshow texting drivers spend 400% more time with their eyes off the road than non-texting drivers. While it doesn't take a statistician to realize that when one's eyes aren't on the road, it is much easier to cause an accident, the American Automobile Association estimates thattexting while driving increases the chance for a car accident by 50%--for any age driver.

While the Missouri ban on texting only applies to drivers under 21 years of age, its impact will likely still be felt. In a previous St. Louis Injury Law Journal article I cited a joint survey conducted by AAA and Seventeen magazine of 1,000 teenagers in 2007 showing that 61 percent admitted to risky driving habits. Of those, about half said they sent text messages and talked on cell phones. Hopefully the ban on texting will serve to halt these deadly statistics.

One of the elements that must be proved to be successful in a Missouri car accident case is breach of duty. One of the ways this may be proved is through “negligence per se” which means a defendant violated a statute that was designed to protect the injured party from being hurt in the car accident. Under Missouri’s new texting ban, proof that a driver under 21 was texting on or around the time of a car wreck may be used to prove breach of duty. Perhaps the legislature will eventually apply the texting ban to all drivers in Missouri to protect us from everyone who puts others at risk by texting while driving.

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A recent report issued by the Government Accountability Office finds that many work place injuries are not reported. Injured Missouri workers can experience disincentives that may discourage them from reporting work-related injuries and illnesses to their employers. For example, workers may not report a work-related injury or illness because they fear job loss or other disciplinary action, or fear jeopardizing rewards based on having low injury and illness rates. Disincentives for reporting and recording injuries often lead to insufficient medical treatment.

The Missouri Workers’ Compensation system requires notice of work injuries within 30 days. Once you report your injury, your employer must give you paperwork and file a “First Report of Injury” with the Missouri Division of Workers’ Compensation. If your employer does not give you this paperwork, request it in writing from them. After the first report of injury is completed your employer should send you to the Doctor. If you or a loved one is injured at work, you may have a Missouri Workers’ Compensation Claim. Please contact an experienced Missouri Workers’ Compensation lawyer to make sure you are receiving all the benefits you are entitled to under the Missouri Workers’ Compensation system.

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Red-light cameras are put up to take a picture of a car’s license plate if the driver runs a red light. These cameras are popping up in Missouri cities like wildfire as officials theorize that if drivers know they’re being watched, they’ll be less likely to run the lights. Most municipalities point to research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety claiming that red-light cameras improve motorist safety. But do they work? Or is it just another way for struggling municipalities to make more money from Missouri traffic tickets?

A recent study at the University of South Florida concludes that red-light cameras significantly increase auto accidents. “Instead, they increase crashes and injuries as drivers attempt to abruptly stop at camera intersections,” said lead author Barbara Langland-Orban, professor and chair of health policy and management at the USF College of Public Health. The report cites other major research projects including comprehensive studies from North Carolina, Virginia, and Ontario, all of which reported cameras are significantly associated with increases in auto accidents, as well as accidents involving injuries. A study by the Virginia Transportation Research Council also found that cameras were linked to increased crash costs.

The project also concluded that other studies claiming that red-light cameras reduced the frequency of crashes or injuries contained major “research design flaws,” such as incomplete data or inadequate analyses, and were conducted by researchers with links to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The IIHS, funded by automobile insurance companies, is the leading advocate for red-light cameras.

Langland-Orban also cites a 2001 paper by the Office of the Majority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives, reporting that red-light cameras are “a hidden tax levied on motorists.” The report concluded cameras are associated with increased crashes, the timings at yellow lights are often set too short to increase tickets for red-light running, and most research concluding cameras are effective was conducted by one researcher from the IIHS. Since then, studies independent of the automobile insurance industry continue to find cameras are associated with large increases in auto collisions.

In fact, Union City, CA, Dallas and Lubbock, TX, Nashville and Chattanooga, TN, and Springfield, MO, have all been found guilty of shortening the yellow light cycles below what is allowed by law on intersections equipped with red-light cameras. Those local governments appear to be more interested in collecting ticket revenue than increasing motorist safety.

As an experienced Missouri auto accident lawyer, it is my hope that our local red-light camera systems are focusing on motorist safety and not money. Running a red light is a serious issue, and is an example of reckless driving, which is a form of negligence that can lead to serious injury and even wrongful death of innocent people. After reading these studies it appears that lengthening yellow lights, whether coupled with red-light cameras or not, would be much more effective at reducing the occurrence of Missouri auto accidents around red lights.

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Many top level executives at St. Louis area hospitals are thinking about negligent hiring after a fake nurse was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for falsifying nursing credentials to obtain nursing jobs for over 18 years. The St. Louis Post Dispatch recently reported that Catherine M. Connor, plead guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one felony count of wire fraud. As part of the plea, she also admitted falsifying credentials, lying about her qualifications and covering up a criminal record. Connor's employers included SSM DePaul Health Center, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Missouri's prison health care contractor and the National Institutes of Health. She held jobs mainly in education or consulting and never provided hands-on care to patients.

Liability from negligent hiring has become a hot topic among many of the nation’s largest companies. If an employee cause’s harm to another employee, customer, or other person, and the employer knows or should have known that the employee was a risk, the employer can be held liable for damages caused by the employee. This is known as negligent hiring or negligent retention. Every employer has a duty to make a “reasonable” determination about whether a potential employee is qualified for their job. This is commonly known as performing “due diligence.” It can include verification of certifications, trainings, and education. It also includes drug testing, criminal background checks, and driving record checks.

If the employer breaches its duty, that employer may be held liable for negligent hiring. The duty is breached when the employer hires an employee it knew, or in the exercise of reasonable care should have known, was incompetent or unfit for the work assigned. "Incompetence" means the employee possessed certain personal or physical characterizations which created an unreasonable risk to third parties. The concept of risk creation implies the injury producing conduct of the employee was predictable.

One common example of negligent hiring is a driver of a large commercial vehicle who has a history of alcohol or substance abuse who is still allowed to drive heavy machinery on our roads. If an employer does not perform an adequate background check and/or drug test, and those reasonable tests would have shown the driver was unfit to drive, the employer may be liable under the theory of negligent hiring for any injuries or damages the driver causes.

Negligent hiring and negligent retention also come up in the medical field. As discussed above, at least four St. Louis medical employers allowed an unqualified nurse to work with falsified credentials. A simple verification system would have exposed that Catherine Connor was not qualified as a nurse. If Ms. Connor had treated patients and caused injury, her employers would have been liable under negligent hiring and negligent retention theories. The medical field is particularly at risk for substance abuse issues among its employees. Are hospitals performing regular drug testing among all employees? If not, they are at risk for liability on any damages a reasonable employer would have seen coming. If you or a loved one has been injured in a way that could have been prevented by adequate employee testing or verification please contact an experienced St. Louis injury lawyer as soon as possible to ensure your rights are adequately protected.
 

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Drunk drivers causing accidents can face both criminal and civil charges for their actions. In Missouri, anyone harmed in an auto collision caused by the negligence of another can sue to recover for pain and suffering, medical expenses, lost wages, and other damages.   If a drunk driving accident results in a fatality, the family or estate of the deceased victim may pursue a wrongful death claim against the drunk driver. The St. Louis metropolitan area has recently seen a spike in drunk driving auto collisions.

Under Missouri law, drivers owe the highest duty of care to other motorists. This means that if you are driving on a publicly maintained road, you must drive very carefully the same way a prudent person would in the same or similar circumstances.   A drunk driving accident is not only against the law, a very careful driver would never drink and drive. Drinking and driving clearly violates this standard of driving. If a driver violates this duty of care and causes damages, a negligence lawsuit may be filed to put the injury victim back in the place they would have been prior to the drunk driving collision.

In some cases, an additional party may be added to the lawsuit. In many states, businesses that provide alcohol to an intoxicated person who subsequently causes a drunk driving accident are subject to liability under Dram Shop liability. The business must knowingly provide alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person to be held accountable for their actions. 

Unfortunately, drunk driving accidents are becoming more common in Missouri. In many drunk driving collisions immediate steps must be taken adequately to preserve evidence. If you or a loved one has been injured by a drunk driver, protect yourself by consulting with an experienced Missouri accident lawyer as soon as possible.

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The Sierra Club is questioning safety benefits of proposed truck only lanes on Interstate 70. The Missouri Department of Transportation plans to add four lanes to I-70 and restrict tractor-trailer travel to the interior lane in each direction. Missouri would be part of a proposed 800 mile corridor of truck only lanes across four states.

Missouri reviewed several options to ease traffic flow on the 60 year old highway. Eventually MoDOT decided truck only lanes were the best option. Trucks were involved in more than 4,000 crashes on I-70 between 2002 and 2008.

The Sierra Club claims that trucks will still cross over the regular lanes to exit the highway. As the trucks move into regular lanes to exit, cars could be in the trucks blind spots and semi-truck accidents may occur. The $4.1 billion dollar plan would include slip ramps for trucks to exit from the interior lanes.

Due to size disparities and the basic laws of physics, any collision between a tractor-trailer and a passenger car is likely to result in serious injuries and significant property damage. Truckers and trucking companies are required by law to follow state and federal trucking regulations. When these regulations are overlooked, innocent people can be injured. Many tractor-trailer accidents are caused by driver fatigue, excessive speed, fraudulent log books, negligent truck maintenance, unbalanced loads, and negligent hiring of truck drivers. Anyone injured in a tractor-trailer collision should contact an experienced Missouri injury lawyer as soon as possible.
 

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