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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Parts of northbound 55 were closed near Lindbergh around 10:00 p.m. on February 9, 2009. Crash reports indicate that Randall Vinson of St. Louis, Missouri, lost control of his 1997 International Tow Truck. The vehicle being towed quickly came loose in the roadway. The empty car was then hit by Ivan Ivanov and followed by Nicole Roberts. Shortly thereafter James O’neal rear-ended Ms. Roberts’ vehicle, as Joel Corman rear-ended Mr. Ivanov. Luckily Mr. O’neal was the only driver taken to the hospital as the Highway Patrol sorted the remains of what appeared to be a demolition derby.

Anybody involved in an injury accident should contact a St. Louis area personal injury attorney as soon as possible, but this is especially true in more complicated, multi-car accidents. Often times in a chain reaction crash a driver is responsible for the damage done to the vehicle in front of him, but only a qualified car accident lawyer will be able to look at the specifics of a case and determine definitively who was at fault and who should pay the damages.

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Let’s face it, cell phones and driving don’t mix. At least eight different studies — some done on highways, some in simulators, some with data analysis — demonstrate that chatting on a cell phone impairs a driver. But how does that affect car accident litigation?By the time the police arrive they have no idea if drivers were on their phone during the accident. Most police officer’s fail to investigate cell phone usage when determining the cause of auto collisions. While some state legislatures are responding to this emerging danger, many are not. Missouri currently has no restriction on cell phone or text messaging while driving. This danger to Missouri drivers must be dealt with by the courts.

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