Southeast Missouri Car Accident Lawyer Blog

Halloween night has been known to have an increased number pedestrian accidents. Everyone is rushing around to have fun and collect goodies and get to the party and they can forget to pay attention to normal traffic safety rules. In order to keep everyone safer in southeast Missouri, here are some safety tips for the big night.

Drivers

• Be on the lookout on Halloween night. There will be spooks, space adventurers, super heroes, robots, witches, and more on foot and riding bicycles in areas where you may not normally see anybody.


• Remember these little creatures will be excited and preoccupied. Many are trying to get to as many houses as they can before they have to turn back into children and head home. They may forget to stop, listen, and look both ways before they cross the street.


• Be particularly alert along the side of the street and around parked cars. Trick-or-treaters have been known to suddenly dart into traffic from between parked cars or travel in large bunches spilling over into a traffic lane.


• Watch for small ghosts, vampires, pirates, or Disney characters walking in the street, especially if there are no sidewalks in the neighborhood.


• Allow extra time if you are traveling on Halloween night, expect surprises and drive slower in preparation. Give the ghouls and monsters extra time to cross the street and look for more running to catch their friends.


• Be aware that costumes may hamper their ability to see and hear you and to get out of the way quickly.

Continue reading "Safety Tips to Help Southeast Missouri Avoid Pedestrian Accidents on Halloween in Cape Girardeau, Missouri" »

A Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) employee and his wife took a 104 mile walk from St. Charles to Jefferson City on the Katy Trail. This walk took about five days and was used to help raise money for the construction of a Fallen Workers Memorial that will be built in Jefferson City.

The memorial will be used to honor road construction MoDOT workers who have been killed in car accidents in Kennett and elsewhere on the job.

The city is planning on funding the project completely through private donations. Our car accident attorneys in Dexter, New Madrid and Sikeston understand how important this memorial is to the transportation workers of the city. Too many times, road construction workers are injured and killed by the careless driving habits of passing motorists. Many of these accidents can be prevented with a little more concern and caution from drivers through these areas.

Missouri has made its plans clear to improve nearly 6,000 miles of roads in the state in the last year. Construction zones are scattered throughout our area in an attempt to make the roadways safer for everyone. Unfortunately, these zones make these areas much more dangerous for some. Every year, there are far too many drivers, passengers and workers that are killed or seriously injured because of construction zones in our state. There were more than a dozen workers killed in road repair and highway work zones in the state in 2009.

State statistics reveal that there have been nearly 100 people killed and more than 4,000 killed in road and highway work zones in Missouri from 2005 to 2009. According to MoDOT,

The Director of MoDOT, Pete Rahn, has stressed the important of driver attention many times before. He reiterates that drivers need to abide by road signs and laws in these areas to help reduce their risks of an accident. Slowed sleep limits and lane changes aren't there to make your commute more difficult, but they're there because they can help to keep everyone safe.

MoDOT's top causes for work zone traffic-related accidents:

5.) Failing to yield.

4.) Driving too fast for road conditions.

3.) Improperly using the lanes and improper changing of lanes.

2.) Following too closely.

1.) Driver inattention.

Rahn would also like to use this time to remind drivers to wear their seat belt. Nearly 1,000 people died because of car accidents in Missouri in 2009. Nearly 70 percent of these fatalities were of those who were not wearing a seat belt

"We need drivers to pay attention to highway construction and drive with caution through it to prevent senseless deaths and injuries," said Rahn.

If you'd like to donate to the Fallen Workers Memorial, please send a check:

Payable to: State Highway & Transportation Employees Association of Missouri
Send to: Fallen Workers Memorial (Attn: Dave B. Taylor) 3929 East 7th St., Joplin, Mo., 64801

Continue reading "Work Zone Hazards a Cause of Poplar Bluff Missouri Car Accidents" »

Did you ever wonder what "hazardous moving violation" means? Kennett, Missouri car accident lawyers run across all types of accidents and the traffic violations that go with them. And we know sometimes the language and the terms used can be confusing. So here is a short run-down on "Hazardous Moving Violations" including what they are and why they matter.

Why They Matter
Hazardous moving violations, more commonly referred to as a traffic ticket or summons, account for 45 percent of the fatalities and 40 percent of the disabling injuries that result from car accidents in Missouri.

In Kennett, and all of Missouri really, car accidents are primarily caused by driver error. Many of these driver errors are also moving violations. Moving violations are infractions such as speeding, following too close, and failure to yield for example. The other type of traffic violation is non-moving violations. Examples of this type of infraction are parking violations, expired plates, and improper registration.

Who Keeps Track of Hazardous Moving Violations
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) and local and county governments set laws to control traffic and increase traffic safety. To do this effectively they need to determine which factors are involved in unsafe driving and which are the leading cause of car accidents. To determine these factors driving behaviors are categorized.

Continue reading "Hazardous Moving Violation Explained for Kennett and Missouri" »

It is a common believe in Dexter Missouri and everywhere that you are more likely to get into an accident on a city street. A recent study released by TRIP, a national transportation research group, shows this is not true. And car accident statistics from Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) also support this research.

Grim News for Missouri from TRIP
Founded in 1971, TRIP is a non-profit organization that researches, evaluates and distributes economic and technical data on surface transportation issues. TRIP released a report this month (September 2011) that addresses the condition of rural roads and bridges in America's Heartlands. Rural America is defined as all places in areas outside of the primary daily commuting zones of cities with a population of 50,000 or greater.

According to this latest report Missouri's rural roads and bridges are among the most deteriorated in the nation and Missouri's rural traffic fatality rate is three times higher than all other Missouri roads. In 2009 there were 533 rural non-interstate traffic accident deaths and 878 deaths total for Missouri.

TRIP and Missouri Rural Car Accidents
In 2009 Missouri ranked 9th among states Nationwide with 533 non-interstate traffic deaths. Another sad number is that for every 100 million vehicle miles of travel in Missouri there were 2.31 rural car accident deaths. All other roads in the same category resulted in 0.75 traffic deaths. And all Missouri roadways combined resulted in 1.27 car accident deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. These numbers actually matched the numbers for the United States as a whole, but are still serious.

Continue reading "Grim News for Dexter and Missouri from TRIP Rural Roads and Bridges Report" »

Drinking and driving continues to be a significant cause of car accidents in New Madrid, Missouri and throughout the state and the country. New Madrid Missouri car accident lawyers bring you this Safety Alert from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to help spread the awareness campaign that helps highlight the problem. This Safety Alert also provides facts to help educate everyone about the results of hard core drinking and driving. The NTSB provides safety alerts in the hopes of making our highways and roadways safer and to save lives.

Part of the NTSB's mission is to issue safety alerts in conjunction with the most wanted list of the advocacy's priorities to reduce the dangers that plague transportation. This Safety Alert is to target Hard Core Drinking Drivers in order to get habitual drinking drivers off the nation's highways. Habitual drinking drivers and habitual traffic offenders plague the streets of New Madrid County and roads throughout southeast Missouri. Therefore the New Madrid Missouri car accident lawyers think it is important to share this safety alert.

Hard Core Drinking Drivers Defined
NTSB defines a hard core dinking driver as someone who has blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels of 0.15 percent or greater or who are repeat offenders with one or more drunk driving arrests or convictions in the past ten years. They are targeted with a safety alert because these hard core drinking drivers are involved in more than 70 percent of the alcohol impaired car accident fatalities.

Drinking and Driving Facts

• One alcohol impaired driving fatality occurs about every 45 minutes in the United States.


• One person was killed or injured in drinking related accidents every 2.2 hours in 2010 in Missouri.


• 10,839 people died nationwide in alcohol-impaired car accidents in 2009.


• 218 people were killed and 3,823 were injured in Missouri in 2010 in drinking related traffic accidents.


• Out of 379 car accidents in 2010 in New Madrid 29 involved alcohol.


• 51.1% of drinking involved accidents in 2010 occurred in rural areas.


• Nationwide 251,000 people died in car accidents involving hard core drinking drivers between 1982 and 2009.


• Of all drivers arrested or convicted of driving while intoxicated or driving under the influence of alcohol one-third are repeat offenders.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) reports there are strong indicators that drinking and driving is under-reported. Alcohol indicators are not always obvious in serious accident situations, and sometimes injuries cause the same symptoms as alcohol intoxication. Sometimes there may not be enough evidence of alcohol infraction to arrest someone. So it is safe to say that the numbers listed are low and do not indicate the full impact of the problem.

Continue reading "Safety Alert for Hardcore Drinking Drivers in New Madrid and Throughout Missouri" »

Sikeston Missouri car accident lawyers understand the importance of safety campaigns when it comes to reducing the number of injuries and deaths that result from car accidents. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) believe that it is possible to eliminate all deaths on our highways. The Missouri Department of Transportation and thousands of other safety advocates, including the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), all work tirelessly towards this goal.

Last week in Cincinnati, Ohio more than 450 people gathered for the GHSA's annual meeting. The group included medical professionals, law enforcement personnel, and state and local officials. The purpose of this year's meeting was to focus on ways to reduce the nearly 34,000 deaths from traffic accidents that occur on our highways every year.

Main Topics at GHSA Annual Meeting

• Motorcycle safety


• Teen driving


• Occupant protection


• Aging drivers


• Drunk driving

But the biggest topic for discussion was distracted driving and the idea that we all need to change our approach when we get behind the wheel. Too many built in distractions take our focus from driving and divert it to cell phones, GPS devices, and other functions that are built into our cars, buses, and trucks. Driving should not be about all of the gadgets now available in and for our cars. It should be about driving safely and proactively avoiding car accidents.

Continue reading " NTSB Safety Compass Promoted in Sikeston and in Missouri" »