Missouri Injury Lawyer Blog

In 2009, I wrote here approvingly several times about efforts to ban texting and driving in Missouri and Illinois. The issue is important to me as a St. Louis auto accident lawyer because distracted driving is a major cause of traffic accidents — and while texting is not the only distraction in the car, it’s a major and preventable one. Missouri had already passed a bill banning texting and driving for drivers under the age of 21, but efforts to extend the ban died in the state legislature. As the St. Joseph News-Press reported April 27, Missouri’s House has reversed its previous opposition, approving a proposal to require hands-free devices for drivers of all ages who want to text on the road.

The measure was part of a broader public safety bill that also addressed motorboating while intoxicated and parental accompaniment for minors using tanning beds. The texting and driving portion of the bill bans all drivers from using hand-held devices to send or read text messages as they drive. Drivers may still use hands-free voice recognition devices to use the phone as they drive. The law also contained exceptions for drivers reporting illegal activity, calling for emergency help and preventing injury to a person or property. The ban also has exceptions for drivers of emergency vehicles and drivers of vehicles for hire using devices permanently affixed to the vehicle. The article did not mention enforcement measures, but violators of the previous under-21 ban received tickets.

As a southern Illinois car crash attorney, I hope the state Senate will follow suit and pass this bill in the few days left in the legislative session. While the youngest drivers are, as a group, the most inexperienced, texting and driving isn’t safe for anyone. When drivers take their eyes off the road, it doesn’t take a scientist to conclude that they could miss important things. But as it happens, there is science to support the idea. One study from the Virginia Tech Traffic Institute found that when commercial truckers texted, they took their eyes off the road long enough for their two-ton trucks to travel the length of a football field. And a 2009 study from the University of Utah used a driving simulator to find that texting made a crash six times more likely. With lives at stake in so many car crashes, banning this widespread distraction only makes sense.

Continue reading "Missouri House Votes to Extend Ban on Texting and Driving to Drivers of All Ages" »

The parents of Danroy Henry, known also as DJ, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the officer who shot and killed him last year. In a statement prepared by the family, the attorney for the plaintiffs said, "From the investigation the family has conducted, it is apparent that others acted in grossly irresponsible manners. These parties should be held accountable for their failures." The statement was released shortly after the officer, one Aaron Hess, was honored by the Pleasantville Police Benefit Association.

According to police reports, officer Hess was responding to a brawl that had broken out in front of a bar. A number of patrons were involved in the altercation, and Hess called for backup. Approximately fifty officers ended up responding to the call in order to break up the various fights going on.

During this process, a car that was parked nearby accelerated and attempted to leave the scene. Allegedly the car struck an officer that tried to flag the vehicle down, and the officer opened fire. DJ Henry was driving the vehicle in question.

An attorney for officer Hess released his client's response to the suit, saying, "the tragedy of D.J. Henry's death cannot and should not be distorted to pursue an agenda which ignores the sad and painful truth that a 20-year-old man who by all accounts was a good and decent human being made very, very poor decisions that night and morning that brought about his own death."

Prior to the filing of the suit, a grand jury refused to indict Hess in the death of Mr. Henry. In their filing of the wrongful death suit, the family has argued that the grand jury was presented distorted and faulty information, a charge officer Hess denies.

There is no date currently scheduled for hearings, although according to sources, the Henry family are in the case for the long haul.

The family of a woman who died as a result of a contaminated IV bag has filed a wrongful death suit against the bags' manufacturer. Nineteen patients have been affected and made ill by the contaminated bags, which were found to contain serratia marcescens bacteremia. Nine ultimately died as a result of the infection with this bacteria.

Six Alabama hospitals have been identified as part of the serratia contamination outbreak: Princeton Baptist Medical Center, Shelby Baptist Medical Center, Cooper Green Mercy Hospital, Medical West, Prattville Baptist Hospital and Trinity Medical Center's Select Specialty Hospital have all reported patient infections linked to the contaminated IV bags.

Barbara Young filed the suit on behalf of Mary Ellen Kise, who died at Baptist Health Systems. Investigation has confirmed she was treated with one of the tainted bags. Infection from the serratia bacteria can cause infection of the urinary tract, respiratory tract, optical and also wound infections.

The families of two other deceased patients are also considering pursuing legal action against the makers of the IV bags, Meds IV.

The Alabama CDC determined that the infection came from bags provided through Meds IV, and recommended hospitals stop providing the bags. Shortly thereafter, Meds IV took steps to inform patients of the infection and issued a recall for the contaminated products. As yet, it is unclear if it is the fluid in the bags or the IV bags themselves that were contaminated.

An Alabama judge issued an interesting order recently, telling Meds IV not to destroy any evidence, presumably meaning remaining stocks of the IV bags. This came at the behest of Baptist Health Systems, who asked the judge to issue the order "...so that evidence will be safeguarded and available for all parties as we move through this regulatory process."

No court dates have yet been set to determine the particulars of any of these cases.

An unusual accident caught my eye as a Missouri motor vehicle accident lawyer. As the Springfield News-Leader reported April 15, one Springfield man was killed and another arrested after a pickup truck hit a homemade go-kart just outside the city limits. The accident took the life of Raymond Ridinger, 39, whose disabled go-kart was being towed by another go-kart. Ridinger was rounding a turn when he was struck and killed by an unnamed 27-year-old driver in a pickup truck. No one else was injured, but police took the pickup’s driver into custody and charges against him may be filed. A state trooper reminded readers that small vehicles like the go-kart don’t belong on city streets.

OzarksFirst.com said the accident happened around 9 p.m. on April 14. Ridinger’s go-kart was not functioning, so the other kart was towing him. The karts reportedly did not have headlights or taillights or license plates. The first kart stopped at an intersection to yield to the pickup, but Ridinger’s kart had enough momentum to keep going into the intersection. There, he was hit and died at the scene of his injuries. The driver of the pickup was not formally charged with any crime; police were still investigating. However, that driver has a history of driving infractions including DUI, driving without a valid license and leaving the scene of an accident, as well as drug charges.

As a St. Louis car crash attorney, I wonder if both drivers might not share some responsibility for the crash. As the trooper said, it’s extremely unwise to drive a go-kart on roads designed for cars and trucks. It might also be illegal, depending on things like the kart’s maximum speed — and it was certainly risky to do so without lights at night. For that reason, I suspect Ridinger will be assigned some fault for the crash. It’s less certain whether the pickup’s driver was at fault. A history of DUI and other bad decisions behind the wheel doesn’t make someone guilty of the same bad decisions this time, but it does suggest that police should look into the question — and the arrest suggests that they are looking into it pretty seriously.

Continue reading "Springfield Man Arrested After Hitting and Killing Driver of Homemade Go-Kart" »

A wrongful death claim was dropped in the suit against a Michigan medical facility, but the judge in the case refused to also dismiss the claim that the facility's staff was negligent in the case of a patient's fall.

Patient Agnes Strong suffered a broken leg after falling down the stairs in March of 2007, and she later died on October 3rd of the same year. Attorneys for her family agreed to the order dismissing the claim that the fall had directly lead to her eventual death. No explanation for the dismissal of the claim was forthcoming from any of the parties in the case. All parties did argue over whether to dismiss the claim of negligence, however.

Attorneys for the Lenawee Medical Care Facility attempted to narrow the scope of the case to a malpractice claim centered around whether Strong should have been monitored and confined with electronic alarm equipment. A doctor had ordered the patient to be secured with a code alert bracelet for just such a reason, but a nurse later ordered it removed because it was supposedly no longer necessary. The attorneys for the facility argue that whether this decision was correct is a malpractice issue rather than a negligence issue.

The family, on the other hand, rejects this claim, saying the issue is a matter of malpractice and negligence. Attorneys for the family argue that Strong was "forgotten" after lunchtime and not taken back to her room where she belonged. Instead, she was allowed to wander the hallways in a wheelchair, where she eventually came to a fire exit stairway. Strong ultimately fell down several steps, fracturing her leg. Since she was not taken back to her room, the matter is clearly within the realm of negligent care, the family's attorneys argue, and whether the case should be decided as negligence or malpractice should ultimately be left up to a jury.

A news story about a traffic accident lawsuit caught my eye as a St. Louis pedestrian accident lawyer. As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported April 7, the surviving husband of a woman killed as she walked through a gas station has sued the driver who hit her. Matthew McBride of St. Louis was left a widower with two toddler daughters last September when his wife, 38-year-old Molly McBride, was hit by Anthony Rancilio of southern St. Louis County. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from Rancilio, 27, for the effects of the death on the McBride family. Criminal charges have not been filed against Rancilio; police say they are still looking into whether he had a medical condition that caused or contributed to the crash.

According to the Post-Dispatch, Molly McBride was walking toward the gas cap at the rear of her vehicle when Rancilio sped into the gas station and hit a small barrier pole. His Mazda Tribute SUV then struck McBride. She was taken to a hospital, where she died. Witnesses told the newspaper at the time that Rancilio had been using his cell phone moments before the crash, and Matthew McBride’s lawsuit says Rancilio had been speeding. Police officers said at the time that they were looking into whether an unspecified medical condition could have caused the crash; no charges have yet been filed. This is not Rancilio’s first car wreck lawsuit; he previously settled two suits out of court, both stemming from a December 2000 rear-end crash involving ice.

As a Missouri car crash attorney, I think this is a great example of how individuals can seek justice through the civil courts even when the criminal justice system moves slowly. It is not certain that Rancilio won’t be charged, but it seems unusual to wait seven months to determine whether he has a medical problem. Meanwhile, distracted driving, especially phoning and driving, has become a major focus of federal and state driving safety campaigns. The McBride family’s lawsuit can go forward regardless of whether authorities end up filing criminal charges against Rancilio, and may give them some measure of justice even if they do not. It may also provide fair compensation for the emotional and practical challenges faced by the loss of a mother while both daughters are still very young.

Continue reading "Family Sues Driver Over Woman’s Death in Gas Station Accident With Charges Pending" »

I know ATV enthusiasts are likely to go out riding when the weather gets warmer — but as a Missouri ATV accident attorney, I also know that their ATVs aren’t always safe. Unfortunately, that was the case with an ATV accident that has a southwest Missouri town grieving for an elementary school principal. Leasha DeCamp, 41, died April 4 of injuries she sustained in an ATV accident two days earlier, when she hit a bump and was ejected from the vehicle. DeCamp, 41, was the principal of Hubble Elementary School in Marshfield and a married mother of two who lived in Webster County. A funeral is scheduled for Friday at Marshfield High School, from which she graduated in 1988.

According to the Marshfield Mail, DeCamp was riding a 2011 Arctic Cat ATV in her own driveway when the accident took place. Around 4 p.m., the ATV reportedly hit a bump in the driveway and ejected DeCamp from the vehicle. She was unresponsive when emergency medical workers arrived. Emergency workers airlifted her to St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, where she was listed in critical condition for two days. Reports said she was on life support with a serious brain injury. A Missouri Highway Patrol trooper said DeCamp was not wearing a helmet, but that helmets are not required for adults operating ATVs on their own property. She was the only person on the ATV.

As a St. Louis ATV accident lawyer, I know all too well that Missouri ATV safety laws do not require helmets for most adults. State law requires helmets for people 18 and under, and for all riders when they use public roads. However, ATVs are designed for off-road use, which means adult riders aren’t required to wear helmets in most situations. It’s unclear whether a helmet would have helped DeCamp, but safety studies of motorcycle helmets find helmets effective at preventing or reducing the kind of head trauma that she reportedly had. The designs of certain ATVs pose several other safety problems. In addition to lacking a seatbelt or other restraint mechanism, ATVs are sometimes designed with a perilously high center of gravity, increasing the chances of a life-threatening rollover crash during ordinary use.

Continue reading "Southwestern Missouri School Principal Dies in ATV Accident in Her Own Driveway" »

A wrongful death lawsuit filed in Shelbyville, Tenn., is due to be moved to a Federal court mediation program, although it is likely certain parts of it will be turned over to the state court.

The suit was filed by Doris Rollins on behalf of her brother, Larry Byford. Byford, who was 54 in 2009, died of an apparent heart attack while in custody at a county jail near Shelbyville. Rollins has named Sheriff Randall Boyce, Captain Tim Lokey of the County Workhouse, jail nurse Donna Delrio and people named only as "John and Jane Doe, employees of Bedford County, Tennessee" in the suit.

Rollins' suit claims that her brother was denied medical care while incarcerated at the county jail. Attorneys for the county appear to be going back and forth on the case. Earlier this week, they filed a request for the case to be dismissed "with prejudice," claiming that it had no merit whatsoever. However, as of yesterday they have agreed to let the matter enter federal mediation.

The specific claims by Rollins are that Byford told his captors that he was experiencing severe swelling in his legs and ankles, and that medication was not reducing the problems. Further, Rollins claimed that Byford told county jail officials that he was having difficulty urinating. The defense has denied these claims.

Rollins also states that she and Byford had made multiple claims during the time he was incarcerated for further medical attention. Additionally, she claims that the jail denied her access to her brother when she came to visit on the 16th of October. Jail officials have insistently denied both claims, stating that Rollins and Byford never made any such requests and that Byford had accepted he would see the physician after a further 8 days, and that Rollins had never showed up at all for the supposed visit with her brother.

Further details will likely emerge as the federal mediation proceeds.