Legal Analysis – Semi-Truck Causes Camdenton School Bus Accident
Post Date: October 13th, 2010
As a Missouri truck accident attorney, I was upset to read that an accident involving a school bus in Camdenton, Missouri, was the result of the negligence of a semi-truck driver. On Friday, October 8, 2010 three cars, a school bus full of children, and a semi-truck were involved in a domino-effect collision that caused significant damage and injuries.
Emergency personnel responded to the five-vehicle pile up in Camden County shortly after the accident at 3:00 p.m. at the 5/7 Junction near Bridal Cave. Three passenger vehicles were southbound waiting to make a left hand turn when a school bus slowed behind them. Before the school bus could make a complete stop it was rear-ended by a semi-truck, which caused the chain reaction. The accident caused a traffic jam for southbound traffic and took over a hour to clean up.
The Camden County Police Department, Camden County Sheriff’s Department, and the Highway Patrol responded to the crash quickly. Of the people involved in the accident, 18 were taken to Lake Regional Hospital, which is located in Osage Beach. Out of the 18 people who were injured, 16 of them were children on the school bus. All the injuries sustained from the accident were considered minor except for one 13-year-old girl who sustained moderate injuries.
One passenger vehicle, the school bus, and the semi-truck sustained major damage during the accident. It is still unclear why the semi-truck driver was unable to stop, but the negligence on the driver’s part put the lives of many children in danger. Truck accidents happen more often than they should and many do not have such a positive outcome. In my experience as a Missouri semi-truck accident attorney, I have helped many families answer the questions that follow an accident that results in injury.
Legally, there are a few things going on here. First, Missouri employs the rear-end collision doctrine. This is a legal principle which basically holds that a driver who rear-ends another is responsible for causing the wreck. This appears to be the case here in that the semi-truck driver was responsible for rear-ending the bus. However, the bigger issue with truck accident cases is WHY DID THIS HAPPEN. We can often find these answers by downloading the ECM or (black-box) data from the truck if we are brought in early enough. Like a plane, the black box data records everything the truck driver was doing in the moments before the crash. We can find out if he was speeding, if he ever hit the breaks, if he had a habit of speeding, etc. However, this has to be recovered immediately as truck companies often repair the truck as soon as possible to get it back on the road and the ECM will continue to record over itself.
Getting this ECM data as well as other documentation which the federal government requires the truck companies to maintain is often what allows us to impose punitive damages and thus maximize the truck accident settlement.
Joshua P. Myers is the owner and President of Myers Injury Law, LLC. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, his firm routinely handles truck accidents throughout all of Missouri. If you or a loved has been injured due to the negligence of a tractor-trailer driver, please contact a specialized Missouri Semi-Truck Accident Attorney to learn your rights. It is always free to discuss your case and we never charge attorney’s fees until we recover on your behalf.
Tags: black box, camden county, rear-end, school bus, truck accident
Posted in Bus Accidents, Camden County Truck Accidents, Maximizing Truck Accident Settlements, Missouri Truck Accidents, MO Truck Accidents, Semi-Truck Accident Injuries | No Comments »
