Columbia, Missouri Personal Injury Law Blog

Missouri drivers may be in a surprising amount of danger on rural roads. While these streets often have far less traffic than urban roads, the combination of high speed and poorly controlled intersections may lead to disaster. Many rural intersections are joined only by a stop sign while the speed limits on these roads may be as high as 55 miles per hour. As a result, when a crash occurs, the consequences can be catastrophic. Some intersections may even develop a reputation for danger. The hazards can increase at night, in poor weather or when visibility is hindered by trees, brush or other vegetation.

While many areas have looked into installing traffic lights to address the issue, it may not be a complete solution. Traffic lights are proven to reduce the number of car accidents that take place at a given location. However, they may not significantly reduce the number of injuries and other serious incidents. On the other hand, roundabouts, or traffic circles, present another alternative. While they are less likely to substantially lower the number of accidents at a particular intersection, they can play a major role in making injury crashes less likely. In fact, roundabout construction often pays for itself within a year due to reduced emergency expenses.

It's never easy to care for an injured spouse. Not only will the healthy one feel sadness and empathy for the injured spouse's suffering, but the healthy spouse will also be tasked with caregiving activities while tending to every aspect of family affairs. Not only that, but due to the injured spouse's situation, he or she won't be able to continue working and contributing to the family income.

When considering the above, it's easy to understand how the injuries of one spouse can cause the healthy spouse to suffer as well. It's for this reason that the spouses of accident victims may choose to file a loss of consortium claim against the party that is responsible for the injured spouse's condition.

Black defendants in Missouri and throughout the country are more likely to be detained while their legal cases play out. They also tend to receive higher bail amounts than white defendants. Research has shown this to be true regardless of whether the judge is white or black. However, research has also shown that experience can play a role in overcoming racial bias in the justice system.

According to a study of cases from Philadelphia County and Miami-Dade County, racial bias was worse in South Florida. However, experienced judges were less likely to let racial stereotypes factor into their bail decisions. An experienced judge is one who has 9.5 years of experience. In addition to more training for judges with less time on the bench, other reforms could make the bail system more equitable for all defendants.

People on the roads in Missouri may be troubled to learn that poorly maintained brakes are one of the top reasons that trucks are pulled out of service following inspections. Due to the size, mass and weight of large commercial trucks, an accident that involves these vehicles can easily lead to catastrophic injuries, permanent disabilities and even fatalities. Negligent maintenance of brakes can mean that a trucker is unable to stop his or her vehicle, especially in slippery, wet or emergency conditions, causing it to slam into other cars, properties or even pedestrians.

In response to this danger, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance conducts an annual Brake Safety Week for enhanced inspection of trucks on the road in an attempt to cut down on the number of truck crashes caused by negligent equipment maintenance. During 2018, the event will take place from September 16 to 22. While the brake initiative was reduced to a one-day event in 2017, it was expanded once more to a week after 14 percent of all of the trucks inspected on that day had to be removed from the roads due to violations of brake safety regulations.