In a very tragic accident, a 2-year-old child died this past Saturday after being thrown from an ATV.  The child was riding with 29-year-old Nicholas Moore.  There is no description of the relation between Moore and the child.  The pair were riding the ATV on private land near Jeffriesburg Road in Eureka, Missouri.  This is in Franklin County, MO. 

Apparently, the accident occurred when Moore hit the throttle.  After doing so, he fell off the back of the ATV which continued forward and ran into a tree.  The impact with the tree is what caused the child to be thrown from the ATV.  He was transported by ambulance to St. John's Mercy Hospital in Washington, Missouri where he was pronounced dead.

This type of case would be governed by Missouri's wrongful death laws.  As a St. Louis Accident Injury Lawyer, I'm often asked who is able to sue for the death of a family member.  In Missouri, there are three different levels of people able to sue.  In this situation, the child's parents are the first class.  If there are no parents, then the child's siblings become eligible to sue.  If there were no siblings, then the class extends to extended relatives.

Often times, people question why parents would want to file a lawsuit over a case like this.  That's a personal question that would be answered differently by each person.  But the law does allow parents to recover for the loss of companionship with their child.  Often times, it is not about money for the parents.  Rather, it can often be about just and vindication for the fatal accident. 

In this case, there would be a number of aspects to investigate.  Obviously, the focus would start with Mr. Moore.  He may have negligently caused the fatal accident in a number of ways including:

• failing to properly restrain the child,
• failing to properly operate the ATV,
• failing to be adequately trained before using the ATV,
• failing to provide appropriate safety equipment for the child (such as a helmet)

In fact, he may be negligent for even putting the 2-year-old child on the ATV in the first place.

ATV's are very dangerous machines and many lawsuits arise over their use.  In this particular case, the focus should not stop at Mr. Moore's actions, but rather there should be investigation into the ATV itself.  It is possible that the throttle was too high - so that when Mr. Moore pressed it, the ATV took off faster than what was reasonably safe. 

It is unknown whether anyone in this case has contacted a Missouri Personal Injury Lawyer or ATV Products LIability Attorney.  For those who have been injured, feel free to contact St. Louis Injury Attorney Joshua P. Myers.  You can call 314-720-2706 or toll-free at 888-956-2487.  It's always free to discuss a case and there's never any attorney's fee until we recover.