17-year-old Jacob Laird was riding his 2002 Suzuki motorcycle this past thursday when he was injured. While driving on Route H in Ralls County, he was involved in a motorcycle crash when another driver failed to yield and pulled out in front of him. Laird lost control of his motorcycle and was thrown off. The Missouri State Highway Patrol responded and confirmed that he was taken to Hannibal Regional Hospital.
What To Do When You Don't Know Who Caused The Accident (Hit-and-run)
I write about this case because the reports indicate that the identity of the offending driver was unknown. As a Missouri Personal Injury Lawyer, I see this scenario often. It generally happens when cars pull out in front of you, and you swerve to avoid contact. Of course, motorcyclists are more vulnerable to these types of accidents.
Missouri motorcyle crash lawyers will tell you that motorcyclists need to carry a very high amount of uninsured motorist coverage. Everyone with car insurance has uninsured motorist coverage whether they know it or not. The question is, how much coverage do you have. In this case, even if Laird does not know the identity of the person who pulled out in front of him, he can pursue recovery for his injuries through his uninsured motorist coverage.
A great amount of the cases I handle are uninsured motorist cases because we don't know who caused the accident. Thus, even if you are injured in a hit-and-run, all is not lost. You just need to contact a great Missouri Personal Injury Attorney.
If you would like to speak with a Missouri motorcycle accident lawyer, contact Josh Myers at 888-956-2487. We handle cases throughout all of Missouri and Illinois and it's always free to talk about your case.
Missouri Injury Lawyer Discusses Pike County Rear-End Accident
Being a Missouri Car Accident Attorney, a recent headline caught my eye. This past Monday, two women were seriously injured in a rear-end collision. Lillian Reynolds of Louisiana was headed westbound on U.S. 54 when she slowed for oncoming traffic in anticipation of making a left turn. While doing so, she was suddenly struck from the rear. Although she was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the collision, the Hannibal Courier-Post reports she still suffered serious injuries and was transported to the Pike County Ambulance.
In Missouri, Reynolds may employ the use of the rear-end doctrine in Court. The rear-end doctrine is a doctrine of law which states that a driver who rear-ends another is liable for the resulting injuries. The caveat is that there must be no evidence of any negligence on the part of the front driver.
As a Missouri Personal Injury Lawyer, I see cases like Lillian's all the time where a driver is slowing for traffic while waiting to make a left turn. Suddenly they are hit from behind because that driver is not paying attention. However, it's not clear what caused the other driver to rear-end Lillian.
Additionally, because Lillian is from Louisiana and the other driver is from Illinois, Lillian is barred from filing suit in state court. Rather, she would have to file in federal court, if she was to seek more than $75,000.00, because there exists diversity jurisdiction (the parties don't live in the same state). Federal rules are much different and much more strict than state court rules. If Lillian does have to resort to filing a claim, let's hope she finds a Missouri personal injury lawyer who routinely handles federal claims.
Illinois Motorcyclist Killed In Hit-And-Run Car Accident
In a tragic accident, an Illinois man was involved in a fatal accident recently while riding his motorcycle. Barry Willingham, from Belleville, IL, was killed when when a car struck his motorcycle from behind. Willingham was thrown from his motorcycle and later died from his injuries at the hospital.
After the collision, the car, which was stolen, lost control and hit a utility pole. Two occupants then exited the vehicle and ran away. It is believed the car was racing another vehicle on the street which also drove away.
St. Louis Police are currently investigating the incident but it is unknown if they have any leads on the identity, please contact the Metropolitan St. Louis Department or our lawfirm at 888-956-2487.
It is unknown whether Willingham's family is pursuing a wrongful death claim. Many people may not know this, you do not have to know the identity of the person responsible in a hit-and-run accident. In those situations, the family can bring a wrongful death lawsuit against the injured persons own insurance company. This is because virtually every person with car insurance has a type of insurance called uninsured motorist coverage. With uninsured motorist coverage, your own car insurance company stands in the shoes of the person responsible. This is a type of insurance that you pay for so don't be afraid to use it. Additionally, your rates should not be affected since the accident will not be classified as your fault (unless you were at fault).
If you have been in a hit-and-run accident and would like to speak with a St. Louis Car Accident Lawyer, call Myers Injury Law at 888-956-2487. As a personal injury lawyer, we handle cases throughout all of Missouri and Illinois. It's always free to talk about your case and we front all case expenses and do not get paid until we recover for you.
Our Personal Injury Lawyers Are Investigating Oral Sodium Phosphate (Phospho-Soda) For Kidney Damage
FOR MORE INFORMATION REGARDING ORAL SODIUM PHOSPHATE OR FLEET'S EZ-PREP OR PHOSPHO-SODA, SEE THE VIDEO AT THE END OF THIS POST
Our oral
sodium phosphate lawyers have recently begun investigation cases across the
country related to the dangers of this drug.Most sodium phosphate is routinely before colonoscopies.Over the past several years, the US Food and
Drug Administration have received an alarming number of reports and they have
subsequently linked the drug to onset of acute phosphate nephropathy.This is a very dangerous condition where
calcium phosphate crystal develops in your renal tract.This leads to kidney damage and impairment of
the renal functions.
Essentially
the kidneys are responsible for filtering out all waste products from your
blood.Any damage to the kidneys impairs
their abilities to filter out this waste and your body becomes toxic in itself.Of course this is extremely dangerous and can
lead to death.
On February
11, 2006, the Federal Food and Drug Administration announced their requirement
that the package of these drugs had to contain a Black Box Warning.Black Box Warnings are known for their black
outline on the packaging.This is
required by the FDA for drugs which studies have shown cause serious and fatal
side effects.Because of this Black Box
Warning, these drugs are no longer allowed to be sold over the counter, but
must be by prescription only.The
popular brand of the over-the-counter drug was Phospho-Soda manufactured by
Fleet, however this drug was discontinued after the FDA's Black Box Warning.
These types
of cases fall into the category of Product Liability.Specifically, we often look to see if the
chemical and the design of the drugs themselves are defective.Essentially this means that if the drug
itself causes the injury, it is thereby defective.This is often easy to convince a jury;
however, the harder part is proving that the kidney failure itself is due to
the medication.This often involves use
of numerous experts.Often times it is
common for us to spend in excess of $100,000.00 in expenses to even get the
cases to trial.In our cases, we pay all
these expenses up front for our clients so we never ask you to pay anything as
we go along.More importantly, if we for
some reason do not recover, we do not ask you to pay any attorney's fees nor
any of the case expenses.
If you'd
like to speak with one of our oral sodium phosphate attorneys because you believe
it has injured your kidneys, please contact us at 888.956.2487 or use the
contact form on this website.Please
note the law limits the amount of time you have to file suit.The deadline is different for each
state.But more importantly, as each day
passes, people's memories fade and evidence comes scarcer.Thus, in significant and complex cases such
as these, time is always of the essence.
For more information regarding Oral Sodium Phosphate Kidney Injuries and the FDA's Warning regarding Fleet Phospho-Soda, watch the falling video:
Our Lawyers Are Investigating 2009 Ducati Motorcycle Cases
Just this past month, we discovered that over 700 Ducati motorcycles contain a dangerous defect. The defect is due to a lack of material in the front fork which causes the driver to lose control.Obviously losing control of the motorcycle is quite hazardous.In fact, our investigation has uncovered papers Ducati's own documents which confirm the company is aware of the defect.These papers have been filed with the government, specifically the National Highway Transit Safety Admission and the Office of Defects Investigation.Ducati learned of the dangerous defect during their quality control testing.They acknowledged the defect exists in the following models of their 2009 Streetfighter motorcycles:
2009 Ducati 11985
2009 Ducati 1098R
2010 Ducati F1098S
Our Ducati motorcycle defect lawyers are investigating cases nationwide.If you have been injured on one of these Ducati motorcycles, call our offices to talk about your case.It is always free to discuss your case and there are never any fees until we recover for you.
These cases against Ducati were the rise under the law of Products Liability.There are a number of theories to proceed under but these cases involve a defective design or a defective manufacturer of their products.If fact, Ducati has already done half the work for us in these paper our Missouri Personal Injury Lawyers uncovered as they admit that the defect is due to a manufacturer failure which does not live up to the design's specifications.Even still, these cases are always hard fought and require the law firm to often spend in excess of $100,000.00 of expenses on the case.In fact, in a recent Products Liability case I handled against Freightliner, we had to spend nearly $150,000.00 in expenses even though we obtained documents from the company regarding the specific failure in the case which labeled the product as a defect.Of course when catastrophic injuries come into play, these companies are always quick to try and evade responsibility.
Our Ducati motorcycle injury attorneys will pay all case expenses for you along the way.There is never an hourly fee you have to pay and there is no retainer.Bottom line, we put our money where our mouth is and we don't get paid unless you get paid.
Call us toll free at 888-956-2487 if you believe you've been injured due to a defect on a 2009 Ducati Streetfighter motorcycle.
The information on this St. Louis Personal Injury & Workers Compensation Attorneys / Law Firm Blog is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this or associated pages, documents, comments, answers, emails, or other communications should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information on this website is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing of this information does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.
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