Hopefully, most Missouri residents will ever only have to imagine what it would be like to see another vehicle coming right at them. Unfortunately, numerous wrong-way and head-on collisions occur every year around the state and around the country. Many of those crashes result in fatalities.
Troopers with the Missouri State Police recently responded to a crash on Highway 63 involving two vehicles. The vehicles were heading in opposite directions when the driver of the northbound vehicle lost control of it. The vehicle veered left, went across the median and into the oncoming lane of travel.
The northbound vehicle then crashed into the southbound vehicle. A 64-year-old man and a 62-year-old man, both of whom succumbed to fatal injuries at the scene, occupied the northbound vehicle. The 56-year-old driver of the second vehicle also died as a result of the injuries he suffered in the impact. The 51-year-old passenger in that vehicle survived the crash, but sometime after his arrival at the hospital, he died.
Even though no one survived this wrong-way accident, an investigation will still be completed. The details from the official report could be a starting point for the families of the victims to establish that the deaths of their loved ones were due to the negligence of another. As would be the case in other fatal wrong-way and head-on collisions, these wrongful death claims would be filed against the estate of the deceased driver. If the court rules that the northbound driver was negligent, damages may be awarded to the victims.
Source: connecttristates.com, “Four dead after northern Missouri accident“, Aug. 13, 2015
