Few Missouri drivers like having to follow a slower, larger vehicle. It can easily make the best of drivers impatient and irritated. However, impatience combined with irritation can sometimes cause drivers to make mistakes that lead to rollover accidents.
Irritation and impatience may have had a hand in a recent accident on Interstate 70. Shortly before 9:45 p.m., a vehicle began using the left shoulder to pass an 18-wheeler. The car made contact with the big rig. The car then crashed into the wall of the median and rolled over.
Before the vehicle finally came to rest, two other vehicles struck it. The two male occupants of the car, a 26-year-old and a 27-year-old, died. The only other reported injuries were minor ones suffered by one of the drivers of the two other vehicles that hit the wreckage of the car. The Missouri State Police did not indicate whether they have discovered a reason why the driver decided to pass on the shoulder. Furthermore, reports did not indicate which of the deceased men was driving the vehicle at the time.
As is the case in some rollover accidents, it may not be readily apparent which man was driving since neither was said to have been wearing a seat belt. The answer to that question could determine which man’s estate could face a wrongful death claim from the surviving family members of the other. Establishing the driver’s negligence is required in order for a Missouri civil court to consider an award of damages.
Source: kpho.com, “2 dead in fatal I-70 accident; victims identified”, Dan Greenwald, Sept. 25, 2015
