With all of the winter weather that has plagued the country lately, driving has become a challenge in some areas, including here in Missouri. This is why troopers with the Missouri Highway Patrol are having to consider it a factor in a recent crash. Determining the causes of head-on collisions can be problematic when road conditions are clear, but when there could be other factors such as weather-related road problems, conducting an investigation into an accident can be problematic.
What investigators know so far is that three vehicles were involved. At approximately 7:45 a.m. on a Thursday morning, two vehicles were traveling one behind the other on the northbound side of Highway 61. The second vehicle somehow ran into the back of the first. This caused both vehicles to careen through the median into the southbound lanes. There, the car that hit the back of the first one slammed head-on into a third, southbound vehicle.
A 36-year-old woman and two of her children — a 6-year-old girl and a 7-month-old girl — occupied that vehicle. The woman and her older daughter both succumbed to their injuries at the scene. The baby was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The family who lost three of its members retains the right to file wrongful death claims against the party or parties who may be responsible for the deaths of their loved ones. Such claims seek damages typically seen in head-on collisions. The expenses and other damages that come with the loss of one family member can be extensive, but when a family loses three at once, those costs can become financially debilitating. Any monetary judgment resulting from successfully proving negligence in a Missouri civil court could help the family deal with those losses.
Source: ksdk.com, “2 children, woman die in Highway 61 crash”, PJ Randhawa, Jan. 21, 2016
