A Missouri man recently lost his life when he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. He died from his injuries after he was struck by a car on Interstate 29 in the vicinity of Rock Port. Missouri State Highway Patrol reported that the accident occurred in the early hours of a recent Monday morning. Pedestrian accidents are not uncommon, but in this case, it was a collision between two cars that caused the death of the pedestrian.

A preliminary accident report noted that two drivers were northbound on the Interstate. For an unknown reason, the vehicle in front apparently stopped on the roadway. The second car smashed into the rear of it. The impact of the collision caused the second car to careen into a 27-year-old pedestrian. The pedestrian was killed on impact.

The driver of the vehicle that stopped on the Interstate suffered severe injuries, and she was flown to a medical facility. The trailing driver was not seriously injured, but two passengers in his car were transported to a hospital for treatment of moderate injuries. An accident investigation — and possibly reconstruction — will likely determine the reason why the driver of the first car to stopped, leading to the rear-end collision and the ultimate death of the pedestrian.

The surviving family of the pedestrian who lost his life in this accident may pursue a claim for compensation by filing a wrongful death claim against the party or parties believed responsible.  However, in cases of auto-pedestrian accidents where it is claimed that more than one party negligently caused or contributed to the crash,  juries may apportion negligence based upon the perceived degree of fault of each party. The seriously injured person who was in the rear-ended vehicle in this accident may have a viable personal injury claim, but may be partially responsible for her own injuries. Under the comparative negligence law of Missouri, a plaintiff who was partially to blame for his or her injuries may still be damages against a party who was also negligent, though the award will be reduced by the percentage of fault attributed to the plaintiff.

Source: kmaland.com, “Pedestrian killed in crash near Rock Port“, Brent Barnett, June 8, 2015