Joplin Missouri semi-truck accident lawyers were saddened to hear about a pedestrian who was struck and killed by a semi-truck. This tragic and unnecessary accident took place in Mitchell, Illinois on Thursday evening, August 25th . According to the Illinois state police, the bobtail tractor trailer had exited Dial Drive onto eastbound Chain of Rocks Road, and was traveling at high speed.
The tractor portion of the vehicle hit the victim, Brandy Broyles, 32, as she was crossing the road in front of the oncoming vehicle. Broyles sustained serious injuries and was airlifted by helicopter to St. Louis University Hospital. Although she was conscious when flown to the hospital, Broyles died in surgery later that night.
The driver of the 2006 Kenworth T600 truck, 35-year-old Jason Pieper, of Mitchell was not hurt in the accident.
As Joplin truck accident lawyers, we have seen many cases of pedestrians injured or killed by semis whose drivers were speeding, fatigued, driving under the influence, or driving an improperly maintained vehicle. We see reports of these kinds of accidents in the news almost daily. In many cases, the truck driver is arrested and charged in the death. The families of those killed could file a wrongful death suit against the driver for damages.
However, this is not what happened in this accident.
Officials say the Jason Pieper was not arrested and they don't expect he will be charged with anything when they complete their investigation. As of this writing, they are ruling Ms. Broyles death an accident.
Her family will likely not be able to bring suit against Pieper or his employer for Broyles death. Why? Because in the absence of any sidewalks or crosswalks, the pedestrian bears the responsibility of yielding to oncoming traffic. For whatever reason, whether Broyles was distracted and not paying attention, or didn't correctly judge the amount of time she had to get across the road, or was in some way incapacitated--the fact remains that Broyles did not yield.
In most states, the pedestrian has the right of way in a crosswalk--but there was no crosswalk.
When someone is injured or killed in a traffic accident, it is assumed that some kind of claim can be filed, or damages collected. However, this is not always the case. Joplin truck accident lawyers want to point out that each auto accident, truck accident and pedestrian accident are completely different. Sometimes there are solid grounds for a personal injury suit, or wrongful death suit, and sometimes there is not. In this particular case, the truck driver was not legally at fault.
If you have been injured in a car crash, an experienced auto accident attorney can advise you as to whether or not you have legal grounds to file a claim against another party. There must be negligence or fault involved. If you do have a legitimate case, your attorney can give you some idea of what it might be worth. Call the Joplin semi-truck accident lawyers at Aaron Sachs & Associates, P.C. for a free, no obligation consultation about your accident case. Find out whether or not you have a legitimate claim, and see if we can help you.
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