Personal Injury Law

Ten Missourians Injured In Adair County Missouri Failure-to-Yield Car Collision

By Ryan Bradley, Esq.

Ten Missourians were sent to the hospital for the medical treatment of Missouri car accident injuries after an Adair County, Missouri car crash. The collision occurred on MO-149, 8 miles north of Novinger, at 2:38pm on March 27, 2011.

Driver Charles C. McFarland, 52, of Novinger failed to yield the right of way to highway traffic as he left Grapevine Road to enter MO-149. McFarland?s 1987 GMC was hit by driver Jennifer L. Belzer, 41, of Columbia. She had been traveling on MO-149 in a 1999 GMC before the Missouri car accident.

McFarland suffered moderate injuries, along with his occupant Virgil J. McFarland, 54, of Novinger. Belzer additionally suffered moderate injuries in the Missouri auto accident. Belzer had 7 passengers; each suffered an injury as a result of the accident. Belzer?s passengers were Ricky J. Belzer, Esther H. Belzer, Lydia G. Belzer, Maggie C. Belzer, Mariah L. Belzer, Noel F. Belzer, and Sarah D. Belzer. Two of the passengers were moderately injured. The rest of the passengers sustained minor injuries.

The drivers and passengers were all transported to Northeast Regional Medical Center in Kirksville, Missouri. The Adair County Sheriff?s Office, the Northern Novinger Rural Fire Department, and the Adair County Ambulance assisted the injured drivers and the injured passengers. Both GMC vehicles sustained extensive damage in the Missouri car collision.

Missouri statute §304.351(1) mandates that ?[t]he driver of a vehicle approaching an intersection shall yield the right-of-way to a vehicle which has entered the intersection from a different highway.? This Missouri law mandates that a driver entering a highway must yield to the traffic already traveling on that highway when there is no traffic control at the intersection. Failing to yield the right of way gives the other driver little time to respond and therefore endangers everyone at the intersection.

Violating §304.351 is deemed a class C misdemeanor. If the violation caused a physical injury, the court assesses a financial penalty. The court may also suspend the offender?s driving privileges for a statutorily define period. An experienced Missouri car accident attorney can use a violation of §304.351 as evidence of negligence to secure just compensation for the victims of a failure-to-yield Missouri car accident.

Full post as published by Missouri Accident Lawyer Blog on March 28, 2011 (boomark / email).