Personal Injury Law

Three Missouri Teens Killed in Car Crash were not Wearing Seatbelts

By Jeff Lowe, Esq.

A car crash killed three Missouri teens and the deaths may have been preventable; this maybe one of the worst thing that could happen to a parent. Three Missouri teens died after a crash Saturday in Morgan County.

The crash happened at 12:44 a.m. on Missouri 135, near state Route BB in Florence, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Ashton drove off the right side of the road, then back onto the road before the truck overturned several times.

"The truck was beyond recognition," Hibdon said. None of the victims were wearing a seat belt, reports stated.

very time I read the paper about a automobile accident fatality in Missouri, Illinois or any other state I look to see it the deceased was wearing a seat belt. I know as a personal injury lawyer that modern cars are designed to have safety features for persons wearing seat belts. These safety features include front, side, and side curtain air bags, pillars designed to keep the roof from crushing in a roll over accident, and most of all wearing a seat belt will keep occupants from being ejected from cars.

Statistics in Missouri revealed that approximately 69 percent of the 1,096 people that died in Missouri car crashes last year were not wearing a seat belt. Based on an analysis of traffic accidents, anyone involved in a traffic accident has a 1 in 31 chance of dying if they were not wearing a seat belt, however, if the passenger was wearing a a seat belt the chance of dying decreases 1 chance in 1,300.
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As for the dividing line between genders, the study showed that 82 percent of women wear their seat belts while only 76 percent of men wear theirs. Teens and pickup truck drivers tend to wear their seat belts the least. Pickup truck drivers only wear theirs 66 percent of the time while only 61 percent of teens buckle up. Within past years, teens have been the group to be least likely to buckle up when either driving or being in a car at all.

On a better note, the numbers of people wearing their seat belts has gone up in general. Back in 1998, only about 60 percent of drivers did not wear their seat belts while the current number is number is up to 77 percent this year.

Source: MDOT. "Missouri Seatbelt Use Remains Below National Average." http://www.modot.org/newsandinfo/District0News.shtml?action=displaySSI&newsId=12984

Contact The Lowe Law Firm Missouri/Illinois auto accident lawyers online or by calling 877-678-3400.

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Full post as published by Missouri Injury Lawyer Blog on June 12, 2008 (boomark / email).