Personal Injury Law

Branson Man Seriously Injured in Highway Crash

By Ryan Bradley, Esq.

Richard Upchurch, 25, of Branson, Missouri suffered serious injuries as a result of an automobile crash north of Branson city limits Monday night. The Missouri car crash occurred at 8:10 p.m. as Upchurch was driving his 1990 Volvo south on Route F, three miles north of Branson. Upchurch apparently turned onto the southeast outer road, then lost control of his vehicle, sliding into the path of a northbound 2001 Chevy Suburban driven by Donna Karkosh, 44, of Spokane. Ms. Karkosh?s Suburban then struck the Volvo in the driver?s side door area. Mr. Upchurch suffered serious injuries as a result of this Missouri car crash and was taken by ambulance to St. John?s Regional Center in Springfield. Donna Karkosh and her 12-year old passenger, Cameron Caulfield were taken by private automobile to Skaggs Regional Medical Center in Branson, where they were said to have minor injuries. This Missouri car crash is under investigation, and it is not known what caused Mr. Upchurch to lose control of his vehicle.

Missouri car crashes can be caused by a wide variety of things--from inattention caused by cell phone use, eating, drinking or changing the radio station to bad weather, excessive speed, driving while intoxicated or just sheer negligence. When accidents lead to injuries, as they so often do, a civil lawsuit may result. If you have been involved in an accident with injuries, and wonder whether you have a case, a Missouri personal injury attorney will look at several things to determine whether or not your case has merit.

Missouri personal injury claims will have two general, yet essential, elements: liability, meaning who is legally responsible for your accident, and damages, which encompasses how much compensation you are entitled to. The person responsible for the accident must be deemed to have been negligent, and a mental or physical injury must be directly and proximately caused from this negligence. Once your Missouri car accident lawyer determines whether your specific situation has legal merit, he or she can discuss how best to move forward with your case. Once the investigation process is complete, your personal injury attorney will put together a demand package to the person's insurance company. If the insurance company refuses to pay a reasonable amount to settle your claim, you may need to file a civil lawsuit against the negligent person.

Often times, people believe the negligent person's insurance company will be the party defendant. This is not true. Under Missouri law, the proper party in a motor vehicle accident is the individual who was negligent- not his or her insurance company.

Full post as published by Missouri Accident Lawyer Blog on February 08, 2011 (boomark / email).