Kansas City Car Accident Lawyer Blog

Wichita doctor Mohammad Sarrafizadeh appeared in court last Friday and pleaded no contest to 1 count of involuntary vehicular homicide. The charge was connected to a June 2011 hit and run car accident that killed 31 year-old Ramon Martinez-Limon, a pedestrian working near a roadway.

On the morning of the collision, 67 year-old Sarrafizadeh was driving his 22 year-old daughter (who is severely disabled) to her special needs school. At around 7:15 a.m., he struck Martinez-Limon, who was cutting grass in an easement near the entrance to a Hawker Beechcraft plant. According to Kansas police, the impact caused Martinez-Limon to be thrown onto the roof of the van. Sarrafizadeh proceeded to drive home and park in his garage. Multiple witnesses tried to stop him, and several also called 911 to report seeing the victim on the roof of the van: a few even followed him home.

According to his attorney, Dan Monnat, the collision happened because Sarrafizadeh suffered a serious stroke, and he was simply unaware that it occurred. In court, Monmat said that doctors "have regarded the evidence and the testing as sufficient to conclude that he had a stroke at the time of the accident and his condition continues to deteriorate," reports the Kansas City Star.

Prosecutors disputed that claim: they argued that there was no scientific evidence and maintained that Sarrafizadeh's behavior was inconsistent with someone who had suffered a stroke. They pointed out that he was cognizant enough to drive home and park in his garage. Further, they said, Sarrafizadeh made a statement to police after the accident, wherein he reported seeing Martinez-Limon 50 to 100 feet away before hitting him. Sarrafizadeh also said he remembered seeing the victim strike his windshield. (Sarrafizadeh did have a serious stroke in the months following the accident, according to chief deputy attorney Aaron Breitenbach.)

Continue reading "Kansas Doctor Pleads No Contest to Killing Pedestrian, Then Driving 3 Miles with Body on Car" »

300 Missourians were killed by drunk drivers in 2009, according to The Century Council. Often, the casualties of alcohol related crashes don't include the impaired drivers themselves, but rather the innocent motorists who happen to be traveling near them. A recent crash in Miami-Dade County, Florida demonstrated this cruel truth, leaving a 13 year-old dead and her family stunned by the loss.

The accident happened on Friday, April 13 shortly after 5:00 a.m., reports the Miami Herald. Kirk Camacho was driving his daughters Bree Ann and Kaely to their mother's house: 16 year-old Bree Ann was riding up front, and 13 year-old Kaely was sitting in the back seat, fast asleep. Their van was struck by a Range Rover that was illegally traveling in bus lanes running parallel to the roadway: it was later determined that the SUV was traveling over 100 miles per hour. It smashed into the side of the van, ripping it in half: Pieces of the van's wreckage were later discovered nearly 100 feet from the rest of the vehicle.

With the help of witnesses, Kirk Camacho extracted his daughters from the wreckage. Bree Ann suffered burns and abrasions along with an injury to her ankle, and Kirk sustained bruised ribs and cuts. However, because she was riding in the back seat, Kaely's injuries were much more serious. Paramedics responded and Kaely was airlifted to a local hospital, but she died around 8:00 a.m.

Meanwhile, the SUV smashed into a tree and spun several times, coming to rest about 400 feet away from the point of impact. The driver (38 year-old Sandor Guillen) jumped out of the vehicle and staggered away from the scene on foot. When police located him, they found him badly injured: he reportedly sustained a punctured liver, a collapsed lung and 7 broken ribs. He is now facing several serious charges, including DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide, and leaving the scene of a crash involving a death, along with other offenses.

Continue reading "Drunk Driving Crash Rips Van in Half, Killing 13 Year-Old Girl: Driver Charged" »

This week, a 16 year-old girl from Kansas City, Missouri is facing multiple criminal charges after her decision to text and drive proved to have fatal consequences. Platte County prosecutors have charged Rachel N. Gannon with second-degree involuntary manslaughter in connection with her role in a fatal car accident in September 2011. Gannon is the first person to face manslaughter charges under Missouri's 2009 texting law, which prohibits texting and driving in motorists aged 21 and under.

When the crash occurred, according to police, Gannon was traveling north on Northwest Skyview Road and ran off the right side of the roadway. She then overcorrected, jerking her vehicle back onto the road, crossing the center line, and slamming sideways into a southbound vehicle.

The driver of that car, 72 year-old Loretta Larimer, had to be cut from her vehicle: she was taken to a local hospital where she died as a result of her injuries. Larimer's passenger (her 10 year-old granddaughter, who was riding in the backseat) was also injured: she suffered a chipped arm bone, whiplash and bruising.

In their investigation, police determined that Gannon was looking at her cell phone and sending text messages when the accident occurred. In addition, a passenger in Gannon's car told police that Gannon was texting, and that she "had the music turned up too loud," reports The Daily Mail.

In addition to manslaughter, Gannon is also facing charges of third-degree assault and texting while driving. At present, texting and driving is permissible for drivers over 21, but many Missouri lawmakers, safety organizations and citizens have advocated for a statewide ban on texting and driving for all drivers. Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd told several Kansas City media outlets that he too would support such a ban: "Texting while driving is at least as dangerous as drinking and driving," Zahnd said. "We make a crime of that for anybody, no matter the age. It should also be a crime for anybody to text while driving."

Continue reading "Kansas City Girl, Age 16, Charged with Manslaughter After Fatal Wreck Caused By Texting & Driving" »

All too often, collisions involving cars and pedestrians result in serious personal injury. Normally, these accidents are caused by an unforeseen circumstance (like a pedestrian darting into the roadway unexpectedly) or by a driver's carelessness (drunk or distracted driving, for example). However, this week in Missouri, police are charging a woman with striking 3 pedestrians on purpose.

A Kansas City mother is charged with 1 count of first-degree assault, 2 counts of second-degree assault, and 3 counts of armed criminal action after she admitted to driving her SUV into a group of young girls near Ingels Elementary School. As of Monday evening, 35 year-old Ladonna Newton remained jailed in Jackson County.

It all started at around 4:30 p.m. last Friday. The Kansas City Star reports that Newton's daughter was involved in a fight with another girl as a group walked home from school. The daughter lost the fight and returned home, but later called one of the girls to say she wanted to fight someone else. The group returned to the location of the original fight to wait for Newton's daughter.

Newton drove her daughter to the scene, bringing a second daughter along as well. As a second fight began - this one involving the second daughter - Newton allegedly accelerated through the parking lot and into the grassy area where the girls were fighting. She struck 3 people, dragging 1 underneath her SUV. Witnesses report the SUV subsequently struck a sewer ditch and fled the scene.

About 90 minutes later, Newton walked into the Kansas City Police Department's South Patrol Division. She told officers there that she had driven into a group of kids, but that she had only done so by accident: she claimed that her foot had slipped off the break and onto the gas, and that she didn't know if she had actually hit anyone.

At this time, the medical status of the 3 victims is unknown, except that their injuries were non-life-threatening. Jackson County Prosecutors have asked that Newton's bond be set at 10% or $70,000.

Continue reading "Kansas City Mother Charged with Assault: Police Allege She Deliberately Drove Into Group of Kids" »

Nationwide, more than 7,000 bicyclists were killed in motor vehicle accidents between 2000 and 2009, meaning an average 600-800 cyclists die in the U.S. every single year. Meanwhile, hundreds of bicyclists sustain injuries caused by collisions with cars and other passenger vehicles.

Our Lee's Summit car accident lawyers understand that bicyclists will be hitting the streets in full force as the spring and summer months draw near. And, as cyclists know all too well, they have a high risk of suffering serious or fatal injuries in Missouri bicycle accidents this summer.

On May 16, 2012, the Ride of Silence will be held in the United States and across the world to honor cyclists who have been killed or injured while cycling on public roadways. This silent procession honors those who have suffered because of a motorist's negligence. Though many drivers don't know this, cyclists have the same legal rights as motorists on our roadways. Since motorists are often unaware of these rights, they're often unaware of bicyclists as well.

The Ride of Silence asks its cyclists to ride no faster than 12 mph and remain silent during the entire ride. No sponsors and no registration fees accompany this event. The ride is held during National Bike Month and aims to raise the awareness of motorists that bicyclists have a legal right to all public roads. In 2011, cyclists in all 50 states and the District of Columbia participated in this event.

Continue reading "Bicycle Statistics Reveal Risks for Riders in Lee's Summit, Missouri & Nationwide" »

On Easter Sunday, a terrible car crash in Independence claimed the lives of 2 men from the Kansas City metropolitan area. Bruce Stansberry, a witness to the accident, described the aftermath: "Probably one of the worst accidents I've ever seen," he said. "It was pretty clear if there was anyone in there, they weren't alive."

It happened on South Noland Road, at the East 35th Street intersection. According to local law enforcement, a southbound vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed when the driver lost control and slammed into the concrete support of the traffic signal at 35th Street. The vehicle was destroyed beyond recognition.

Neither of the occupants was wearing a seatbelt: both the driver and his passenger were ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. Their names have not yet been released, but police say the driver was a 23 year-old man from Independence, and his passenger was a 29 year-old man from Kansas City.

Like Stansberry, several other witnesses were beyond shocked at the horrific outcome of the crash. "The whole passenger's side of the car was ripped off, completely open, the motor of the vehicle was in the passenger's seat," witness Hunter Darling told KCTV5. Meanwhile, Ben Titleman, a witness who was passing through en route to Columbia, told The Examiner that he had never seen a vehicle sustain that kind of damage. "Just...it didn't look like a car," Titleman said.

Police do not believe that alcohol or drugs were factors in this collision, but one witness reported that the driver might have been texting in the moments leading up to the crash. At present, police believe that speed was the primary causal factor.

Continue reading "Driver & Passenger Killed in Horrific 1 Vehicle Crash in Independence, Missouri: Speed, Distraction Cited as Possible Causes" »

Time and time again, our auto accident lawyers have seen the total destruction caused by large truck wrecks. On April 1, a crash near Williamsburg, Kansas took that destruction to epic proportions.

According to local police, a converted semi-trailer was carrying 18 people as it traveled down Interstate 35, southeast of Kansas City: many of the occupants were members of an extended family from Minnesota who were returning home after taking a vacation with friends to see a motocross event in Texas. At the time of the accident, 17 year-old Adam Kerber was driving the converted Freightliner box truck, which had been modified to include living quarters and included a storage area for motocross equipment. The crash report indicates that Kerber veered off the road and then overcorrected, causing the truck to strike a guard rail and a concrete bridge rail before it overturned and plunged nearly 30 feet down into a ravine.

5 occupants were confirmed dead at the scene: 25 year-old Tom Kerber, 24 year-old Melissa Kerber, 14 year-old Joy Kerber, 12 year-old James Kerber, and 10 year-old Jessica Kerber. All of the other occupants suffered various levels of injury: Adam Kerber was in critical condition on Monday morning, while his mother, 46 year-old Pauline Kerber remains in critical but stable condition. According to Minnesota news outlets, Pauline Kerber is a widowed mother of 12. The other occupants, ranging between ages 2 and 30, remain hospitalized at Overland Park Regional Medical Center and Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.

Since the accident, it has been reported that Adam Kerber was in possession of a provisional driver's license. Under ordinary circumstances, he would've been unable to drive the truck legally because of its weight and the number of occupants it carried. However, in Minnesota, there's a loophole related to private RVs. Several sources indicate that the modified trailer did not have seatbelts, but here again, Minnesota law only requires seat belts in a vehicle's front seat.

The Associated Press reports that John Hausladen, president of the Minnesota Trucking Association, stressed the importance of training and experience when operating large trucks. While he would not comment specifically on the Kerber accident, he said that professional truck drivers require extensive preparation "to handle the physics of driving a larger vehicle. They receive training with regard to stopping distances, following distances, blind spots and other aspects of maneuvering with a large vehicle."

Continue reading "5 Dead, 13 Injured on I-35 in Kansas After Converted Box Truck Plunges Into Ravine" »

Today, advocates of a Missouri ban on texting met with a House committee, reports the Kansas City Star. A trauma specialist, an insurance representative, a cycling advocate, and a high school student were among those who spoke to lawmakers about enacting the ban. 35 states and Washington D.C. already have similar bans in place. Safety advocates have pressed for Missouri to adopt a similar ban ever since the National Transportation Safety Board called for a nationwide ban on hand-held cell phones - and cited a Missouri wreck in making that recommendation.

Our Kansas City car accident lawyers urge residents to use their time behind the wheel focusing on the road instead of on phone calls or text messages. Numerous studies have proven that taking your eyes off the road to look at your cell phone greatly increases your chance of being involved in a serious accident. Since a reported 90% of drivers now carry cell phones, Missouri needs this texting ban now more than ever.

In recent months, Missourians have been urged, through a statewide anti-texting while driving campaign, to put down their cell phone to prevent distracted-driving car accidents throughout our state. Distracted driving is among the leading causes of serious -- and fatal -- car accidents nationwide.

"Inattention is a leading cause of traffic crashes," said Colonel Ron Replogle, superintendent of the Missouri Highway Patrol. "If you're focused on sending a text message, then you aren't paying attention to your driving. Cell phone usage -- particularly texting while driving can lead to tragic consequences. These consequences are easily preventable if drivers would simply put down their phones and focus on the road."

Continue reading "Safety Advocates Press Missouri Legislature to Adopt Statewide Ban on Texting and Driving" »