On June 3, 2010, Plaintiffs’ 17 year-old son was a passenger in a pickup truck that was “t-boned” in the side by a Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission (MoDot or MHTC) dump truck at an intersection near Cairo, Missouri just outside of Moberly. The son was life-flighted to the University of Missouri Hospital in Columbia, but died in route. The Plaintiffs filed suit against MHTC and the MHTC driver. Plaintiffs alleged that the driver of the MHTC truck was negligent in failing to keep a proper lookout before crossing the highway and striking the passenger pick-up in the side. Plaintiffs alleged that these negligent acts led to the wrongful death of their son. Defendants denied that the dump truck failed to stop at the stop sign. The Missouri Highway Patrol accident reconstruction team found that the crash was caused in part by the dump trucks large side-view creating a blind spot. The report also alleged that the passenger-pickup driver maneuvered into the passing lane immediately before the intersection. The case was transferred first to the Circuit Court of Howard County in Fayette, Missouri. The case was again transferred to the Cooper County Circuit Court in Booneville, Missouri where the $788,518 wrongful death settlement was approved on March 28, 2011. This was one of the highest recorded wrongful death settlements for a teenager in any of the three counties in which the matter pended.
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