As motorists headed on 44 east towards downtown St. Louis Friday morning, they noticed a traffic backup worse than normal. While there is always some traffic stop and go on eastbound 44 during the morning rush hour, it was quite apparent that something was wrong. I was actually in this traffic myself. As I approaced the merger to 55 north near the Poplar Street Bridge, I saw that the ramp was completely closed and at that time, I knew something was horribly wrong.

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According to the St. Louis Police Department, two cars were involved in a minor car accident on the ramp approaching the Poplar Street Bridge downtown St. Louis, Missouri. The drivers of both vehicles did what they were supposed to do – contacted the police and exchanged insurance information. As they were doing this, however, a third car lost control and struck one of the drivers. The 43-year-old man, from St. George, Missouri, was thrown over the bridge and landed on the concrete 20 feet below. He did not survive his injuries. As a result of this tragedy, there were several other traffic accidents along this route and the northbound lanes of 55 north were closed for several hours.
I tell current and former accident injury clients if they are involved in a car crash, it is definitely important to contact police authorities and also, to be sure to obtain insurance information from the other driver. However, something that many people forget to do is to protect their own safety. Just a couple weeks ago, I wrote about the man who was killed on a highway while pushing his disabled car. I understand that it is natural instinct to want to protect your car – to get it out of harm’s way and to make sure the person who hit you has insurance coverage. But more and more, I am hearing of serious injuries and fatalities not caused by the initial car accident itself, but from a subsequent impact resulting from a pedestrian standing in a lane of traffic. You should never assume that motorists can see you. As we all know, many motorists are distracted by a million things. They oftentimes don’t see cars, let alone pedestrians. Please, if you are in an accident, get out of harm’s way. I am a St. Louis accident injury attorney and I see hear about horrific accidents frequently. This accident is especially hard to learn of because the resulting death could have been prevented.
Victim Identified in Bridge Accident, www.fox2now.com, January 21, 2011.