Joni K. Elliot's death marked the 30th fatality in 2012 for Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop B, when she died in a car accident on Wednesday October 17 in Schuyler County. Elliot, age 28 of Queen City, Missouri, was the driver of a 2002 Ford Escape traveling westbound on Highway W when the vehicle overturned and went off the left side of the highway at around 2:08 PM. After the car flipped over it slid across the right side of the highway and came to a rest on its side, 8 miles west of Queen City, totaling the car and ejecting Elliot. She was pronounced dead at the scene, and was found to not be wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.
Seat belts save lives. It is sad how many accidents I see that involve people not wearing their seat belt.
It is important to do a thorough investigation of the accident to see what caused the death of the driver. Was she wearing a seat belt? Did the seat belt fail during the accident and cause her to come unrestrained? Is this a wrongful death case? Just because the accident report says one thing does not necessarily mean that is what happened in the accident. Accident reconstruction experts can review the vehicle and scene and give an expert opinion on what happened in the crash. Defective product cases against the manufacturer of the seat belt or the car are very expensive and involve expert witness testimony on what happened in the accident.
If you or a loved one is involved in a serious motor vehicle accident, it is important to contact an experienced personal injury lawyer like Brent Sumner of the Columbia personal injury law firm The Sumner Law Group for a free consultation.