Car accidents in Missouri happen for many reasons, including road conditions, weather, and visibility. However, the most common reason for collisions is dangerous driving. Speeding, distracted, intoxicated, and careless drivers endanger themselves and others when they tailgate, change lanes unsafely, and disobey traffic signals.
Speeding in particular is more dangerous than most drivers realize. Speeding car accidents in Missouri were blamed for 36% of traffic fatalities, making it the state’s leading cause of crash-related deaths.
This is why working with an experienced Missouri speeding accident lawyer is crucial. An attorney can hold speeding drivers accountable for the accidents they cause and ensure you are compensated for your injuries.
From 2019 through 2023, nearly 1,800 motorists, pedestrians, and cyclists died in Missouri crashes that were blamed, at least in part, on speeding. Together, aggressive driving and speeding cause over twice as many fatal crashes as impaired driving.
This problem is not limited to Missouri. In 2021, speeding-related accidents across the nation caused 12,330 fatalities and 328,946 injuries. Given the scope of this problem, there is a fair chance the other driver was speeding in your car crash.
For immediate legal assistance from an experienced speeding car accident attorney in Missouri, contact us today. We offer free consultations and can help you understand your rights after an accident or an injury.
What Are Missouri Speeding Laws?
Missouri law contains two speeding violations. First, a driver speeds by exceeding the posted speed limit. A driver commits an infraction by exceeding the speed limit by five miles per hour or less. The punishment for this violation includes a fine and court costs but will not result in any jail time or driver’s license points.
If the driver exceeds the limit by more than five but fewer than 20 miles per hour, they commit a Class C misdemeanor. This violation increases to a Class B misdemeanor if the driver’s speed is 20 miles per hour or more over the speed limit. Both of these violations can result in jail time and points on the speeder’s driving record.
You can also commit a speeding violation when you fail to exercise the “highest degree of care” when driving. According to this law, a driver must operate their vehicle at a speed that does not endanger the property, life, or limb of any person. A driver can infringe on this rule by driving too fast for the road, visibility, or weather conditions.
For example, a driver who does not slow down during a rainstorm may fail to show the highest degree of care even if they drive at or below the posted speed limit. This violation is a Class B misdemeanor if the driver gets pulled over and a Class A misdemeanor if they cause an accident.
To learn more about Missouri’s speeding laws, schedule a consultation with an experienced Missouri speeding car accident lawyer from our law firm today.
Why Do So Many Drivers in Missouri Speed?
Drivers speed for a wide range of reasons. However, one common factor is a lack of appreciation for the dangers of going too fast. Many drivers consider speeding harmless and do not understand or care that the practice can cause or worsen crashes.
Instead, they feel that avoiding a traffic ticket is the only reason to obey the speed limits, and their reasons for speeding outweigh the relatively low odds that a police officer will stop them. Some common reasons for speeding include the following:
Impatience
Drivers frequently speed due to impatience. They might be late for work or an appointment. Some may also simply dislike driving, particularly if traffic is heavy, and so they speed to shorten their time behind the wheel.
However, these drivers often fail to appreciate how little time they save by speeding. A driver only arrives a couple of minutes sooner by driving an average of five miles per hour over the speed limit during a 30-minute freeway commute.
Also, this calculation assumes the driver is in motion non-stop over that time. If they hit any traffic jams or are slowed down for any other reason, they would need to travel even faster to save just a few minutes of driving.
Lack of Restraint
Many drivers see speed limits as merely advisory or even an infringement on their freedoms. Instead of respecting the state’s legitimate safety concerns, these drivers feel they should determine their own speeds instead of being constrained by someone else’s limit.
These drivers do not see how their speeding can affect others. Instead, they prioritize their feelings of freedom or the exhilaration of driving fast over the safety of others. In doing so, they fail to appreciate that their actions can also worsen the injuries they suffer in speeding car accidents in Missouri.
Inattention
Many people speed unintentionally because they ignore their speedometer or speed limit signs. This lack of focus can occasionally result from distractions. For example, a driver might inadvertently accelerate while glancing at their phone.
Alternatively, a driver might go on autopilot and fail to follow all the steps they learned in driver’s education, including checking their blind spots and speedometer. Likewise, a young driver or senior might get overwhelmed and neglect to follow the speed limit. On long trips, drowsiness or “highway hypnosis” can cause a driver to zone out as well.
Herd Mentality
Some drivers feel that the safety of traveling at the same speed as others is more important than the safety of driving at the speed limit. There is some truth to this belief. Vehicles moving more slowly than the flow of traffic tend to get tailgated or may draw the ire of aggressive drivers.
Additionally, Missouri law prohibits driving so slow that you impede or block the normal flow of traffic. However, the same law explicitly allows you to drive slowly if necessary for safe operation or to obey the law. Thus, the speed limit is always the maximum, even if others are driving over it.
To learn more about your rights after an accident or injury involving a speeding driver, reach out to our experienced Missouri speeding car accident attorneys. We offer free case evaluations and are never too busy to speak with you.
How Speeding Contributes to Car Accidents in Missouri
Missouri uses an at-fault insurance system under which the financial liability for a crash falls on the driver who caused it. After an accident, everyone who suffered injuries or property losses can pursue insurance claims or lawsuits against the responsible driver.
To prove liability for speeding car accidents in Missouri, your attorney must show that the other driver failed to exercise reasonable care. Importantly, speeding has several effects on driving safety, including the following:
More Likely to Lose Control of a Vehicle
Speeding drivers are more likely to lose control of their vehicles in adverse conditions. Specifically, speeding drivers reduce their ability to brake and corner safely, particularly in adverse conditions. For example, a speeding driver significantly reduces their ability to maneuver safely on wet or icy roads.
Less Likely to Spot or Avoid Traffic Hazards
Greater speeds mean reduced time to see and react to hazards. This translates to increased stopping distances, reduced reaction times, and a higher risk of hitting an unseen hazard.
For example, suppose that a driver is traveling 40 miles per hour through a residential neighborhood. If another driver backs out of their driveway in front of them, they must spot the car, apply the brake, and stop over 62% more quickly than if they were traveling at the 25-mile-per-hour speed limit.
Reduce Other Road Users’ Ability to Avoid a Collision
Other drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists have more difficulty avoiding collisions with speeders. A pedestrian in a marked crosswalk might have less time to cross or retreat before a speeding car reaches them. Worse yet, the speeding driver might not have enough time to stop or swerve to avoid them.
Similarly, speeding can reduce the time a driver has to avoid a rear-end collision. They may be able to see a speeding driver approaching rapidly from behind, but they might not have an opening to change lanes or speed up before being crashed into.
Worsen the Severity of a Crash
Crash energy depends on the weight and speed of the vehicles involved. Importantly, energy increases with the square of the speed. Thus, traveling twice as fast increases the energy by four times. This formula explains why a collision at 20 miles per hour is dangerous, while one at 40 miles per hour may be deadly.
For more information on how driving with excessive speed increases the risk of accidents, contact a skilled Missouri car accident lawyer from our law firm today.
Speeding and Liability in Missouri Car Accident Lawsuits
Liability for a car accident in Missouri is based on negligence. Negligence includes the following four elements:
- Duty of care
- Breach of duty
- Loss
- Causation
All drivers have a legal duty to drive with reasonable regard for the safety of other road users. A breach occurs when a driver fails to exercise reasonable care. This failure can happen when they commit a traffic violation or do something unreasonably dangerous, even if there’s no law against it.
In the case of speeding, drivers must obey the speed limits. In locations where there is no posted speed limit, such as on private property or in parking lots, drivers must move at a reasonable speed for the situation. When drivers exceed that speed, they likely breach their duty of care.
Importantly, Missouri recognizes a legal doctrine called “negligence per se.” It allows a crash victim to use another party’s violation of a Missouri safety law to skip the first two elements of negligence: duty and breach.
Thus, when drivers receive traffic citations from officers investigating speeding car accidents in Missouri, victims usually go directly to causation and loss. This is because the breach of duty has already been established.
How Can I Prove That the Accident Was Caused Because the At-Fault Driver Was Speeding?
Causation can be a complex issue in speeding car accidents. An insurance company might argue that the crash would have happened regardless of the driver’s speed due to other factors. This would mean the other driver’s speed was irrelevant.
Your lawyer’s job is to establish the causal link between speeding and your injuries. Lawyers can use many types of evidence to establish this connection, including the following:
Witness Testimony
Key evidence in your case will come from you, the other driver, and any eyewitnesses. You might have seen how the driver’s speed caused them to lose control of their vehicle or hit you. The other driver could have admitted at the crash scene that their speed played a factor.
Eyewitnesses can also help prove causation. For example, someone nearby might have seen or heard the other driver accelerate at a yellow light as you slowed down. Witness testimony would prove the driver’s speed caused the resulting rear-end collision.
Accident Report
Generally, an accident report constitutes inadmissible hearsay. However, the evidence gathered by the police and the conclusions they reached can be used in two ways.
First, insurance companies are not limited by the rules of evidence and can consider accident reports in assessing liability. Thus, an accident report that blames the other driver’s speed can influence an insurer to settle your claim or lawsuit.
Second, an accident report tells your lawyer which questions to ask at trial. If the officer concluded that the other driver was speeding at the time of the crash, your lawyer can call the officer to testify to establish causation.
Photos and Video
Photos and videos of the crash can prove that speed was involved. For example, photos might show skid marks that demonstrate the other driver’s excessive speed, and Videos could indicate that the vehicle was traveling faster than other cars. You could then use this evidence to establish that the driver’s speed caused the collision.
Physical Crash Damage
Crash damage can establish both the crash energy and the angle of the collision. This information can prove how fast the vehicles were traveling and whether either driver had time to try to brake or swerve. This information, in turn, can establish whether speed played a part in the collision.
Expert Testimony
An expert witness differs from a fact witness because experts can give opinions based on training, education, or experience. Your lawyer can use an expert in speeding car accidents in Missouri to reconstruct the accident and calculate each driver’s speed.
The expert can then testify in court to explain how the evidence proves the other driver’s liability for the crash. This evidence might include things like photos and crash damage.
To learn more about proving liability in a Missouri car accident, contact our experienced Missouri speeding car accident lawyers today.
Knowledgeable Car Accident Lawyers in Missouri
Beck & Beck Missouri Car Accident Lawyers is a family-run firm that focuses exclusively on car accident cases. We have a wealth of knowledge and experience that’s helped us recover millions of dollars for our clients. Contact us today for a free consultation to discuss your case and how we can help.
Our legal team has helped car accident victims throughout the state of Missouri including Kansas City, Florissant, Pine Lawn, St. Louis, Columbia, Kirksville, Springfield, and Cape Girardeau.
