JohnsonVorhees

This year thousands of children in the four states area will ride a school bus to and from school.  Rarely is a second thought given about whether the child who leaves home for the school bus stop that morning will be there when the parents return home in the evening.  Until the unthinkable happens - a parent receives a call and learns that their child has been injured-or worse, killed, while loading or unloading from their school bus.  It is an unthinkable tragedy, something no parent should ever have to face.  Unfortunately, it is a tragedy that happens every school year.

The most dangerous part of the school bus ride is the bus stop.  During the 2008-20009 school year, 17 children in 11 states were killed when loading or unloading from their school bus.  This number was more than three times higher than the previous school year, and does not include the many injuries that also occurred.   Most loading and unloading incidents occur when the child is struck by their own school bus or by an inattentive passing motorist.  Young children are not the only victims of these tragedies.  Over half of the children killed in 2008-2009 were over 10 years old.  These numbers are unacceptable.  Teachers, bus drivers, motorists and parents must do all they can to ensure the safety of children who ride the bus.

Here are some things you should know to keep children safe this school year.

Children:

1.      Danger Zone:  The danger zone is the area on all sides of the bus where children are in most danger of being hit.   Children should stay at least 10 feet , or 10 big steps, away from the sides, back and front of the bus.  Stay out of  the danger zone except when loading and unloading from the bus.  Once you have unloaded from the bus and left the danger zone, do not return to the bus, even to get something you left behind.   The driver may not see you and may begin moving the bus.  If you drop something near the bus, tell the bus driver before you pick it up so they will know where you are.
2.      When waiting for the bus to arrive, stay on the sidewalk or if no sidewalk, a safe place away from the road.  Keep away from the bus until the driver gives the signal that it is ok to board.
3.      If you must cross the street, wait for your bus driver to give you the signal that it is safe to cross; when crossing the street, always look both ways.  Walk, don’t run. Cross in front of the bus only, never cross behind.
4.      Never listen to your ipod, talk on a cell phone, or text while loading or unloading a bus or while  crossing the street.  You can become distracted from what is going on around you, you cannot hear the bus driver’s instructions, or may not her approaching traffic.

Parents:

There are things you as parents can do to help ensure your child’s safe journey to and from school.

1.      Back packs and coats - no loose draw strings or long straps that can get caught in a closing door or handrail and your child can be dragged by the bus.
2.      Do not allow your children to be at the bus stop alone.  If you cannot accompany your child to the bus stop, arrange for a sibling or buddy to accompany them, or have them go in a group.
3.      Talk to your children about safe school bus loading and unloading procedures.
4.      If you think your school bus in a dangerous place, talk to your school office of transportation director about changing the location.

Motorists:

1.      Watch for children at school bus stops.
2.      Motorists coming to a school bus from either direction must stop when the bus displays flashing red warning lights and extends the stop signal arm. These signals mean that children are getting on and off the bus.   The bus may be blocking your view of a child about to cross the street.
3.      Motorists may not pass until the school bus resumes moving again or until the driver clearly signals you that it is okay to proceed.
4.      Passing a school bus while children are loading and unloading is illegal. In Missouri, drivers can have their driver’s license suspended for passing a stopped school bus with their red lights flashing and their stop arms extended, even if it is a first time offense.  If a child is injured or killed by a passing motorist, that motorist is guilty of a felony and may serve time in prison.

There is no greater gift than our children.  Help keep them safe this school year and let’s all practice school bus safety.  If you would like to know more about school bus safety and find out where to get free information about this important topic, contact us at Johnson, Vorhees & Martucci.

Patrick Martucci
Patrick@4stateslaw.com
Joplin Missouri Injury Attorney

Johnson, Vorhees & Martucci
510 West 6th Street
Joplin, Missouri 64801
417-206-0100 office
417-206-0110 fax
866-836-0100 toll free
www.4stateslaw.com

We all are creatures of habit.   Comfortable in the routines that make up our day to day life, we make our way each day through the necessities of survival and the pleasures that give us our joy in life.   One day fades into the next, and years pass.  Then everything suddenly changes.   A young driver takes a moment to look at an incoming text, his attention diverted for just an instant, and his vehicle crosses the center line directly into your path.  The collision is violent, but all seems to happen in slow motion.  A strange cataclysm of sudden jolting pain mixes with a numbness.  The next thing you know you are in and out of a fuzzy, medication induced haze in a cold hospital room.   Your habits and routines of work, home, and relationships are only a part of hope rather than your reality.

You also hope that careless driver had good insurance coverage – as you become aware of your medical bills stacking up.   As you begin, with determination, the effort through aching pain to get your life back, you wonder how you are going to avoid financial ruin.   And then you learn that he had only the minimal liability coverage of $25,000.   Your medical bills already are more than that.   You feel your life is out of control.

But wait.  You had the foresight to purchase underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage.  Your insurance agent told you that UIM coverage was optional (even on full coverage) and cheap.   She told you that because they insured three vehicles for your family that these UIM coverages would stack (meaning you could add them together when needed), so that if someone injured you and had only minimal coverage, your own UIM coverages would kick in and help you through the rough time.  You said, ‘yes, I want that.’

In Missouri, unlike in Kansas and Oklahoma, UIM coverages must be separately purchased.  UIM coverages are ordinarily very cheap, compared to collision coverage or liability coverage.   UIM coverages help you and your passengers when someone carelessly injures you but does not have enough insurance to take care of the harms he caused.  UIM coverages give you more control over regaining your life and keeping you from financial desperation.    If you think you have full coverage – you should look again.   Many insurance agents are not telling their customers/clients about UIM coverage.  Many of our clients think they are covered, only to discover too late that they did not even know about UIM being separate from uninsured motorist coverages.

It is this simple:  UIM covers you and your loved ones when someone else has complied with the mandatory law and has at least some liability insurance – albeit at times the minimum amount of $25,000.    UM covers you ONLY when the careless driver has no insurance at all.  Most all full coverage insurance policies have UM coverage, but many do not have UIM coverage.  You must specifically elect to purchase it.

I hope you never need UM or UIM.   But the old saying of ‘hope for the best, but plan for the worst’ is a wise one.   Life can suddenly be changed even when you do everything right.   It is best if that tragedy strikes for you to be able to control as much of what happens to you financially as you can.   Take a look at your coverages on your insurance policy.  We suggest you tell your agent you want as much UIM coverage as you have in liability coverage.

Roger Johnson

Roger@4stateslaw.com

Joplin Missouri Injury Attorney

Kansas Injury Attorney

Oklahoma Injury Attorney

Johnson, Vorhees & Martucci

510 West 6th Street

Joplin, Missouri 64801

417-206-0100 office

417-206-0110 fax

866-836-0100 toll free

www.4stateslaw.com

This time of the year reminds me of one of my smaller yet more rewarding cases I have handled as a personal injury attorney.  I once represented a very concerned young mother and son, whose son had spent the Fourth of July weekend with his father.  The father permitted the son to ride his bike with his friends as he normally did, but the 10-year-old kids soon made their way to the fireworks stand run by a local corporation.

Missouri law has statutes in place that prohibit the sale of fireworks to children under the age of fourteen (14) except in the presence of that child’s parent or guardian.   In this community, the kids were able to purchase fireworks without their parent.  My 10-year-old client purchased fireworks and did the exact thing this Missouri law was designed to protect against and suffered third degree burns to his hand using the fireworks he purchased without his parents.

When I met with my client’s Mom, I echoed her outrage at entities selling fireworks directly to unsupervised kids, but explained that my practice was typically to find the insurance money that covered the negligent act to help make up for some of the harms and losses suffered by my clients.  However, this client’s Mom was not concerned about the money as much as she wanted to make sure her kids and the other neighborhood kids would no longer be able to purchase fireworks without parents to avoid this happening again in the future.  We then discussed the law and I explained that the criminal prosecutor and not necessarily a civil trial attorney, like me, usually took the role of enforcing the law.  She advised that the local authorities were on the scene and declined to bring any charges against the local corporation that had been selling fireworks in that community for years.    More outraged, I visited with the partners here at Johnson, Vorhees & Martucci about it and we signed up the case.

Luckily, my client’s injuries healed remarkably well thanks to great medical care by the hospital and my client’s Mom who instantly became a nurse-in-training.  My client’s Mom had to maintain what was essentially a germ-free bubble around my client and had to scrub the charred skin off his hands twice a day for two weeks while my client screamed in agony.  Today, you would be unable to notice that the skin had been burned off all of his fingers without someone telling you first.

Once my client completely healed, it was time to explore settlement opportunities or file a lawsuit.  In speaking with my client’s Mom, she reiterated her disinterest in going to Court or getting a bunch of money, but wanted assurance that this would not happen again in her community.

After several rounds of negotiating with the insurance company for the local corporation, we made it a condition of settlement that the corporation would no longer sell fireworks to anyone, including unsupervised kids.  Of course, we also demanded and received fair compensation for my client’s harms and losses in addition to the fireworks ban.

Today, I still feel good about that case to know that my letters, interviews, and visits with the corporation’s officers and community members helped shed light on what was going on and put a stop to it in at least one neighborhood.

Cephus Richard III

Joplin Missouri Injury Attorney

Northwest Arkansas Injury Attorney

Johnson, Vorhees & Martucci

510 West 6th Street

Joplin, Missouri 64801

417-206-0100 office

417-206-0110 fax

866-836-0100 toll free

www.4stateslaw.com

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