Missouri roads can be dangerous, not only for drivers and passengers but also for those in or near the roadway. Pedestrian accidents typically occur suddenly, often when a person on foot has little or no time to safely react. This is especially true if the pedestrian happens to be a child.
Sadly, a tragedy occurred at the Lake of the Ozarks over the recent holiday weekend. On July 4, just before 10 a.m., a vehicle struck a person in the roadway. Intensifying the sorrow is the fact that the was a 1-year-old child.
The toddler was rushed to a nearby hospital after the incident. Hospital representatives later pronounced the child dead. Fatality is often the outcome when someone so young bears the force of impact after being struck by a motor vehicle. The grief of such tragedies reaches beyond immediate family members to friends and entire communities.
There is no way to replace the loss of a human life, and it may take months, even years, for a family struck by the sorrow of a sudden death incident to be able to move forward. Driver negligence is often determined as a causal factor in pedestrian accidents, as is the case in the majority of motor vehicle collisions. Parents or guardians of a fatally injured child may have every right to speak with a personal injury attorney regarding the wrongful death claim process, which often leads to court-awarded compensation that can help grieving families cover funeral expenses and other accident-related monetary damages.