Steelville, MO (August 05, 2021) – A man was seriously injured on the night of Thursday, August 5th after he was struck by a car while he was walking along Highway 19, just outside of Steelville.
Local sources report that 40-year-old Matthew Gaghen, a resident of Steelville was walking along the side of the road when he was struck by a car driven by 34-year-old Darren Brinkley, also from Steelville who, according to police, was reportedly distracted and impaired.
Gaghen was med flighted to Mercy Hospital in Creve Coeur.
Brinkley was placed under arrest and charged with careless and imprudent driving resulting in a crash and driving while intoxicated (with drugs) involving serious injury and booked into the Crawford County Jail.
Our thoughts are with the injured victim and their family at this time. We hope for their full recovery.
Drunk Driving Accidents in Steelville
From 2015 to 2017, in Missouri, 678 victims died in drunk driving accidents and another 2,045 were severely injured. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that one person was killed by a drunk driver every 48 minutes in 2017, indicating 10,874 people died in alcohol-related car accidents that year, representing 29% of all traffic fatalities in the United States. These numbers were nearly identical to 2016’s totals, which had not been that low since 1985.
Similar to other kinds of car crashes, liability on the part of the intoxicated driver has to be established in order for you to obtain financial compensation for your damages. Damages in a drunk driving claim cover both economic and non-economic. Under very particular circumstances, punitive damages may also be sought because the driver showed gross negligence in their decision to drive drunk.
When victims are injured in accidents resulting from the negligence of other motorists, it is important that they seek legal guidance as soon as possible. Victims may be entitled to compensation that can help cover the costs of care and other expenses moving forward. A responsive and effective car accident attorney in Missouri can help to explain your legal rights as a victim of an accident.
Our team at Peterson & Associates P.C. will help you to understand the legal options available to you in the aftermath of a car accident. Our personal injury attorneys in Kansas City strive to help our clients maximize their recoveries so they can get the medical treatment they need without worry.
If you have been injured in a car accident and would like to explore legal options available to you, contact our Kansas City personal injury attorneys at 816-888-8888 as soon as possible to schedule a free case of evaluation to see how we can help you.
Note: Our team of writers utilized secondary sources in the creation of this accident post. For that reason, the specifics regarding this accident have not been independently fact-checked and verified by our writing staff. If you locate any information that is not accurate, please notify us immediately so that we can update the post to reflect the most accurate information available. If you would like the post to be removed from our site, please let us know and we will do our best to remove it completely.
Disclaimer: As a well-respected member of the Kansas City, Missouri business community, Peterson & Associates, P.C. is always looking to increase the safety of and bring overall safety for all Missouri residents. We hope that by bringing awareness to the dangers associated with driving that people will exercise additional caution when operating a motor vehicle and avoid being injured in a serious crash. This post is not intended to be a solicitation for business. This post should not be misconstrued as medical or legal advice. The photos depicted in this post are not representative of the actual accident scene.
