St Louis, MO — There was a deadly accident reported early this morning on St. Louis along I-44. Police said two women were killed after their car got into an accident and flipped over, ejecting one of the women. No names have been released thus far.
This happened at about 2:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning, January 28, 2015. Police said that both women were in a Pontiac sedan that was driving along I-44 when the driver lost control near Cass Avenue and crashed into a sidewall.
The Pontiac then swerved back into the lanes of traffic and flipped over at least once, causing the small car to catch fire. As a result, one of the women was ejected from the Pontiac. Both died at the scene, police said, and they’re not sure who was driving at the time.
Right now, they think that high speeds could have played a role here, but aren’t sure yet.
Map of the Accident
View from the Road
Commentary:
Since this accident happened so early in the morning, is it possible that alcohol could have been a factor? The reason I’m saying that is because if it was, then this accident might not just be the fault of the driver. In Missouri, licensed sellers of alcohol (aka bars, restaurants, pubs, etc) aren’t allowed to sell drinks to obviously intoxicated people or underage customers. The reason is that it would be both dangerous and irresponsible — not to mention against the law.
What’s intersting, though, is that even though drunk drivers are punished for their actions all the time by our courts, you hardly ever hear about a bar being fined for over-serving a customer who then caused an accident that hurt or killed somebody else. The news doesn’t focus on it and quite frankly, I don’t think enough people enough know that a bar can be held responsible for the negligent sale of alcohol. Folks, don’t get me wrong here. Intoxicated drivers still bear the weight of their actions, but so do the bars that sell to them. In fact, civil claims can be filed against both the driver who caused the accident and the bar where they were drinking. In my opinion, holding both accountable for their actions is the only way to really put a dent in drunk driving accidents and make sure they don’t happen again.
— Grossman Law Offices
