Higginsville, MO — Police have identified all six people who were injured in late March after their car was hit by a semi-truck just south of Higginsville. They identified the seriously injured victims as Sarah Stamper, 34, and Bailey Butts, 13. The others who were injured were: Bryce Butts, 10, Samantha Butts, 8, Mackenzie Schroeder 2, and Riley Schroeder 2. All are from Sweet Springs, but their relation is unclear.
On Saturday, March 28, the Missouri State Highway Patrol reported that a semi-truck driven by John McEvoy crashed into a Chevrolet driven by Sarah Stamper at about 8:45 p.m. at night. This was at the intersection of Highway 13 and I-70. The map below provides some more details.
Their report says that the Butts and Schroeder children were in Sarah Stamper’s car that night, which was headed south along Highway 13. As they came to the overpass at I-70, John McEvoy’s semi-truck was trying to exit the highway and turn north onto Highway 13.
His semi-truck pulled into Stamper’s path, causing a major accident between McEvoy’s trailer and her Chevrolet. As a result, both Stamper and Bailey Butts were rushed to Centerpoint Hospital and a Kansas City hospital. Sarah Stamper’s injuries were the most severe.
The other children in her car were either slightly injured or not at all. So far, it’s not clear if Mr. McEvoy was ever charged with failure to yield.
Map of the Accident (General Area)
View from the Road
Commentary:
From what I can tell in the map above, it looks like the Chevrolet here would have had the right-of-way, which means that this semi-truck shouldn’t have pulled out in front of them like that. Now, the police report I read didn’t give a lot of detail, but I did a little checking up on this truck driver because I was honestly a little surprised to see that no charges had been filed (perhaps they were, but I never read about it).
My research indicated that this trucker has several items on his criminal file, including a few traffic citations specifically geared for commercial trucks. I’m talking about exceeding the truck’s weight load and things like that.
Folks, the last thing I want to do is walk around and accuse people of doing wrong, but it really seems like someone should be looking into this truck driver because it’s clear the police aren’t. Was he paying attention to the road at all? Didn’t he realize he had a stop sign and that traffic wasn’t clear? There are a lot more questions than answers here and, frankly, I’m a little surprised that the news didn’t cover this more thoroughly. I expect truck drivers to be safe on the road and I can’t be the only one!
— Grossman Law Offices
