Motorist Strikes Woman Tending to Garden, Flees Scene in Suburban St. Louis, Missouri

St. Peters, MO, (Law Firm Newswire) July 27, 2015 – People who operate a motor vehicle, ride a bicycle or cross a street on foot generally know that entering the midst of roadway traffic involves a certain amount of risk.

By contrast, individuals who are in off-roadway areas generally do not expect that they will be involved in a traffic accident. But one Missouri woman who was tending to her garden was involved in a traffic accident on May 15 when a nearby motorist struck her and then fled the scene.

The 74-year-old victim was planting flowers at the corner of Harvester Road and Harvester Court in the suburban St. Louis community of St. Peters at about 10:30 a.m. when a vehicle struck her. Police did not identify the woman except to say that she was the landlord of the nearby Vise Smoke Shop. She sustained a serious leg injury in the accident and was taken by ambulance to St. Joseph Medical Center in St. Charles.

Police are looking for the motorist who struck the woman.

“If the police find the hit-and-run motorist who struck the woman, he or she faces serious criminal charges, including leaving the scene of an accident, failure to report an accident and aggravated assault,” said Charles James, a prominent attorney in St. Peters whose law firm specializes in personal injury law. “The hit-and-run motorist also would face the prospect of a personal injury lawsuit by the victim.”

Hit-and-run accidents are on the rise in the United States, according to the most recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics. The NHTSA found that hit-and-run crashes went up from 1,274 in 2009, to 1,393 in 2010, to 1,449 in 2011.

With respect to fatalities, pedestrians sustain a disproportionate share of all hit-and-run crashes. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 60 percent of all hit-and-run fatalities involve a pedestrian as a victim, and one in five of all pedestrian fatalities are hit-and-runs.

“Hit-and-run accidents are particularly unfortunate for pedestrians for many reasons, not least of which is the fact that the often serious injuries that they suffer provide a tempting context for the hit-and-run motorist to flee,” James said. “But an experienced personal injury attorney will be a key asset for such a victim, as the attorney will ensure that the responsible party justly and fairly compensates the victim for the damages they caused.”

Learn more at http://www.jameslawgroup.net/. James Law Group, LLC 14 Richmond Center Court St. Peters, MO 63376 Phone: 636.397.2411 Toll Free: 800.229.7112