Highway DD to Be Revamped But the Roads Might Not Be the Only Problem
If you’ve driven on Highway DD in St. Charles, you know the inherent dangers of the road. In early September, 16 year old Elise Sunderhuse was killed in an accident on highway DD—but she is not the only casualty of the road. They highway curves around the Busch Wildlife Area toward Augusta and Defiance and has been reported as one of the most dangerous roads in the state. To make matters worse, traffic has dramatically increased due to new residential development.
The state has responded with plans to build paved shoulders along a one-mile stretch from Highway 40 to Frontier Middle School. Senator Scott Rupp of Wentzville has also planned a town hall meeting for later this month to discuss ways to urge the state to move quickly in its new construction plan.
While the new construction is needed, I see some issues that are being ignored. When Elise Sunderhuse, the 16 year old killed in September, crashed, she was wearing a seat belt. Seat belt failure is an area that is commonly overlooked when reviewing a serious auto accident claim. When a faulty seatbelt is put in a car, drivers and passengers are under the false impression that they are protected when in fact they may not be. And it is not as if car makers do not know these dangers.
Some of the most common seat belt defects have been well known to car makers for years but they’ve been ignored because of the cost to fix them is less than the potential cost of settling a lawsuit by someone who can detect a seatbelt failure actually occurred. In the case of Elise Sunderhuse, detection of the faulty seatbelt could’ve been critical to her survival. If you or someone you know has been injured or killed in auto accident while wearing a seatbelt, it is vital that you contact an attorney who understands auto defects and knows the right way to pursue legal action.
Tags: auto defect, Elise Sunderhuse, Fatal accident attorney, Highway DD, Scott Rupp, seatbelt failure, St. Charles Highways, St. Louis personal injury attorney, Wentzville
[...] This is not the first accident that I’ve written about on Highway DD. The fatal car accident statistics for Highway DD are disturbing—with an accident rate twice the state average for two-lane highways without shoulders. Highway DD’s steep roadside embankments are no doubt the scene of many car crash deaths. [...]