Car accidents happen every day in St. Louis, and they range in severity from relatively minor fender-benders to severe or catastrophic crashes. While the circumstances surrounding each accident are unique, some types of accidents occur more frequently than others.
If you’ve been hurt in a crash in St. Louis, know that qualified legal counsel is available to you.
At Sumner Law Group, our experienced personal injury lawyers fight for injured accident victims throughout Missouri. With over 50 years of combined experience, our team has built a reputation as aggressive negotiators and skilled trial litigators who leave no stone unturned in pursuing justice on behalf of our clients.
Contact us today for a free consultation to discuss your case.
Types of Car Accidents in St. Louis
Some of the most common types of car accidents that occur in St. Louis include:
Rear-end collisions
Rear-end collisions are some of the most common types of car crashes. Rear-end collisions can easily lead to severe debilitating injuries, even when the crash occurs at a low speed. Whiplash commonly results from rear-end collisions. The force of the impact can cause vehicle occupants’ heads to jerk back and forth like the end of a whip.
In rear-end accidents, the driver in the rear will usually be at fault for the crash since motorists must leave sufficient distance for the vehicle in front to safely slow down and stop. But other circumstances can shift blame for the accident, such as the vehicle in front cutting off a vehicle and then quickly slamming on the brakes.
Head-on collisions
Head-on collisions rank as one of the most dangerous types of car accidents due to the immense involved. Two vehicles colliding into one another at full speed can lead to catastrophic personal injuries and death. Head-on collisions frequently occur when a driver travels the wrong way down a one-way street, gets on the freeway going in the wrong direction, loses control and crosses the median, or drifts over the center dividing line into the path of oncoming traffic.
Side-impact collisions
A side-impact collision is any type of crash where a vehicle is struck on the side by another. Common examples of side-impact collisions include sideswipe accidents and T-bone accidents.
Sideswipe collisions
In a sideswipe collision, the side of one vehicle impacts the side of another car. Sideswipes frequently occur in situations where a driver makes a lane change into a lane already occupied by a vehicle, usually because the at-fault driver failed to check the mirror and blind spots.
A sideswipe collision could easily send the vehicles involved spinning out of control, potentially crashing into other cars.
Single-vehicle accidents
In a single-vehicle accident, the driver of the car loses control either due to negligent or reckless driving, such as speeding or driving too fast for conditions, or because vehicle or road defects cause the driver to lose control. A single-vehicle accident may lead to a car colliding into guardrails or median dividers or other fixed property, rolling over, veering off the road.
Multi-vehicle accidents
Multi-vehicle accidents refer to any car crash involving two or more vehicles. The term “multi-vehicle accident” more frequently describes car accidents involving four or five or more vehicles.
Multi-vehicle accidents with many vehicles involved are also sometimes called “pileup” or “chain-reaction” accidents. A multi-vehicle accident may occur with all the vehicles involved crashing into one another at almost the same time, or the accident may involve multiple accidents occurring in a chain-reaction fashion.
Rollover accidents
In a rollover accident, a car will either turn over onto its side or its roof or will tumble over multiple times before coming to a rest. As a result, rollover accidents have a high risk of causing head injuries. Rollover accidents usually happen when the driver loses control due to speeding or reckless driving, after being impacted by another vehicle, or due to some sort of mechanical failures like a brake failure or tire blowout.
T-bone collisions
A T-bone collision refers to an accident where the front of one vehicle impacts the side of another vehicle at a perpendicular angle, with the two cars forming a “T” shape. T-bone or broadside accidents can cause severe or potentially fatal injuries since passenger vehicles usually have less crash protection on their sides compared to the front and rear.
T-bone collisions most often occur in intersections, usually because the at-fault driver ran a red light or stop sign or failed to yield on a left turn.
Blind spots
Side-view mirrors on cars still leave drivers with blind spots, which are areas around the sides of the vehicle that cannot be seen due to the angle of the rear-view mirror. Blind spots contribute to many car accidents, such as sideswipe accidents, left-turn and right-turn accidents, and merging accidents.
Low-speed accidents
Although some people assume that a low-speed accident will at most result in only limited vehicle damage, even low-speed car accidents have the potential to cause severe physical injuries, such as whiplash injuries, neck and back injuries, and herniated disc injuries.
Merging accidents
Merging accidents frequently occur on limited-access highways. Many highway on-ramps continue for only a limited distance to allow vehicles to accelerate to highway speed and merge into traffic.
Drivers may have difficulty merging into highway traffic and collide with a vehicle on the highway, into a guardrail, or run off the road when the on-ramp lane ends. Merging accidents can also occur in heavy traffic when lanes end or close, requiring traffic to merge.
Contact Our Experienced St. Louis Car Accident Attorneys Today
If you have been injured in any type of car crash, contact the Sumner Law Group today for a free, no-obligation consultation to speak to our experienced St. Louis car accident attorneys about your legal rights and options for pursuing financial recovery.
