Several Accidents in two Kentucky counties take the lives of two motorists in Pike County, and in Clark County, a woman was taken to a hospital in an ambulance, and the other was air-lifted to a different hospital.
Clark County
The Mountain Parkway near Winchester was the site of several separate accidents that shut down the parkway for several hours. Two separate accidents occurred on the parkway near each other causing cars to stop. Then a head-on collision happened when a truck was unable to slow down enough upon coming upon the stopped cars.
One of those was a local doctor on her way to Saint Joseph’s Hospital to see patients when the truck hit the median and flew through the air striking the her SUV. The doc was taken to the Clark Regional hospital with a broken leg. Another woman from one of the earlier accidents at the same location, was seriously injured and had to be air-lifted to the University of Kentucky Hospital.
According to police at the scene, the parkway had to be closed for several hours to make room for the helicopter that took the woman to the UK hospital.
Pike County
Across the state, an accident tragically took two lives when two cars collided. Kentucky State Police said two vehicles appeared to crash head-on just after 2 p.m. at the mouth of Brushy Fork of Beefhide. The Pike County Coroner declared one dead at the scene while the other was airlifted to Pikeville Medical Center. Unfortunately, the person didn’t make it as she died of her injuries sustained in the crash.
Causes of Head-on Crashes
Though we don’t know what happened in above-mentioned crashes, many head-on collisions share some common factors. Impaired driving, sleepiness and distracted driving are the leading causes of head-on collisions. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, most of the head-on crashes occur in rural areas due to the narrow, two-lane highways, especially those with a posted speed of 50 mph or over. In many cases, one driver drifts over the center line striking another vehicle head-on. Usually, the victim doesn’t have time to stop or swerve before they are hit. These crashes are especially deadly as the weight and momentum of both vehicles compound the impact of the collision.
Who’s at Fault”
In head-on collisions, finding fault seems like it would be easy. The car who drifted into the other lane has to be at fault. In most cases this is probably correct, but head-on crash scenes are often strewn with debris, and the vehicles are often thrown away from the impact spot making it difficult to determine what happened.
Law enforcement departments have crash investigators that will come to the scene to determine what happened. When done, they will issue a report that gives their opinion of what happened leaving the civil courts to sort out who was at fault.
Don’t go it Alone
If you’ve been injured in a head-on or any other auto accident, do not take the insurance companies word for anything. It’s their job to pay you as little as possible, and in head-on collisions, they will often use the complicated factual events as a means to try and deny or reduce the amount of money you deserve.
You need an attorney on your side who will knows the law and has experience with insurance companies. Call the attorneys at Kaufman & Stigger, PLLC, and they will stand behind you to make sure that you are treated fairly and that you get the highest compensation allowed by the law.
When you call Kaufman & Stigger, PLLC, at 800 937-8443, you will immediately speak to a member of the legal team and not a message machine. You can also Live Chat with an expert who can immediately began helping you with your claim.