Recently, St. Louis Cardinal third baseman David Freese’s one car accident on Wild Horse Creek Road in West St. Louis County has been in the news. Freese wasn’t the first baseball player to have a one car accident on Wild Horse Creek Road.
In September of 1994 former Cardinal Joe Magrane wrecked his car on the same road. Joe didn’t swerve to miss a deer; his crash was caused because a contractor cut about 18 inches into the road to build an entrance “apron” for the “new” Bluffs of Wild Horse subdivision. The contractor left an unmarked 6 inch drop-off on the side of the road. Driving at night, the passenger side of Magrane’s car fell into the drop-off causing him to turn the steering wheel to the left and go off the other side of the roadway where his car struck a tree head-on. The airbag deployed sending his left (pitching) elbow through the window.
On behalf of Magrane, Tim Gallagher successfully sued the builder and a variety of contractors responsible for cutting into the roadway.
Sometimes “accidents” aren’t just accidents. Even a one-car crash raises legal issues—whether someone else’s negligence contributed to cause the crash or whether or not there is insurance coverage available because only one car was involved. Every day, we help our clients investigate not only the cause of car crashes, proving who or what was at fault, but we also make sure insurance companies cover what they’ve promised to cover.