Personal Injury Attorney in Rolla

Phelps County, Missouri, has its share of accidents, from motor vehicle crashes to premises liability situations. How do you know if you have grounds to file a personal injury or wrongful death claim in Rolla?

Personal injury law is based on negligence, which is the failure to take reasonable care to avoid an accident. When a driver or business owner doesn’t take the steps needed to ensure no one gets hurt, they are legally liable if someone does. For example, a driver who fails to stop and blows through a red light at 80 miles per hour is liable if someone gets hurt. The same is true if a shop owner fails to repair a leaky pipe that consistently makes the floor slippery.

If you show that someone caused your injuries through negligence, you can collect compensation by filing a personal injury claim. Holland Injury Law, LLC, can help.

Personal injury cases in or near Rolla we handle include:

• Motor vehicle accidents (car, truck, motorcycle)
• Slip-and-fall accidents
• Burn injuries and explosion accidents
• Construction site accidents
• Defective drugs and medical devices
• Dog bites

Motor Vehicle Accidents

Motor vehicle accidents are some of the most common personal injury cases. A driver can be negligent in many ways, including:

• Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs
• Texting or otherwise using a smartphone while driving
• Putting on makeup while driving
• Checking the GPS or adjusting the radio rather than paying attention to the road
• Speeding or driving too fast for road conditions
• Road racing with other vehicles
• Running red lights
• Running stop signs
• Tailgating
• Changing lanes without signaling
• Weaving through traffic
• Not yielding the right-of-way when appropriate
• Driving with malfunctioning brakes or headlights
• Driving without enough sleep

Any of these dangerous driving behaviors can constitute negligence if they lead to an accident in which someone gets hurt. If a negligent driver injured you, you can collect compensation for your losses with a personal injury claim.

Slip-and-Fall Accidents

Premises liability cases are another common type of personal injury case. Premises liability refers to a property owner or business owner’s liability for failing to keep visitors safe. For example, if a shop owner knows about a loose floorboard or a rickety step someone could easily trip on, the reasonable thing for the shop owner to do is to repair the problem. If they can’t repair the problem immediately, it is best to warn people about it. That’s why you see signs warning you if the floor is wet in many businesses.

When business owners fail to fix a hazard or warn visitors about the danger, they are liable if someone slips and falls. Fractures, sprains, and strains are common in slip-and-fall accidents, but more serious injuries sometimes occur. For instance, if you fall down a staircase, you can suffer a traumatic brain injury. If you’ve been hurt in a slip-and-fall accident in Rolla, Missouri, you may have grounds for a personal injury case.

Burn Injuries and Explosion Accidents

Many different types of accidents can result in a burn injury. For example, you could be hurt in a fire at a restaurant, shocked by exposed wires, burned by chemicals that come in contact with your skin, or exposed to excessive radiation due to medical malpractice.

Explosion accidents are another common cause of burn injuries. These can occur in the workplace, at a construction site, or in a premises liability situation. If you’ve suffered a burn or explosion injury, you deserve to collect compensation for your injuries.

Construction Site Accidents

If a worker gets hurt in an accident at a construction site, they would typically file a workers’ compensation claim. Workers’ comp is a no-fault system, so there’s no need to prove negligence in this case. However, third parties are sometimes liable in a construction site accident. For instance, if a trench or scaffolding installed by a third-party contractor collapses, the contractor may be liable. As in most personal injury cases, it depends on whose negligence was responsible for the accident.

Defective Drugs and Medical Devices

Some personal injury cases don’t require you to demonstrate negligence. For instance, the manufacturer or retailer of a defective drug or medical device is strictly liable for any injuries in Missouri. That means you can collect damages from them even if they didn’t do anything negligent.

Dog Bites

Dog bites are another example of a personal injury case in which strict liability applies. In Missouri, a dog owner is always liable for any incident in which their dog bites another person without provocation, even if it has never behaved viciously.