ST. CHARLES COUNTY 鈥 The parents of a Lincoln County teenager killed in a crash caused by a wrong-way driver in St. Charles County have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission.
The nine-page lawsuit, which was filed last month in St. Charles County, alleges that the state鈥檚 transportation commission 鈥渘egligently and carelessly failed to design鈥 the intersection of U.S. Highway 61 and Timber Trace Drive, near Wentzville, where the fatal crash occurred in April.
The bipartisan commission oversees the administration of the Missouri Department of Transportation.
鈥淭here is literally one (no left turn) sign there. You would never find such a poorly designed intersection in the city or in St. 亚洲无码 County,鈥 said Andrea McNairy, the attorney hired by Amanda Mohr, of Lake Saint 亚洲无码, and the late Benjamin White, of Moscow Mills, who died after filing the lawsuit.
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She said the family hopes their lawsuit pushes MoDOT to add more signage and lighting at all at-grade crossings, entrances and exits along Highway 61.
鈥淲e are filing this lawsuit only because this family wants to keep this situation happening to another family. It is a very dangerous situation and it needs to be fixed,鈥 McNairy said.
Mohr and White are the parents of the late Ryan White, 19, who was driving southbound on Highway 61 when the vehicle he was driving was hit head-on by an SUV driven by Ray J. Jackson, 84, of Florissant. Jackson, who also died in the crash, had been driving northbound in the southbound lanes, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
The wrongful death lawsuit alleges that Jackson had become disoriented at the intersection and that witnesses saw him driving toward the southbound traffic. The fatal crash occurred less than 15 minutes later, according to the highway patrol鈥檚 crash report.
鈥淭here is no indication that he was drinking or on drugs,鈥 McNairy said. 鈥淭his is simply a case of this being a very confusing intersection that could be made better.鈥
A 2023 report by MoDOT found that between 28,000 and 31,000 vehicles drive past the Timber Trace Drive intersection on Highway 61 each day.
The lawsuit alleges that MoDOT failed to follow its documented engineering policies by not having a 鈥淒o Not Enter鈥 sign, a 鈥淲rong Way鈥 sign, a retroreflective or illuminated 鈥淥ne Way鈥 sign, and a retroreflective or illuminated 鈥淣o Left Turn鈥 sign near the intersection that leads to large residential neighborhoods and the northern edge of Wentzville.
There have been four crashes involving wrong-way drivers near that intersection since 2019, and police have made four traffic stops due to wrong-way drivers along that same stretch of roadway, according to the lawsuit.
McNairy said Thursday she suspects there have been more traffic crashes involving wrong-way drivers that will come to light as she receives records from the state transportation department.
The lack of proper signage, lighting and crash history, the lawsuit alleges, are evidence that MoDOT 鈥渘egligently and carelessly failed to maintain the roadway in a reasonable and safe condition when it knew or reasonably could have known that this created a hazardous driving condition.鈥
A hearing in this case has not been scheduled. Electronic court records do not list an attorney for the Highways Commission or for MoDOT.