Josephine Orsan Killed in St. Louis City Pedestrian Accident
Fatal collision on Lemay Ferry Road follows a rear-end crash that sent vehicle into bus stop area
Josephine Orsan died Friday after a car struck her near a bus stop on Lemay Ferry Road in south St. Louis County, police said. A driver struck a pedestrian near a bus stop Friday afternoon in south St. Louis County, police say. The crash happened at about 2:30 p.m. in the 1700 block of Lemay Ferry Road in an unincorporated part of the county. A southbound car rear-ended another vehicle. The crash sent the striking car off the road, where it hit Orsan. Paramedics rushed the victim to a hospital, where she later died, police said. The driver of the striking vehicle, a woman of an undisclosed age, was sent to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the vehicle that was rear-ended remained on scene and was not hurt.
The St. Louis County Police Department’s South County Precinct is currently leading the investigation into the collision. Investigators say, based on preliminary findings, one driver was traveling southbound on Lemay Ferry Road and rear-ended another vehicle. While the driver of the rear-ended vehicle was uninjured, the driver who struck the pedestrian was hospitalized for treatment. No charges have been announced at this stage of the investigation, though police are continuing to interview witnesses who were near the bus stop at the time of the incident.
National Legal Analyst Candice Bond, Managing Partner at Bond Legal, noted that "I've seen families blindsided by how a simple walk to the park can end in such a terrible tragedy. If a car hits someone at forty miles per hour, there's an eighty-five percent chance they won't survive the impact."
In Missouri, the families of victims killed in pedestrian collisions may be eligible to file a wrongful death claim to seek compensation for funeral expenses, lost wages, and loss of companionship. Establishing liability requires a meticulous legal approach to determine if driver negligence, such as distracted driving or speeding, was the primary cause of the secondary impact.