Victim's Family Files St. Louis Motorcycle Accident Lawsuit

Centralia, MOThe family of a former Centralia, Missouri man has decided to file a St. Louis motorcycle accident lawsuit against the city of Columbia and a bus driver, the Columbia Daily Tribune reports.

span itemprop="image" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject" style="display:block">Michael Heaston, 34, reportedly died one day after his Harley-Davidson collided with the side of a city bus. Bus driver Archie Smith Jr. was allegedly driving southbound when he attempted to make a turn into the eastbound lane. He told investigators that he stopped at a stop sign but did not see Heaston when he was pulling out, according to the Columbia Police Department investigation report.

Heaston reportedly tried to swerve to avoid the collision, but the bike struck the side of the bus, pinning him underneath the vehicle for several minutes before he was eventually taken to University Hospital, where he later died, according to the news source.

The lawsuit accuses the bus driver of failing to avoid the collision and claims that Smith was not paying enough attention to the road at the time of the accident. In a recent response, Smith and the city allege that Heaston was driving too fast and did not have a proper helmet on, according to the news provider.

According to the Web site of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, 1.6 percent of all traffic crashes in the state in 2009 involved motorcycles.