Moberly High School Student Killed in Accident with MoDOT Truck on 63
An accident involving a MoDOT worker and two Moberly High School teenagers resulted in the death of one teenager and the serious injury of another. Christian Alvizo was driving a 1997 Chevrolet Truck when the MoDOT dump truck failed to yield while merging onto Highway 63. The truck driver, James Griffith, was not injured. Matthew Rudder, Alvizo’s passenger, was pronounced dead after being airlifted to University Hospital in Columbia, Missouri. Alvizo is in fair condition.
I wish the Rudder family strength as they endure the lost of Matthew. I also wish Christian a speedy recovery. Accidents always feel worse when young people are involved. You can feel the loss of innocence and promise. This tragedy clearly hit the Moberly community hard. It is truly touching to see community band together so quickly to help each other cope with the loss of this young man.
The dump truck driver’s failure to yield puts him squarely at fault for this accident. But were there other corroborating circumstances? MoDOT lists on their website the following mission statement, “MoDOT will not compromise safety because we believe in the well-being of employees and customers.” Was our safety compromised? Did the driver have all necessary training? Had he been working too hard? Was he following all safety protocol? In other words was there something that MoDOT or the driver did or failed to do that ended up with two innocent people paying the price.
Though the Missouri Highway Patrol has completed its investigation, it is not clear as to whether James Griffith will face criminal charges or not. It will be vital for the families of both victims to be able to anticipate the insurance company’s behavior during this time of uncertainty. One little mistake could allow the insurance company to take advantage of the victims families. What mistakes could be made? Request a free copy of my Missouri accident guide, “I Survived! The Crash Victim’s Guide to Dealing with the Aftermath,” to find out.
Truck Accidents
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Christian Alvizo, James Griffith, Matthew Rudder, Missouri accident guide, MoDOT accident, University Hospital Columbia Missouri
Themocracy
You are right. It’s a tragedy that accidents like this occur causing one young man to lose his life and our sympathy goes out to his family for the loss of their son. Our sympathy also goes out to the MODOT driver who is a young man who made a mistake. I hope that Matthew Rudder’s parents can forgive the young MODOT driver. It was an unfortunate accident and I reitterate accident, and that is all it was.