The widow of a Missouri Department of Transportation worker who was killed during a November 2004 crash while working on I-44, is suing the passenger in the van that hit him, as well as the estate of the driver who also died during the accident.
The lawsuit was one of many filed Friday in Jasper County Circuit Court during a last minute flurry to beat the Aug. 28 deadline. On that day, the "reforms" passed by the Missouri General Assembly went into effect, making it far more difficult to file lawsuits or to win huge monetary awards.
Filing is the suit is Patricia Vanatta, widow of MoDOT worker Bert L. Vanatta, who was only 44 when he was killed. The defendants are the driver, the late Anna A. Lukosius, 78, Camdenton, and her passenger, Michael B. Cravatta, 80, also of Camdenton.
The accident took place four miles east of Sarcoxie in broad daylight.