Rear-end accident on Route 161 leads to suit

A woman has filed suit against the driver who she claims struck her stopped vehicle.

Elisabeth Rogers claims she was driving a 2000 Jetta west on Highway 161 on July 13, 2010, when defendant Jesse Baumer, who was driving in the same direction, struck Rogers’s stopped vehicle.

Because of the collision, Rogers sustained leg, ankle, foot, mid- and lower-back, lungs, chest, head and neck injuries and suffered great pain and mental anguish, according to the complaint filed July 10 in St. Clair County Circuit Court. She also incurred medical costs, the suit states.

Baumer negligently drove into a stopped vehicle, drove too fast, failed to keep a proper lookout and failed to reduce his speed to avoid a collision, the complaint says.

In her complaint, Rogers is seeking a judgment of more than $50,000, plus costs and other relief the court deems just.

P.K. Johnson of Johnson and Johnson in Belleville will be representing her.

St. Clair County Circuit Court case number: 12-L-350.