The city of Palo Alto and car accident victim Silvio Obregon have reached a $1.45 million California personal injury settlement over the September 6, 2006 car crash that left Obregon with a spinal cord injury. The California injury plaintiff was hurt when he was rear-ended by a city-owned vehicle driven by Ruben Salas, a city utilities worker.
Obregon was stopped at a red light when Salas, who took his eyes off the road to reach for his cell phone, struck him. Now, Obregon can no longer work as a supervisor for a janitorial services company, which was a job he held for 20 years. He suffers from peripheral neuropathy, and an electronic stimulator had to be surgically implanted in him to decrease his back pain.
Cell Phone Driving Accidents
California distracted driving accidents can have catastrophic consequences. Reaching over to grab a cell phone or taking one's eyes off the road for just a few seconds to read a text message may seem like harmless acts. However, the few seconds it takes to complete these distractions have been known to kill people.
The federal government recently launched Distraction.gov, a distracted driving Web site. Some of the facts provided:
• From the University of Utah: Use of any cell phone slows driver reaction time as much as driving with a blood alcohol concentration of .08% slows a drunk driver's reaction time.
• From the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety: Using a handheld device increases a motorist's risk of hurting themselves in a car crash by four times.
• From Carnegie Mellon: Using a cell phone while driving slows brain activity involved for driving by 37%.
A driver who is distracted can be sued for Orange County, California personal injury if his or her negligence, carelessness, or recklessness hurts someone else.
Palo Alto pays $1.45 million for car accident, Palo Alto Online, January 6, 2010
Statistics and Facts About Distracted Driving, Distraction.gov
Related Web Resources:
Spinal Cord Injury, Mayo Clinic
