California Injury Lawyers Blog

An Orange County, California truck crash that took place at around 2:30am on Sunday has claimed the life of Cara A. Lee. The Santa Ana resident was riding in the front seat of Hao A. Nguyen's Toyota Corolla when the vehicle was struck by a Toyota Tundra truck that ran a red light in Costa Mesa.

Lee was pronounced dead at the Costa Mesa truck accident site, while Nguyen was taken to a Santa Ana hospital for treatment of minor injuries. He was arrested on suspicion of DUI.

Also arrested was Costa Mesa driver Gustavo A. Vega. The 22-year-old, who was driving the Toyota truck, was booked on suspicion of murder, felony DUI, vehicular manslaughter, possession of a controlled substance, and felony hit-and-run.

Although in most cases people never get drunk with the intention of hurting anyone, when an inebriated motorist getting behind the driver's seat of a car, he or she is putting the lives of others in great peril. Alcohol is a depressant that gets absorbed quickly into the bloodstream and stays there for awhile. It impairs a person's reaction time, slows down reflexes, impairs vision and visual perception, decreases concentration, impairs comprehension, reduces foot, hand, and eye coordination, and can cause drowsiness. While just having one of these impairments can lead to a catastrophic car crash, all of them affecting a person's driving at one time can be deadly.

Drunk drivers often have a hard time controlling their vehicle. They may not be able to stay in just one lane, forget to use headlights, follow too closely behind another auto, not realize that they are speeding or driving to slowly, and/or find it difficult to immediately stop their vehicle in an emergency.

Regardless of whether or not the legal system properly punishes a drunk driver, you can take matters into your own hands by finding out whether you have grounds for filing a Costa Mesa personal injury claim against the negligent motorist.

1 dead, 2 arrested after truck slams into car, The Orange County Register, February 14, 2010

Driving and Alcohol, Hsc.WVU.edu

Related Web resources:
Mothers Against Drunk Driving

Arrest for Driving Under the Influence (DUI): General Information, California Department of Motor Vehicles

Continue reading "One Person Dead in Costa Mesa Truck Accident Involving Two Allegedly Drunk Drivers " »

Findings from a new study by the Highway Loss Data Institute are raising questions over whether distracted driving laws that ban texting and the use of handheld cellular devices while driving is having any effect. The answer may be no.

The HLDI examined insurance claims from car crashes in California, Washington DC, New York, and Connecticut after such bans became laws. Not only did claims rates not go down but also there was no noticeable change in patterns when findings from these states were compared to nearby states where bans have not been instituted.

HLDI says it is gathering more information to find out why there has been no improvement in car crash rates in the wake of the cell phone and/or texting while driving bans. It said that one reason may be that more drivers are using handsfree phones now that handheld devices are off limits.

Contrary to earlier misconceptions, talking on a handsfree cell phone while driving is actually quite dangerous and can also lead to distracted driving car accidents. On January 12, the National Safety Council announced that at least 1.6 million US car crashes each year involved drivers texting or talking on their cell phones.

Our Anaheim car accident lawyers are concerned about the number of Orange County, California car crashes that continue to happen because drivers are texting or talking an a cell phone. Fortunately for the injury victim and his/her family, there are ways to obtain recovery from liable parties.

Meantime, the federal government continues to take steps in its bid to win the fight against distracted driving with a national ban that now makes it illegal for commercial bus and truck drivers to text while driving. Recent findings show that texting increases a commercial truckers' crash risk by up to 23 times.

Study: Distracted driving laws don't stop crashes, Washington Post, January 29, 2010

U.S. Bans Texting by Truck and Bus Drivers, BusinessWeek, January 26, 2010

National Safety Council Estimates that At Least 1.6 Million Crashes are Caused Each Year by Drivers Using Cell Phones and Texting, National Safety Council, January 12, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Cell Phone Laws, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

Distraction.gov, US Department of Transportation

Continue reading "Number of California Car Crashes Not Going Down Despite Handheld Cell Phone and Texting while Driving Bans, Says HLDI" »

13 months after Jose Ramirez, 66, his wife Wendy, 51, and their son Robert, 15, were killed in a tragic Los Angeles County truck accident involving multiple tractor-trailers and other vehicles, his surviving sons are suing the California Highway Patrol, the state of California, the California Department of Transportation, four trucking company, and a number of truck drivers for their California wrongful deaths.

According to the California wrongful death lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the Ramirez family was stopped behind a JP Hunt Transport tractor-trailer on Interstate 40 during a dust storm on November 9, 2008 when their vehicle was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer driven at a high speed by truck driver Randy Thomas Starks in a large Midway Transportation Inc. truck.

The impact of the collision caused the Ramirez's vehicle to crash into and go completely under the semi-trailer in front of it. The multi-vehicle crash also involved SUVs, pickup trucks pulling trailers, and a Porsche. The Ramirez's died from the California truck crash. A Fullerton woman died from her injuries and at least four people were taken to hospitals.

The Los Angeles County truck crash lawsuit accuses the defendants of illegal and negligent conduct. The plaintiffs say that Starks risked people's lives when he continued to drive at 50- 55mph even though visibility was drastically reduced by the dust storm. They contend that the other tractor-trailers should have driven off the roads when the dust storm happened because that would mean visibility was significantly reduced. They say that the JB Hunt truck driver did not put up emergency warnings to indicate it had stopped.

The Ramirez brothers are blaming California, the CHP, and Caltrans for failing to post proper advisory warnings about the hazardous conditions that the weather could create. They say that the area on I-40 where the truck accident occurred is known for its dust storms and strong winds.

Lake Elsinore family files lawsuit after fatal crash, The Press-Enterprise, December 18, 2009

Canyon Lake family dies in desert crash, The Friday Flyer, November 14, 2008

Related Web Resources:
California Highway Patrol

California Department of Transportation

The family of truck driver Tahir Sheikh Fakhar is blaming Caltrans for his California truck crash death. The 56-year-old trucker died on Monday when his large truck fell off the Bay Bridge's S-curve at around 3:30am.

His big rig truck dropped 200 feet, crashing onto Yerba Buena Island. While the California Highway Patrol says that Fakhar lost control of his truck while driving 10 mph above the 40 mph speed limit, his brother, Naveed Anjum, says the design of the S-curve is to blame for the death.

Since the S-curve opened on September 8 there have been over 40 California motor vehicle crashes. The temporary roadway bend is there to allow for other bridge work.

Meantime, Caltrans is continuing to point to speeding as the cause of the Monday's truck collision and the other crashes while noting that over 16 million trips have been safely made on the S-curve.

The S-curve, located on Interstate 80, is a detour for drivers to use until the Bay Bridge's east span opens in 2013. Motorists have to make sharper turns when navigating the curve.

Caltrans says it is going to install additional speed limit signs, radar speed signs, and thick reflective stripes on both decks of the S-curve's guardrails. Raised roadway dots have been added to let drivers know when they've started lane drifting.

Truck Accidents Involving Injured Truckers
Truckers can also get hurt during truck crashes. While some California trucking collisions are a result of truck driver negligence, there are truck crashes that occur because another driver was careless, the truck malfunctioned or has a design defect, a road or bridge was poorly designed, the speed limit is not appropriate for the road and the regular flow of traffic, not enough safety measures have been implemented, or there are no warning signs about possible hazards.

Bay Bridge S-curve crashes mount, safety moves pondered, Inside Bay Area, November 10, 2009

Brother Of Truck Driver Killed In Crash Makes Emotional Plea, KTVU, November 11, 2009

Related Web Resources:
California Department of Transportation

Bay Bridge

Continue reading "California truck crash claims trucker's life when his big rig falls off Bay Bridge's S-curve" »

Too little sleep doesn't go a long way when it comes to driving safely. According to the National Sleep Foundation's new poll, in the last year alone up to 1.9 million drivers were either in a car crash or almost in one because they were driving while drowsy. Unfortunately, many motorists are unaware that driving while exhausted or sleepy can turn into negligent driving and become grounds for an Orange County, California car accident lawsuit if someone is injured or killed.

Each day, about 250,000 US drivers fall asleep while driving. The National Transportation Safety Board says there are about 8,000 drowsy driving-related deaths and 60,000 serious injuries a year.

Groups most likely to drive while drowsy are young people, shift workers, truck drivers, business travelers, and people with untreated or undiagnosed sleeping disorders. About 40 million people are believed to be suffering from some type of sleeping disorder that may make it hard for them to stay awake during the day.

Drowsy driving, not unlike drunk driving, delays reflex response times, impairs judgment, clouds the mind, and makes it hard for a motorist to pay attention. Some studies indicate that a person who has been awake for over 20 hours exhibits an impairment equivalent to someone with a .08% blood alcohol concentration.

A sleepy driver may not even realize that he or she has nodded off. Even just shutting one's eyes for a few seconds can cause the driver to drift into another lane, into oncoming traffic, or off the road, resulting in an Orange County truck accident, motorcycle crash, pedestrian accident, or bus collision.

In an effort to increase awareness about the dangers of driving while sleepy, National Sleep Foundation has declared November 2 - 8, 2009 Drowsy Driving Prevention week.

Signs you may be drowsy driving:
• Your head keeps nodding downward
• You suddenly notice that you are tailgating the vehicle in front of you
• You can't remember the last few miles that you drove
• You are having a hard time keeping your eyes open
• Focusing on the road is proving a challenge
• You keep yawning
• You just missed your exit

If possible, pull over and take a break. Caffeine helps. A better solution is to get a good night's rest and don't drive while drowsy. If you have to drive for hours at a time, take a break every 2 hours or 100 miles.

1.9 Million Drivers Have Fatigue-Related Car Crashes or Near Misses Each Year, Reuters, November 2, 2009

Drowsy-driving tragedies preventable, Boston.com, August 3, 2009

Related Web Resources:
AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety

Drowsy Driving, National SLeep Foundation

Continue reading "Sleepy Driving is Distracted Driving Habit that Causes Orange County, California Car Accidents" »

In May 2007, Drew Bianchi was a 21-year-old college student who was going on a camping trip. The course of his future, however, took a catastrophic turn when he was struck by a tractor-trailer that had just crashed with another large truck on Pacheco Pass. Because of his traumatic brain injury that he sustained in the California truck crash, Bianchi can no longer live a normal life and must be attended to by a medical professional 24 hours a day.

Following a five-week California traumatic brain injury trial, the jury found Samuel Bimbela, the driver of the truck that struck Bianchi's vehicle, 60% liable, the state of California 5% liable, and Gordon Trucking and the driver of the other tractor-trailer 35% liable. They awarded Bianchi $49 million in damages--$13.5 million for general damages, $4.5 million for future lost wages, $3.4 million for past medical expenses, $27.6 million for future medical costs.

Living with a traumatic brain injury can be tough. Depending on the kind of TBI that a person has, he or she may not be able to speak, understand what someone else is saying, have problems processing thoughts or emotions, experience memory loss, suffer from vision or hearing problems, suffer from sensory loss, experience serious loss of physical mobility, suffer from bladder or bowel problems, experience chronic pain, and become depressed or aggressive.

A person with a TBI may not be able to live independently, which can take an emotional and financial toll on the patient, friends, and family members.

Orange County, California Truck Accidents
For many Orange County, California truck accidents, paying for traumatic brain injury care can be extremely challenging, which is one reason it is important to obtain the maximum recovery possible from all liable parties. It can also provide a sense of relief to hold the responsible entities or persons accountable for your injuries, losses, pain, suffering, and other damages.

Calif. Jury Awards $49 Million in Personal Injury Case, The Recorder, September 24, 2009

Traumatic Brain Injuries, Neurology Channel

Related Web Resources:
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Trucking Accidents Caused by Driver Error, Nolo

In Orange County, California, a judge has ordered the Costa Mesa driver accused of fatally striking a Newport Beach pedestrian last year while text messaging on his cell phone to stand trial for vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. If convicted, Martin Burt Kuehl faces a maximum 9-year prison sentences.

Kuehl's criminal defense attorney argued that there is no evidence, including cell phone records, to indicate that the 42-year-old driver was texting when he hit Nanny Martha Ovalle on Westcliff Drive last August. The lawyer had sought to have the charge reduced to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter with ordinary negligence.

According to the newspaper the Daily Pilot, however, Deputy District Attorney Jason Baez says that the cell phone records indicate that Kuehl was texting for approximately 30 minutes before the Newport Beach pedestrian accident. One witness has also said that the motorist in the vehicle behind Kuehl had to strike the horn so the Costa Mesa resident would notice that the traffic light was green.

The latest developments in this Orange County, California pedestrian accident case came right before the US Department of Transportation's Distracted Driving Summit, which began today.

The dangers of texting while driving will be the center of focus, as lawmakers, law enforcement officials, and safety experts discuss the consequences of multitasking while driving. At today's kickoff, US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood unveiled the latest figures from 2008: Almost 6,000 people in the US died in distracted driving accidents, while over 500,000 people sustained injuries. Each day last year, there were almost 800,000 people motorists using a hand-held cell phone while driving.

Teen drivers are the worst offenders, but adult motorists are not exempt from getting on the phone, texting on a Blackberry, listening to an iPod, playing a video game, or fiddling with a GPS system while driving.

Our Costa Mesa injury lawyers are aware of the hazards that come from distracted driving and the Orange County, California personal injuries and wrongful deaths that can result.

Orange County motorist accused of texting while driving faces trial for killing pedestrian, Los Angeles Times, September 29, 2009

Accused texter faces 9 years, Daily Pilot, September 28, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Drowsy and Distracted Driving, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Continue reading "Distracted Driving: Orange County, California Judge Says Costa Mesa Driver Accused of Texting Must Stand Trial for Newport Beach Pedestrian Accident" »

A Southern California Appeals Court says that a truck repair facility can be held liable for a 2005 Huntington Park truck accident that injured 8 people and killed 3 others. The commercial tow truck was stolen from the service yard of Maurice J. Sopp & Son. Video footage from the repair yards surveillance cameras show Raymond Bermudez walking onto the premise through an open gate and climbing into the 2003 Nissan truck. Just several hours ago, Bermudez was released on parole from Soledad State Prison.

Bermudez started the truck's engine, struck another vehicle that was behind it, hit a shade canopy, and drove off the property. He then struck several vehicles before driving into a group of people at a bus stop. A couple (they were the parents of seven children) and a single mom died from their injuries. Eight other people also sustained injuries from the deadly Los Angeles County truck accident.

The victims' families sued the tow truck company for Los Angeles personal injury and wrongful death. The defendant moved for summary judgment, citing causation and duty. The plaintiffs noted that "special circumstances" allowed for a vehicle's owner or bailee to be held liable for injuries caused by the thief of that vehicle, such as in the event that "heavy vehicles are left unattended," allowing for people who aren't used to driving them to do so.

The plaintiffs also noted that in 2004, Huntington Park had the highest car theft rate in the US and its violent crime rate was in the nation's top 14th percentile. They also argued that the car repair shop had contacted police 25 times over a five-year period because of reported break-ins and thefts and that the keys to the truck had been made easily accessible. While a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge granted the summary judgment motion, the California appeals court reversed the ruling.

California Truck Accidents
If you or someone you love was seriously injured in a Los Angeles County traffic accident involving a stolen vehicle, do not despair. The first step you need to take is to speak with an experienced Los Angeles truck crash lawyer immediately. A good injury attorney will know how to investigate your case and prove liability.

Truck crash injuries can be very serious and costly. There is no reason why you should have to cover the entire financial burden if someone else's negligence or carelessness caused your California truck collision injuries or your loved one's death.

C.A. Rules Truck Repair Shop May Be Liable for Fatal 2005 Crash, Metropolitan-News, September 4, 2009

Carrera v. Maurice J. Sopp & Son (PDF)

Related Web Resource:
Trucking Accidents: Common Causes and Liabilities, Nolo

Injured in a Truck Accident. What to Do?

A woman who survived a catastrophic California truck accident with injuries is suing the tomato truck driver and his employer for personal injury. Concepcion Lopez is the only person who survived the August 3 hit and run accident that claimed the lives of the four men who were riding in a Honda Civic with her. One of the men was her husband and another victim was her brother. She was also related to the other two victims. The family members of the other car crash victims are also suing for their wrongful death.

According to the California Highway Patrol, the deadly collision occurred when 35-year-old truck driver Hernesto Escalante allegedly ran a stop sign, crashing into the compact car. His big rig was pulling two trailers that were carrying tomatoes and the Honda ended up beneath one of the trailers. The four men in the car, Nelson Nunez, Lifredo Lopez, Angel Nunez, and Jose Menjivar, died immediately.

According to witnesses, Escalante initially stopped the truck accident site to check the vehicle but then got back in his truck and drove off. He was later apprehended and taken to jail. He pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges of leaving a crash site and vehicular manslaughter.

The plaintiffs are seeking burial costs and other compensatory and punitive damages. Also named as defendants in the California wrongful death lawsuit are Panella Trucking Company and Ralph Panella, who is the owner of the trailer and the truck.

Hit an Run Drivers
Any driver involved in a California motor vehicle crash is supposed to stop at the accident scene. The motorists involved are supposed to check the vehicles for damage and also make sure no one is hurt. In the event that someone is hurt, then emergency personnel need to be contacted. Drivers who leave the crash site or fail to stop can be charged with leaving an accident site. If the hit and driver caused the California car crash, he or she could be held liable for personal injury.

Family of Hit and Run Victims Take Legal Action, ABClocal.go.com, August 7, 2009

4 victims ID'd in alleged hit-run near Five Points, Fresno Bee, August 4, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Panella Trucking

Hit and Run, Deadly Roads

While multi-tasking can be an admirable habit when your working in an office or trying to complete chores at home, trying to accomplish too many tasks at once can prove dangerous when your driving a motor vehicle. Texting, talking on the cell phone, putting on nail polish, watching a video, reading a book, surfing the Internet, or eating might all seem like harmless activities--yet do any of these activities while driving and you increase the chances that you may be involved in a deadly Orange County, California motor vehicle crash.

Distracted driving-related accidents are happening so often that almost every week there are news reports of people getting hurt or dying because another driver was texting, talking on the phone, or engaged in another activity while driving. Now, the federal government has decided to hold a "distracted driving" summit to address this problem. US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has compared distracted driving to drunk driving and that just as people got tired of seeing loved ones killed in drunk driving accidents, they now had enough of motorists risking other people's lives because they refuse to stop texting or using a cell phone while driving.

The federal government's stance is a definite change from several years ago when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration held back information and evidence it had that thousands of people were dying every year because of cell phone use--both hands-free or handheld--and other forms of distracted driving.

Even now, many US states still don't have laws regulating cell phone talking or text messaging. And while some states, such as California, do ban drivers from talking on hand-held cell phones and texting, now studies are revealing that just because you aren't holding the device doesn't mean you are any safer.

A recent AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety poll reported that although 87% of motorists think that texting or emailing is a dangerous activity to do when driving and 58% of motorists think talking on a cell phone is not a safe driving activity to engage in. Yet, despite this knowledge, 67% of drivers admitted to recently talking on the phone and driving at the same time, while 21% had recently texted while driving.

Our Anaheim, California personal injury lawyers are aware of the fact that despite state laws, there are still drivers out there that continue to text and talk on the phone while driving. If you were injured in an Orange County, California car crash because of a distracted driver, a drunk driver, or any other kind of negligent driver, you may have grounds for filing a personal injury lawsuit or wrongful death complaint.

Federal Agency Plans Distracted Driving Forum, NY Times, August 4, 2009

Distracted Driving the Top Reason that 35 Percent of Drivers Feel Less Safe than Five Years Ago, According to the AAA Foundation, AAA, July 27, 2009
Related Web Resources:
Cell Phone Driving Laws, Governors Highway Safety Association

It's official. Texting while driving is incredibly dangerous and increases the chances a motorist will become involved in an Orange County, California traffic accident. While motorists and state lawmakers have known this for some time--since January it has been illegal to text while driving in California--findings from a Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study bring this reality home.

The study found that of all the tasks that cause truck drivers to take their eyes off the road, sending text messages is the most dangerous one and increases the chances that truckers will become involved in a truck accident by 23 times. This task generally requires drivers to take their eyes off the road for nearly five seconds--and if they are driving at a speed of 55 mph, in this amount of time they will have traveled the length of a football field with their eyes on their communication device and not on the vehicles around them.

The study says that dialing a cell phone while driving is also dangerous. This task increases a truck driver's chances of being involved in a truck accident by almost six times, while increasing car driver's crash risk by three.

The study used actual drivers for its research, including 203 truck drivers. Large trucks with video cameras were used. Footage captured truckers' reactions right before a truck accident or near truck collision. 21 truck crashes and 197 near crashes were captured on video, in addition to more than 4,000 other events thought to be safety critical.

Although news of the dangers of texting while driving isn't new news--an AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety reveals that 87% of Americans consider email and texting serious driving hazards (1 out of 5 drivers do it anyway)--hopefully this latest information will remind drivers that texting and driving at the same time is a form of distracted driving that can become negligent driving if someone gets hurt or dies as a result.

Not all states have laws banning texting while driving. This week, a number of US senators called on all states to ban this bad habit or face reductions in highway funding. The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute's latest study comes on the heels of last week's that the NHTSA knew as far back as several years ago about the dangers of using both hands-free and hand-held cell phones when driving but decided to sit on the information. Think of how many lives could have been saved if people found out then what we are just learning now.

Texting while driving is unsafe anywhere, SF Gate, July 31, 2009

Lawmakers propose ban on texting while driving, AP, July 30, 2009

Texting, e-mailing, crashing, dying, OregonLive, July 29, 2009

Highway agency wanted total cell phone ban, MSNBC, July 21, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Cell Phone Driving Laws, GHSA

Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

Continue reading "Preventing Orange County, California Trucking Accidents: Don't Text and Drive" »

The family of Gregory Gerbing, a tow-truck driver that died in a Southern California traffic accident on Interstate 215 last year is suing Caltrans and a construction company for his Riverside County wrongful death. Gerbing was kneeling on the side of the road next to his truck on the shoulder of the truck-only lanes when he was hit by a pickup truck that drove off the main lane.

Pickup truck driver Oswaldo Lopez reportedly thought he'd missed the exit to enter I-215 southbound. He was later charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence.

The Riverside County wrongful death complaint, filed for Gerbing's widow and teenage daughter, contends that barriers or medians could have prevented Lopez from entering the truck lane. The complaint states that Caltrans had already been warned that the placement of the lanes are confusing and could result in a tragic accident. The family's lawsuit is claiming that poor design of the truck lanes where Highway 60 and I-215 split close to Moreno Valley and the lack of barriers between the main I-215 route and Highway 60 split were contributing factors that caused Gerbing's death.

Members of the public had reportedly called for better signs and a median so that motorists could safely navigate the roads.

Although many people think that truck drivers are less likely than other motorists to get injured in a Riverside County motor vehicle crash, truckers do get hurt in California auto accidents. Depending on the circumstances surrounding the traffic accident, the negligent party could be another truck driver, a car driver, a motorcyclist, a pedestrian, a trucking company, the truck manufacturer, the manufacturer of a defective truck part, a government entity, or another entity. There may be even more than one party that can be held liable for personal injury or wrongful death.

The statute of limitations for filing a California wrongful death claim is two years from the date of death. Losing someone you love is one of the worst losses that you can experience. While nothing can bring your loved one back, there are ways to move forward and obtain compensation from all responsible parties. This can also provide you the funds that you need to pay for funeral and burial costs, your deceased loved ones medical expenses related to the death, as well as provide you with the financial support to take care of your family. Truck drivers cannot sue their employer for California personal injury, but they can sue third parties that were responsible for their injury accidents.

Suit filed in death on I-215, PE.com, June 26, 2009

Related Web Resources:
California Department of Transportation

Caltrans must pay $6.3 million for deadly crash, MercuryNews.com, June 24, 2009

Continue reading "Preventing Orange County, California Motor Vehicle Accidents this Memorial Day Weekend with DUI Checkpoints, "Click It or Ticket" Campaign, and Travel Safety Tips" »

Continue reading "Why Orange County, California Traffic Accidents Happen" »

Continue reading "Los Angeles County Truck Accident Kills Father and Daughter and Injures 12 Others" »