Accident Attorneys' Group

Personal Injury Lawyers of CA

Jun
18

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Areas of 405 Freeway Closing Tuesday through Friday

Category: Auto Safety, Safety Tips Tags: , , , , , ,

Interstate 110 and State Route 110 (California)

Interstate 110 and State Route 110 (California) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Los Angeles is about to experience more inconvenient driving this week, beginning Tuesday evening. Parts of the 405 Freeway through the Sepulveda Pass will be closed in order to address the work that needs to be done on the Skirball Bridge.

Freeway ramps will begin closing at 7:00 p.m., and some lanes will be closed by 10:00 p.m. The full closure is expected to be completed by midnight and will reopen at approximately 5:00 a.m.

The working crews will install girders during the closure, beginning in stages for the southbound lanes.

On the northbound side, the same areas will be closed beginning Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. Those closures will be in effect Wednesday and Thursday from 7:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. as well on Friday morning from 1:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.

The Skirball Bridge will be closed each night from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., but Sepulveda Boulevard will remain open for the duration of the work.

The 405 Freeway is a major highway for Los Angeles travelers, so it is important to know how this may affect you. Find alternate routes, such as Sepulveda Boulevard; and allow yourself extra time for commuting.

It is also vital to remain alert and safe as you may be driving new routes with which you are not familiar. If you happen to be involved in an accident, contact a Los Angeles injury attorney who will assist you with identifying negligence, filing claims; and can ensure that you receive the highest possible compensation for the damages that you have suffered, which is a major step toward your recovery.

Jun
17

By

Orange County Accident Injures Sheriff Deputy

Category: Auto Accident, Car Accident Tags: , , , , , ,

Orange County Sheriff's Department (California)

Orange County Sheriff’s Department (California) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Early Monday morning, an Orange County Sheriff’s Department deputy was injured in an auto accident after he was ejected from his vehicle.

The collision occurred around 3:00 a.m. in Mission Viejo. The deputy’s police vehicle struck a pole on Marguerite Parkway and Alarcon and was removed from the car.

Officials have not released the identity of the victim at this point. He was immediately taken to Mission Hospital to be treated for unknown injuries. Though based on the conditions of the accident, his injuries are likely serious; however, he is expected to survive.

The accident is still under investigation at this point, but the scene has been cleared. There were no other vehicles involved in the crash and no other injuries have been reported.

In most cases, an ejected victim leads to more unfortunate outcomes. This deputy is quite lucky to have only sustained injuries from the collision.

If you or someone you know has been injured in an accident, contact an Orange County Accident Attorney who will assist you with identifying negligence, filing claims; and can ensure that you receive the highest possible compensation for the damages that you have suffered, including punitive damages in the event of a fatality.

Jun
14

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Fatal Accident in Pico Rivera

Category: Auto Accident, Car Accident Tags: , , , , , , , ,

English: Pico Rivera Library - County of Los A...

English: Pico Rivera Library – County of Los Angeles Public Library (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Thursday night, three people were killed in an accident in Pico Rivera. The collision was caused by a speeding driver.

A Honda Civic was traveling northbound on San Gabriel River Parkway in the 3500 block. A 22-year-old man was driving the Civic, and had a female and three children as passengers.

The Civic was going very fast while on a curve and was then forced over the line onto the southbound side of the parkway. The Civic then crashed head-on into a Nissan Sentra.

Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department officials arrived at the accident and began conducting the investigation.

The Civic driver and two boys, ages 11 and 13, died at the scene as they were ejected from the vehicle. The woman in the front seat and the third child were both taken to the hospital in critical condition. According to the police, the driver was taking the kids home after a party.

Two women were in the Nissan that was hit in the collision. They were both rushed to a hospital with serious injuries.

The fatal accident occurred around 8:45 p.m. by the 605 freeway. None of the victims’ identities has been released at this point and their conditions are still unknown.

The accident is still under investigation; however, there is no doubt that speed is a major factor in this crash.

If you or someone you know has been in an accident, contact a Los Angeles Accident Attorney who can assist you with filing claims; and can ensure that you receive the highest possible compensation for the damages that you have suffered, including punitive damages in the event of a death.

Jun
10

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All Elderly Passengers Escape Limo Fire

Category: Auto Accident, Blog, Car Accident Tags: , , , , ,

English: Lincoln Town Car Limousine

English: Lincoln Town Car Limousine (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On Sunday morning, in Walnut Creek, California, ten women successfully evacuated a limousine after it had caught fire. This accident occurred just a little over a month after the limousine fire that claimed the lives of five female nurses in the San Francisco Bay area.

Many of the women who escaped the flames were in their 90s. According to the report, they were all traveling to Sonoma to celebrate a friend’s 96th birthday.

According to the passengers’ statements, the driver told the women to exit the vehicle and the first ones out assisted the others who could not move as quickly. They were dependent on canes and walkers. Once they were all outside of limo, the passengers smelled smoke and seconds later, the flames erupted.

Fire crews arrived around 11:35 a.m. and were able to quickly extinguish the fire. The cause of the fire is still being investigated; however, the car’s electrical system is a likely cause at this point. The owner, Claudius Oliveira explains how the car is new, is maintained, and has been inspected; so the issue is the fault of the manufacturer.

The actual cause of the fire will not be immediately known, but the fact that they all were able to leave the vehicle without any injury is amazing. Many times, such as the one at the beginning of May, passengers are not as lucky.

If you or someone you know has been in an accident, contact an Orange County-based Accident Attorney today. A lawyer can assist you in identifying negligence, filing claims, and can ensure that you receive the highest possible compensation for the damages that you have suffered.

Jun
7

By

Federal Plan to Decrease Distracted Driving

Category: Auto Accident, Auto Safety, Safety Tips Tags: , , , , ,

Distracted driving

Distracted driving (Photo credits: www.smartsign.com)

Texting while driving is illegal in California, as well as other states; however, people are continuing to fiddle with their phones while stopped at a red light or worse, while in motion. The federal government has a plan to eliminate the distraction to increase general safety for drivers, but it will take a really great technology development and time.

More than 3,000 people are killed each in year in America from distracted drivers. That accounts for about ten percent of the fatalities caused by vehicular collisions. Though states can pass laws and police officers can issue tickets, there is no way to ensure that drivers keep their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road; but the government is working hard to get there.

The ultimate solution would be to make it impossible to send a text message or update social media while driving. The government is working with automobile manufacturers to create a technological obstruction, one that would deactivate the mobile device upon attempted usage in a car. The vehicle would sense the driver attempting to text or browse Facebook and would immediately shut it down. Though this idea seems outlandish and maybe impossible to some critics, advances thus far in the technology world have already proven that so many ideas can realistically be executed.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has made a proposition that outlines its ideas for restricting distracted driving. The key objective is to limit the amount of time a driver removes his/her hands from the wheel or his/her eyes from the road. The Administration wants car manufacturers to make it impossible to enter text for messaging and browsing while the car is in motion; and to disable video and social media content from being displayed.

A large issue that the NHTSA will face is that the change will require full participation from drivers; and if the pairing is not done easily, then drivers will opt out of it and continue to use their handhelds illegally. This is why it is looking for an innovative technological idea that will embed it within the car requiring compliance beyond being aware of it at the time of purchase.

This change may be inconvenient for some drivers; however, it could also save thousands of lives each year. Though distractions come in more forms than cell phones, it is likely that removing this specific diversion will reduce the amount of accidents that occur in the country.

Accidents are an unfortunate part of our lives. If you or someone you know has been injured in an accident, whether it was caused by a distracted driver or something else; contact an Orange County Accident Attorney today. A lawyer can assist you in identifying negligence, filing claims; and can ensure that you receive the highest possible compensation for the damages that you have suffered, including punitive damages in the event of a fatality.

Jun
6

By

Young Boy Killed by Iron Gate

Category: Blog, Personal Injury Tags: , , , ,

Alms Houses #3

Alms Houses #3 (Photo credit: stevecadman)

In Citrus Heights, California, a five year old boy was killed after a sliding security gate fell on him.

Jason Kolyadich was pulling on the wrought iron gate to close it after a guest was leaving his house when the tragedy occurred. His uncle heard his screams and immediately ran out to him to see what had happened.

The gate was put up in front of the house five or six years ago and the family has never had an issue with it before. Sergeant David Moranz of the Citrus Heights Police Department explains how in his 22 years as a police officer, this is only the second time that an accident like this has occurred.

The case is still under investigation; however, at this time there do not appear to be any broken pieces connected to the gate. Relatives of the victim believe that a back stopper may have been bent and that permitted the gate to come off of the track.

The gate that fell on the child is estimated to weigh between 250 and 400 pounds; five year old boys like Jason usually weigh about 40 pounds. There was no way that he could have held up that gate by himself once it escaped the track.

Law enforcement officers do not feel that there was any criminal activity involved in the child’s death; however, they are still looking into the reasons why the gate malfunctioned.

Accidents like this are terribly unfortunate and sometimes impossible to prevent. If you or someone you know has been injured or killed in any type of accident, contact a Sacramento Accident Attorney today. A lawyer can assist you in identifying negligence, filing claims; and can award to you the highest possible compensation, including punitive damages in the event of a fatality.

Jun
5

By

Chrysler Refuses to Recall

Category: Auto Accident, Auto Safety, Car Accident, Negligence, Product Liability, Wrongful Death Tags: , , , , , , ,

1993-1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee photographed in ...

1993-1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee photographed in Alexandria, Virginia, USA. Category:Jeep ZJ Grand Cherokee (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The federal government has issued a warning to Chrysler and Chrysler car owners that certain models have defective properties that make them incredibly dangerous; however, the carmaker is declining to officially recall the models.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has asked Chrysler to recall 2.7 million Jeep vehicles. The 1993-2004 Grand Cherokee models and the 2002-2007 Liberty models are all at risk to cause deadly fires.

At this point, fifty-one people have died in these models after being rear-ended and then trapped in a burning vehicle. These specific cars have fuel tanks that are behind the rear axle; and a collision from behind can cause a leak in the tank, which then creates a fire that quickly engulfs the Jeeps.

NHTSA has confronted Chrysler with the problem, but the company has not complied with establishing a recall or a solution. It has until June 18 to issue a formal response to NHTSA explaining why it will not recall the vehicles.

Chrysler stands by its models, claiming that safety is a top priority when manufacturing each vehicle. According to its CEO, Sergio Machionne, “[Chrysler] stands behind the quality of its vehicles.” The company supposedly rejects the recall because the dangers of any rear-end collision are high, and its Jeeps are not to blame specifically for the fatalities.

Though the millions of Jeeps that are under question passed original safety standards, NHTSA does not feel that that is enough to ignore an overlooked defect that it causing dozens of deaths. NHTSA has not provided a way to fix the issue at this point; however, alerting drivers of the dangers and getting the vehicles off of the road officially is a good first step.

Whether you have been injured in an accident due to a defect or something else, contact a Los Angeles accident attorney. A lawyer can assist you in finding negligence, filing claims and can award to you the highest possible compensation for the damages that you have suffered.

Jun
3

By

Tragic Accidents Plagued the State this Weekend

Category: Auto Accident, Blog, Negligence, Personal Injury Tags: , , , , , ,

A woman is loaded into an air ambulance that l...

A woman is loaded into an air ambulance that landed on Ski Hill Rd. after a head-on crash near Lifford Rd. on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011. She was flown to Toronto’s Sunnybrook hospital with serious, life-threatening injuries. Another woman was also airlifted to the same hospital with serious injuries. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In Southern California, two accidents occurred over the weekend that caused major distress for police officers and those involved. A Los Angeles crash produced one fatality and a San Diego collision left an injured child abandoned in a wrecked vehicle.

On Saturday afternoon in East Los Angeles, a crash occurred after police were led on a high-speed pursuit. A reckless driver in an SUV that may have been stolen sped away from the police after they attempted to pull him over. The chase lasted five minutes and concluded when the SUV crashed into a truck and another car.

The accident took place in El Sereno around the 5300 block of Poplar Boulevard. Paramedics arrived on the scene and immediately found one dead bystander.

Four others were injured from the accident, three men and one woman. One man was in critical condition, while the other three injured parties were reported to be in fair conditions.

The driver of the SUV tried to escape once more after exiting his wrecked vehicle, but officers caught up to him. He was arrested and suffered injuries from bites of a police dog.

The accident is still under investigation, but the driver will likely face criminal charges for both the status of the SUV and the results of the crash.

On Sunday evening in Old Town, San Diego, a vehicle collision occurred resulting with an injured child and a runaway driver. The accident was reported by witnesses who saw a truck dangling off of the edge of the Interstate 5 Southbound freeway.

California Highway Patrol rushed to the scene where they were told by witnesses that a man ran from the crash, despite there being an injured child in the backseat.

Officers found a two-year-old child strapped into the vehicle’s backseat as it hung off of the highway. The child’s condition is currently unknown; however, it was transported to Rady Children’s Hospital immediately.

The driver of the truck is suspected to be a Hispanic male in his 30s. He was seen wearing a white shirt, black shorts, and sandals. CHP is working hard to find the runaway and is currently investigating the registration information of the vehicle.

Accidents are incredibly unfortunate, no matter the situation. If you or someone you know was involved in an accident, whether it caused fatalities or included runaway drivers; contact a Los Angeles accident attorney today for assistance. Our lawyers will help you in finding medical attention and filing claims; and will ensure that you receive the highest possible compensation for the damages that you suffered, including punitive damages for instances of death.

May
31

By

Dog Crashes Truck into House

Category: Auto Accident, Blog, Car Accident Tags: , , , , , ,

Just Two Dogs in a Car

Just Two Dogs in a Car (Photo credit: jeckman)

Redding, California experienced something new on Wednesday afternoon: a dog accelerated a truck into a house.

The dog was seated in the front seat of the truck originally. Apparently he felt the need to use the bathroom, and could not wait for his driver to stop. He began his business on the center consul but his foot slipped. The dog then fell down near the driver’s feet and he pushed down on the accelerator.

The driver attempted to halt the vehicle but he failed, and the truck smashed into a house.

According to a neighbor, the driver claimed that he had the brake pedal all the way to the floor, but could not stop.

No one in the house or the truck was injured. The same neighbor explains that the boys were out of the house at the time, which is fortunate because they may have been at risk for injuries.

The neighborhood seems to understand that it was an accident and are just all thankful that no one was hurt.

The accident occurred at Bobwhite Way and Partridge Drive around 2 p.m.

This crash seems humorous because it was caused by a dog, but accidents like this can lead to much more serious consequences. Vehicular collisions are destructive enough, but having one go through a house can damage much more than property. Thankfully in this instance, there were no fatalities or injuries.

If you or someone you know has been in a collision, whether it was caused by dog or human, contact a northern California accident lawyer today.

May
30

By

Officer Injured in Accident Caused by Texting Teen

Category: Auto Accident, Blog, Car Accident, Safety Tips Tags: , , , , , ,

English: Taken off the overpass over Californi...

English: Taken off the overpass over California State Route 78 at El Camino Real in Oceanside, California Español: Yo estaba en Oceanside, California cuando tomé esta fotographía de California State Route 78 y El Camino Real. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On Wednesday afternoon in Ramona, California, a new teen driver caused an accident that involved three vehicles and one police officer. All those involved in the accident were taken to the hospital with injuries.

The teen driver was on the eastbound side of the State Route 78 in a 2011 Ford Fusion. She then rear-ended a 61-year-old driver in a 2006 Chevrolet HHR who was stopped to make a left turn on Earlham Street.

The station wagon was then pushed into the intersection and hit a Chula Vista police officer who was riding his bike off duty. The officer was airlifted to the hospital after the crash caused him to fall from his bike and roll around the road; and the other two drivers were taken by ambulance to a doctor.

It has been reported that the officer suffered severe trauma and is critical condition. The teenager and the other driver are being treated for moderately serious injuries.

Upon investigation of the accident, law enforcement has found evidence that suggests the young woman was texting right before the collision. Texting while driving is against the law; and when they complete their investigation, she could face charges.

The State Route 78 was closed in an area for a while near Ramona Community Park.

Currently 41 out of 50 states ban texting while driving; and when the action causing accidents and injuries, the penalties become more serious.

If you or someone you know has been in an accident and requires legal assistance, contact a San Diego accident attorney. Our lawyers and staff can help you file claims and award you the best possible compensation for the damages that you suffered.

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