California Injury Blog

Mattel needs to step up to the plate. Sure, the biggest toy company in the world can argue they had no knowledge of the lead-based paints their popular Chinese-made toys are brightened with. But the least they can do is to create a fund to help parents do the testing that is needed to determine whether their children have been exposed to the lead from these tainted toys. What happened to manufacturers standing by their products and being responsible to consumers?

Since Mattel did not take that step, I’m glad that California consumers are trying to hold the toy company accountable by filing a lawsuit that seeks class-action status. According to an article in the Daily Breeze, this suit claims Mattel was negligent and should establish a fund in an unspecified amount to pay for medical screening needed to determine if children have been affected by the lead in the toys.

The article says the complaint was brought by Fontana couple Adrian and Mitchell Powell on behalf their two daughters, Megan and Morgan. Parents are worried for a good reason. According the National Safety Council’s Web site, lead is a highly toxic substance, exposure to which can produce a range of adverse health effects including brain damage. Children are particularly more susceptible to it. NSC statistics show more than 400,000 children under the age of 6 in the United States have too much lead in their blood.

Continue reading "Will Mattel Take Care Of Its Customers After Toy Recall?" »

Blyth, California. Eighteen-wheelers are more common than ants in the summer time on Interstate 10 as they cross back and forth, coming in and leaving California over the Colorado River. Yesterday one of them was involved in a fatal truck accident near the Blyth Airport just after noon.

Authorities reported that three people were killed and two others were injured in a big rig accident involving another vehicle on Interstate 10 at Black Rock Road according to CBS.com. Their names have not yet been released.

Three medical helicopters were brought to the scene of the truck accident according to Riverside County Fire Information Officer Massiel De Guevara and reported on KESQ.com.

Continue reading "Big-Rig Accident Kills Three" »

Your rights to a class action lawsuit cannot be bullied away from you.

It is not OK to put "unconscionable" clauses in your contract that take away the right of the public to band together as a group and sue you, and the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco agreed, setting the stage for a class action lawsuit against Cingular Wireless in Los Angeles.

In Cingular’s case they gave the consumers contracts to sign that included clauses that were detrimental to them, but that did not allow any negotiation of the terms. Additionally, they threatened some former AT&T customers with early termination fees if they did not sign on the dotted line.

Continue reading "CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? A BIG WIN FOR THE LITTLE GUY!" »

Earlier this month, we talked about a postal worker in Northern California, who was mauled by a dog as she was doing her route. This week, in Torrance, there was a similar incident -- only much, much worse. In this case, a 100-pound pit-bull mauled a 60-year-old mailman sending him to the intensive care unit with horrendous facial wounds.

According to a news article in the Daily Breeze, the beloved mailman, Moon Choi, who had served the neighborhood for 25 years, simply walked past the house where the pit-bull was lounging in the front yard. Choi told the dog owner he had no mail for him that day when the pit-bull came completely unglued, jumped over a 4-foot-high fence and took a bite out of Choi’s head and face.

Appalled residents who watched this incident helplessly told the Breeze that the vicious dog attack looked like a scene from a horror movie. Postal officials told the newspaper that Choi was mauled very badly on the right side of his face, had already gone through reconstructive surgery and required a tube in his throat to breathe. If this is what the pit-bull did to a grown adult, I shudder to think what the dog may have done to a young child walking by.

Last year, 3,184 letter carriers were bitten by dogs across the United States, according to a USPS news release. And here’s some more worrisome news. The same release also states that in the Orange County-Long Beach, Calif. area, postal employees suffered the most dog bites last year with 96, followed by Houston with 94, Sacramento with 82 and Los Angeles with 77. It also costs the postal service hundreds of thousands in terms of insurance costs.

Also disturbing is the fact that the owners of this vicious pit-bull involved in Monday’s attack, own yet another pit-bull and another dog. The postal service has temporarily stopped delivering mail to their house. Can you blame them? What postal worker would be comfortable going to that street again knowing there’s another 100-pound pit-bull lounging on the grass with a history of a horrendous attack?

Continue reading "Dog Attack on Torrance Mailman" »

If you thought certain nursing homes were despicable for mistreating and neglecting the elderly, this story will make your skin crawl. According to an article in the Philadelphia Daily News, a Delaware-based company called Homeward Bound is in big trouble (as they should be) for defrauding seniors into paying money for an insurance product, which promised high quality home-based care. Thousands of seniors from different states including California, New York, Florida and Pennsylvania signed up for the service and paid thousands of dollars, but later found out they had been duped.

They got no such service and the home care provider they had been assigned to said Homeward Bound did not pay them to deliver the services. The attorney generals of New York, Pennsylvania and Florida are taking legal action against this business, which had no problems preying on the worst fears of vulnerable citizens on fixed income, that they would be subjected to living in a nursing home rather than in their own homes. To give them the hope that they wouldn’t have to check into a nursing home but apparently knowing that they would never live up to the promises they were making - cold and despicable!

Continue reading "Nursing Home Fears Used To Scam Seniors" »

The driver of a big-rig that slammed into a family’s minivan killing three toddlers from Ladera Ranch was apparently speeding on the I-5. According to a report in The Orange County Register, California Highway Patrol officials are recommending vehicular manslaughter charges for the driver of the big-rig, who they say was traveling at a high rate of speed given the traffic conditions that day on the freeway.

The May crash took the lives of three young siblings Katie, Emma and Kyle Coble who were only 2, 4 and 5 years old. The Register article states that the report reveals Jorge Manuel Romero was in violation of the state’s basic speed law, which prohibits drivers from traveling faster than conditions permit. Officials said that this was not Romero’s first violation although it was his first violation that ended in fatalities. He had previously received citations for speeding in a tractor trailer, driving without his lights on and driving with a suspended license, the Register article reports.

A previous investigation by the Register last month revealed that the trucking company, KW Express, itself had 15 safety violations that surfaced during federal and state inspections. Let’s look at some of these violations. Drivers were allowed to work before they completed pre-employment drug screening. Drivers’ time cards were falsified. Vehicle maintenance records were not kept. And a company spokesman was quoted in the newspaper saying it was all a result of “innocent ignorance.” If the Cobles are represented by one of Orange County’s best personal injury attorneys, those violations won’t look so innocent to an Orange County jury.

Does it sound like I have an attitude about this? I do! It is precisely this callous disregard, expressed by KW Express’s spokesman, that I sense is the cause of this fatal truck accident. KW Express allows it’s drivers to pilot big rigs on our highways without drug testing and calls it “innocent ignorance”? Ignorance of the law or giving drivers more time to clean up for drug testing?

Falsified time cards? Does this mean driver’s records were altered to conceal the real amount of time they were driving in excess of federal regulations? Or does it mean that they were shorting their driver’s pay?

Continue reading "Orange County Truck Accident Fatality Caused by Speeding Big-Rig Driver" »

Big Rig driver called a hero by fire officials.

Four people died and a toddler is in critical condition after they were injured in a fiery three-vehicle collision in Ontario. According to a news report in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, the accident was triggered by an 18-year-old driver, who lost control of his Ford Explorer and veered over the yellow line, slamming head-on into the front of a Chevrolet minivan. The impact of that crash caused the minivan with five people to spin around and hit a Ford Escort, the newspaper reported.

A 64-year-old woman and a 70-year-old man in the minivan were both ejected and pronounced dead at the scene. A 60-year-old woman riding in the back of the minivan with two little boys also died later that day. A 4-year-old boy died in the hospital and a 1-year-old boy was air-lifted to the hospital with massive head and chest injuries, according to the article. The boy is still fighting for his life. The driver of the Explorer was also ejected and suffered injuries to his legs and body but is expected to survive as is the 45-year-old driver of the Escort.

According to eyewitness reports, all vehicles were traveling at 50 mph, the posted speed limit. The article also stated that two good Samaritans provided help to the victims. Fire officials said a tractor trailer driver who saw the crash and put out the fire that started in the front compartment of the Explorer, was a hero. A deputy from Rancho Cucamonga administered first-aid to the victims until paramedics arrived, the Bulletin reported.

It is not known what caused the young driver of the Explorer to lose control of his vehicle and cross the yellow line. There is no information on whether he was under the influence of alcohol or whether he was distracted by a cell phone or something else that he was doing when the accident occurred. I am interested to know how this tragic crash occurred. It is indeed a gruesome, heart-breaking tragedy for the families of all the injured. My prayers are with the families and especially with the baby who is fighting for his life in a hospital.

Continue reading "Ford Explorer Crash in Ontario – Four Dead, One Child Injured" »

Man victimized by dog and then the by his own attorney.

Ernest Sevilla was severely injured in a dog attack by a Japanese fighting dog. The dog took chunks of flesh from his left hand. It took over a hundred stitches to repair the hand and days of hospitalization to overcome the infection. Being a self employed contractor he lost months of work and was nearly bankrupted.

Sevilla hired a personal injury attorney to handle his case against the dog’s owner. The attorney told him he had a winning case. Three years later Sevilla’s doctors told him he must pay his medical bills himself because his personal injury case was thrown out of court. He contacted his attorney to find out what happened and was told his case had been dismissed because he was a fault and suggested that he file bankruptcy.

After reading a copy of the court’s file of his case, Sevilla realized that he was victimized a second time. He discovered that his case was dismissed due to failures of his attorney and not due to the merits of his case. That’s when he hired Bisnar Chase.

Read Mr. Sevilla’s whole story of his case and his experience with our firm here.

Lead is toxic to the body and especially the brain and even in low levels it can cause havoc in vulnerable, small, growing bodies. So why isn’t anything being done about it? According to the San Francisco Chronicle, one California legislator says if the U.S. Consumer and Product Safety Commission does not work fast to regulate a ban on using lead in the making of children’s toys that she will introduce legislation in California intended to do just that.

Critics of the U.S. Consumer and Product Safety Commission accuse the agency of not having strict enough rules to protect our children and of not enforcing the rules that are now in place. According to Fiona Ma, a San Francisco legislator, recalls by manufacturers like Mattel and Fisher Price of millions of toys and other products that include paint with lead over federal limits indicate that no one is watching the store or monitoring these manufacturers allowing dangerous toys to come into our homes by the millions.

Continue reading "TOYS WITH HIDDEN DEFECTS!" »

Medical examiner, Michael Graham, revealed that St. Louis Cardinals pitcher, Josh Hancock, was drunk when he died in a car accident a week ago. Graham indicated in a press conference that Hancock was almost twice the legal blood alcohol limit when he crashed into the back of a tow truck that happened to be on the side of the road helping another driver. The tow truck driver was not injured, but Hancock, who was not wearing a seat beat died within seconds of impact from severe head and chest injuries, according to the medical examiner. Additionally, Police Chief Joe Makwa found marijuana and a glass pipe which is used to smoke marijuana inside of Hancock’s Ford Explorer, although toxicology tests have yet to determine if Hancock had drugs in his system at the time of the crash.

It also seems that Hancock was involved in another traffic accident the week before his death on April 26th. Shortly before that accident an unidentified couple, who were present at a steakhouse where Hancock was eating, indicated that he seemed to be drinking heavily and was impaired. They also claimed that they overheard Hancock telling ESPN broadcaster, Dave Campbell, that he [Hancock] had been in big trouble with Tony La Russa, Cardinal manager, because he was late to a game and too ‘hung over’ to play. This account was denied by La Russa who had his own brush with a DUI in March in Florida. La Russa also stated that he would have known if Hancock had a problem, because anyone with a drinking or drug problem could not perform at the level Hancock performed. Hey La Russa, why don’t you tell that to Hancock’s family!

Continue reading "Alcohol + Talking on the Cell Phone + No Seat Belt = Three Strikes and You Are Out!" »

Was the truck illegally parked and that was the cause of this accident? Or was the driver of the Honda Accord at fault? The California Highway Patrol is investigating.

In Corona, California, about 2:00 a.m. this morning on the eastbound shoulder of the Riverside (91) Freeway a 2008 Honda Accord collided with the back of a parked big rig truck, wedging itself beneath the semi truck, according to authorities as reported on the CBS2 website.

The two occupants of the Honda Accord were trapped inside the car, one of them for 75 minutes, before rescuers extradited them from the vehicle according to a Corona Fire Department Battalion Chief. The rescued Honda occupants were not identified. However the chief did say that the male occupant suffered moderate injuries and the female occupant was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

Continue reading "Big Rig Truck Accident on Riverside Freeway - Who’s Fault?" »

Ford Motor Co. earlier this month recalled 3.6 million passenger cars, trucks, sport utility vehicles and vans because of a defective cruise control switch, according to an Associated Press news report. Problems with the cruise control switch have been reported over the years now and there have been numerous reports of vehicle fires because of the faulty switches as well.

In January 2005, Ford recalled 6 million vehicles because of the engine fires linked to the cruise control systems in their trucks, SUVs and cars. The latest recall covers 16 brands of cars, sport utility vehicles and trucks from model years 1992 to 2004. The models include the Ford Ranger, Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis, Lincoln Town Car, Lincoln Mark VIII, Ford Taurus SHO, Mercury Capri, Ford Explorer, Mercury Mountaineer, Ford Explorer Sport and Explorer Sport Trac, Ford E-150-350, Ford E-450, Ford Bronco, Ford F-150 Lightning, some models of F-Series trucks and Ford F53 Motor.

This recall brings the total number of vehicles recalled for this problem to 10.5 million since 1999. According to Ford, none of the vehicles involved in this recall have experienced an abnormal number of fires. How many reports did they get of these fires? According to a Ford spokesman, they don’t have an exact number. That’s interesting. Almost 11 million vehicles recalled and they’re not documenting the complaints? I don’t buy that for a second.

Continue reading "Watch Out for These Flaming Fords – 3.6 Million Recalled" »

Here is a story that smells like an auto defect case.

Friday morning, August 17th, a Plainview, Texas woman was killed in a single-car rollover accident in a 1992 GMC Jimmy according to an article on LubbuckOnline.com. The article quoted Cpl. John Gonzalez of the Department of Public Safety who said Elizabeth Ponce, 47 years old, was wearing a seatbelt when her GMC Jimmy skidded into a ditch and rolled twice, landing on its roof. He further stated that alcohol and weather were not believed to be factors in the accident.

GMC Jimmys are notoriously unstable. They roll over much too easily in situations where they should stay upright. They are unsafe. Our law firm has been successful in a slew of lawsuits against GMC regarding the rollover propensities of their SUVs. I have no idea how many other lawsuits there have been but I'd guess the number is in the hundreds.

OK, so the Jimmy rolled over. Why did Elizabeth Ponce die? She was not ejected. She was seat belted in.

Continue reading "Defective GMC Jimmy Kills Texas Woman?" »

If dog owners won’t take responsibility for their animals, they should face criminal charges and pay for the suffering they’ve caused innocent victims who get bitten and suffer serious physical and emotional trauma. It is comforting to know that more and more district attorneys are filing criminal charges against negligent dog owners.

Take this case in Petaluma where a man was arrested and charged with four felony counts of allowing mischievous animals to be at large causing bodily injury. According to an article in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, 50-year-old Kieran Burns’ two off-leash, 90-pound Rottweilers attacked a father and his son severely injuring both.

The father Roberto Kampfner Sr. told the newspaper that the dogs attacked him and his son, Roberto, as they were walking home from the local high school track on April 29. Kampfner Sr. tried to hold his son aloft to protect him from the vicious dogs, but the animals tried to snatch the boy from his arms, the distraught father said. The boy was bitten at least 20 times and some of his wounds penetrated all the way to his bone, the newspaper reported. This week Burns took a plea bargain, pleading guilty to two felony counts. The two other charges will be dismissed and officials say there’s a good chance he will avoid serious prison time and simply get probation.

That’s too bad as far as I am concerned. I would like to see Burns sentenced to a year. Then I’d hope that there would be a huge media buss about it so people would see someone going to jail for acting irresponsibly with their dogs.

This dog attack story is an example of why irresponsible dog owners deserves to be criminally charged and yes, do jail time. Burns’ dogs have a track record of violent behavior. Burns was under orders to keep his Rottweilers confined after an attack in February 2005. Then in August that same year, Burns was fined after the dogs bit a neighbor’s child, the newspaper reports.

Continue reading "Dog Attack Leads to Guilty Plea from Dog Owner" »

A Minneapolis personal injury law firm has filed a petition in federal court seeking access to the Interstate 35 W bridge, which collapsed Aug. 1, killing nine people and injuring at least 100 others. According to an article in the Winona Daily News , the law firm wants access to the collapse site right away so their own investigators can begin looking into what could very well lead to wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits. The firm, Schwebel, Goetz and Sieben, has reportedly been retained by three people severely injured in the bridge collapse and the families of two others who died in the disaster. Authorities are still pulling out debris, wreckage and bodies from the Mississippi.

It is perfectly understandable that the firm wants to get there before most of the evidence is gone. But of course officials have objections to it. The U.S. Attorney’s office is calling the petition “premature.” Officials say efforts to recover bodies of other victims will be hampered by accommodating the law firm’s request. According to the article, the firm’s attorneys said in their petition that they had hired two experts specifically to help pursue wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits on behalf of the clients and that they had the special training and experience that would help jurors determine negligence and causation issues.

The petition also implores the judge to grant immediate access because once the wreckage is taken apart it would be impossible for the law firm and its independent investigators to conduct a legitimate investigation. Victims must file claims and lawsuits within with very specific time limits to preserve their rights. Failure to timely and appropriately file results in a termination of rights. The state’s liability is reportedly only $1 million. But victims could absolutely target private contractors and their insurers as well.

The federal court should grant these attorneys access to the collapsed bridge. In every personal injury case, physical evidence reigns supreme. In this case, the condition of the bridge will speak volumes. Those investigative reports will be the star witness if there should be a jury trial. That bridge with its collapse took down the lives, hopes and aspirations of hundreds of people. And according to several news reports, the bridge has been structurally deficient for a decade and the officials in the Minnesota Department of Transportation reportedly have done nothing but bicker about how to fix it. As a result, the bridge never got the repairs it so badly needed. Those responsible need to be held accountable.

A recent report revealed that 24 bridges in Orange County and many more in the state of California are in as bad a shape or much worse that the bridge that collapsed in Minnesota.

A Fontana woman died and two children sustained critical injuries Tuesday night when her van was hit by a Hilton Hotel van, whose driver, police say, ran a red light. According to a news article in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, the 53-year-old woman, Sally Alvarado, was driving a 2002 Toyota Sienna with two boys ages 4 and 5, who are now reportedly in the hospital in critical condition.

Officials told the newspaper based on preliminary investigations that the driver of the Hilton Hotel van was at fault and that he failed to stop for the red light. The article said Alvarado was making a right turn from the off-ramp of the 10 Freeway in Ontario when the Hilton Ford van struck the driver’s side. The vehicle reportedly belongs to the Hilton Ontario Airport hotel. The van driver was taken to a hospital and was treated for minor injuries, the Bulletin reported. No charges had been filed yet.

Investigators are still looking at the evidence. They don’t know if the van driver ran the light because he was distracted or talking on the cell phone. Whatever the reason, a tragedy has occurred. One woman is dead and two little boys are fighting for their lives.

Red light running is one of the most common and yet one of the most dangerous traffic violations. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (http://www.iihs.org/research/qanda/rlr.html), a nationwide study of fatal crashes at traffic signals in 1999 and 2000 estimated that 20 percent of the drivers failed to obey the signals. In 2005, more than 800 people were killed and about 165,000 were injured in crashes that involved red light running. The victims who die in these crashes mostly turn out to be pedestrians and occupants in other vehicles who are hit by the red light runners.

Depending on the degree of carelessness or negligence, the driver of the Hilton van may face a vehicular manslaughter charge. But that is usually charged only after an elaborate investigation as it should be. Early this week I reported how the California Highway Patrol was seeking manslaughter charges against a truck driver that caused a traffic fatality and it seemed he was a lost less negligent than the driver of this Hilton van.

Continue reading "Woman Killed in Ontario Car Accident With Hilton Hotel Van" »

For many, this week is registration for the Fall 2007 classes, and many high school students will be out celebrating the last of those summer nights with a drink or two or three or more, and maybe some drugs to enhance the effects of the alcohol. Some young and promising students may die on our roads this week! We know that cars, teenagers and alcohol and drugs don’t mix, so why do teenagers face such high death rates? According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s 2004 study, 16-21 year olds had the highest fatality rate, and 39% of those deaths were alcohol-related. Why?

Could it start at home? At Deerfield High School in Deerfield, Il Lake County Circuit Judge Raymond Koski told a room full of parents, "Sometimes parents just have to say no." You can’t tell a child it is ok to drink in the basement at home and then not expect them to drink anywhere else. It just doesn’t make sense! According to the story in the Chicago Tribune, one mother of eight says she is fed up with the drinking and drugs. "This is what the '70s brings to this, the mindset that [parents] lived through it, so their kids will too. ... [But] you give a kid enough rope, they're going to hang themselves." Ellen Waltz told the group that included parents grieving for the loss of four high school students who had recently died in a car accident homecoming night, teens drinking and using drugs with their parents' permission is an open secret, and one in eight high school students surveyed admitted driving after drinking alcohol.

While parents widely believe that a teenager’s peers are more likely to influence them, a Highland Park Hospital psychologist John Jochem indicated that surveys of young people showed otherwise. When parents talk - teenagers listen, even if you think they don’t.

According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration’s 2003 Traffic Safety Facts, motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of death for the age group 4-34.

Parents need to lead by example, and today is a good day to start!

Looks like three tragedies flowed from an August 6, 2005 fire truck accident. A 1987 Spartan fire truck driven by Riverside firefighter Michael Arizaga hydroplaned off Interstate 10 near Highway 60 resulting in the death of Riverside firefighter Chris Kanton. Other firefighters in the fire truck were injured as well, according to the Press Enterprise.

The first tragedy was the loss of the life of firefighter Chris Kanton. Chris was only 23-years old. He lived in Temecula, California.

The second tragedy was that of Michael Arizaga who was charged by the Riverside District Attorney’s office with manslaughter. The DA’s office claimed that it was Arizaga’s negligence that caused Kanton’s death in the fire truck accident. The California Highway Patrol report states that the truck was speeding in suddenly rainy conditions, going 45 mph and that neither Arizaga nor Kanton were wearing seatbelts when the accident occurred, according to the Press Enterprise. Arizaga was responsible for his crew wearing seat belts according to the CHP.

Continue reading "Faulty Fire Truck Design Responsible for Firefighter’s Death" »

A Petaluma woman was brutally attacked by a Great Dane as she stopped to pet a leashed dog when she was on a walk, according to an article in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. According to the news report, the woman, Lisa Sheean, her husband, Mike Sheean and their 9-year-old son were walking along a coastal bluff last Saturday night when a man walking a Great Dane crossed their path.

Sheean told the newspaper his wife actually asked the dog owner if the animal was friendly and that the owner replied that it was. When the woman bent over to pet the Great Dane, the dog, without warning, grabbed her by the head, Sheean said. The dog didn’t even growl before it pounced on her, he said. Lisa Sheean had stitches over one eye and her head and also had puncture wounds in her head, the article stated.

An investigation is ongoing and the dog has been quarantined for 10 days. Investigators are also trying to determine what caused the dog to bite, how severe the injuries are and the history of the dog. The dog could face restrictions even if the wounds are not severe, officials said. According to the article, the Sheeans themselves own two Rottweilers and so considered themselves to be very comfortable with dogs.

Now, it’s very easy to say in hindsight that Lisa Sheean should not have pet that dog, even with the consent of its owner. Of course, we don’t know if the dog had a prior history of attacking people or small dogs or children. Officials are saying never pet a strange dog. You never know what dogs are going to do. Sometimes, owners are in denial but other times, they really don’t know what their dogs are going to do either.

Continue reading "Woman Severely Injured By Great Dane She Tried to Pet" »

It’s the American dream-right? A little house in the burbs, or in a nice little subdivision. A little piece of heaven where you can invite family and friends for holidays. A place where your children can invite their friends for ‘sleep-overs’. A place where you can make memories. Well, that American dream can turn into a nightmare when potential homeowners meet up with a predator! There are predators in every profession, but seldom do they cause as much havoc on innocents as those predators who exist within the mortgage lending profession! And, if you have never purchased a home or other property before, how are you supposed to know what is standard within the lending industry? The situation is ripe for abuse!

Recently, a light has been shined on one of the more common abuses within the lending industry-namely racial discrimination against the Latinos and African-Americans of our community. Discrimination levied against the Latino population seems even more egregious when you consider what a family-oriented culture Latinos generally embody. African-Americans are suffering similar unfair and predatory treatment at the hands of unscrupulous lenders. Apparently, lending predators have targeted these segments of the population for higher than normal interest rates, and other nefarious fees, setting them up for financial ruin and foreclosure within their voluminous mortgage paperwork that almost no one understands.

Continue reading "WHO IS STEALING THE ‘AMERICAN DREAM’? PREDATORY LENDERS THAT’S WHO!" »

According to CNN, Mattel just widened its recall of its popular Polly Pocket toys that almost killed an Indiana girl almost two years ago. So what took you so long Mattel?

Two years ago Paige Kostrzewski was only 7 years old in July of 2005. Paige was innocently playing with her new Polly Pocket toy, whose plastic clothes attached to the Polly Pocket doll with magnets. While Paige was busy attaching clothes to the doll a couple of the magnets came loose and so she held the two loose magnets between her lips. Two days later, Paige began to complain of tummy pain that was at first written off as a stomach flu. It was only later, after Paige was vomiting green stuff, that Paige’s parents learned from a scan done at the hospital that Paige had accidentally swallowed the two magnets which had become lodged in her small bowel causing holes to form in her tissue that allowed bacteria from her bile to circulate throughout her little body causing a massive infection.

While Mattel voluntarily recalled many of the Polly Pocket products last November Paige’s parents wonder why it took so long. They will not soon forget the $40,000 medical bill or the fact that doctors told them Paige would have died within days if the magnets had not been discovered.

Continue reading "TOYS THAT HURT! MATTEL WHAT’S UP?" »

A 9-year-old Orange County girl was killed and seven others were critically injured after their Ford Expedition rolled over on a New Mexico highway, The Orange County Register reported. Cynthia Munoz of Santa Ana was pronounced dead on the scene and the other injured members were transported to local hospitals, the article said.

According to the news report, the driver of the 2003 Ford Expedition told officials that the vehicle began to “shake violently” and he lost control. The girl and her 15-year-old sister, neither wearing a seat belt (according to the report), were both ejected from the vehicle as it rolled over several times. Officials say neither speed nor alcohol seems to have played a role in this accident, the Register reported.

The Munoz family is going to need an expert analysis of what caused this accident to determine if it is the fault of the vehicle or one of its components. The “shaking violently” could be a tire separation, a wheel coming off, a suspension issue or a number of other less likely causes. Only through examination of the accident sequence and the vehicle its self can a determination of the likely causes for this accident be known.

Continue reading "Ford Expedition Rollover Kills One, Injures Seven in New Mexico" »

Everyone is equal in the eyes of the law – at least, most of the time. A Los Angeles Times news article reported that California Senator Carole Migden (D-San Francisco), pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving. A woman and her child were injured during that May 18 incident when Migden was reportedly driving erratically on the I-80 between Berkley and Sacramento. The Senator was sentenced to two years of probation and was ordered to pay $710 in fines and court fees, the Times reported.

According to the article, California Highway Patrol officials released tapes of 911 calls from several concerned motorists who reported that Migden was weaving in and out of traffic lanes and using her cell phone. Nine callers reported an SUV which matched the description of the vehicle driven by Migden striking a guardrail several times. Callers described her this way: “She is all over the place.” The Senator finally got off the freeway and slammed into a stopped car in Fairfield causing minor injuries to a woman driver and her 3-year-old daughter, the Times article stated.

Migden’s defense? She could only guess that the chemotherapy pills she was taking for leukemia may have caused her erratic driving. Officials did not find Migden to be drunk or intoxicated, but said she was driving at an unsafe speed (80 to 85 mph), made an unsafe turn and was distracted because she was talking on the cell phone. Migden says she is not going to drive again until her doctors give her clearance to do so.

Continue reading "Senator Was Distracted By Her Cell Phone When She Caused Freeway Accident" »

A 39-year-old woman died in a Ford Explorer rollover accident Friday on the Interstate 5 in the Willows area of Northern California, according to a news article in the Oroville Mercury Register. The woman, identified as Rhonda Johnson, was driving back home with her two sons – ages 4 and 10 – when she lost control of her Ford Explorer. The sport utility vehicle rolled over and landed upside down in the center divider, the article stated. Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene and her two boys were taken to a local hospital. One of the children was air-lifted while the other was taken by ambulance, the newspaper reported.

Another Ford Explorer tragedy – this time, it snatches a mother away from her two young sons. And what’s even sadder and more depressing is this is not going to be the last time someone dies from such a rollover crash, especially by driving a poorly-designed vehicle. Every year, 10,000 people in the United States die in these rollover collisions. At least 16,000 people suffer catastrophic injuries as a result of such crashes. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates there are at least 40,000 rollovers in United States highways each year.

Continue reading "Ford Explorer Rollover Kills Mother of Two in Northern California" »

Even as officials are pulling out crushed vehicles and scouring the waters of the Mississippi for dead bodies, the Orange County Register reports that our Orange County bridges are in no better condition. The article points out that 16 bridges in the county are in worse condition than the 35 W Bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis Aug. 1st killing four people and injuring many others. Eight people are still missing.

Apparently transportation officials in Minneapolis have known for 17 years that the bridge was in poor condition, according to an article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune and all they’ve done in these years is to squabble among themselves about how to fix it. As a result, nothing was done to secure it. Nothing was done to make sure it would remain safe in the interim.

In Orange County 24 bridges are said to be “structurally deficient.” The Minneapolis bridge had a sufficiency rating of 50. An 80 rating or lower qualifies a bridge for the federal Highway Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program. According to the Register article, every 10th bridge in Orange County scored 80 or lower. Here’s the scary part. Sixteen of our bridges, right here in Orange County, have ratings equal to or worse than the collapsed bridge, which got a rating of 50.

Continue reading "Many Orange County Bridges Are Structurally Deficient" »

Remember the movie “Erin Brockovich”? It was about a woman who took on a toxic polluter that was killing people. If Hollywood were to make a movie about a woman taking on American auto makers, who knowingly make vehicles that too easily rollover and have unreasonably weak roofs, which result in thousands of deaths and crippling injuries each year, it might just be called “Paula Lawlor”.

Ten thousand people die on American highways each year in rollover accidents. That’s ten times as many people who die each day in combat in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition to the innocent people who lose their lives, twice as many are catastrophically injured.

Lawlor is the crusader fighting for safer made cars. She assists law firms suing the automakers on behalf of the injured and the families of the deceased. She also lobbies Congress for updated and approved safety standards. Read our full article on this crusader for safety on our auto defect website.

Hannah Fredrickson is my new hero in a world with few heroes left! You see, Hannah did something almost no one her age or in her position would have done - she told the truth, in pictures no less, in the Conifer High yearbook, about the sad prevalence of alcohol and drug use by her classmates at Conifer High School, located in Conifer, Colorado. According to the Rocky Mountain News, Hannah, a senior and the yearbook editor, and her staff, made the decision to shine a light on some serious issues for their senior yearbook instead of the usual fare of senior smiles and silly stuff.

An admirable choice, right? You might think the town would have held a parade in their honor or they might have received some positive reinforcement for such a noble effort…but, sadly they did not. In fact, after publishing the yearbook, which included at least five pages of under-aged teenagers drinking and drugging, and several pictures of students proudly holding up citations for under-aged drinking, many parents condemned the pictures and the yearbook staff that published them.

What is going on here?? Are the inmates running the institution???? Hannah and her staff should have been commended for placing an emphasis on a very real alcohol and drug problem in not only their school but so many others across our nation!

Continue reading "HANNAH FREDRICKSON-SHE DARED TO TELL THE ‘INCONVENIENT TRUTH’!" »

A Louisiana woman was killed and 12 others were injured Monday when their 15-passenger van veered off the Interstate 75 and crashed into a guardrail, according to an article in the The Knoxville News-Sentinel. According to reports, the driver lost control of the van as he reached for a soda on the floor of the van. The accident occurred in the early morning of July 30.

Sharel Lapine, 45, was ejected from the van and pronounced dead on the scene. Her husband, Ricky Lapine, who drove the van, was also injured as were four other adults and seven children. All were taken to local hospitals. None of the injuries were life-threatening, the newspaper reported. Tennessee Highway Patrol officials also told reporters that the entire side of the 15-passenger van, which was not identified by brand, was ripped open in the crash. All the children were wearing seatbelts, but the adults were not buckled up and were ejected, officials told the News-Sentinel.

The dangers of 15-passenger vans are quite significant. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a study two years ago which found 74 percent of all 15-passenger vans had tires which had not been properly inflated and as a result increased the propensity of the vehicle to become unstable or roll over - even in normal speeds, road conditions and weather conditions. Only 39 percent of passenger cars reportedly had a similar problem. The report strongly recommends all occupants to wear seatbelts because studies found that nearly 80 percent of those who died in 15-passenger van accidents between 1990 and 2003 were not buckled up.

More information is available on NHTSA’s 15-passenger van advisory page.

Also, federal law prohibits these vans from being used to transport children. To find out more about the interpretation of the federal law relating to 15-passenger vans, visit their web site.

A copy of the NHTSA study on tire maintenance may be found here.

Continue reading "Fatal 15-Passenger Van Crash in Tennessee" »

Erick Wiswell, 24, and Donald Anderson, 30, both of Long Beach, have been arrested and jailed on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and reckless driving with great bodily injury after a fatal pedestrian accident, according to a story in the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

Thursday morning, the two Long Beach men were apparently engaging in mutual road rage while driving north on Paramount Blvd. in Long Beach at 60 mph in a 35 mph zone. According to Long Beach Police Department spokesperson Nancy Pratt, Wiswell, the driver of the front car, slammed on his brakes and then Anderson, the driver of the following car, swerved left to avoid a collision and struck a pedestrian, Lois Kay Rahimam, 55, of Signal Hill.

Rahimam, who regularly walked the neighborhood in the morning, was rushed to Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, where she later died.

A senseless death of an innocent pedestrian. A women’s life cut short way before her time. Two men who are rightfully charged with and probably will be convicted of a felony - vehicular manslaughter.

Continue reading "Fatal Pedestrian Accident, Two Charged With Vehicular Manslaughter" »

Investigators are still trying to determine what caused a roaring fire that swept through an apartment complex Saturday night killing a teenage couple and three young children. The fire also destroyed the home and personal belongings of a number of residents of the building.

According to an article in the Fresno Bee newspaper, the horrific tragedy struck in the wee hours of the morning taking the lives of the couple – Derek Fabian and his fiancée, Michelle Mattison; their 2-month-old daughter, Hayden and two other children who were there for a sleep over – Mattison’s siblings, Lexus Bisnar, 4, and her 2-year-old brother, Ariel.

Firefighters have been unable to explain why the five victims were not able to get out of the second floor apartment. Other residents of the building escaped unharmed. The fire didn’t take too long to spread because the apartments had shingle roofs and plywood siding, fire officials said. Neighbors told the newspaper that the apartment did have smoke detectors and that the apartment managers inspected them regularly.

Continue reading "Fresno Fire Victims Need a Skilled Personal Injury Lawyer on Their Side" »

As a patrol officer for the San Diego Police Department, David Iorillo had arrested quite a few drunk drivers. But he didn’t think in his wildest dreams that he would be the victim of one. It happened to Iorillo in December 2002.

Officer Iorillo was off-duty riding his personal motorcycle onto the 15 Freeway when he was hit from behind at about 25 mph by a Porsche Boxster. The next thing he knew, he was on the ground. Sure enough, he had been hit by a drunk driver.

Thankfully, the injuries did not put an end to his career as he initially feared. He was on light duty for six months and is now back on patrol. Iorillo hired the Bisnar Chase law firm to represent his interests in going after the intoxicated driver. Iorillo says the outcome of the case was better than he expected.

Read David's account of his accident, recovery and his experience with the Bisnar Chase law firm here.

Millions of Castleberry Tainted Meat Products Recalled for Botulism Poisoning
Federal agencies must hold food manufacturers and providers accountable for their products. But how on earth are they going to do it if they don’t inspect food production facilities as often as they should? Over the last year or so, we’ve seen a slew of recalls and hundreds if not thousands of people and animals sickened or killed nationwide by food that should not have been in our homes in the first place.

Last week, the botulism related to tainted meat products that spurred a massive recall, found its first victim in California. According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, a 51-year-old San Diego woman reportedly became sick and was hospitalized for 10 days this month after eating Kroger Chili Beans, a Castleberry product that was part of the recall. San Diego public health officials say she is recovering in her home, but that they could not confirm she contracted botulism from the chili because she did not keep the can.

This is exactly why food-borne illnesses cases are tough to prove. You’ve just eaten part of the evidence and thrown the rest away. Unless medical lab testing is conducted early, there is no physiological evidence of what made you sick.

Castleberry, which is based in Augusta, Ga., last week recalled millions of cans of meat products after a huge botulism scare – the worst one involving commercial canned goods in 30 years, according to a news article in the Kansas City Star.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration website, the products tainted with the deadly bacteria include more than 80 brands of chili sauce made by a company called Castleberry in Augusta, Ga. -- corned beef hash and beef stew sold under various brand names including Bryan, Kroger, Piggly Wiggly, Food Lion and Thrifty Maid. FDA officials also believe that these foods are likely to be sold at hundreds of smaller retail outlets and stocked in church pantries and food banks because they are non-perishable foods.

Continue reading "San Diego Woman First Botulism Victim in California" »