Victims who have been injured from a defective product are well advised to seek the help of an experienced California products liability lawyer. The complexity of a defective product case will vary based on a number of factors.
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Local residents in the Tamalpais Valley in the San Francisco area are crying out for better bicycle safety after 26-year-old Claire Diepenbrock suffered horrific injuries in a bicycle accident on May 26, 2009. According to a news report in the Marin Independent Journal, Diepenbrock was injured after she was hit by two cars while riding her bicycle in the busy stretch of Highway 1 near Tam junction. This roadway has apparently been the subject of numerous calls for speed limit signs and wider shoulders by community members over the years who believe a dangerous roadway condition exists on this roadway.
Community activists and local groups have been re-energized by Claire Diepenbrock's bicycle accident and resulting injuries. Many have sent out letters seeking changes to local politicians as well the as the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). Diepenbrock suffered multiple fractures to her skull, jaw, cheekbones and ribs, a broken clavicle and punctured lung. Doctors are still assessing the extent of her brain injuries and possible brain damage. However, she is said to be improving.
My heart goes out to the injured victim Claire Diepenbrock and her family members who are reeling from the shock of her terrible injuries. I hope and pray that she makes a complete recovery.
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The family of 5-year-old Sergio Flores has filed a lawsuit against the city of Temecula and Caltrans, which states that a dangerous condition on the roadway caused the fatal accident. Sergio was hit by a pickup while riding his bike. The accident occurred near Rancho Vista and Calle Rio Vista on December 22, 2007. Our source for this blog is this news report in The Press-Enterprise.
The lawsuit alleges that faulty road design led to Sergio’s accident. It also states that both the city and Caltrans knew or should have known that the lack of sidewalks on both sides of the street near a high school would pose a hazard to children who are walking or riding their bikes. The suit also states that drivers may not be able to see children walking or riding their bikes in time to avoid an accident. In addition, the plaintiffs allege that the dangerous street intersection did not have adequate lighting or speed controls.
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A jury has found that the city of San Juan Capistrano must pay $8.3 million in damages to Trenton Merrill and Scott Agostini. The two boys were seriously injured in a 2005 accident because of a dangerous condition at a city street intersection. The jury found that the dangerous condition at the intersection was a “substantial factor” in the injuries caused to the teenagers. Our source for this blog is this news report in The Orange County Register.
Merrill, who is now 18 years old, was a passenger on a dirt bike that belonged to Agostini. The boys were crossing San Juan Creek Road at Paseo Christina when they were struck by a BMW. Residents of that Hidden Valley neighborhood had complained to the city several times asking for a crosswalk or a stop sign at the intersection. City documents show that residents had been complaining for years about this dangerous Orange County intersection. But city officials decided that the intersection did not warrant a crosswalk or a stop sign.
Residents in Los Gatos, California, are asking their city officials to fix problems on a dangerous roadway where a young boy was injured. 13-year-old Peter Goodlin was struck and injured by a car while riding his bicycle to school on Aug. 29, 2008. The driver who hit Peter said he did not see the boy because of glare. Residents say that the corner of Kennedy Road and Englewood Street in Los Gatos has remained a dangerous intersection for years. They are asking the city for a three-way stop at the intersection as well as a reduction of the speed limit on Kennedy Road. Our source for this blog is this Los Gatos Weekly-Times article.
Neighbors’ main concern about this dangerous intersection, is the speed of passing vehicles. One long-time resident says he has seen at least a dozen accidents in the time he has lived there. There are several residential streets off of Kennedy Road and schools in the neighborhood. But the news report states the city’s traffic engineers have resisted changing the speed limit on that road due to some conflicts regarding who is responsible for the roadway.
It definitely appears to me that city officials need to do something to restrict speed in this Los Gatos neighborhood. The news report does not say what the current speed limit is on Kennedy Road, but one can infer from the report that it is certainly more than 25 mph.
California Vehicle Code Section 22352 sets speed limits near a school and in residential neighborhoods at 25 mph, until otherwise specified by the governmental agency that has jurisdiction over that roadway.
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A Los Angeles teenager who lost both her legs in a freeway auto accident after her car hit a broken metal guardrail, will get $10 million from the state of California. According to a news article in the San Jose Mercury News, Priscilla Contreras was driving home in 2006 when she lost control of her car and hit the metal railing on the 10 Freeway.
Her family reportedly sued Caltrans for creating a dangerous condition on the freeway, failing to repair public property and not giving drivers and motorists enough warning about this clearly dangerous situation. Both parties reached a settlement March 6, the day the trial was set to begin. They had been embroiled in this legal battle for two years.
Anaheim City Council members apparently settled in a hurry authorizing the payment of $700,000 to the family of a 49-year-old man who died when a large Ficus tree came crashing down, smashing his parked van. Michael Gandy, a church maintenance worker who usually took lunch breaks while parking his Ford Aerostar van under the shade of the 50-foot tree, was celebrating his 49th birthday the day he died, The Orange County Register reported.
Gandy’s family members alleged in their claim that the city allowed a dangerous condition to exist on the roadway with its faulty tree-trimming practices. It certainly seems to me like they created the dangerous roadway condition. The family alleged that the city cut the tree’s roots making the tree unstable and prone to falling during Santa Ana winds.
Gandy’s sister, Carole Gandy-Strong, told the Register that she hoped her brother’s death will draw the city’s attention to the tree hazard in the area so no more lives will be lost tragically. Hopefully, Michael Gandy’s death and his family’s resulting lawsuit will lead the municipalities and property owners in Orange County to make wiser choices regarding their tree maintenance procedures.
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A man, who was a passenger in a 1996 Mitsubishi Eclipse, reportedly died after a traffic collision near the Los Alamitos Race Track in an area, which city officials themselves have admitted is a dangerous intersection. The deceased man has been unidentified as Fernando Flores, but there is no word yet on his age or city of residence, The Orange County Register reports.
Apparently, the intersection where the accident occurred – Siboney Street and Katella Avenue – is an extremely busy and dangerous one where officials have applied for grants to make median and intersection improvements. Flores died after the car he was riding in crashed into a 2004 Chevy Tahoe driven by Ivan Gandarilla of Long Beach.
Officials are still investigating the crash and it is not known if alcohol was a factor in this crash. But Gandarilla was arrested on an outstanding warrant for driving under the influence. Flores was pronounced dead after he was transported to the Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. Gandarilla escaped with nonlife-threatening injuries. No one else in the Tahoe or the Eclipse suffered serious injuries, The Register reported.
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A 58-year-old Glen Ellen man died in a head-on collision on a section of Highway 12 in a legal passing area where there have been at least four auto accident deaths in the past five or six years, a news report in the Times Herald stated. According to the article, Alfredo Alcaraz was killed when his 1998 Honda Civic was struck by a 2003 Toyota Camry driven by 63-year-old Allen Gates of Santa Rosa.
Officials said Gates was eastbound when he unsafely passed a garbage truck. That led to a head-on crash with the Honda, which was going westbound and the impact pushed Gates’ Toyota into the path of the garbage truck. The driver of the truck was not injured but the Honda spun into a ditch.
A $1.2 million dollar study, approved by Orange County transportation planners will look at how to improve a section of highway from the Santa Ana Freeway, North of El Toro, to San Clemente, which has been a silent witness to many fatal car crashes.
This area includes over 14 cities and some unincorporated territory which has seen unprecedented growth over the years. While many changes have been put in place by the OCTA in South Orange County to improve congestion on the highways, new cities have sprung up over the years, as new schools, and reasonably priced homes became available. In fact, in 1980 the cities of Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo, and Laguna Niguel had a total population of 205,000, but it is projected that in 2030 those same cities will increase in population by 45%.
Unfortunately, this study comes too late for several of the county residents who lost their lives on Orange County freeways. Just this month all three of the Cobble’s children, Emma 4, Kyle 5, Katie 2, died when a tractor-trailer, driven by Jorge Romero, rear-ended their minivan near the Oso exit. Kyle celebrated his fifth birthday the day before he died. Romero has been cited several times for such things as speeding; driving without his lights on; and, driving on a suspended license. An investigation is ongoing.
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