California Injury Blog

Raul Hinojosa, a 28-year-old Bellflower resident, was killed in an accident on the 91 freeway in Orange County on November 16, 2008, which officials say was caused by a suspected drunk driver. Hinojosa and 20-year-old Matthew Lawetzki had pulled over on the side of the freeway just past Coal Canyon Road in Yorba Linda to change a tire on their disabled Nissan Sentra. Moments later, Allyn Barry Casey, 58, of Corona, who was doing about 75 mph in his Ford Ranger, drove into the right shoulder and hit the Sentra. Our source for this blog is a news report in The Orange County Register.

California Highway Patrol officials said Lawetzki escaped with injuries while Hinojosa, who was changing the tire at the time of the collision, was killed at the scene. Casey was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Continue reading "Man Killed in Orange County DUI Accident" »

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: DUI Accidents

Bookmark:

Three people – Jiwon Lee, 27, of Brea, Sarah Garrat, 25, of Bellflower and Ayesha King, 23, of Los Angeles – were injured in a Sunset Beach auto accident on November 12, 2008. According to an article in The Orange County Register, the accident was caused by a suspected drunk driver. California Highway Patrol officials have not yet said how the 11/12/08 crash occurred, but say they found a Toyota Sienna and a Nissan Altima at the intersection of Warner Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway.

Lee and King suffered minor injuries in the collision while Garrat suffered moderate injuries, CHP officials said. Seung Kim, 41, of Orange, the driver of the Sienna, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Continue reading "Orange County DUI Accident Injures Three" »

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (1)

Posted In: DUI Accidents

Bookmark:

A 26-year-old woman, who was killed in a South El Monte DUI auto accident on October 31, 2008, has been identified as Nellyda Beltran-Cruz. She was pronounced dead at the accident scene, which occurred Halloween night at the intersection of Santa Anita and Elliot avenues. Our source for this blog is a news report in the Pasadena Star News.

The other man, whose name has not yet been released, was driving north on Santa Anita Avenue. Beltran-Cruz was driving west on Elliot Avenue when the two cars collided.
Traffic investigators say they suspect that the man was driving under the influence at the time of the accident. He has also been hospitalized in critical condition.

My heart goes out to the family of Nellyda Beltran Cruz who was tragically killed in this 10/31/08 intersection accident. I offer my deepest condolences to them.

Continue reading "South El Monte DUI Auto Accident Kills Los Angeles Woman" »

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (2)

Posted In: DUI Accidents

Bookmark:

Karen Karapetyan, 33, of Garden Grove, died after a suspected drunk driver ran a red light and hit the Orange County man's taxicab triggering a four-car crash, Fox News reports. The 5-Series gray BMW, driven by 29-year-old Avishkar Padhye, was reportedly traveling south on Highland Avenue. Padhye sped through a red light on Sunset Boulevard and struck Karapetyan’s eastbound taxicab on the driver’s side, killing him on impact.

The auto accident sent the BMW and the taxicab careening into two other vehicles, causing minor injuries to one other person. Padhye has been arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter, Los Angeles Police Department officials said.

I offer my heartfelt condolences to the family of Karen Karapetyan for their irreparable loss.

Padhye should be held criminally and civilly responsible for the accident, injuries and the death of Karen Karapetyan. He had no regard for the law, traffic rules and most of all, for the life of another human being. In 2006, there were 4,229 fatal traffic accidents in California, according to this Web site. Out of that, 1,276 collisions (35 percent) were alcohol-related.

Continue reading "Hollywood DUI Accident Kills Orange County Man" »

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: DUI Accidents

Bookmark:

Orange County officials issued 67 DUI tickets to drunk drivers over the Labor Day weekend, The Orange County Register reported. There was also one fatal Orange County auto accident during this weekend as Dennis McIntyre, 64, of Fountain Valley, was killed after crashing his 1995 Toyota Tacoma on the northbound I-405 near Beach Boulevard. Officials are investigating whether alcohol was involved in that accident.

California Highway Patrol Officer Denise Quesada said these 67 DUI citations represent an increase from 2007 when 60 DUI citations had been issued. In the year 2006 alone, there were 1,525 traffic collisions in Orange County involving alcohol. Eighty of those injury traffic collisions involved fatalities. That means 10 percent of all injury traffic accidents and 40 percent of all fatal traffic accidents involved a drunk driver.

Our firm handles about 250 serious traffic accident injury cases a year. About 20 percent of these cases are caused by an intoxicated driver. In California, it is illegal to drive a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol level of 0.08 or higher. The deaths, injuries, pain suffering and financial devastation caused to innocent DUI accident victims is heart-breaking and cannot be repaired with money. And rarely is there enough money for these victims to be compensated.

Before anyone makes that decision to drink and drive, they should think about the 50 or so people who are being financially pursued by my firm and being criminally prosecuted by law enforcement agencies for the DUI accidents, injuries and loss they caused. Is it worth trying to make it home after drinking? Just because you made it home intoxicated once, doesn’t mean it’s going to happen the next time without you injuring yourself or another innocent motorist or pedestrian. There are about 50 people I could point to who wish they had either not driven or not drank because the consequences of those actions will follow them for the rest of their lives.

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: DUI Accidents

Bookmark:

Deborah Pearson, 51 and her granddaughter Delaney Pearson, 4 were killed on Aug. 23 in a Victorville auto accident triggered by a wrong-way driver suspected of driving under the influence on the 15 Freeway. According to an article in the Orange County Register, 27-year-old Jason Morgan of Victorville was driving a 2001 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 pickup south on the northbound side of the freeway when an oncoming motorist driving a 2008 Pontiac swerved to avoid him and struck the center guardrail, California Highway Patrol officials said.

Morgan then struck a 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe SUV head-on and then a 1999 Toyota. Ryan Pearson, 27, driver of the Hyundai, suffered moderate injuries, but the impact of the crash killed his front passenger, Deborah Pearson and 4-year-old Delaney. Another passenger in the vehicle, two-year-old Regan escaped with minor injuries. Morgan, the wrong-way driver, also suffered severe head injuries, but has been arrested on suspicion of felony DUI and vehicular manslaughter.

I offer my deepest condolences to the Pearson family that is grieving the death of their loved ones. Please keep this family in your prayers.

Continue reading "Victorville DUI Accident Kills Woman, Granddaughter" »

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: DUI Accidents

Bookmark:

Nathan Gonzalez, 14, of Mission Viejo, who suffered severe head injuries after being struck by a drunken driver as he was skateboarding with friends on Los Alisos Boulevard Aug. 10, has died. Neighbors and residents of Aliso Villas where this fatal Orange County auto accident occurred are saying that for years, they’ve asked City Council to improve the dangerous conditions on that roadway, The Orange County Register reports .
They say there is poor visibility on the street because it is pack with cars parked by Madero street auto mechanic businesses.

Neighbor Kathy Miramontes tells the Register that in the past she has petitioned the city for speed bumps and even got the city to paint the curbs red and got a trailer to monitor speed of vehicles traveling through the neighborhood. Officials arrested Johnny David Perez, 25, on suspicion of driving under the influence and striking Nathan.

I offer my deepest condolences to Nathan’s parents. Maybe Nathan’s traffic death will lead the city to take Kathy Miramontes’ and other local residents’ complaints and suggests seriously.

There is little doubt that Perez will be held civilly and criminally responsible for Nathan’s fatal auto accident injuries. But neighbors such as Miramontes raise important issues. For years, they have approached the city of Mission Viejo to alert city officials about several dangerous conditions that exist on that roadway. The city apparently did take a few steps to monitor speeding motorists.

Continue reading "Orange County Drunk Driving Accident On Dangerous Roadway Kills Skateboarder " »

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (3)

Posted In: Auto & Car Accidents , DUI Accidents

Bookmark:

Victoria Lemus, a 16-year-old high school student in San Bernardino, died after suffering injuries when a driver said to be drunk and under the influence of cocaine, ran a red light and broadsided her van. According to a news article in the Riverside Press Enterprise, the DUI auto accident occurred at the intersection of Fifth and E Streets in downtown San Bernardino.

Police arrested Dwight Dalton Davis, 55, who rammed his Chrysler into the Kia Sedona carrying Victoria and two others. Davis, who has a prior conviction in San Bernardino for drug possession for sale, tried to run away from the scene of the accident, but was caught and detained by construction workers nearby and a parole officer. Davis has pleaded not guilty to felony counts of DUI causing injury, driving with 0.08 blood alcohol content and causing injury and leaving the scene of an accident.

My heart goes out to the family of the young teenager, who apparently was returning from a Rotary Club meeting where she was recognized as a Life Scholar. We hope Mr. Davis is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

In California out of 4,229 traffic fatalities in 2006, 1,509 (more than a quarter) deaths were alcohol-related, according to the Alcoholalert.com website. More often, the fatalities are not the drunk drivers, but innocent by-standers, other sober drivers or their passengers.

There is no compensation that our justice system can provide that can return what the Lemus family has loss. Our justice system does provide the right and procedure for the family to obtain financial compensation for what has been lost, no matter how inadequate money is to replace a child, a loved one or a friend.

This is one of the rare auto accidents cases where I would seek punitive damages against a defendant driver. That is if the facts stated in the news reports about Davis are true. My sense is that enough evidence will be developed to support a claim of punitive damages.

Continue reading "Teen Killed In San Bernardino DUI Car Crash" »

Posted by John Bisnar | Permalink | Email This Post | Comments (0)

Posted In: DUI Accidents

Bookmark: