California Injury Blog

Published on: March 22, 2008

Dog’s Owner “Does the Right Thing” After Dogs Attack Toddler

By Brian Chase

A 3-year-old boy in Hillsboro, Oregon, is in serious condition after being bitten and mauled by two large dogs in Washington County, according to a news report. Anthony Jewell is still in intensive care after the Bullmastiff mixed breed dogs, apparently with no history of vicious and violent behavior, lunged at the boy and attacked him in the yard of a house in rural Washington County where he was playing.

Both attacking dogs were reportedly shot by their owner before animal control officers even arrived on scene. The dogs also bit three adults who tried to separate the toddler from the frenzied dogs.
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Published on: March 21, 2008

Multi-Vehicle Crash In Orange Leaves 2 Dead

By Brian Chase

Two people died in a crash involving several vehicles including a motorcycle in a horrific accident on the 55 Freeway in Orange. According to an article in The Orange County Register, California Highway Patrol investigators believe the chain of events started with a motorcyclist who lost control of his vehicle for an unknown reason and hit the center divider near Lincoln Avenue.

The male driver, who has not been identified, was thrown in the opposite direction and died after he was struck by several vehicles. A Honda driver, who swerved to avoid hitting the body of the motorcyclist, lost control and crashed into the guardrail, bounced off the center median and was hit by two other vehicles on the driver’s side. The Honda’s driver was pronounced dead at the scene, the article said. No other injuries were reported.

There are so many things that could have gone wrong there. The first thing to figure out with this one is what caused the motorcyclist to lose control. Eyewitness accounts say speed was a factor, but it must be determined if it was speed, negligence, debris on the freeway, mechanical malfunction in the motorcycle or some dangerous condition on the roadway that caused the initial accident.
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Published on: March 20, 2008

State of California Agrees To Pay Teenager $10 Million For Crash Involving a Dangerous Freeway Condition

By Brian Chase

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.
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Published on: March 19, 2008

Teenager Dies In Huntington Beach Auto Accident, Police Suspect Street Racing

By Brian Chase

A 14-year-old boy died after the car he was a passenger in ran a stop sign and hit a car full of small children, The Orange County Register reports. The teenager who died was identified as Phoenix Nguyen. Thankfully, Devin Miller, his wife and four children who were in the car that Nguyen hit, were unharmed.

The accident occurred when Ty Van Nguyen, 18, of Garden Grove was driving an Acura on Bushard Street when he ran the stop sign on Banning Avenue and hit the Millers’ Cadillac Escalade, police said in a news release. Miller tells the Register that a Huntington Beach police officer told him he suspected street racing, but police have not confirmed that yet. Phoenix’s sister Paulene and two other teenagers, whose names were not released, were also severely injured in the accident, according to the article.
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Published on: March 18, 2008

NHTSA Discovered Evenflo Car Seat Defect By Accident

By Brian Chase

One of the main arguments product and auto manufacturers make in product liability cases is that their product “complies with federal safety standards.” This article in the New York Times tells the tale of how the recall of more than 1 million defective Evenflo Discovery car seats came about. It’s frightening to see that government officials discovered, quite by accident, that this brand of car seats did nothing to protect infants in a side impact crash.

That’s why the government insisted on a recall despite the fact that there is no standard that specifies how well such seats must protect children in a side impact auto accident. Apparently, this type of a recall is unprecedented. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), as it turned out, was working on developing side-impact regulations and was conducting some tests as part of that research.

That’s when they saw to their utter horror that when a ram struck the vehicle’s side at 38.5 miles an hour, the portion of the seat in which the infant would be strapped, broke free of the base and was thrown around in the interior. Federal officials described the failure as “catastrophic” and immediately asked Evenflo to recall and stop production of these car seats, which the car seat maker did.
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Published on: March 18, 2008

Fremont Woman Dies In Fatal Crash On Possibly Slick I-880

By Brian Chase

A 48-year-old Fremont woman died in a two-car auto accident on the I-880, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The woman was reportedly driving her 1982 Mazda with her husband as passenger when she suddenly lost control of the vehicle. The car spun out came to rest sideways in the middle of the freeway when it was hit on the driver’s side by a Honda traveling in the same direction, the Chronicle reports.

From what I can see, this case could be a real “who’s at fault” challenge for the California Highway Patrol investigators and the attorneys for the various parties involved in the crash. What caused the woman to lose control of the Mazda? Was there a dangerous condition on the freeway? Was there a pothole there or some other condition on the roadway that needed repair? Maybe there was a mechanical malfunction or defect in her automobile or maybe it was fatigue, distraction or inattention.

The other issue here is also why the Honda hit the stopped Mazda. Maybe there wasn’t enough time and distance for the Honda to avoid the collision. If that’s the case, the driver of the Mazda would be legally responsible for the injuries to the driver of the Honda. That said, if the Honda had the time and room to maneuver around the Mazda, but hit the car because the driver was traveling too fast or following too close, the driver of the Honda could be held legally responsible for the woman’s death and her husband’s injuries. If it is determined that there was a defect on the freeway surface that caused the accident, then Caltrans could be held responsible for the accident.
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Published on: March 16, 2008

2 Bicyclists Killed, 1 Seriously Injured When Hit By Santa Clara Sheriff’s Deputy

By Brian Chase

Two bicyclists were killed and one other suffered major injuries when they were reportedly struck by a Santa Clara sheriff’s patrol car that crossed the double yellow line and hit a group of riders in Cupertino, the San Jose Mercury News reports. The newspaper also reports that a good Samaritan who stopped to help the injured bicyclists said the deputy told him that he had fallen asleep at the wheel. The bicycle accident claimed the lives of two young, avid bikers – Matt Peterson, 30, of San Francisco and Kristy Gough, 31 of Oakland.

A 20-year-old man from Germany identified as Christopher Knapp was also seriously injured but was reportedly in stable condition. A fourth rider was not hurt, the newspaper reported. California Highway Patrol officials say there is no evidence that the 27-year-old Sheriff’s Deputy, James Council, fell asleep at the wheel or that drugs or alcohol were involved. So, apparently, CHP did not even take a blood sample from this deputy although according to another county sergeant, their department routinely tests blood samples from any employee involved in a major accident.

CHP officials also say that the deputy crossed the double yellow line into oncoming traffic and struck the group of bikers. So what caused him to cross the double yellow line and what caused the deputy to seem disoriented? Officials don’t have the answers to those questions yet.
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Published on: March 15, 2008

Couple Killed in Fiery Mission Valley Big Rig Accident

By Brian Chase

A Claremont couple was reportedly killed in a big rig accident when their car plowed into a jackknifed big rig on the Interstate 8 in Mission Valley. According to a news article on Fox News’ Web site, the tractor trailer veered out of control and rammed into a median wall and came to a stop across four of the five freeway lanes in the wee hours of the morning. Barely a minute after the big rig jackknifed, the 2004 Kia Amanti driven by 64-year-old Frank Bilyeu plowed into the stalled commercial vehicle and burst into flames, the article said.

Both the driver and his wife, Shirley Bilyeu, were pronounced dead at the scene. They had to be identified using dental records, Fox reported. The driver of the big rig, Abukar Suri Ali, of Greensboro, N.C. and a 27-year-old passenger riding with him in the truck’s cab were uninjured. Ali reportedly told investigators that he lost control of the semi when he swerved to avoid an animal on the freeway. California Highway Patrol officials are asking anyone who saw the accident to call them at 619-220-5492.
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Published on: March 14, 2008

Stronger Roofs Will Save Lives In SUV Rollover Accidents

By Brian Chase

It turns out that personal injury attorneys and advocacy groups were right all along on the issue of SUV rollover and roof crush. A study released this week by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) reveals beyond doubt that there is a definite connection between a vehicle’s roof strength and passenger safety. The study concludes that more than 200 deaths could have been prevented in rollover accidents in 2006 had the roofs been stronger, an article in USA Today reports.

Here’s an excellent example to help you visualize what these guys mean when they say “roof strength.” When the 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee and 2000 Nissan Xterra were subjected to the crushing force of up to 10,000 pounds, the Xterra’s roof crushed about 2 inches while the Grand Cherokee’s roof crushed 10 inches, according to the study. And still some carmakers deny there is any connection between roof strength and passenger safety. The Ford Explorer performed even worse, especially the 1996 to 2001 model years.

The study was released even as federal officials in the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) are preparing to come out with more rigorous standards to test roof strength. But these have been a long time coming. NHTSA has been talking about new roof strength standards for a decade and proposed new standards two years ago but nothing has been implemented. The standards have not been updated in nearly 30 years giving auto makers like Ford the excuse that they have been complying with the federal standard.
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Published on: March 13, 2008

Motorcycle Accident Round-Up

By Brian Chase

Motorcycle accidents, according to most recent numbers, have climbed at least 25 percent over the last decade. With more motorcycles on the road, there is obviously a probability of more motorcycle accidents, but these stories we found just from scanning the news over the last 20 days, shows fatal crashes are also on the rise. Here is a compilation of fatal motorcycle accidents from around the country.

Albuquerque crash: A man died while riding his motorcycle in Rio Rancho, N.M. According to this article, 21-year-old Luke Ballejos was riding on Highway 528 when he collided with a car turning from the highway on to a surface street. Ballejos was not wearing a helmet, officials said.

Texas motorcycle accident: A 22-year-old woman was dead after losing control of her motorcycle at an Austin intersection, according to a news report. Officials are still looking into what caused Sherry Ann Marvel to lose control of her motorcycle.
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