California Injury Blog

Published on: September 18, 2007

Jury Awards Woman $3.4 million For Neck Injuries from Rear-End Truck Crash

By Brian Chase

By: Staff Writer
Here is an example of how seriously you can get injured when you get rear-ended. Last week, a jury in Jacksonville Florida awarded a woman $3.4 million because she suffered permanent neck injury after a moving truck rear-ended her car in a 2004 crash, according to a news report in the Florida Times-Union.

Wendy Sugalski’s attorneys told the newspaper that the 37-year-old dance teacher will need lifelong medical treatment. She will have to go in to the doctor every six months to undergo a procedure that would numb the nerves in her neck so she wouldn’t be in constant pain, the article said. Sugalski’s injuries, which include a herniated disc, have caused her severe, consistent pain. According to her lawyer, she is able to teach dance classes but still cannot dance or demonstrate poses to her ballet and gymnastic dance students.

The accident reportedly occurred Nov. 8 2004 when a truck owned by Florida-based Reads Moving Systems hit her vehicle from behind. A Florida Circuit Judge ruled that the truck company was responsible for the damage from the crash. The six-person jury was given the job of putting a price on the damage.
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Published on: September 17, 2007

Recent Dog Attacks From Around the World

By Brian Chase

By: Staff Writer
About 5 million people in the United States are injured each year as a result of dog bites. It is way too common and you don’t have to try too hard to find at least a dozen incidents that are serious enough to make their way to the day’s news. Just over the last few days we were able to find numerous dog bite news articles on the Web.

What is shocking is that fatalities are starting to become more and more common in these attacks. And it’s not just babies or toddlers who are the victims. We have grown men and women – who did nothing but pass by a dog; mail carriers are common victims. In fact, Bisnar Chase Personal Injury Attorneys is representing David Carroll, a veteran mailman, who was mauled by a loose pit-bull in Westminster.

These incidents only reiterate the idea that we must hold dog owners responsible for their pets. If a dog runs loose and attacks or kills an innocent victim, guess who’s liable? The dog owner.
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Published on: September 16, 2007

Freeway Collision with Abandoned Equipment Kills San Diego Man

By Brian Chase

A 62-year-old man died this week in the Lincoln Acres area of San Diego, California when the truck he was driving collided with a piece of construction equipment that was reportedly abandoned on a freeway ramp. According to an article in the San Diego Union-Tribune, that equipment was actually an air compressor on wheels, which was later reported stolen.

Joaquin Baltazar Lopez, who officials said was wearing his seatbelt, had to be extricated from his 1989 Toyota pickup truck. The newspaper reported that he died from the injuries even before he could be transported to the hospital. Hours after this auto accident, a company located 20 minutes away from the accident site reported to police that someone had broken into their facility and stole two pieces of equipment used to sandblast plaster from swimming pools, the newspaper article said.

Unfortunately, Lopez slammed into the abandoned equipment minutes after California Highway Patrol officials were notified about it. Officials are now looking for the driver and the vehicle that was pulling the compressor. It’s a tremendous tragedy for Mr. Lopez and his family. Sadly, he is not alone. California’s freeways are among the most notorious for highway debris.

According to a New York Times new article, in California alone, 155 people lost their lives in the last two years as a result of accidents involving objects on highways. The list of these objects reads like a yard sale or a grocery list – from grapes, oranges and strawberries to furniture and mattresses. In fact, in a case that bears an eerie similarity to this San Diego incident, a Long Beach man is facing murder charges in the death of a Los Angeles County Sherriff’s deputy who was killed when he swerved to avoid a stolen stove that had fallen off the man’s truck.

Here’s another statistic from that same article. Pickup trucks and other vehicles piled high with loads not properly secured contribute 140,000 cubic yards of freeway waste every year. That’s debris enough to fill 8,750 garbage trucks, according to a CalTrans official quoted in the Times article.
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Published on: September 15, 2007

Senate Bill Bans California Teens from Chatting and Texting While Driving

By Brian Chase

At last, a bill that bans teenagers from using cell phones while driving. This was a long time coming. According to a bill signed off by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last week, California’s youngest drivers – those under 18 — can’t chat, can’t text-message, use laptops, pagers, walkie-talkies, handheld computers or even use a hands-free device while on the road, a news report by the Associated Press stated. This new law, which in my opinion should be enforced on adult drivers as well, will take effect July 1, 2008 – the same day another law requiring adult drivers to use hands-free goes into effect.

The new law for drivers ages 16 and 17 was prompted by the intense popularity of text messaging in these age groups, the AP report said. The governor, while announcing his support for SB 33, said the purpose of the legislation is to “eliminate any extra distractions so they can focus on paying attention to the road and being good drivers.” Violators will be fined $20 for the first offense and $50 for subsequent offenses, the article stated. The only exception is for someone who is making an emergency call.
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Published on: September 14, 2007

Several Injured in Highland Park Train v. Pickup Truck Crash

By Brian Chase

A Metro Gold Line train from Pasadena derailed at a Highland Park crossing last week after it rammed into a pickup truck injuring six people and pushing many passengers out of their seats. According to a news report in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, witnesses told officials that the driver of the pickup may have been chatting on the cell phone or for some reason did not pay attention to the stop signal. There were 60 passengers on the train at the time of the incident, the newspaper reported.

Investigators are looking into the causes of the train accident and don’t know at this point if the driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs or if he was distracted by a cell phone. Some passengers reported neck and back pain from the impact of the train crash. The driver of the pickup truck did not suffer any major injuries, officials said. Once the collision occurred there was widespread panic on the train as it rocked and derailed, passengers told the newspaper.
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Published on: September 13, 2007

Pit-Bull Attacks Orange County Mail Carrier

By Brian Chase

Dog owners must be held responsible for the full extent of the damages their dogs cause. This is especially so if they know their animals can be dangerous and can seriously injure or even kill someone. Take the recent case of a Westminster woman whose pit-bull, Maggie, attacked a veteran mail carrier causing severe injuries to his face and emotional well being.

David Carroll, who has been a mail carrier for the last 16 years, was the latest unsuspecting victim of one of Sherri Moody’s dogs. Carroll reported that he was delivering mail on his regular route in Westminster when, without warning or a sound, he was attacked from behind and knocked to the ground. Before he knew what was happening he was fighting for his life with a pit-bull on top of him biting and tearing at his face and head. Carroll says that if not for a passerby that jumped in to help, he may not have survived the attack. He said he felt the pit-bull was trying to tear him apart and kill him.

Carroll has a nasty wound from his left eyelid to the side of his nose, up across his eye brow to his forehead and across the middle of his forehead to above his right eye. A triple peanut shell shaped chunk of skin is missing from his forehead. Bite marks are clearly visible just above his nose. The stitches are so obvious and grotesque that he looks like he is auditioning for the part of Lurch in the Munsters.

Mrs. Shirley Carroll, David’s wife, reports that he isn’t sleeping since the attack. She said that in the moments of sleep he does get he constantly has nightmares. He is continually agitated and on edge since coming home from the hospital she said. She is most concerned for his emotional well being.

David Carroll says any time he lays down he sees the dog on top of him, feels the panic he felt and relives the pit-bull attacking him. Based upon the look of the injuries it will take substantial plastic surgery to clean up the physical scars. Based upon his emotional state, he is going need therapy as well.

Carroll said this attack was not totally unforeseen. He has been fearful of the dog for some time. He leaves notes for other mail carriers that deliver to Carroll’s Westminster route when he is off, warning them of this pit-bull.
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Published on: September 13, 2007

Wisconsin 15 Passenger Van Accident

By Brian Chase

One person died and several people were injured in a 15-passenger van accident in the Lee County area of Wisconsin this week, according to a news report on WISTV’s Web site. According to the report, the 1992 Ford van filled with members of the Prayer and Faith Temple in Hopkins, Wisconsin overturned on the freeway after its left tire blew. Officials say the van flipped several times. Several passengers were ejected from the vehicle and were transported to area hospitals.

One woman, believed to be in her 40s, died in the crash, the television station reported. According to EMT reports, at least 18 people were crammed into the 15-passenger van. Sixteen out of the 18, of which two were children, were taken to the hospital with injuries, the article says.

It is hard to believe that church groups and community organizations are still using these “death trap” 15-passenger vans. It is a disgrace that with all the information that is now available about these defective vehicles that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has not mandated these vans off our roads. It is shameful that NHTSA still allows them to be sold to the unsuspecting public.

Why are religious organizations and schools still using these “death traps” when there is so much information and evidence showing how unsafe these vehicles are? Any organization that still uses these 15-passenger vans for the transportation of people must be held accountable for the consequences of their choices. The maker of this van must be held accountable as well. The maker is fully aware of the dangerous propensities of these vans. Just visit these Web sites http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/studies/15PassVans/15PassCustomerAdvisory.htm and http://www.15-passenger-van-accidents.com/recalls.shtml to see how dangerous these vehicles are.
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Published on: September 12, 2007

Judge Awards $55 Million in Orange County Auto Accident Case

By Brian Chase

Federal government acknowledges liability for injuries caused by a federal employee who ran a red light.

In what is said to be the largest personal injury award in Orange County history, a federal judge has awarded $55 million to a young Costa Mesa girl who was paralyzed in a fiery 2002 crash caused by a federal employee who ran a red light. According to an article in The Orange County Register, a federal government spokesman has said the decision will not be appealed and that the government acknowledges its liability in the incident.

Leilani Gutierrez was only 4 years old when the accident occurred. She was riding in the back seat snugly placed and buckled up in a car seat after a trip with her mother, June, to South Coast Plaza, according to news reports. The Register article states that Michael Leinert, an Army employee who was in the area on business, ran a red light broad siding Gutierrez’s Chevy Suburban.

The decision came after an eight-day trial. The case was decided by a federal judge instead of a jury. According to the Register article, the judge awarded a little over $1 million to the mother and $54 million to the girl of which $23 million will go toward medical bills and $31 million toward compensatory damages. The award does not include punitive damages.

This story is a clarion call for all of us to follow traffic rules. According to National Campaign to Stop Red Light Running, in 2002 as many as 207,000 crashes, 178,000 injuries and 921 fatalities were attributed to red light running in the United States. Between 1992 and 2000, fatal motor crashes at traffic signals increased 19 percent, outpacing the rise in all fatal crashes. And public costs exceed $14 billion a year!
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Published on: September 11, 2007

OWNERS OF NURSING HOME GET AWAY WITH MURDER

By Brian Chase

By: Carol J. Cardwell-Gibbons, J.D
Arlene Renteria was only 38 when she died, and Arelene’s family is devastated and angry! For years, from June 16, 2000 until March 2, 2003 Arlene lived, if you could call it that, at California-based Covina Rehabilitation Center (Covina). Poor Arlene suffered from a degenerative brain disorder that left her totally helpless, and at risk for bed sores, because she could not control her body’s movements. Arlene’s condition left her completely vulnerable and at the mercy of Covina’s employees and what Arlene’s family asserted was ‘inadequate staffing’ and failure to follow Arlene’s plan of care.

According to the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform[page 5], the court found that the employees of Covina did not follow Arlene’s plan of care, which called for daily checks of her skin for possible abrasions and bed sores. Arlene’s plan clearly called for a doctor to be notified if bed sores were present. But, it was only after Arlene was hospitalized for a severe bout of diarrhea that a doctor discovered her open wounds! Unfortunately, it was too late for Arlene as vast amounts of bacteria had already done their damage causing Arlene’s death.
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Published on: September 10, 2007

San Diego Diocese Settles With Sex Abuse Victims for $198 Million

By Brian Chase

After years of talks and marathon negotiations, the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego has agreed to pay 144 victims abused by their priests $198.1 million. According to a news report in the Los Angeles Times, the settlement is more than twice what the diocese first offered before filing for bankruptcy protection in February. In fact, the Times article even states that the settlement even tops the average of $1.3 million in the recent landmark Los Angeles Archdiocese settlement with its victims.

The San Diego diocese’s lawyers had said at first that unlike Los Angeles, this diocese had no proper insurance coverage or assets to dole out the settlement without seriously hampering services provided by the church. But all that changed late August when a bankruptcy judge criticized a meager $95-million offer by the diocese and referred to the diocese’s financial record keeping as “Byzantine,” the Times article states.

The historic Los Angeles settlement was followed by emotional outbursts from victims and this one was no different. According to the article, many victims got permission to hug U.S. District Court Judge Leo Pappas, who oversaw the settlement negotiations, and even shake his hand and thank him. Many were crying and the judge himself became emotional, the article reports. The church issued a statement of apology. Church officials say the settlement takes them “beyond available resources” and will have a tremendous impact on the diocese’s services for years to come.

So who pays how much? According to the article, the diocese pays about $77 million, its insurance carrier shells out $75 million, religious orders will pay $30 million and the Diocese of San Bernardino, with help from its insurance carrier, will pay about $15 million.
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