California Injury Blog

Published on: August 28, 2007

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? A BIG WIN FOR THE LITTLE GUY!

By Brian Chase

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.
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Published on: August 26, 2007

Nursing Home Fears Used To Scam Seniors

By Brian Chase

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!
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Published on: August 25, 2007

Orange County Truck Accident Fatality Caused by Speeding Big-Rig Driver

By Brian Chase

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?
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Published on: August 24, 2007

A Dog Bite Case With Two Attacks

By Brian Chase

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.

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Published on: August 24, 2007

Ford Explorer Crash in Ontario – Four Dead, One Child Injured

By Brian Chase

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.
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Published on: August 23, 2007

TOYS WITH HIDDEN DEFECTS!

By Brian Chase

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.
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Published on: August 22, 2007

Big Rig Truck Accident on Riverside Freeway – Who’s Fault?

By Brian Chase

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.
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Published on: August 22, 2007

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

By Brian Chase

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!
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Published on: August 21, 2007

Watch Out for These Flaming Fords – 3.6 Million Recalled

By Brian Chase

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.
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Published on: August 20, 2007

Defective GMC Jimmy Kills Texas Woman?

By Brian Chase

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.
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