Expert Advocacy

Elderly Woman Suffers Injuries In Otay Mesa Pedestrian Accident

An unidentified 50-year-old pedestrian suffered serious injuries while crossing a street near Silverwing Park in the Otay Mesa area of San Diego. San Diego Police Officer Frank Cali stated that the victim was attempting to cross Arey Drive around 10:30 a.m. on April 16, 2011, when she was hit by a BMW car traveling east towards Picardor Boulevard.

The injured woman suffered a serious head injury and was immediately transported to a nearby hospital for medical treatment. Based on this news report through 10news.com, it is suspected that the sedan driver might have run the stop sign or was speeding and this lead to this serious car accident. Normally, California law holds that drivers must give the right of way to pedestrians in marked crosswalks and at an intersection. Drivers are operating potentially deadly machines and can inflict fatal injuries on pedestrians if they are not following the law or are careless. However, even given these protections (which are set forth in California Vehicle Code Section 21950) pedestrians must always exercise reasonable care for their safety.

Even if the pedestrian was at fault, the victim should consult with an experienced San Diego personal injury lawyer to determine her legal rights and options in this case. The lawyer may also find a way to obtain compensation to cover medical and hospitalization expenses, pain and suffering, and other accident-related expenses.…

NHTSA Proposes Accelerator-Override Systems to Improve Car Safety

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently proposed new regulations that would require passenger cars, trucks, and vans sold in the U.S. to come with automatic accelerator-override systems. The system would kick in if the accelerator became stuck or if the accelerator and brake pedals were pushed at the same time. It would stop the vehicle’s acceleration and slow it down, helping to prevent a serious car accident.

The proposed regulations would require new cars sold in the U.S. to have accelerator-override systems that would slow the car down, regardless of what caused the acceleration to go out of control. Electrical problems, stuck floor mats, auto product defects, and accelerator pedals stuck in the floor carpeting have all caused out-of-control acceleration and vehicle crashes in recent years, according to the NHTSA. The systems would have to prevent the car from accelerating in each of these situations.

Some vehicles already come equipped with similar systems, according to the NHTSA. However, the agency is interested in requiring them on all motor vehicles, especially since stuck accelerators in various Toyota models have caused serious accidents or deaths in recent years. Toyota was fined $50 million for unnecessarily delaying the recall to fix the problem. The recall was eventually issued in February 2011 and it affected over 2 million U.S. vehicles.

If you or someone you love has been injured in a car accident, a skilled San Diego car crash lawyer can help. To learn more about your legal options, call our office today for a free, confidential consultation.…

California Judges Corrected on Application of Controversial Collateral Source Exception

California judges recently received better guidance for how and when to apply a controversial exception to the collateral source rule, a rule that permits California injury victims to recover the full amount of medical bills incurred following an accident even if paid by a source other than the person who caused the accident (a “collateral source”).

The clarification recently came through the editing of citations in the California Judicial Council Judges Benchbook, a reference source for judges hearing California personal injury cases. The edit makes it clear that defendants are not entitled to a post-trial reduction hearing. Rather defendants must meet a specific exception to the collateral source rule for the trial court to consider holding a post-trial reduction hearing.…

San Diego Bike Shop Employee Seriously Injured in Julian Motorcycle Accident

Yesterday evening, our employee took his bicycle to a San Diego bike shop on Adams Avenue to get it tuned up and ready for the upcoming summer.

Here is the story he told us this morning:

One of the bike shop employees at the store was wearing a black, leather, motorcycle jacket. He came up to us, greeted us, and proceeded to help me with my bike. I noticed that he was not moving his right arm very much as my friend was looking at bicycle helmets. A yellow bicycle helmet caught her attention and she decided to try it on. Once she was content with the color scheme and shape of the helmet, she asked the employee if this particular helmet was good for recreational bicycle riding. He took the helmet from her with his left arm, examined it, and agreed it would be a great recreational bicycle helmet.

The employee continued on to say that it would work great if she were to ever get into a crash, but that it would only work for one crash and that’s it. She would have to replace if she ever did crash. The employee said that comment as if he expected her to crash, which caught us a bit off guard. He continued on to the story about his arm and said that a helmet had just saved his life the previous week.

Driver Suffers Injuries in El Cerrito Bus Accident

An unidentified pickup driver suffered serious injuries in an El Cerrito bus accident that occurred on April 13, 2011, around 6:32 p.m. on Cajalco Road just west of La Sierra Avenue, in Riverside County. According to the responding California Highway Patrol Officers, a pickup truck driver crashed his vehicle into a school bus carrying 32 students due to unknown reasons.

The injured pickup driver was immediately transported to Corona Regional Medical Center for medical treatment. The California Highway Patrol now must determine what made the pickup driver crash his truck into the school bus. It does not seem that a defective road design or vehicle malfunction caused this accident. From the facts presented, it appears that the truck driver was either inattentive and driving negligently or ran a red light and violated the bus’s right of way.

The injured victims should consult with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Riverside County to determine their legal rights and to obtain timely compensation to provide for treatment and hospitalization costs, loss of earnings, and pain and suffering damages.

We sincerely hope that the injuries suffered by the victim heal soon.…

Chula Vista Pedestrian Dies After Being Struck by Car

A 90-year-old Chula Vista pedestrian was hit by a car nearby Broadway and Park Way in on April 1st at approximately 8 p.m. According to the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office, the man was taken off life-support on Saturday afternoon because of the deterioration of his medical status. The Chula Vista pedestrian suffered a head injury with internal bleeding.

The victim’s identity was not made public so that San Diego County officials could notify the family about the death.…

Nevada May Lift Medical Malpractice Damages Cap; Should California Do the Same?

Well, it looks like the Nevada Medical Malpractice Reform Law may not see its’ fifth birthday–or at least its’ damage cap provision may not. Nevada legislators are considering overturning or raising the $350,000 cap for “pain and suffering” damages arising from medical malpractice.

The reason? Recent scandalous, unethical, and dangerous behavior by doctors in the state have led legislators to realize that damage caps hurt consumers while protecting negligent doctors.

We’ve taken a look at these developments and what it might mean for California’s MICRA damage cap of $250,000.

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Resources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_Injury_Compensation_Reform_Act…

Lakeside Child Pedestrian Hit by Car, Dies

The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office reported last week that a 9-year-old boy was struck by a car near Riverview Elementary School in Lakeside. The boy was walking along Winter Gardens Boulevard south of Knoll Crest Place around 4 p.m. on April 6, 2009, when the fatal Lakeside pedestrian accident happened. The boy was taken to Rady Children’s Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. His name has not been released.…

Pilot Dies in Fiery San Diego Plane Crash

A pilot of a small Piper Comanche crashed into a hillside at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station yesterday as it was heading to Brown Municipal field. The California airplane accident occurred shortly before 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 11. According to the FAA, the pilot made no distress call and simply fell off of radar and radio communication.

The plane and its’ pilot were found and the pilot has been declared dead on scene. FAA officials investigating the crash found that the plane was registered to a Burbank man, but it is not known whether he was the pilot. No other passengers were on board.

The airplane had left from Whiteman Airport in the Los Angeles suburb of Pacoima with its’ planned destination as Brown Field in the San Diego suburb of Otay Mesa. FAA officials are still investigating the airplane crash.…

Wind Power Facilities Linked to Deadly Accidents

Wind turbines are often touted as “green” alternatives to generating electricity that don’t rely on petroleum or create greenhouse gases or dangerous radiation, the way conventional coal or nuclear plants often do. However, little attention has been paid recently to the serious accidents that can take place at wind turbine sites, according to a recent article in East County Magazine.

According to researchers, approximately 128 wind turbine workers die each year as a result of workplace accidents. Many of these accidents occur while workers are attempting to repair or maintain the wind turbines’ spinning blades. Although the equipment is supposed to have shut-off systems to prevent accidents caused by moving blades, the turbines are so delicate that even a moderate breeze may start them moving, causing accidents.

The height of most wind turbines also creates a risk for workers. Several fatal work accidents since 2003 have involved workers whose safety equipment has malfunctioned or been caught in wind turbine equipment and broken, causing them to fall several hundred feet to the ground. Finally, weather conditions often contribute to wind turbine injuries and deaths, such as a 1994 Minnesota accident in which a man was seriously injured by chunks of ice falling from wind turbine blades.

Our trained San Diego workplace accident attorneys apply their legal skills and practical experience to fight for outstanding results for each client we represent. We’re dedicated to helping injured workers and their families get the compensation they need so they can focus on getting back on their feet. For a free and confidential consultation, contact us today.…