Wrongful Death

PROFESSIONAL BILLIARDS PLAYER KILLED IN FIERY TRUCK CRASH ON 101 FREEWAY

July 28, 2016 | by Robert Walch

CBS reported that two men were killed in a truck accident on the 101 Freeway, also commonly called the Hollywood freeway. Apparently, Brendan Crockett, a professional billiards player, who won the U.S. Junior National Billiards Championship and was contending for a spot on the U.S. National Billiards Team, and his brother, Jeff Crockett, were killed when their BMW crashed into a big rig truck. Brendan was only 21 years old, and his brother Jeff was 24.

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) stated that the two Crockett brothers were killed when their BMW, traveling southbound on the 101 Freeway crashed into a big rig truck just north of Lewis Road. Their BMW reportedly was found under the big rig’s trailer, on fire, while the truck driver did not report any injury.

The collision reportedly occurred at 12:16 am. The cause was not determined, but one wonders if the late hour and darkness contributed to this fatal crash?

Australians design a human body meant to survive car accident deaths

July 27, 2016 | by Robert Walch

A team of Australians, including an artist, a trauma surgeon and a crash investigator have designed a hypothetical human body that shows us what our bodies would have to evolve into in order to survive what would be fatal car accident injuries.

As explained by IFLScience.com, the evolved body would not have a neck, so that a broken neck could not result from a high impact collision. Further, the head would have a reinforced skull, to prevent the blunt force trauma injuries and brain injuries that result from crashes at high speeds. The body would also be designed with air pockets between the ribs, which would serve as a type of airbag to prevent fatal injuries to the internal organs. The knees would also be designed to bend in all directions, to prevent them from breaking in a car accident.

210 Freeway Truck Accident Causes One Death and 2 Injuries

July 15, 2016 | by Robert Walch

Earlier today a truck accident on the 210 Freeway in Pasadena caused one wrongful death and at least two other injuries. According to the Los Angeles Times, the fatal accident involved five vehicles and a truck that was significantly damaged.

The Pasadena truck accident occurred near Madre Street and caused a significant traffic blockage as vehicles were damaged throughout the freeway and California Highway Patrol investigates the scene to determine the cause of the accident.

This multi vehicle wrongful death truck accident will require much investigation on the part of the CHP, any other investigating agencies and eventually by lawyers hired by any of the injured parties or the family of the potential wrongful death victim. Sometimes more than one of the vehicles contributed to causing the injuries or death, in which case any responsible parties and/or their insurance companies will have to pay for the wrongful death damages.

Tesla Autopilot Crash Kills Driver

July 2, 2016 | by Robert Walch

According to Tesla Motors, a man was killed while driving his Tesla in Autopilot mode when his vehicle collided with the trailer portion of a tractor trailer. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is investigating the involvement of the Tesla Autopilot feature in the fatal truck accident.

Tesla points out that Autopilot is disabled on its cars when they are purchased and it is an optional feature that needs to be activated by the driver. This particular driver was an avid fan of the Autopilot feature and even posted videos online of how the feature worked.

Recalled Jeep Grand Cherokee Rolls Into and Kills Star Trek Movie Actor Anton Yelchin

June 21, 2016 | by Robert Walch

Star Trek movie star Anton Yelchin, the son of famous Russian figure skaters, Viktor Yelchin and Irina Korina, was killed Sunday in a tragic Studio City car accident, when his recalled 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee allegedly rolled into him, pinning him against a brick pillar and security gate, fatally injuring him. Apparently, United State government regulators determined that the Jeep’s gear shifting possibly could confuse drivers and then possibly cause the Jeep Cherokees to roll away. This is what may have occurred here, leading to speculation that this defect caused or contributed to causing this fatal wrongful death accident.

Yelchin most recently played the Russian crewmember aboard the Star Ship Enterprise in the three most recent Star Trek films.

According to the Los Angeles Times, in April of 2016, Fiat Chrysler Automotive voluntarily recalled over one million cars and sport utility vehicles, like Yelchin’s 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) investigation determined that electronic shifts in these vehicles could spring-back to their previous position after being moved to a different gear. Apparently, some drivers might possibly mistakenly believe that their car or sports utility vehicle was in park then exit their vehicle, but if the parking brake was not properly applied while the vehicle was still running then the car or vehicle could roll away and possibly cause injury or damage, as may have occurred in this tragic incident.

The times reported that as of April 2015 there were at least 41 injuries believed to have been caused by this alleged defect.

The Fiat Chrysler recall includes 2014 and 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokees that were manufactured from July 2012 to December 2015. If you have such a vehicle you should immediately call your local dealership for instructions. The company was to have mailed notices to all owners of record of these cars and sport utility vehicles this past May 2016, warning them to always use the parking brake before exiting their vehicles. Further, Fiat Chrysler stated it hopes to have a remedy to fix this problem by the last quarter of 2016.

UCLA MEDICAL CENTER & CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER PATIENTS’ FOUND IN “IMMEDIATE JEOPARDY” AFTER MEDICAL SCOPE SUPERBUG OUTBREAK

May 20, 2016 | by Robert Walch

California State Health Inspectors from the Department of Public Health in 2015 found two leading California hospitals in violation of numerous safety requirements that appeared to put their patients in “immediate jeopardy”. The violations were found at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center on March 4, 2015 and also at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center just 21 days later. The state of California launched these investigations right after the notorious “superbug” outbreak reported last year that centered around hard to clean medical scopes that reportedly resulted in serious illnesses and some incidences of wrongful death in California.

At the UCLA Medical Center the state of California reportedly declared “Immediate Jeopardy” which meant that lives were at imminent risk after finding contaminated water and a tinted liquid cleaner dispenser that was used to prepare colonoscopes and other medical devices for patients.

At the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center the state of California again issued its very rare “Immediate Jeopardy” ruling when it reportedly found “a widespread pattern of potential ineffective sterilization and storage of surgical instruments” as well as disinfection of medical scopes.

Woman Killed in Los Angeles Hit and Run Pedestrian Accident

March 4, 2016 | by Robert Walch

Early Thursday morning, a 64 year old Hispanic woman was killed when she was hit by a Ford Explorer in a tragic Los Angeles wrongful death hit and run accident. According to KTLA5 News, which has a picture of the Explorer on its website, the driver of the SUV first struck a school bus. After this crash, the driver tried to flee the scene by driving over the sidewalk, where the woman was hit by the SUV.

After striking and killing the woman, the driver of the Explorer then fled the scene and has not yet been located by authorities. The Los Angeles City Council is offering a $50,000 reward for information that brings the driver of the Explorer to justice. This offer is through the Hit and Run Reward Program Trust Fund.

New Measures Will Soon Be Implemented to Help Prevent Santa Monica Pedestrian Accidents

March 3, 2016 | by Robert Walch

According to LAist, the City of Santa Monica will be putting in eleven pedestrian scrambles to help make the streets safer and attempt to prevent Santa Monica pedestrian accidents. Because of the amount of foot traffic in downtown Santa Monica, we hope that these measures will help prevent accidents and help move traffic along at a more efficient pace.

The pedestrian scrambles function by stopping all cars in all directions at the designated intersections so that pedestrians can cross in all directions, including diagonally across an intersection. With cars stopped in all directions, this should lead to fewer people getting hit by a car in Santa Monica.

Also, because drivers will not have to wait for pedestrians to cross when making turns, this should help cause less traffic congestion on the streets of downtown Santa Monica. The counter argument would be that since there must be a significant time after each traffic cycle where all vehicles are stopped, this could cause certain traffic backlogs.

CarMax Salesman Killed During Test Drive in Ontario Wrongful Death Crash

February 25, 2016 | by Robert Walch

A salesman for CarMax, Warren Smale, was killed on Tuesday in an Ontario car accident. The car accident occurred when Smale was the passenger of a Chevrolet Corvette that was being driven by Alex Demetro. According to ABC11 News, Ontario Police are confirming that Mr. Demetro was driving at a high rate of speed when he crashed into a tree, tragically killing Mr. Smale.

Mr. Demetro was allegedly under the influence of drugs at the time of the car accident in Ontario, California. He has been arrested for gross vehicular manslaughter, for the death of Warren Smale.

Carmax is the largest used car retailer in the United States, with approximately 150 locations throughout the country. The driver of the vehicle on the test drive, Alex Demetro, was also allegedly driving with a suspended license.

There are many civil and criminal legal ramifications for a tragic car accident wrongful death such as this one. Criminally, the driver will likely be charged and may face significant jail time for the death of Mr. Smale. Civilly, the heirs of Mr. Smale will likely make a claim for wrongful death damages. Assuming that Mr. Smale was an employee of CarMax, there may also be a worker’s compensation claim.

Police Looking for Driver Who Killed Pedestrian in Santa Ana Accident

December 3, 2015 | by Robert Walch

The Santa Ana Police Department is looking for the driver of a vehicle that struck and killed a man on Sunday. The Santa Ana pedestrian accident occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning on W. 1st Street. According to KTLA5 News, witnesses reported seeing a newer blue Honda Accord (approximately 2013-2015), with tinted windows, that apparently sped up after the accident.

The victim of this Santa Ana accident was Jorge Luis Lopez-Lobato, who was found on the center median. He was 35 years old and rescuers were not able to do anything to revive him. The investigating police offer said that Mr. Lobato was not in a crosswalk and was crossing near the middle of the block. The officer pointed out that if the driver of the vehicle had stopped, there may be no criminal charges for the accident.

However, because the driver of this car fled the scene, there will potentially be vehicular manslaughter charges if and when the driver is located by police. Police also said that the vehicle’s driver’s side mirror was knocked off and there should be damage to the front of the car from the impact.

If anyone has any information about this accident, they should call Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCCS.