California Personal Injury Lawyers Blog

LACMTA Metro Blue Line Reports Increase In Train Accidents & Fatalities

August 7, 2012 | by Robert Walch

The Metro Blue Line, that runs 22 miles from downtown Los Angeles to Long Beach, has reported 22 train accidents and six (6) fatalities so far during 2012. Many are caused by collisions with cars, trucks and other motor vehicles.

The Blue Line is reported by the Los Angeles Times to be one of the busiest light rail lines in the United States and, unfortunately, is on pace to have more fatalities than any other year in its 22 year history. This statistic is even more significant given the fact that the Blue Line has a history of numerous accidents with cars, causing injuries and fatalities.
The Blue Line opened as Los Angeles County’s first light rail line in 1990. It currently has 26 million riders per year. It earned the undesired reputation in 1999 as California’s deadliest rail transit line when ten (10) people were reported killed and 40 others reported injured in 50 MTA Blue Line accidents that occurred during 1999. Most of these accidents involved collisions at street crossings with cars and other motor vehicles.

Although the Los Angeles County Metro Blue Line averaged almost 51 accidents annually during its first 12 years, since then its number of accidents has dropped to about 28 per year. During this time, the Metro took many steps to improve safety, including installing photo enforcement cameras at street crossings to deter drivers from attempting to race across intersections to beat passing trains. Metro officials claim such safety measures directly contributed to decreasing the number of MTA accidents each year.

Man Killed in Calabasas Bicycle Accident

July 14, 2012 | by Robert Walch

A bicycle accident in Calabasas resulted in the death of a male bicyclist, who is believed to be about 45 years old. The Calabasas bicycle accident occurred this morning, at about 9:20am, in the Santa Monica Mountains. According to the Los Angeles Times, the bicyclist apparently veered off of the road and ended up falling down a ravine.

The cause of this Calabasas bicycle accident wrongful death is still under investigation by the California Highway Patrol. At this point, it is too early to determine why this bicycle accident death occurred. Authorities will investigate whether the bike accident was caused by the negligence of the bicyclist, or if the negligence of a vehicle possibly caused the bicyclist to veer off the road and down the ravine.

In order to determine the cause of this California bicycle accident, it will be necessary to look for any witnesses who may have seen the bicyclist prior to the incident, or if they saw any speeding or recklessly driven vehicles at around the time of the bike crash. Investigators will also look for skid marks or any other indication of a vehicle contributing to the cause of this wrongful death accident.

Warning – 4th of July Deadliest Day for Los Angeles Car Accidents

July 3, 2012 | by Robert Walch

According to the Los Angeles Times, the 4th of July holiday is the deadliest day for Los Angeles car accidents. AAA reports that teens account for approximately 10% of the traffic fatalities on Independence Day. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) cites that a drunk driver is involved in 39% of the car accident deaths on the 4th of July. This compares to 31% of car accident fatalities on other days.

The rise in drunk driving accidents on the 4th of July is partly due to the fact that schools and most businesses are closed, so there are more people on the road. This, combined with the many 4th of July parties around Los Angeles, often involving large amounts of alcohol, contributes to many Los Angeles car accidents.

It is also important to note that many police agencies around California will be setting up DUI checkpoints, to try to catch drunk drivers before they cause a Los Angeles car accident.

Man Killed in 405 Freeway Motorcycle Accident

July 1, 2012 | by Robert Walch

This morning, a Los Angeles 405 freeway motorcycle accident, near LAX, resulted in the death of the 39 year old motorcyclist. The Los Angeles Times reports that the 405 freeway accident apparently occurred when the motorcyclist collided with the rear end of a pick up truck. The Los Angeles rear end accident caused the motorcycle and truck to spin out of control and the cyclist was thrown from the cycle.

The cyclist, who hit the median of the freeway, was pronounced dead at a Los Angeles hospital. The driver of the pickup truck apparently was not injured in the Los Angeles rear end collision. The California Highway Patrol is still investigating the cause of the motorcycle accident in Los Angeles.

If the driver of the pick up truck was at fault, the heirs of the motorcycle rider may make a Los Angeles wrongful death claim against the insurance company for the pickup truck driver. However, legally, it is usually very difficult to prove that the vehicle that was rear ended actually caused the rear end collision. This is because there is usually a presumption that the vehicle that was rear ended was struck because the vehicle in back was not keeping a safe distance.

Critical Injuries Reported in 19 Car Accident in Antelope Valley

June 26, 2012 | by Robert Walch

A 19 car accident in Antelope Valley, involving a big rig truck, has caused serious injuries to some of the occupants of the vehicles and major travel delays and closures on the 14 freeway near Acton, California. The Los Angeles Fire Department has reported that 17 people were injured in the Antelope Valley car accident, including two people who suffered serious critical injuries.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the LAFD reported that seven ambulances and 50 firefighters were sent to the scene of the Antelope Valley accident on the 14 freeway. According to the California Highway Patrol, as a result of the 19 vehicle pileup, all of the southbound lanes of the 14 freeway were closed, as well as two of the northbound lanes.

According to Fox 11 News, the Antelope Valley crash occurred at around 9:40am, north of Escondido Canyon Road, in Agua Dulce. The Agua Dulce accident involved a big rig truck that was hauling sand or dirt. It is unclear at this time if the big rig truck caused this collision. An extensive investigation is currently ongoing to determine what caused the Antelope Valley truck accident.

Consumer Protection – Jury Scam

June 7, 2012 | by Robert Walch

There is a new identity theft scam preying on potential jurors that you should tell your friends and relatives about. As you may know, our judicial system, whether criminal (to decide whether a person is guilty or not guilty of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt) or civil (usually to decide monetary damages by a preponderance of the evidence for a civil harm or injury, such as damages resulting from a car accident), relies upon a sworn body of people convened in court to render an impartial verdict on a question or questions submitted to them by the court. This body of people or group, consisting of laypersons and not professional jurors, is called the jury.

Unfortunately, criminals have created a new scam or con, at the core of which is jury service. The con involves calling someone and advising there is a warrant out for that person’s arrest for not reporting as required for jury service. The person obviously protests and is scared, worried and caught off guard. The caller then explains that perhaps there is an error and it can be cleared up by providing the person’s full name and, for identification, their date of birth, Social Security number and one credit card number. This has been verified by the FBI.

This con is spreading fast so be prepared should you get this call. Most of us
take those summonses for jury duty very seriously, but enough people skip
out on their civic duty that this new kind of fraud has become prevalent.
The caller may claim to be a jury coordinator, city clerk or other official. If you
protest that you never received the summons for jury duty, the scammer
then asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so he or
she may verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant. Give out
any of this information to this unknown caller and your identity was just stolen.
The fraud has been reported so far in 11 states, including California, New York,
Illinois, Colorado, Arizona and more. This con is especially
insidious because the callers use intimidation over the phone to try to bully
people into giving information by pretending they are with the government or court
system.

Hemet High School Accident – Possible Mechanical Failure and Products Liability

May 31, 2012 | by Robert Walch

New information has emerged in the Hemet High School accident that occurred yesterday. According to The Press-Enterprise, there are claims that a mechanical problem in the 1994 Ford Ranger pick-up truck may have contributed to or caused this Hemet pedestrian accident.

The California Highway Patrol’s Major Accident Investigation unit will be thoroughly examining the vehicle to determine if in fact there was a mechanical defect that caused this horrific accident. The driver of the vehicle involved, Daniel Carrillo, who is 18 years old, reportedly claimed that his breaks failed, causing him to run the red light and strike and run over students in the crosswalk.

According to investigators, about 30 students were crossing in the crosswalk when the vehicle ran the red light, at a speed higher than the 25 mile per hour speed limit. Thankfully, the three students who were first reported to be in critical condition now have a good prognosis. Two students however remain in critical condition after suffering serious or catastrophic injuries.

10 Students Injured in Hemet High School Pedestrian Accident

May 30, 2012 | by Robert Walch

We are receiving early reports of a serious pedestrian accident in Hemet, California, earlier today. The car versus pedestrian accident apparently occurred outside Hemet High School, and ten students of the high school were injured when they were hit by a car. The Hemet car accident resulted in three of the students suffering critical injuries. All ten injured students were taken to local hospitals. Two other students reported minor injuries in the Hemet accident but did not require emergency transportation.

The Riverside County Fire Department and California Highway Patrol apparently responded to the Hemet High School accident, which occurred at approximately three o’clock this afternoon. According to the Los Angeles Times, the Hemet students were hit by the car near the front of the school, on Stetson Ave.

UPDATE: The Press-Enterprise is reporting that witnesses said that a Ford Ranger pick-up truck, driven by a student of the school, allegedly ran a red light and hit the students who were crossing the street in a crosswalk. Apparently the truck versus pedestrian accident was recorded on school cameras and the student was detained by the California Highway Patrol.

“Hot Coffee” – Documentary Exposes How Corporations Try to Deny You a Fair Trial

May 23, 2012 | by Robert Walch

We previously posted about the “Hot Coffee” documentary by Susan Saladoff, which exposes how corporations, like big insurance companies, spend millions of dollars so that injury victims do not receive fair trials and are not fairly compensated for their personal injury damages.

They have used one case, the “McDonalds coffee” case, to brainwash the general public (including jurors and politicians) into believing there are too many frivolous lawsuits and that lawsuits cause prices and insurance rates to go up.

For the truth, please watch this great documentary. You can watch it on HBO GO, or purchase the DVD on Netflix, from the “Hot Coffee” website or Amazon. It will also be able to be downloaded from iTunes in July.

“Hot Coffee” Documentary Addresses Corporate Brainwash of Consumers

May 22, 2012 | by Robert Walch

Recently, I had a client tell me that she felt there were too many “frivolous” lawsuits filed in the United States. When I asked her to back up her statement, she referred to the lady who sued McDonalds after suffering injuries from spilled coffee. When I asked for other examples, my client could not think of any, but still had this belief, from this McDonalds coffee case, that people can cause harm to themselves and receive millions of dollars. My client told me that she thinks that lawsuits such as these drive up the costs for everyone else.

Unfortunately, this is a commonly held belief of many Americans, who hear about a sensational case on the news, and think there is an epidemic. This is no different than people watching the news, hearing about one crime, and immediately concluding that there is too much crime and feeling unsafe, even if overall crime is going down.

The media does not report about how much safer our lives are due to the fact companies are held financially responsible for their unsafe behavior. Without this regulation, companies would act with impunity, neglecting the safety of consumers, as can be seen by the unsafe business practices in many other countries. Instead, sensational stories get the headlines and attention.

Susan Saladoff’s documentary film, “Hot Coffee,” attacks the brainwashing that corporate America, especially very large billion dollar insurance companies, has inflicted on the American public. This film gives us the facts that many people do not know about the McDonalds coffee case. For instance, many people forget that this one incident occurred in 1992, over 20 years ago, but they still think that it represents an epidemic of lawsuits. Further, prior to this incident, McDonalds received hundreds of complaints that they were serving their coffee too hot, but did nothing to rectify it.

[For all the facts of the McDonalds coffee case, including answers to frequently asked questions, click here.]