California Personal Injury Lawyers Blog
A Los Angeles car accident on Christmas day resulted in a vehicle fire on the southbound 405 freeway, near the interchange with the 101 freeway. After a car apparently collided with the center divider, an off duty LAPD officer who witnessed the crash stopped to assist. According to the Los Angeles Times, officer Thompson cut the victim’s seat-belt and attempted to free him from the burning car, before Thompson himself was overcome by the fire and smoke.
Fortunately, two other people stopped and helped and pulled Thompson and the other victim from the burning car. The car ended up fully engulfed by flames from the 405 freeway accident. A captain in the Los Angeles Fire Department said that Thompson’s actions probably saved the victim’s life.
It is still unclear exactly what caused this car accident in Los Angeles. Vehicles collide with guardrails and center dividers for many reasons. Sometimes it is due to driver inattentiveness and other times the accidents are caused by other vehicles that change lanes into the car without seeing it, pushing it into the divider.
If another vehicle caused the crash and has not been identified, there may be an uninsured motorist claim for the hit and run car accident injuries. To help determine this, it will be necessary to interview eye witnesses to the car accident and to look at the vehicle, to see if there is any damage consistent with the car being forced into the divider. Some of this evidence may have been damaged or destroyed in the resulting fire.
If the victim of the crash was struck by another vehicle, he should immediately contact a Los Angeles personal injury attorney to assist him with his injury claim, including finding appropriate medical care for his burn injuries.
We wish a speedy recovery to both officer Thompson and the car accident injury victim.