Wrongful Death

Irvine Car Accident Leaves Girl with Irreversible Brain Damage

June 1, 2011 | by Robert Walch

Ashton Sweet, a 14 year old girl, was left with brain damage after the vehicle she was in was struck by a drunk driver in an Irvine car accident. Doctors have declared that the brain damage is irreversible and Sweet is being kept alive while doctors determine if her organs are suitable for donation. Other girls in the vehicle suffered injuries, including Krista Merassa, 15 years old, who suffered serious or catastrophic injuries, and was listed in critical condition.

The girls were passengers in a car driven by one of the girl’s father, when they were struck by the alleged drunk driver, Austin Farley, a 26 year old Irvine man. Farley was arrested on suspicion of DUI and is awaiting his court appearance. Farley and the passenger in his vehicle were not injured in the car accident in Irvine.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Farley pled guilty to DUI in 2009 and also pled guilty to driving with a suspended or revoked license and refusal to take a chemical test for DUI in 2005.

In addition to the serious criminal charges that Farley will be facing, he will also likely be held liable for Irvine wrongful death damages, for the tragic eventual death of Ashton Sweet.

Man Killed and Wife Seriously Injured in Ventura Car Accident

May 31, 2011 | by Robert Walch

Eric Doran, a 36 year old restaurant owner from Newport Beach, was killed this weekend in a freeway accident in Ventura County, California. The Ventura car accident occurred on the 101 freeway in Thousand Oaks.

Doran was the owner of the Eat Chow restaurant, located in Costa Mesa, California. The Thousand Oaks car accident allegedly happened when Doran slowed his vehicle as they approached lanes that were coned-off for early morning construction.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Doran’s vehicle was rear ended by a 1998 Dodge Ram, which smashed their vehicle into the Honda Accord which was in front of them. Doran was pronounced dead at the scene while his wife was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

The car accident in Thousand Oaks occurred shortly after 5:00am. It is unknown if poor visibility or if the fact that Doran was in a Model A roadster contributed to this collision or the injuries and death.

1 Officer Killed, Another Critically Injured in Torrance Motorcycle Accident

May 27, 2011 | by Robert Walch

A Hawthorne police officer was killed and an El Segundo police officer was critically injured in a motorcycle accident in Torrance, California. The officers were taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, where their situations were first described as being in “extremely critical condition.”

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Torrance motorcycle accident occurred during a funeral procession for deceased Manhattan Beach Police Officer, Mark Vasquez, who died of cancer. The funeral procession was traveling from Manhattan Beach to Rancho Palos Verdes, and motorcycle officers were apparently being used to go ahead of the procession to stop traffic.

According to reports, the two officers on motorcycle collided with each other, causing the Hawthorne officer to be thrown from his bike into traffic, where he was hit by a vehicle on Hawthorne Boulevard. The California motorcycle accident is being investigated by the Highway Patrol.

Burbank Metrolink Accidents Feared

May 26, 2011 | by Robert Walch

Officials have grown increasingly worried about the possibility of a Metrolink train accident in Burbank, due to unsafe crossings and the addition of the Metrolink express train service that runs from Burbank to Los Angeles Union Station.

According to the Burbank Leader, the downtown Burbank Metrolink station is one of the busiest Metrolink stations and commuters will rush across tracks when they think a train is idle, not considering the possibility the train will accelerate in reverse. This poses a serious risk of a Metrolink train pedestrian accident.

Apparently, people cross the tracks because buses serve both sides of the station. Currently, Metrolink appears to be relying on security guards at crossing stations giving warnings that people should not cross when the bell and lights are on. However, security guards have acknowledged that there is a common practice of people not listening to these warnings and crossing anyway, apparently because they think it is safe.

San Bernardino Boy Dies in Victorville Off Road Vehicle Accident

May 17, 2011 | by Robert Walch

Chase Scarbough, a 10 year old boy, died today after sustaining injuries in an off road vehicle accident in Victorville, California, on Monday. The accident occurred when the boy lost control of the vehicle after riding over a series of bumps. The boy, who was wearing a helmet and other safety gear, did not appear to suffer major injury as a result of the Victorville accident.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the boy, from San Bernardino, vomited (a sign of possible concussion) today and was taken by ambulance to Saint Mary’s Medical Center. Tragically, according to the California Highway Patrol, Scarbough was pronounced dead due to internal injuries from the Victorville auto accident.

In this Victorville wrongful death accident, the family of the boy should hire a California personal injury attorney to examine the circumstances of the accident and see if there is any legal liability for the wrongful death. Various legal factors include whether children as young as 10 should be allowed to drive such vehicles and whether the off road course was safe enough for riders of such a young age. It will also have to be investigated whether the instructions before riding were adequate.

Depending on the severity of the collision, staff at the Johnson Valley Off Road Recreation area should probably have insisted that the boy see a doctor. The fact that a young boy was only complaining of minor pain does not mean that the injuries are not serious.

Very frequently, with many of our California personal injury auto accident cases, our clients do not quite realize how injured they are at the scene of the collision, and are often in shock. Police or paramedics will ask them if they need emergency transportation to a hospital and many of them will refuse, often happy to be just be alive, only to find themselves in serious pain and needing emergency medical care later that day or even a few days after the accident. For this reason, if you are involved in a serious auto accident, it is often a mistake to refuse emergency medical care and it is better to be safe and get checked out in an emergency room right after the accident.

Woman Killed in Parking Structure Car Accident in Los Angeles

April 27, 2011 | by Robert Walch

A woman was killed in a Los Angeles car accident on Tuesday, when her vehicle apparently pushed past the concrete barrier of a parking structure and fell approximately four stories to the ground. The car accident in Los Angeles happened on Nebraska Avenue, in the Sawtelle area of Los Angeles.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the car pushed past a concrete barrier before plunging from the parking structure and landing upside down. The driver of the vehicle, a woman, was killed. No other injuries were reported.

The family of the woman killed should hire a Los Angeles personal injury attorney to investigate whether there was any negligence involved in the potentially wrongful death of the woman. The building site should be examined to see if it was built up to code for parking structures. It will also be necessary to try to figure out why the vehicle collided with the exterior of the structure in the first place.

The Los Angeles injury attorney can research to what extent the walls of a parking structure are supposed to be able to stop a moving vehicle. Accident reconstruction experts can determine how fast the vehicle was moving and why it was able to push through the wall. If the structure was designed negligently, the owners of the structure and/or the building constructors might be held responsible for the Los Angeles wrongful death of the woman.

Lawsuit Filed After Big Rig Truck Crash Wrongful Death

March 23, 2011 | by Robert Walch

Marcos Costa, a truck driver who is facing murder charges for a California truck accident in April of 2009, has filed suit against Los Angeles County, the California Department of Transportation and the City of La Cañada, alleging that improper maintenance of the Angeles Crest Highway caused the fatal truck accident.

An attorney for Caltrans has called Mr. Costa’s claim “frivolous” and says that the truck accident leading to the wrongful death of two people was caused by Costa, who was driving his truck with a defective braking system and because Costa allegedly did not follow the rules for trucks on California highways.

In his lawsuit, Mr. Costa, a native of Brazil, is asking for “$500,000 for property damage, loss of liberty due to criminal proceedings and ‘oppression, mental duress, stress and mental trauma’.”

The La Cañada Flintridge truck accident killed two people after the big rig truck went out of control. Mr. Costa says there should have been an emergency truck lane for out of control trucks. Costa also claims that the Angeles Crest Highway is a high accident zone and he cited seven prior truck crashes at the intersection. He claims that these prior accidents should have put the government entities on notice of the danger.

Australian Man Will Go To Jail For Los Angeles Hit And Run Accident Death

March 10, 2011 | by Robert Walch

Ryan Bowman, an Australian man who killed a young woman in a Los Angeles pedestrian accident, will be sentenced Friday morning as part of a plea agreement that has been reached with prosecutors. The accident occurred on the Sunset Strip in the West Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California.

The woman who was killed in the Los Angeles car accident, Lauren Ann Freeman, was leaving a concert at the popular Roxy Theatre, crossing the street, when Bowman, in his Bentley, struck Freeman and knocked her about 50 feet, where she died at the scene. Bowman allegedly fled the scene and abandoned the Bentley about a mile and half later, near Melrose and La Cienega, in Los Angeles, California.

Bowman has since admitted that he was the driver involved in this pedestrian accident in Los Angeles. Since it is assumed that police did not catch Bowman until well after the accident, it was probably too late to run tests to see if Bowman was under the influence at the time of the accident, which is often the reason people flea the scene of a collision.

Besides the jail time that he faces, Mr. Bowman will also be subject to a personal injury lawsuit by the family of the woman who was killed in the pedestrian accident. Ms. Freeman had just graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) and her family will claim that she had a very promising future that was cut short by her wrongful death. The fact that Bowman left the scene will be used against him if he argues the accident was not his fault.

Person Killed By Amtrak Train in Los Angeles

March 9, 2011 | by Robert Walch

An Amtrak train accident in Los Angeles occurred this morning when a person was struck by the train at about 6:20 am. The train was traveling from Los Angeles to San Diego when it hit the person. The train accident occurred at Santa Fe Avenue and 8th Street near Union Station in Los Angeles, California.

At the time of the Los Angeles train accident, there were 30 people on board the train, including passengers and crew, none of which were hurt. There are reports that the person killed was possibly a transient, but that has not been confirmed.

The reason the person was on the tracks is currently unknown. Sometimes people attempt suicide by standing on the tracks, other times there is some type of mistake or negligence that leads to a person being hit by a train.

California train accident injuries and deaths occur frequently and the legal ramifications depend on the reason for the incident. If the train operator or designer was negligent, causing the injuries, victims will be able to make a personal injury claim or their families may make a wrongful death claim against the train company, which can include Amtrak, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), or other entities.

Huntington Beach Man Sentenced In Car Accident Wrongful Death

March 8, 2011 | by Robert Walch

A man from Huntington Beach has been sentenced to three years of probation after a tragic car accident in which he rear ended a truck, which collided with a mother as she was walking with her baby in a stroller in a crosswalk. The baby was launched approximately 70 feet from the impact and died from her injuries in this California wrongful death accident. The mother sustained a dislocated shoulder and fractured vertebrae. The 11 year old niece of the woman was also injured and sustained a broken femur in the Orange County pedestrian accident.

The man was charged criminally for his actions, and plead guilty to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter, because he caused the Orange County car accident when he was distracted while trying to prevent his laptop from falling off of the seat to the floor of his car. Usually we see vehicular manslaughter charges where the driver who causes the car accident was found to be driving while intoxicated.

However, to be convicted of vehicular manslaughter, it is only necessary to show ordinary negligence and a misdemeanor, infraction or other lawful act that may cause death, such misdemeanor, infraction or other act in fact causing the death. This is another reason to be especially careful while driving and not to talk on your cell phone, text or be involved in other distractions, as engaging in such behavior at the time of an accident could have a serious criminal effect.