Articles Posted in Wrongful Death

Recently, heavy rain in Southern California has made for extremely dangerous driving conditions. The heavy rains have decreased visibility on already busy roads, which has led to several car accidents through Ventura County and its surrounding counties. The rain has been particularly problematic during commuting hours and CHP reported “there have been a lot of crashes [and] people hitting the guardrails.” Several drivers have reported losing control of their vehicles because of the slick roads.

One particular accident near Camarillo resulted in a deadly head-on collision. According to the Ventura County Star, a 65-year-old man from Oxnard driving a Nissan pickup lost control of his vehicle while traveling westbound. The car crossed into oncoming traffic, “for reasons that are still being investigated” and hit a Ford F-250 pickup driven by a 27-year-old man from Oxnard.

Emergency personnel responded to the scene of the accident and the Nissan driver was pronounced dead at the scene. The Ford F-250 driver was taken to the St. John’s Pleasant Valley hospital for his injuries suffered in the collision.

A driver of a black Lincoln and his female passenger were killed in a Hyde Park car accident December 16, 2018. According to KTLA News, around 9:00 in the morning, the car left the road just east of Crenshaw Boulevard, and smashed into an abandoned building.

The male driver was partially ejected from the car as a result of the impact. The female passenger was fully ejected from the car, and both were pronounced dead at the scene. Because of the collapse of the structure onto the car, police believe it will “require an extended extrication to recover the bodies due to safety concerns with building collapse.”

As of right now, the cause of the accident remains unknown. Police said speeding is very common on the street but are not certain that is was caused this crash. In a crash like this, that involves no other vehicles, there are many possible causes for the police to consider such as driving while intoxicated (either alcohol or drugs), driving while texting, or even drowsy driving. It is very important that a thorough investigation is conducted to determine the cause of the accident.

A recent Perris car accident resulted in the death of 54-year-old William Shelton of Lemon Grove and left another motorist with minor injuries. The Press-Enterprise reported that three vehicles were involved in the accident which occurred on the Southbound side of the freeway around 7:20 p.m.

The accident caused one of the cars involved, a dark-colored sedan, to flip over and cross into the northbound side of the 215 freeway. Though it is not clear which car was driven by Mr. Shelton, it was reported he died at the scene. The accident closed two lanes on the southbound side of the 215 freeway for several hours causing heavy traffic on the freeway, as well as the Ramona Expressway as cars tried to exit.

California Highway Patrol officers are still investigating what caused this freeway crash. There are many possible causes for freeway accidents, especially on the busy Southern California freeways. Causes can include natural things such as rain or fog which cause poor visibility that can lead to accidents, or intentional things such careless choices by a driver to drive while intoxicated, texting, or while drowsy. When a car accident involves more than one car, like in this case, it is possible that one or more drivers could be at fault.

A supersized limousine crashed in upstate New York this week, killing the 18 people inside, as well as 2 pedestrians. The limo was headed to a brewery for a 30^th birthday party for one of the passengers. According to the Los Angeles Times, the limo “ran a stop sign at a T-shaped intersection at the bottom of a hill and slammed into an unoccupied SUV.”

Investigators have yet to determine the exact cause of the accident. The crash left no visible skid marks on the road, which may mean the driver failed to brake. Investigators have uncovered several other negative details about the incident. As it turns out, the limousine had failed a safety inspection last month and the driver was not properly licensed.

Large-limo wrecks are typically uncommon. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were only “12 [limo crashes] nationwide between 2012 and 2016, compared with over 157,000 crashes involving all types of vehicles during that period.” However, crashes involving limos are often more severe. The state of California has not been immune to limo crashes. For example, in 2013 five women celebrating a bachelorette party were killed when their stretch limo caught on fire in Northern California.