California Personal Injury Lawyers Blog
According to ABC news, a fatal truck accident collision occurred in the early, dark hours on the San Diego (405) Freeway on Thursday morning, September 21, 2023.
Apparently a small VW Bug slammed into the rear of a large semi-truck, either in the right lane or right shoulder area of the busy southbound lanes of the 405 Freeway. This is an uphill grade of the freeway, approaching and just north of the Mulholland Highway exit, in the Sherman Oaks area of Los Angeles.
Reportedly, there was one fatality in this rear end collision. The identity of the victim was not provided.
As a result of this collision, at least two (2) southbound lanes of the 405 Freeway were closed, early on backing up commuter traffic as far north as Victory Blvd., with concerns that it would soon back up as far north as the 118 Freeway. Commuters of the 405 Freeway were advised to take alternate routes, such as Sepulveda Blvd., Benedict Canyon or Beverly Glen.
At first report the cause or causes of this deadly collision were not stated. One possible cause of such collisions occurs when a large truck is stopped on the shoulder of a freeway, either within the shoulder or partially protruding into the right most lane, sometimes without adequate warning lights or equipment displayed or working, causing another vehicle, such as this VW Bug, to collide with it. The results of a small vehicle traveling at freeway speeds, often 60mph or faster, striking a stopped heavy truck obviously can be catastrophic. Another cause can be distracted driving, which occurs all too often with drivers texting or otherwise using their mobile devices. Any investigation will no doubt consider all these alternatives, especially because in our experience when a fatality occurs the investigation is much more thorough and the resulting traffic collision report (commonly referred to as a police report) is often, but not always, quite lengthy.
Families of victims who die in such horrific accidents may have a wrongful death claim against those responsible, actually or legally, which may include the driver of the responsible car, truck or other vehicle, the owner or owners of the responsible vehicle, and any employer of the driver if the driver or vehicle was being used in the course and scope of any employment at the time of the collision.
Anyone injured in an accident in Sherman Oaks or Los Angeles, California, or the family of anyone killed in such a collision with a wrongful death claim, may contact us 24/7 for an absolutely FREE case consultation and evaluation. We handle cases throughout all of California and with our over 45 years experience winning thousands of car and truck accidents and recovering millions of dollars for our clients you are in excellent hands with our caring family owned personal injury and wrongful death law offices. And if we take your case we do so on a contingency fee which means we do NOT get paid until we win and our fee comes out of the recovery not your own pocket. So please contact us now, you will be glad that you did.