Southern California Injury Law Blog

On the morning of Sunday, January 30th, 78-year-old Sylvester Ray Martinez was killed in a multiple-vehicle collision in Universal City. The driver of a 2003 Dodge pickup truck triggered the crash when she struck a Honda Civic on the 101 Freeway near the Cahuenga Pass, seriously injuring the vehicle’s driver. Martinez, a passenger in the Civic, was critically injured and suffered a heart attack; he was pronounced dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, explains a California personal injury attorney.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently released its 2009 Traffic Safety Facts. NHTSA reported that traffic accidents resulted in 33,808 fatalities and 2,217,000 injuries that year. Vehicle occupants accounted for 24,474 of the deaths and 2,011,000 of the injuries. The majority of the collisions involved passenger cars and light trucks.

All of us at Allen, Flatt, Ballidis, and Leslie would like to offer our condolences to the family of Sylvester Ray Martinez, the man killed in the multiple-vehicle collision on Sunday. We would also like to wish the driver of the Civic a full recovery.

Resources to assist accident victims with the process of pursuing an injury or wrongful death claim are available to the public free of charge.

If you would like to request a book or an article, or to discuss a specific legal matter with a California personal injury attorney, feel free to call 866-981-5596.

Authorities are looking for the driver who stole a Ford F-150 pickup truck and then struck and killed a motorcyclist while traveling the wrong way on the 215 Freeway in an attempt to evade police. Shortly before 12:30 p.m. last Saturday, San Bernardino police received the report of the theft. Officers chased the vehicle on the westbound 210 near Waterman Avenue until the driver exited the freeway, taking Highland Avenue to Muscupiable Avenue, and then entering the exit ramp of Interstate 215. He struck a 57-year-old Riverside motorcyclist, fleeing the accident scene on foot. Anyone with information on the suspect, who is described as a clean-shaven Hispanic male in his twenties, 5 feet 6 inches tall, with a shaved head, is asked to call the San Bernardino Police Department at (909) 384-5742, explains a California truck accident attorney.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s, NHTSA, 2009 Traffic Safety Facts, 33,808 traffic crash victims were killed and 2,217,000 injured. Motorcyclists accounted for 4,462 of the fatalities and 90,000 of the injuries that year. 2,216, or 48.2%, of the fatalities and 34,000, or 40.5%, of the injuries were the result of a collision between a motorcyclist and another vehicle in transport.

All of us at Allen, Flatt, Ballidis, and Leslie would like to offer our condolences to the family of the motorcyclist who was struck and killed by the driver of the stolen truck in San Bernardino.

The Los Angeles Times originally reported this accident.

Additional information, including articles and books on injury and wrongful death claims, is available to the public free of charge.

If you would like to request one of these resources, or to speak with a California truck accident attorney, feel free to call 866-981-5596.

Yesterday at around 3:45 p.m., a van struck and critically injured two teenagers in Buena Park. 53-year-old Fountain Valley resident Gilbert Armando Gonzales was traveling south on Beach Boulevard when he lost control of his 2003 Chevy Astro van, swerving onto the sidewalk near Auto Center Drive and striking two 15-year-old Buena Park High School students. One of the teens was run over, while the other remained pinned under the van for approximately half an hour; firefighters had to use rescue airbags to free him. They were taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition. Authorities believe Gonzales may have suffered a seizure; however, they also suspect that he was driving under the influence and will arrest him when he is released from the hospital, explains an Orange County auto accident attorney.

Recently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA, released its 2009 Traffic Safety Facts. That year, the agency recorded 4,092 pedestrian fatalities and 59,000 injuries nationwide. The majority of the fatal accidents occurred at non-intersection locations (74.8%) and between the hours of 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. (24.8%). Injury accidents occurred most frequently at intersections (49.1%) and within the same duration of time as fatal accidents (24.6%).

All of us at Allen, Flatt, Ballidis, and Leslie would like to wish the two teenagers critically injured in Buena Park yesterday a full recovery.

The Orange County Register originally reported this pedestrian accident.

Additional information, including links to pedestrian advocacy groups and articles on pedestrian rights, is available to the public free of charge.

If you would like to request one of these resources, or to speak with an Orange County auto accident attorney, feel free to call 866-981-5596.

Shortly before 5:30 last Sunday evening, a motorcycle accident in Oxnard left two women dead. A 22-year-old Oxnard woman and a 20-year-old Santa Paula woman were riding north on Rice Avenue when a southbound Lincoln Town Car struck them while attempting to make a left turn onto Camino Del Sol. One of the women died at the scene; the other woman died at a nearby hospital. Authorities are investigating the crash, explains a California personal injury lawyer.

Oxnard accounted for 1 of the 11 fatal and 15 of the 227 injury motor vehicle traffic collisions that occurred in Ventura County in 2008, the most recent year for which the California Highway Patrol has posted accident statistics. Recently, a report by National Public Radio indicated that while road-related deaths decreased between 2005 and 2009, motorcycle fatalities have increased.

All of us at Allen, Flatt, Ballidis, and Leslie would like to offer our condolences to the families of the two women who died in the motorcycle accident on Sunday.

Additional information, including books and articles on the injury and wrongful death claims process, is available to the public free of charge.

To request one of these resources, or to discuss a specific legal matter with a California personal injury lawyer, feel free to call 866-981-5596.

On Sunday morning, a car accident involving a bicyclist left two people critically injured. At about 8:16 a.m. two vehicles collided near Pacific Coast Highway and Seapoint Avenue in Huntington Beach. Both vehicles rolled down an embankment and onto a trail, striking a bicyclist. Authorities are investigating the accident, explains an Orange County injury attorney.

Huntington Beach accounted for none of the 10 fatal and 157 of the 1,087 injury motor vehicle collisions involving bicyclists in 2008, the most recent year for which the California Highway Patrol has posted accident statistics. Statewide, there were a total of 131 fatal and 11,683 injury collisions involving bicyclists. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, most bicyclist-vehicle collisions can be attributed to just five causes.

All of us would like to wish the two people critically injured on Sunday morning a full recovery.

The Orange County Register originally reported this car accident.

Additional resources, including articles and books on protecting an injury claim, are available to the public free of charge.

To request an article or a book, or to speak with an Orange County injury attorney, feel free to call 866-981-5596.

Shortly before 6:00 p.m. on Monday, January 3rd, an elderly man was attempting to cross near the intersection of Crestbrook Drive and Saratoga Avenue in Saratoga when a vehicle struck him. He sustained serious injuries from the impact and was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition. Authorities are investigating this pedestrian accident, explains a California personal injury lawyer.

Throughout the state, 646 fatal and 12,774 injury motor vehicle traffic collisions involving pedestrians occurred in 2008, the most recent year for which the California Highway Patrol has posted accident statistics. That year, Saratoga accounted for none of the 22 fatal and 3 of the 466 injury pedestrian accidents in Santa Clara County.

Whether walking inside or outside of a crosswalk, in most situations pedestrians have the right-of-way. If a driver neglects to observe a pedestrian’s right-of-way and an accident ensues, the driver may be held liable for any injury-related expenses the pedestrian incurs.

All of us at Allen, Flatt, Ballidis, and Leslie would like to wish the elderly man who was injured in this Saratoga pedestrian accident a full recovery.

Additional information, including articles on pedestrian rights and links to pedestrian advocacy groups, is available to the public free of charge.

To request one of these resources, or to discuss a specific legal matter with a California personal injury lawyer, feel free to call 866-981-5596.

At approximately 11:30 a.m. on Monday, January 3rd, 71-year-old Boon Soon Yang was fatally struck by her daughter’s car in the 7200 block of Melrose Street in Buena Park. 47-year-old Sung S. Lim was attempting to make a left turn into the driveway of a senior living community when a westbound Honda Civic struck her vehicle, sending it up onto the curb where her mother was standing. Yang was transported to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead. Neither Lim nor the other driver, 19-year-old Priya D. Shah, was injured. Authorities are investigating to determine who was at fault for the car accident. Witnesses have been asked to call the Buena Park Police Department’s Traffic Division at 714-562-3943, explains an Orange County auto accident attorney.

Buena Park accounted for 3 of the 31 fatal and 22 of the 785 injury motor vehicle traffic collisions involving pedestrians that occurred in Orange County in 2008, according to the California Highway Patrol’s most recently posted annual accident statistics. A recent study found that 10 California cities rank among the 50 most dangerous for drivers in the nation.

All of us at Allen, Flatt, Ballidis, and Leslie would like to offer our condolences to Sung S. Lim and the other members of the family of Boon Soon Yang.

The Orange County Register reported this fatal car accident.

Additional resources, such as books and articles on the accident and wrongful death claims process, are available to the public free of charge.

To request an article or a book, or to speak with an Orange County auto accident attorney, feel free to call 866-981-5596.