Southern California Injury Law Blog

At around 3:15 a.m. on Monday, May 16, a semi truck veered onto the shoulder of the 60 Freeway in Pomona, killing two people who were standing next to their vehicles. The California Highway Patrol found a gas container near the accident scene, suggesting that the drivers had pulled over because one of the vehicles was low on fuel. One person was thrown onto Gary Avenue, were he died from his injuries; the other died near the wreckage. Although the truck driver did not appear to be injured, he was taken to a nearby hospital as a precaution. Authorities have not determined why the truck driver veered onto the shoulder; however, they have eliminated the possibility that alcohol contributed to the accident, explains a California truck accident lawyer.

In 2009, traffic crashes claimed the lives of 33,808 people and injured another 2,217,000, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s most current accident statistics. That year, midnight to 3 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays was deadliest time to be on the road, with 1,024 and 1,072 fatal crashes, respectively. Moreover, 7 percent of fatal crashes involved large trucks.

KABC-TV, channel 7, was the source of this accident report.

All of us at Allen, Flatt, Ballidis, and Leslie would like to offer our condolences to the families of the two people who were struck and killed by the semi truck in Pomona.

Resources for accident victims and their families, including articles and books on the injury and wrongful death claims process, are available to the public free of charge.

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

At around 8:40 p.m. on Friday, May 13, a vehicle fatally struck pedestrian Rebecca Vegas at the intersection of Ocean Avenue and J Street in Lompoc. The driver, 18-year-old Lacey Strange, remained at the scene until officers arrived. Neither alcohol nor drugs contributed to the accident; however LompocRecord.com reported that authorities are investigating the possibility that Strange was distracted by a cell phone when she hit Vegas. The California Highway Patrol will be assisting with the investigation because Strange is the daughter of a Lompoc policeman, explains a California personal injury attorney.

Lompoc accounted for 13 of the 186 fatal and injury pedestrian accidents that occurred in Santa Barbara County in 2009, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety’s most recent accident statistics. Nationwide, the number of pedestrians killed in collisions decreased by 7 percent, from 4,414 in 2008 to 4,092 in 2009, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That year, 12 percent of traffic fatalities were attributed to pedestrians.

All of us at Allen, Flatt, Ballidis, and Leslie would like to offer our condolences to the family of Rebecca Vegas, the pedestrian who was fatally struck in Lompoc last Friday.

Resources for accident victims and their families, including books and articles on the injury and wrongful death claims process, are available to the public free of charge.

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

Shortly after 9 p.m. on Monday, May 9, a pickup truck struck and killed 27-year-old motorcyclist Josue Corado, of Norwalk. The driver of the truck, 24-year-old Josue Avalos, hit Corado when he turned left onto Home Street from Long Beach Boulevard in front of him, the impact sending him 15 feet from the site of the accident. Although paramedics performed life-saving techniques, such as CPR, Corado was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Authorities are investigating the crash and a criminal charge is pending against Avalos, explains a California personal injury lawyer.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA, has designated May as Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month. During May, Los Angeles Police Department officers will heavily patrol areas frequented by motorcyclists in an effort to prevent fatal and injury accidents through enforcement. With 394 fatal crashes, 2009 marked the end a 10-year, 175-percent increase in motorcyclist fatalities, from 204 deaths in 1998 to 560 in 2008.

All of us at Allen, Flatt, Ballidis, and Leslie would like to offer our condolences to the family of Josue Corado, the motorcyclist who was struck and killed by the truck last Monday night.

The Long Beach Press-Telegram originally reported this accident.

Resources for accident victims and their families, including books and articles on the injury and wrongful death claims process, are available to the public free of charge.

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

At around 8 p.m. last Sunday, two people were killed and three injured in an alcohol-related car accident in the Encinitas beach community of Cardiff-by-the-Sea. According to investigators, one of the vehicles was traveling east on Manchester Avenue at a high rate of speed when the driver lost control and swerved into a westbound vehicle. Authorities arrived to find one of the decedents lying in the road and the other inside one of the vehicles. Paramedics transported two of the injured to nearby hospitals, while the third was airlifted to a hospital, according to a California injury attorney.

Alcohol was a factor in 27 of the 187 traffic accidents resulting in injury or death in Encinitas in 2009, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety’s most current accident statistics. Throughout California, fatalities in crashes in which at least one driver or motorcycle operator had a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of 0.08 or greater decreased by 7.6 percent from 1,025 in 2008 to 950 in 2009.

All of us at Allen, Flatt, Ballidis, and Leslie would like to offer our condolences to the families of the two people who were killed in the car accident in Cardiff-by-the-Sea. We would also like to wish a full recovery to the three people who were injured.

Resources for accident victims and their families, including books and articles on the injury and wrongful death claims process, are available to the public free of charge.

To request one of these free resources, or to speak with a California injury attorney, feel free to call 866-981-5596.