Southern California Injury Law Blog

At around 9 p.m. on Saturday, June 25th, a van fatally struck a wheelchair user in San Diego. The van was stopped at a red light on West Point Loma Boulevard when the wheelchair user, a resident of a nearby convalescent home, entered the crosswalk, at which point the van turned right, hitting the pedestrian. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the van and his passenger were not injured in the accident, explains a California personal injury attorney.

In 2009, motor vehicle traffic accidents claimed the lives of 4,092 pedestrians and injured another 59,000. Most accidents can be attributed to either driver error or unsafe conditions for the pedestrian, such as a lack of sidewalks, crosswalks, pedestrian islands, and lighting. Moreover, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities tend to be the most susceptible to pedestrian accidents. Recently, a report by the safety coalition Transportation for America found that the San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos area had the 5th highest percentage of traffic deaths that were pedestrians.

All of us at Allen, Flatt, Ballidis, and Leslie would like to offer our condolences to the family of the wheelchair user who was fatally struck by the van last Saturday night.

Resources for accident victims and their families, such as 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.

On Sunday, June 19th, a street racer injured three people in Oxnard. While racing his Corvette against another driver on Camino del Sol, 28-year-old Samuel Mata lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a GMC SUV and another vehicle, the impact causing the SUV to rollover. The Oxnard Fire Department had to extricate the driver from the wreckage. The two occupants of the other vehicle suffered moderate injuries and were transported to a local hospital. Police arrested Mata on suspicion of street racing and felony driving under the influence, explains a California personal injury attorney.

Street racing-related accidents claimed 804 lives in the United States between 2001 and 2006. Moreover, over 31 percent of fatal crashes involved speeding in 2008, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That year, California was the state with the second highest incidence of traffic fatalities in which speeding was a contributing factor. Nationwide, young male drivers, specifically those between the ages of 15 and 24 years, were involved in the majority of such crashes.

All of us at Allen, Flatt, Ballidis, and Leslie would like to wish the three people injured by the street racer last Sunday a full recovery.

Additional information, including books and articles on the process of pursuing an injury claim, is 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 attorney, feel free to call 866-981-5596.

After the bang of recession and the introduction of new settlement laws, the demand of debt settlement programs has increased a lot. The reason for debt settlement gaining immense popularity is it helps both lenders and borrowers to settle the outstanding debt burden. With settlement, one can deal with his or her unsecured financial liabilities in a short span of time. If you are a debt stricken consumer and debt settlement is absolutely new to you, a debt settlement attorney can help you to bell the cat. You can negotiate with the creditors on your own, but the debt settlement lawyer always has an added advantage in this respect. A debt settlement attorney works closely with the creditors, and this intervention causes a nearly 50% elimination of your original debts.

The principle function of a debt settlement attorney

A debt settlement attorney provides expert help and assistance to both lenders and consumers. He or she contacts each of the creditors individually, discusses the loan terms, and analyzes each detail of your income before determining the final procedure of credit card debt settlement. He strives hard to remove any sort of negative information from your credit report as well.

Reasons to hire a debt settlement attorney

Hiring a debt settlement attorney is a costly process but one should understand it is worth bearing the cost. Settling your debts on your own can sometimes be risky, as it’s not possible to get maximum elimination in the amount of debt without a professional’s help. Hiring a debt settlement attorney ensures that the entire settlement deal will be performed under the supervision of skilled and trained financial experts. It’s much easier for the trained and experienced experts to tackle the lenders as well as the issue of unsecured debt elimination. They can handle all the paper work and other legal formalities proficiently and bring down the payable balance by 50% to 70%.

The debt settlement attorney or the settlement firms actually play the role of an intermediary between both parties. In short, they help the creditors to retrieve the debt amount to some extent which otherwise would have been impossible if the borrower files for bankruptcy. At the same time, the debt settlement attorney works to ease the debt burden of the consumers who look for maximum reduction in the minimum possible time.

Initially, often the lenders are reluctant to accept a settlement deal as they lose big bucks by settling the consumer’s debts. However, if a financial negotiator strikes the right bargain, the lenders are more likely to show interest in the settlement deal.

Appoint a debt settlement lawyer if you have a lump some of more than $10,000 in unsecured debts to handle. Remember, if the debt settlement attorney put forward the settlement proposal, creditors will not have much choice but to agree to a debt settlement deal, and your settlement plan is more likely to be successful

On Wednesday, June 15th, an elderly driver struck and critically injured a teenage cyclist in Escondido, explains a California personal injury attorney. The teen was waiting at the corner of East Grand Avenue and North Rose Street to cross the street when an 84-year-old man drove his van onto the sidewalk after miscalculating the left turn he was attempting to make. Paramedics transported the cyclist to a local hospital for treatment. Authorities have asked that witnesses to the accident contact Officer Michael A. Garcia at 760-839-4729.

Escondido accounted for 57 of the 1,132 fatal and injury motor vehicle accidents involving cyclists in 2009, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety’s most current statistics. That year, bicyclist fatalities in the state decreased by 9.2 percent. Nationwide, 70 percent of cycling fatalities were suffered in urban areas; 72 percent occurred between the hours of 4 a.m. and 8 p.m., according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Resources for accident victims and their families, such as books and articles on bicycle safety, cyclists' rights, and the process of pursuing an injury claim, 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 attorney, feel free to call 866-981-5596.

Last Wednesday afternoon, a car accident involving three vehicles on the 5 Freeway in San Clemente left 10 people injured. The crash was triggered when a northbound Dodge failed to slow down for traffic and rear-ended a Nissan, the impact sending it into a Mercedes-Benz. The injuries the six occupants of the Nissan sustained ranged from minor to serious; all were transported to Mission Hospital to receive treatment. The four occupants of the Dodge suffered minor injuries and were also taken to a local hospital, while the driver of the Mercedes was not hurt in the crash. Authorities are investigating whether inattentive driving contributed to the collision, explains an Orange County car accident lawyer.

San Clemente accounted for 144 of the 18,867 fatal and injury motor vehicle traffic accidents suffered in Orange County in 2009, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety’s most current accident statistics. That year, the number of deaths suffered in crashes in the state decreased by 10.3 percent, from 3,434 in 2008 to 2,081. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration defines distracted driving as “any non-driving activity a person engages in that has the potential to distract him or her from the primary task of driving and increase the risk of crashing.” In 2009, 20 percent of collisions that resulted in injury were attributed to inattentive driving.

All of us at Allen, Flatt, Ballidis, and Leslie would like to wish the 10 people injured in the car accident on the 5 Freeway in San Clemente last Wednesday a full recovery.

The Orange County Register originally reported this collision.

Additional information, including articles and books on the process of pursing an injury claim, is available to the public free of charge.

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

At about 7:25 a.m. on Tuesday, May 31st, a drunk driver struck and critically injured two girls in an Orange crosswalk. The accident occurred at the intersection of Tustin Street and Quincy Avenue when a gray Ford Focus hit the girls while they were crossing the street. The girls were transported to nearby hospitals. The driver, 37-year-old Mitchell Gordon Cupery, fled the scene but was later apprehended. He has been charged with hit-and-run with permanent injury, driving under the influence causing bodily injury, resisting arrest, and driving on a suspended license and is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail at Men’s Central Jail. Since 2004, Cupery has been incarcerated on multiple occasions for misdemeanor crimes, including driving under the influence, explains an Orange County car accident lawyer.

Orange accounted for 89 of the 1,951 fatal and injury traffic accidents in which alcohol was a factor that occurred in Orange County in 2009, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety. That year, alcohol-impaired driving fatalities decreased by 7.6 percent throughout the state, from 1,025 in 2008 to 950 in 2009. Nationwide, impaired drivers involved in fatal crashes were eight times more likely to have a prior drunk driving conviction than those who were not intoxicated, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

All of us at Allen, Flatt, Ballidis, and Leslie would like to wish a full recovery to the two girls who were struck and critically injured on May 31st.

The Orange County Register originally reported this hit-and-run pedestrian accident.

Resources for accident victims, including links to pedestrian advocacy groups and articles and books on the injury 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 an Orange County car accident lawyer, feel free to call 866-981-5596.

A debt settlement attorney is a person specialized in negotiating with the creditors to minimize the debt amount a person owes. It’s certainly advantageous to hire a settlement attorney, as he or she is capable of working out a better deal with your creditors than you can. A debt settlement attorney contacts your credit card companies and collection agencies and makes sure they all contact the attorney instead of the debtor. A debt settlement attorney plays a very major role in restoring the consumer’s credit rating and also creates a plan for your secure financial future. He obtains the consumer’s credit reports and works hard to remove any improper, erroneous, or deceptive points.

Debt settlement differs significantly from credit counseling. Hiring an attorney to settle your debts may be perilous to your credit. But if your credit is already spoiled you have little to lose. Further, debt settlement is much more effective than credit counseling and can wipe out your debt in less time. But, it’s always advisable to go for a debt settlement attorney if you owe hundreds and thousands of dollars. For smaller amounts, try to settle the amounts on your own.

Where a debt settlement attorney is applicable?

Keep in mind that there are two kinds of debt, secured debt and unsecured debt. Things like mortgages, car loans, student loans and child support fall into the secured category, as in secured debt there is always an assurance of some type of property. Unsecured debt includes medical bills, credit card bills, tax payments and back child support. Now, a debt settlement attorney generally deals with unsecured debts, as there is no risk of getting your properties ceased if the payments are not made.

Your debt settlement attorney is not bound by any time span.

Remember, debt settlement and negotiations take time. You cannot ask your settlement attorney to complete the procedure within a certain time. Sometimes in a debt settlement the creditor agrees to reduce your debt up to 40% of the total amount. They prefer such settlements than the debtor file bankruptcy. The settlement is reported as “paid as agreed,” “settled,” or “settled as agreed.” But if a creditor doesn’t mark the debt as “paid as agreed,” it may have a negative effect on the consumer’s credit history.

Finally, hiring a settlement attorney is a major decision and can cost you a lot of money. So, it’s advisable to comprehensively hire an attorney. There is an interesting fact that if you neglect the debt long enough, you have a good chance of never hearing about the creditor again. Seven years after the debt is written off, the negative listing vanishes from your report altogether. But, this mustn’t be a good alternative.