Southern California Car Accident Lawyer Blog

Edgar Hernandez-Uribe, 18, died in a fatal San Bernardino motorcycle accident the morning of July 1, 2009 on the 10 Freeway in Colton. According to the San Bernardino Sun, Edgar Hernandez-Uribe was riding a 2007 Yamaha motorcycle when he veered off the freeway and crash. The impact threw him off the bike, California Highway Patrol officials said. Hernandez-Uribe was pronounced dead at the scene.

I offer my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of young Edgar Hernandez-Uribe for their tragic and heartbreaking loss. My heart goes out to everyone who knew and loved this man. Please keep them in your prayers.

According to California Highway Patrol's 2007 Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS), there was one fatality and 23 injuries involving motorcycle accidents in Colton. In San Bernardino County as a whole, 28 deaths and 627 injuries were reported as a result of motorcycle accidents.

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Seven people were hurt, two critically, in a Los Angeles car accident after a car sped onto to a sidewalk and slammed into another vehicle, the Associated Press reports. The car apparently ran a red light in southeast Los Angeles the morning of June 30, 2009 and drove onto the sidewalk, striking two people before hitting a second car, Los Angeles police officials said. A woman in her 50s and a man in his 40s who were struck on the sidewalk suffered critical injuries. Five others were also reportedly injured in the car crash, but their condition was not serious or life-threatening.

My heart goes out to all victims who were injured in this Los Angeles county pedestrian accident especially the two pedestrians who were critically injured. Unfortunately, they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

According to California Highway Patrol's 2007 Statewide Integrated Traffic Reporting System, there were 90 fatalities and 2,690 injuries involving pedestrian accidents in the city of Los Angeles. In Los Angeles County, 210 deaths and 5,095 injuries were reported in 2007 as a result of pedestrian accidents.

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Hit-and-run accidents in Southern California occur almost on a daily basis. Hit-and-run accident victims and their families are the worst sufferers in these situations because not only are they suffer serious personal injuries or killed as a result of the accident, but they are saddled with sky-high medical expenses, cost of hospitalization, medication and loss of earnings – and they have no one to hold accountable for their injuries, damages and loss.

Our client, Shaun Edward Earnhart, is exactly in this situation. Earnhart was seriously injured in a hit-and-run accident when he had got off his car on the shoulder of the eastbound 60 Freeway off-ramp at the Phillips Ranch Road exit in Pomona. Earnhart had got off the car because he had gotten sick from eating at a restaurant. According to California Highway Patrol officials, it was at this time that the driver of the Mercedes Benz exiting the freeway veered into the shoulder and struck Earnhart. The impact of the pedestrian-car crash sent Earnhart flying back, over the Mercedes, and across the off-ramp lanes. He suffered critical injuries and is still in the hospital.

The driver of the Mercedes dropped a black, custom-made, spider web-shaped grill at the scene after the impact. Other than that the Mercedes did not slow, brake or stop. In fact, according to Earnhart's distraught girlfriend, the driver of the Mercedes accelerated down the off-ramp and fled the scene so fast that she could not even get the vehicle license plate number. Based on the physical evidence at the scene, CHP officials believe that the Mercedes should have considerable front end damage. Investigators also believe that the spider web-shaped grill recovered from the scene belonged to a customized AMG-style Mercedes Benz. The part number on the grill was AMG A 220 885 06 53.

Continue reading "Los Angeles County Personal Injury Attorneys Seek Leads in Freeway Hit-and-Run Accident" »

Police in Mission Viejo arrested Jesse Karim Pena, a 31-year-old emergency medical technician at Mission Hospital on suspicion of raping a woman inside a hospital while she was too intoxicated to resist, The Orange County Register reports. Police are saying that they believe there may have been more victims in this personal injury case. Investigators said DNA linked Pena to the rape of a patient at Mission Hospital who reported to police that she was assaulted while receiving medical care at the hospital.

The victim, who was only identified as a 31-year-old woman, was taken to Mission Hospital by ambulance on February 20, 2009. Officials got a 911 call from the hospital from the woman who told investigators that she felt as if she had been raped. The woman was apparently semi-conscious and intoxicated during the assault, but she told officials that she knew someone raped her. The newspaper reports that the woman was not able to resist because she was under the influence of "an intoxicating substance, an anesthetic substance and a controlled substance." Police investigators took DNA samples from all three emergency medical technicians who had access to the woman at the hospital. The DNA on her gown matched Pena's, officials said.

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A Yucaipa couple--Clyde Arnett, 87 and his wife, Mildred Arnett, 88--were killed in a Palm Springs car accident after a speeding driver rear-ended their sedan that was stopped on the shoulder of Highway 111. According to a news report in The Desert Sun, the fatal car accident occurred early morning June 24, 2009 on northbound state Route 111 near Gateway Drive.

Clyde and Mildred Arnett had parked their Ford Crown Victoria sedan on the northbound shoulder of the highway when they were rear-ended at high speed by a 45-year-old Victorville man driving a Mercedes, Palm Springs police said. Witnesses told police that the man behind the wheel of the Mercedes was driving erratically just before the car collision. The Arnetts were pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the Mercedes was not seriously injured.

Continue reading "Elderly Couple Killed in Riverside County Car Accident" »

Steven Alex Sanchez, 19, died and three others were injured in an Los Angeles County car accident the night of June 23, 2009 after their car veered off a mountain road in the Angeles National Forest, CBS News reports. The fatal car crash occurred at mile marker 23 of San Gabriel Canyon Road near Highway 39 as a Ford Mustang went off the rural road and over a cliff. Two other occupants in the car suffered moderate injuries and apparently had to be rescued. The injured victims were transported to an area hospital.

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Seven people suffered injuries in a Pasadena street intersection bus accident involving a Pasadena Area Rapid Transit System (ARTS) bus and a sedan, the Pasadena Star News reports. The bus-car accident occurred the morning of June 23, 2009 after the bus, which was traveling north on Raymond Avenue collided with a sedan, jumped the curb and slammed into a traffic light. The sedan had been heading east on Holly Street. All the seven people who were injured were bus passengers. Pasadena police officials believe one of the two vehicles ran a red light. The injuries were not major, but were characterized as "moderate." Most involved back and neck injuries.

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Gabriel Pompa, 30, was killed in a North Hollywood hit-and-run pedestrian accident early morning June 22, 2009, the Los Angeles Daily News reports. Pompa was reportedly struck near the intersection of Satsuma Avenue and Vanowen Street in North Hollywood, Los Angeles police officials said. Officials said they responded after a motorist driving by saw Pompa's body lying on the street and called 911. So far, no witnesses have contacted police about this fatal hit-and-run accident. However, officials are hoping to get some information about the hit-and-run driver off the cameras in the area. Investigators are looking into how the pedestrian accident may have occurred, but are now saying that there was no marked crosswalk where Pompa was hit.

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Melissa Rosales Dennis, 19, was killed in a Long Beach rollover car accident after she crashed on a 710 Freeway off-ramp the morning of June 19, 2009. According to a news article in the Daily Breeze, Dennis lost control of her 1993 Acura Integra, which rolled over and came to rest on its hood on the Sixth Street off-ramp. No other vehicles were involved in this fatal car accident. Long Beach fire officials pronounced Dennis dead at the scene. Long Beach traffic accident investigators are still trying to determine what caused this car accident. If you have more information about this fatal car crash, please contact the Long Beach Police Department at 562-570-7355.

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A man in his 40s was injured in an Irvine bicycle accident the morning of June 19, 2009 after a hit-and-run driver struck him at a city intersection, The Orange County Register reports. The Orange County hit-and-run accident apparently occurred at the intersection of Irvine Center Drive and Pacifica. The bicyclist was conscious and breathing after he was struck, but seemed to have suffered hip injuries, Orange County Fire Authority officials said. There is no vehicle description available of the hit-and-run car.

Continue reading "Orange County Hit-and-Run Bicycle Accident Injures Man" »

A 10-year-old boy suffered critical injuries in a Baldwin Park car accident the evening of June 16, 2009, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports. The boy was a passenger in the car his 18-year-old brother was driving near Ramona Park and Center Street when another car driven by 25-year-old Frank Ramirez made a left turn in front of the 18-year-old driver. The teenager could not avoid hitting Ramirez's car, Baldwin Park police said. Police say preliminary investigations do show that Ramirez made an unsafe left turn. Neither Ramirez nor the 18-year-old driver had a license.

The child passenger suffered major head injuries and was airlifted to an area hospital. His older brother, the 18-year-old driver, suffered serious personal injuries but they were not life threatening. Ramirez was uninjured.

My heart goes out to the 10-year-old boy who was critically injured in this car accident. I hope and pray that the boy recovers from his serious injuries quickly and completely. Please keep him in your prayers.

According to California Highway Patrol's 2007 Statewide Integrated Traffic Reporting System there were four fatalities and 302 injuries involving car accidents in Baldwin Park. In Los Angeles County as a whole, there were 712 fatalities and 56,475 injuries involving car accidents in 2007.

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Five people were injured in a Los Angeles big rig truck accident on the 5 Freeway June 16, 2009 after a big rig truck driver failed to stop in time and avoid the car-truck collision. According to an Associated Press news report, the big rig truck was traveling north when traffic slowed down. The truck driver, however, crashed into the center divider, jackknifing and demolishing about 14 feet of the wall. The truck also ended up plowing into seven other cars.

I'm relieved that this Los Angeles County commercial truck accident did not end tragically for anyone. I'm also glad that the other motorists did not suffer major personal injuries. I wish all the injured victims a speedy and complete recovery.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s truck accident statistics, there were 361 fatal accidents involving large trucks in California in 2007 and 10,635 injury accident involving big rigs during that same time. California tops the list of states with the highest number of fatal and major injury big rig accidents.

Continue reading "Los Angeles County Big Rig Truck Accident Injures Five" »