Auto Accident
Driver of Camaro Injured in Moss Landing Car Accident
CBS affiliate KION-46, Central Coast News, recently reported that an accident took place on Highway 1 going northbound. The car crash began with two vehicles: one driven by a 25-year-old Prunedale man and the other driven by a 42-year-old woman. The 25-year-old man was taken to Watsonville Community Hospital and then transported to San Jose Regional with major injuries, including two broken legs. The 42-year-old woman was taken to Watsonville Community Hospital with complaints of pain, but no other details about her condition were made available.
Reportedly, the male motorist crossed the double yellow line while traveling at an unknown rate of speed in an attempt to pass the female motorist. As another motorist headed towards the 42-year-old driver, the driver hit the female motorist’s vehicle, causing a chain reaction that affected two more vehicles. According to the report, a Dodge Ram truck struck the male motorist’s vehicle, and an Acura driven by the fourth involved motorist struck the 42-year-old woman.
While investigation into the crash is certainly still taking place, it should be noted that negligent parties deemed responsible for an accident can be held accountable for monetary compensation to be paid out to the accident victims. In the event that an individual is injured in a car accident in Northern California, that individual’s best course of action is to retain the services of an experienced San Jose personal injury attorney who will fight to ensure that the rights of the accident victim are not trampled upon in court of law.
At Van Der Walde & Associates, our skilled Northern California personal injury attorneys will examine the details surrounding your accident, and will hold negligent parties accountable for their actions. We understand how critical it is for you and your family to receive the compensation that you deserve to help pay for expenses brought on by your accident and subsequent injuries. If you have been injured in a San Jose auto accident, please don’t hesitate to contact our offices today at 877-862-6288 for a free case consultation.
Source:http://www.kionrightnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11496090
San Francisco Ranks Second in Number of Pedestrian Accidents
The Sacramento Bee recently ran an article that revealed that the streets of San Francisco are the second most dangerous place for pedestrians. Reportedly, San Francisco ranks solely behind New York City as the nation’s leader in pedestrian fatalities. According to Transportation for America and the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership, the two groups that created the report, San Francisco ranks No. 40 overall on the “Pedestrian Danger Index.”
Claims made by Walk San Francisco, a pedestrian advocacy group situated in San Francisco, state that the fatality rate per 100,000 people in the city is 2.6 percent. This figure is 70 percent higher than the national average. The report also speculates that most pedestrian deaths are in fact preventable, with the primary causes of such accidents being a lack of safe sidewalks, crosswalks, pedestrian signals, and other preventative measures put into place to protect pedestrians. And San Francisco isn’t the only area in Northern California that failed to rank well for pedestrian safety. The Sacramento-Arden-Roseville metropolitan area ranks No. 22 nationally, while the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara area comes in at No. 26.
Pedestrian safety should be of the utmost concern to state departments of transportation and county and municipal transit agencies. In the event that negligent action on the part of some governing party leads to pedestrian injury, then that party may be held liable for damages associated with the injury. In fact, in any type of accident, the negligent party who contributes towards causing the accident can often be held liable for monetary compensation to assist injured individuals in recovering from their accident.
At Van Der Walde & Associates, our experienced San Francisco pedestrian accident attorneys will examine every detail surrounding your accident, and will hold negligent parties responsible for contributing to your accident. We will seek monetary compensation on your behalf while ensuring that your rights as an injured pedestrian are protected. If you have been injured, please don’t hesitate to contact our personal injury lawyers today for a free consultation of your case. Call us at 877-862-6288.
Student Involved in Santa Clara Car Crash Awarded Damages
An auto accident in Santa Clara that involved multiple vehicles has resulted in a $49 million jury award for a college student who was injured while on his way home from a camping trip. The injury accident took place on State Route 152, better known as the Pacheco Pass. Two trucks collided at or near the center line, and the vehicle that the injured college student was riding in was struck by one of the trucks. After a five week trial, it was determined that the driver of one truck was 60% at fault, the driver of the other truck was 35% at fault, and the state of California was 5% at fault.
The jury awarded the injured college student the multi-million dollar verdict to compensate him for a variety of costs associated with his accident and the resulting brain injury he sustained. That is, $3.4 million was allocated for his past medical expenses, $27.6 million was allocated towards his future medical expenses, $4.5 million was attributed for future lost wages, and another $13.5 million was awarded for general damages. In the end, the rights of the injured were protected, and the student’s future well-being has been at least partially safeguarded.
In all California auto accidents, accountability is attributed to at least one party whose actions are deemed negligent. In the above case, accountability was attributed to multiple parties, with each party being deemed a certain percentage responsible for the accident’s result. In order to ensure that the rights of the injured are not infringed upon in a court of law, all details and circumstances of an accident need to be thoroughly examined to determine exactly where negligent action may have led to injury.
At Van Der Walde & Associates, our experienced Northern California personal injury attorneys understand the many challenges - on a physical, emotional, and financial level - that auto accident victims often have to endure. If you have been injured in a Northern California auto accident, please don’t hesitate to contact our skilled injury attorneys today for a free consultation of your case. We will fight to ensure that you receive the compensation you deserve for your injuries. Call us today at 877-862-6288.
Road Conditions May Have Played Factor in Santa Cruz Accident
Injuries sustained during car accidents can range from minor scrapes and bruises to life-altering, catastrophic injuries. In 2007, a graduate of San Lorenzo Valley High School lost control of her vehicle, spun into oncoming traffic, and was struck by a pickup truck being driven by a Santa Cruz County worker. The accident resulted in catastrophic injury, and left the young woman a quadriplegic. According to a pressbanner.com article, the family of the Santa Cruz accident victim is seeking to file suit against the county after informal investigation of the circumstances surrounding the accident showed that road conditions may have played a contributing factor in causing the accident.
According to the claim, the safety of the road, including its drainage and current signage, is being labeled as dangerous. Furthermore, the speed of the vehicle being driven by the county worker has also been labeled a factor that may have caused the accident. If in fact these conditions are deemed to have played a role in causing the accident, then the injured party may be able to seek compensatory damages. Such recompense can assist with the costs associated with the accident, namely medical bills and physical therapy fees, if applicable.
Dangerous road conditions are not the fault of motorists. It is the responsibility of local governing authorities to ensure that roads and highways are safe to be traveled on. In the event that dangerous road conditions contribute to a San Jose car accident, the best course of action for an accident victim to take is retaining the services of an experienced Santa Cruz personal injury attorney. At Van Der Walde & Associates, our skilled injury attorneys will seek compensatory damages on your behalf and will hold those responsible for your accident accountable for their actions. Call us today at 877-862-6288 for a free case consultation.
Reckless Act Results in Rollover, Injury and Loss of Life
According to The San Francisco Chronicle, a reckless driving act known as a “sideshow” has resulted in the deaths of three young adults and injured three others. Reportedly, a total of five people were in the Nissan Altima that veered into oncoming traffic, struck a parked vehicle, and overturned onto the sidewalk before coming to a stop. Three of the five, a 22-year-old, 19-year-old, and 21-year-old, were killed in the auto accident in Alameda County. The two other vehicle occupants, along with a pedestrian, were injured in the crash and hospitalized with serious injuries. Updates on the conditions of the three injured individuals were not included in the report.
According to residents of the area where the accident took place, the dangerous vehicular activity puts all nearby residents and their property in grave danger. Whether the sideshow consists of “ghost riding the whip “ (a practice in which an individual vacates his or her vehicle while it is placed in neutral and traveling at slow speeds and dances around it or on top of it) or a “hyphy-train” (a practice in which a caravan of cars synchronize their driving patterns in what is similar to a conga line), such vehicular behavior represents an utter abandonment of traffic safety laws and greatly increases the probability that an individual is going to be killed or be subjected to severe physical injury. Victims of such reckless abandon should consult a personal injury lawyer that will hold individuals responsible for putting on sideshows accountable for their actions and responsible for damages that result from such foolish behavior.
If you have been involved in any type of vehicular accident, it is important to remember that you have rights. At Van Der Walde & Associates, our experienced traffic accident attorneys will examine the circumstances surrounding your accident, and will hold responsible for the accident accountable in a court of law. If you have sustained injury or lost a loved one as the result of another person’s reckless driving behavior, please don’t hesitate to contact our Northern California personal injury lawyers at 877-862-6288 for a free evaluation of your case.
Source:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/18/BA751A77S7.DTL&type=newsbayarea
Wrong Way Driver Takes Two Lives in Watsonville Crash
San Francisco’s local CBS affiliate KPIX-TV Channel 5 recently reported that two people were killed in a car crash that took place on U.S. Highway 101 near Watsonville. The driver of the vehicle, a 51-year-old man, and the vehicle’s passenger, a 52-year-old female from Oakland, both died from injuries sustained during the crash. The male victim was pronounced dead at the scene, while the female was airlifted to Regional Medical Center in San Jose for treatment of her injuries, but could not be saved.
Investigation into the cause of the crash is still underway, although police do know that the other vehicle involved crossed the center-line before striking the vehicle driven by the 51-year-old man. While police do not know what caused the other motorist to waver into oncoming traffic, a thorough investigation will undoubtedly reveal how big of a role reckless driving played in this case and to whom the negligence that led to the crash can be attributed to. Reckless driving of any kind greatly increases the probability of an auto accident occurring. Traveling at rates greater than posted speed limits, failing to adhere to traffic signage, and operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol are all actions that can be deemed negligent.
In any auto accident, negligence of some kind often plays a significant, determining factor in causing the accident in the first place. In all San Jose auto accident cases, it is important that the victims or their families retain the services of an experienced San Jose auto accident attorney that will examine the circumstances of the accident to help appropriately attribute negligent action.
At Van Der Walde & Associates, our experienced auto accident lawyers will carefully examine the circumstances surrounding your claim, and will hold negligent parties accountable for their actions, seeking monetary compensation from those parties on your behalf. If you have been injured, please don’t hesitate to contact us today at 877-862-6288 for a free consultation of your case.
Source:http://cbs5.com/local/fatal.watsonville.car.2.1227429.html
Posted in: Auto Accident, Personal Injury
Families of Bike Accident Victims Collect Settlement from Santa Clara County
An article in San Jose’s Mercury News talks about the $1.2 million settlement that the family of a killed bicyclist received from Santa Clara County. The male bicyclist was killed in an accident involving a police patrol car that was being driven by a sheriff’s deputy that fell asleep at the wheel while driving. The deputy also hit two other male bicyclists during the Cupertino accident that occurred in March of 2008. Santa Clara County previously settled with another one of the other victims for a total of $2.3 million. The third victim recovered from his injuries, and any sort of settlement received by him was not disclosed in the article.
The parents of 30-year-old and 29-year-old bicyclists that were killed filed suit on behalf of their sons, and were awarded compensatory damages on their behalf. While the sheriff’s deputy certainly did not mean to fall asleep at the wheel, he was found negligent in causing the accident. Because there was no intent to commit harm to the bicyclist, the officer pled guilty to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter, and was sentenced to four months of house arrest and an undisclosed amount of public service.
Ultimately, the settlements amount can be considered indicative of the sheriff’s department admitting that wrong-doing on the part of one of their officers took place. As with all vehicular accidents, negligent action can typically be attributed to one or more parties, and such action can hold those individuals responsible for the behavior that caused the accident. Regardless of the situation, it is always important to retain the services of a skilled personal injury lawyer that will examine the details surrounding your accident to ensure that your rights are upheld and those responsible for your accident are deemed as such in a court of law.
If you have recently been in a bicycle accident or any other type of personal injury accident, chances are that negligent behavior played a definite role in causing you injury. At Van Der Walde & Associates, our experienced Santa Clara County bike accident attorneys will seek compensatory damages on your behalf, and will hold the negligent accountable for their actions. If you have been injured, please don’t hesitate to contact us today at 877-862-6288 for a free evaluation of your personal injury case.
SUV Crash Takes Life of Modesto Man, Injures Family
According to tracypress.com, an auto accident involving a Mercedes-Benz SUV and a small Honda vehicle took the life of a 45-year-old man from Modesto, California. The Modesto man was a passenger in the Honda, which was being driven by his sister. Other passengers in the Honda included the Modesto man’s brother-in-law and nephew. The man’s sister, her husband, and their child were all injured in the crash. They were all taken to a Modesto-area hospital for treatment of injuries that included broken ribs, a punctured lung, and spinal injuries. Reportedly, no one in the SUV was injured.
In order to help cover the costs associated with the accident, the family of the deceased Modesto man has set up a fund to assist those affected by the crash. While such a fund is certainly a good idea, especially given the exorbitant costs associated with medical care and making funeral arrangements, it is not the only recourse to be taken in the event of a traffic accident.
Though investigation into this auto accident in San Joaquin County is still underway, police speculate that the SUV, which was traveling at unsafe speeds, may have been racing another vehicle. Such action is certainly to be deemed reckless and represents a degree of negligence that ultimately led to a loss of life and multiple personal injuries.
According to the report, police hope that evidence gathered at the crash scene combined with a computer simulation of the intersection where the accident occurred will provide them insight into what exactly happened, and will show whether or not the driver of the SUV was at fault for the accident.
In any event, an accident victim will benefit not only from police investigation, but from retaining the services of an experienced auto accident attorney that will help examine the details surrounding the crash to determine where negligent behavior may have contributed towards the crash. If you or a loved one has been injured in an auto accident, don’t hesitate to contact the skilled car accident attorneys at Van Der Walde & Associates. Our knowledgeable lawyers will seek compensatory damages on your behalf that may assist with medical bills, wages lost, and other costs associated with your accident. Please call us today at 877-862-6288 for a free consultation of your auto accident case.
Runaway Van Creates Multi-Car Crash on 101
According to a KIONrightnow.com article, a local CBS affiliate in California’s Central Coast, a multi-car collision injured three motorists, two of which sustained severe injuries. The crash occurred when the driver of a white van traveling southbound on highway 101 lost control of the vehicle and hit a total of three other vehicles, all in succession. Reportedly, the white van first struck a passenger car, proceeded to hit another van that had been traveling northbound, and finally came to rest when it struck a big rig.
California Highway Patrol is still investigating the cause of the crash, although it has been determined that the driver of the white van was not operating the vehicle under the influence of either drugs or alcohol. It could be reasoned that the driver was simply driving recklessly and lost control of the vehicle, but it should also be examined as to whether or not any sort of malfunction with the van played a part in causing the accident. That is, faulty auto parts, such as brake pads and tires, can fail due to poor quality or a manufacturing defect, thus contributing to a car crash taking place.
Manufacturers of auto parts have an obligation to sell products that are safe and function properly. In instances where such a faulty auto product causes an accident, the manufacturer of that product can be held liable for damages associated with the failure or defect of the product. In any event, it is important to have someone on your side that will examine the circumstances surrounding your accident to determine where negligence played a contributing factor, and whom that negligence should be attributed to.
In you have recently been injured in an auto accident in San Jose, and you believe that faulty auto parts may have led to the accident occurring, please don’t hesitate to contact a skilled San Jose auto accident lawyer at Van Der Walde & Associates. Our experienced product liability and personal injury attorneys will hold negligent parties accountable for causing your accident, and will seek monetary damages on your behalf to help assist with the costs associated with the accident. If you have been injured, call us today at 877-862-6288 for a free case evaluation.
Source Article: http://www.kionrightnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11157798
Posted in: Auto Accident, Personal Injury
Cable Car-Van Collision Injures Four
The Mercury News recently reported in a story that four people were injured in San Francisco when a cable car collided with a city van. The accident occurred on Washington Street as the cable car was traveling towards Downtown. A total of four commuters, all of whom were in the cable car, were injured during the collision. Two of the four were treated at the scene, and two others were taken to nearby hospitals where they received treatment. No injuries sustained were life-threatening or serious, and no one in the van was injured.
In all vehicular accidents, it is critical to determine what exactly caused the crash. Though it was not reported as to what caused this particular collision, thankfully, no one was severely hurt. However, in many accidents, serious injury is often sustained by at least one party. Furthermore, it is important to establish the cause of an accident in order to hold negligent parties accountable for injuries sustained, property damaged, and any other negative impact the accident has on either those involved or the surrounding area. Besides driver negligence, auto accidents can be caused by dangerous road conditions, faulty automobile products, and even inclement weather. In any event, it is important to have someone on your side that will help decipher the true cause of your accident and help you obtain compensatory damages to help with recovery.
In you have recently been injured in a vehicular accident in San Francisco, please don’t hesitate to contact a skilled San Francisco auto accident attorney to ensure that your rights are protected in a court of law. At Van Der Walde & Associates, our skilled personal injury lawyers will examine the details of your accident to determine where negligence played a detrimental factor, and will hold all parties responsible accountable for their actions. Please call us today at 877-862-6288 for a free case evaluation.
Source Article: http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_13288000
Posted in: Auto Accident, Personal Injury
Tags: Auto Accident, Personal Injury
