California Personal Injury Attorneys

Dana Inman, 59, was killed in a California car accident on July 26, 2009 after he lost control of his pickup truck and crashed in San Bernardino County. According to a report by the San Bernardino County Medical Examiner's Office, Inman was driving a 2004 white Ford F-150 pickup truck north on State Route 247 near Eureka Road in Landers at an unknown rate of speed. He apparently veered to the right on a long sweeping curve and went off the roadway. Then, as he attempted to correct the steering, the truck rolled over. Inman was ejected during the rollover crash and landed on the asphalt. He was pronounced dead at the scene, California Highway Patrol officials said.

I offer my deepest condolences to the family and friends of this car accident victim, Dana Inman. My heart goes out to everyone who knew and loved this man. They will be in my prayers.

Rollover Car Accident Statistics

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, each year, there are about 40,000 fatal car accidents in the United States. Out of that, 10,000 fatal car accidents involve rollovers, NHTSA statistics show. According to California Highway Patrol's 2007 Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS), 208 fatalities and 9,920 injuries were reported in San Bernardino County as a result of car accidents.

In this particular case, it is not clear what caused the driver to lose control of the pickup truck. The Coroner's report also states that the driver was ejected from the pickup truck. If I were a member of the Inman family, I'd want to find out whether an auto product defect --particularly seat restraint system failure--caused Dana Inman to be ejected from the truck and suffer fatal injuries. Law enforcement officials conducting traffic accident investigations tend to assume that any individual who was ejected wasn't wearing his or her seatbelt. However, sometimes, this is not true. The ejection occurs because of seatbelt failure in some cases.

Auto Product Liability Issues

In such cases, families of deceased car accident victims would be well-advised to contact a reputed California personal injury lawyer, who has a wealth of experience taking on and winning auto products liability cases. If this fatality was caused by a defective vehicle design or a defective seatbelt, the auto maker could be held liable.