California Personal Injury Blog – Bisnar Chase

Three people were injured in an Anaheim car accident after a vehicle hit the wall of a Bank of America branch on South Harbor Boulevard. According to a news report in the Orange County Register, the injury collision occurred the afternoon of January 1, 2014 in the 2200 block of South Harbor Boulevard. Injured in the crash were a husband and wife from Arizona who had been standing in front of one of the ATMs and another woman who had been using the next ATM.

Police said all three were taken to an area trauma center for treatment. The man and the other woman suffered critical injuries while the man’s wife is said to be in stable condition. All the victims are expected to survive. The driver of the vehicle, a silver Jeep, cooperated with the police. No arrests or citations were reported. Police said alcohol did not seem to have been a factor in this crash.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the three injured victims of this collision. We wish them the very best for a speedy and complete recovery.

Crash Statistics

According to California Highway Patrol’s 2012 Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS), 16 fatalities and 2,267 injuries were reported as a result of traffic accidents in the city of Anaheim. In Orange County as a whole, 148 people died and 14,029 were injured due to traffic collisions during the same year.

What Caused the Collision?

Based on this news report, it appears that the driver of the Jeep lost control and crashed into the ATM users. The specifics of this incident are not clear and there are still several unanswered questions here. Why did the driver lose control of the vehicle? Was he under the influence or disoriented? Was he distracted? Was he talking on a cell phone or to passengers at the time of the crash? Did he press the accelerator or place the vehicle in wrong gear? Was he reckless or inattentive? Was there some type of mechanical malfunction that caused this collision? We trust officials will look into these and other issues in order to determine precisely what occurred here and why.

Protecting Victims’ Rights

If the driver of the Jeep is determined to have been at fault he could be held liable for the injuries, damages and losses caused. Injured victims can seek compensation for damages including medical expenses, lost wages, hospitalization, rehabilitation, pain and suffering, permanent injury and emotional distress. Victims would also be well advised to contact an experienced Anaheim personal injury lawyer who will stay abreast of the official investigation and ensure that their legal rights and best interests are protected.

The New York Times reports in a powerful article how several families that lost loved ones to deadly General Motors ignition defects did not get relief even from the civil justice system, often the last recourse for victims of defective products. The Times gives the example of 18-year-old Natasha Weigel’s family members who could not get lawyers to take the case because “the value of her life in a lawsuit seemed too small to justify the expense and risk of litigation.”

Lives Were ‘Not Worth It?’

In Weigel’s case, an inquiry was done. A police investigator found that the car’s airbags had not deployed when it swerved off the road and plowed into trees killing Weigel and another teen in 2006. The investigation found that the car’s ignition switch had powered off seconds before the accident and that GM had already received reports of similar incidents, pointing to a potential defect. But Weigel’s family fell through the legal cracks because of cold, hard numbers.

The maximum recovery for the loss of society in Wisconsin was $350,000 and that wasn’t worth it for the law firm because of the time and expense they would have to put in to fight a heavyweight like GM. The family of the other teen, Amy Radmaker, was also not able to find a lawyer to take the case unless they financed the case themselves.

So far, 42 people are known to have died in crashes linked to the defective ignition switch and both GM and federal safety regulators have been widely criticized for having known about these dangerous vehicle defects, and done nothing about it for more than a decade, putting consumers’ lives in grave danger. Bisnar Chase successfully represented the family of Shara Lynn Towne, who died in the first known GM ignition defect case. We’ve seen first-hand the devastation defective autos can cause in terms of catastrophic injuries and irreparable losses.

State Laws Have Hurt Consumers

Under the guise of tort reform, decades ago, large corporations and insurers have pushed state lawmakers to pass measures that would cap awards for noneconomic damages. They said such caps would prevent people from bringing frivolous lawsuits. Many states have since capped awards for noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering and have limited punitive damage awards.

In California, there is a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases. These caps, regardless of the type of case, prevent seriously injured victims and their families from getting the justice they deserve – as evidenced in the cases involving GM ignition defects. Our legal system has failed these victims. However, it makes a powerful argument to change state laws so that these injustices do not recur.

A San Clemente man has been arrested in connection with a fatal hit-and-run crash in Newport Beach early morning on Jan. 1, 2015 that killed 23-year-old Travis Marton of Valencia.

According to a report in the Orange County Register, the fatal crash occurred at the intersection of Newport Coast Drive and Pacific Coast Highway.

A motorist reported to Newport Beach police about a possible …Read the rest »

General Motors has announced three new recalls affecting more than 83,000 SUVs and pickup trucks that may have defective ignition systems.

According to a Reuters news report, no crashes or injuries have been reported from these latest round of recalls, which focus on a potential defect in the vehicles’ electrical systems.

So far, ignition problems have triggered dozens of recalls from General Motors throughout 2014.

The automaker recalled more than 2.5 million vehicles following accidents that caused at least 40 deaths and scores of injuries. …Read the rest »

Riding toys especially scooters account for about 40 percent of toy-related injuries that sent children over 5 to the nation’s emergency rooms, according to a study done by the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

According to a report in the Plain Dealer, the injury rate increased by 40 percent over the study period, 1990 to 2011 and almost all of the increase was attributable to the foot-powered scooter.

The study, published in the journal Clinical Pediatrics, looked only at products that are …Read the rest »

Safeway has pulled caramel apples off the shelves as a matter of precaution after the products have been linked to a listeria outbreak that has sickened 29 people nationwide across 10 states including California of which five have died.
 
According to a news report in The Seattle Times, federal officials have not blamed any particular brands of caramel apples, stores or manufacturers. But officials with the Safeway grocery chain said they pulled the treats from shelves just in case.
…Read the rest »