auto product defect

Crystal Marie Rodriguez, 19, was killed in a Sacramento area car accident after the 1997 Ford SUV in which she was a passenger crashed the morning of September 11, 2010. According to a news report in The Sacramento Bee, the fatal rollover crash occurred on County Road 35 in Woodland. California Highway Patrol officials say the driver of the SUV, 19-year-old Timothy Patrick Hernandez, has been arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter. Eight others, including the driver, were injured. Six sustained major injuries. Rodriguez was ejected and killed at the scene. Read the rest »

One person was killed and two others, all from Los Angeles, were injured in a Fresno car accident after their van crashed on the Interstate 5, the morning of July 27, 2010. According to a news report in The Fresno Bee, the accident, which happened near Coalinga, injured the driver, Jimmy Sanpakit, 68, of Arleta, and another passenger, Kuangrudee Kla-harn, 71, of Van Nuys. Their van was northbound on the freeway, close to Highway 145, when a tread separated from one of the tires. The driver lost control of the vehicle. A 68-year-old male passenger from North Hollywood sustained fatal injuries in this crash. His identity has not yet been released. An investigation is ongoing. Read the rest »

Five people sustained injuries in an Anaheim car accident after two vehicles collided head-on the night of March 22, 2010. According to a news report in The Orange County Register, the injury crash occurred on Santa Ana Canyon Road between Festival and Mohler drives, when a westbound 2001 Toyota Sequoia drifted in to opposing lanes and struck a 2005 Toyota Highlander. The driver of the Highlander suffered serious injuries and was transported to an area trauma center. The driver of the Sequoia sustained minor injuries and was taken to a local hospital. Three children also suffered minor injuries but, it is not yet known whether they were also hospitalized. Read the rest »

Keun Park, 57, died this week from the major injuries he suffered in a Los Angeles car accident on November 13, 2009. According to a news report in The Orange County Register, Park was driving a 2000 Honda Accord on the 5 Freeway southbound near Paramount Boulevard in Santa Fe Springs, when for an unknown reason he turned to the left hitting the metal guard rail. California Highway Patrol officials said the impact from the crash caused the Honda to go out of control and into the traffic lanes. The Honda was then hit from behind by a 2008 GMC Yukon causing the car to spin across the number one lane and be struck again by an Acura Integra. Park was taken to an area hospital with critical injuries. Two others were also transported to a hospital with moderate injuries.
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A man sustained fatal injuries in a Los Angeles car accident after he lost control of his car on the 60 Freeway in Diamond Bar the morning of November 13, 2009. According to a news report in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, the man who has not yet been identified, was traveling west on the 60 Freeway when his vehicle went out of control and slid off the freeway on to the right shoulder. The car then caught on fire, California Highway Patrol officials said. A passenger was transported to an area hospital with unknown injuries. CHP is investigating the cause of the fatal crash.
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Howard Mark Carter, 62, was killed in a California car accident the night of August 10, 2009 on the 91 Freeway after his BMW went through a guardrail and was struck by a freight train. According to a news report in The Orange County Register, Carter was driving his 2007 BMW west on the freeway near Corona, California, when his car swerved from the left lanes to the right shoulder and struck about 50 feet of guardrail. California Highway Patrol officials said Carter's car then rolled down a dirt embankment and stopped on the railroad tracks below. An oncoming train then struck the BMW on the passenger side, which caused the car to overturn on its roof. Carter was pronounced dead at the scene. No one else was injured.
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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. Read the rest »

Darrel Dykes, 46, was killed in a San Bernardino car accident on Highway 18 the afternoon of July 10, 2009, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reports. Dykes was driving a 2001 Chevrolet Silverado when he drove into a large asphalt turnout and went off the highway at the 4,000-foot elevation marker. The car then landed in the northbound lane of Highway 18 below. Dykes was pronounced dead at the scene. California Highway Patrol officials are still looking into why Dykes' vehicle left the mountain highway.

I offer my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Darrell Dykes for their tragic loss. Please keep them in your prayers.

According to California Highway Patrol's Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS), there were 308 fatalities and 9,920 injuries involving car accidents in San Bernardino County in 2007. Read the rest »