Ventura

Eric Doran, 36, of Newport Beach was killed in a Ventura car accident after his Model-A T-Box Roadster was involved in a three-car crash. According to a news report in The Orange County Register, the fatal car accident occurred early morning on May 27, 2011 on the northbound 101 Freeway in Thousand Oaks. California Highway Patrol officials say Doran hit a Honda Accord in front of him that slowed down for traffic ahead. Doran was also hit from behind by a Dodge Ram. Doran sustained fatal injuries and his wife, Kat, suffered critical injuries. A third person in one of the other cars sustained minor injuries. An investigation is ongoing.

I offer my deepest condolences to the family members and friends of Eric Doran for their sudden and heartbreaking loss. Doran, who had made a name for himself in Orange County with his restaurant Eat Chow, was in the process of opening a second restaurant, friends say. By all accounts, Doran was a family man, a great friend and a "pillar of the community." Tragic! I also wish his critically injured wife, Kat, the very best for a speedy and complete recovery. Please keep this family in your thoughts and prayers. Read the rest »

Jeffrey Butler, 31, was injured in a Ventura car accident when a vehicle veered into his lane of traffic. According to a news report in The Ventura County Star, the injury car accident occurred on Highway 126 near Newhall Ranch Road in Ventura County early morning on May 17, 2011. Butler was driving west when an eastbound car, driven by 31-year-old Jose Nunez, crossed into his lane. Butler suffered a broken leg and Nunez sustained facial cuts. An investigation is ongoing.

My thoughts and prayers are with the injured victims of this Ventura car accident. I wish them both a complete and speedy recovery.

Ventura County Car Accident Statistics

According to California Highway Patrol’s 2008 Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS), 21 people were killed and 632 were injured in car accidents in the unincorporated areas of Ventura County. During that same year, 63 fatalities and 3,785 injuries occurred as a result of car accidents in Ventura County as a whole. Read the rest »

A 3-year-old boy was seriously injured in a Ventura swimming pool accident the morning of March 1, 2011. According to a news report in The Ventura County Star, the near-drowning incident occurred on Solano Verde Drive in an unincorporated area of Ventura County. A family member rescued the boy after he was found in the pool. The boy was not breathing at the time, but was said to be awake when emergency personnel arrived. The extent of the toddler's injuries is not known at this time. It is also unclear how the boy fell into the pool.

My thoughts and prayers are with the 3-year-old boy and his family following this Ventura County swimming pool accident. I wish him a complete and speedy recovery from his injuries.

Swimming Pool Accident Statistics

According to a 2007 report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were 3,443 fatal unintentional drowning incidents in the United States. The report also states that fatal drowning is the "second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children ages 1 to 14 years." Near-drowning incidents are extremely serious because they can result in catastrophic injuries, including brain injuries, when the oxygen supply to the brain is cut off. Read the rest »

Courtney Bombardo, 22, and Carmen Valenzuela, 20, were killed in a Ventura car accident after their motorcycle was hit by a limousine at a street intersection. According to a news report in the Ventura County Star, the fatal motorcycle accident occurred the evening of January 9, 2011 at the intersection of Rice Avenue and Camino del Sol in Oxnard.

Bombardo was riding a motorcycle with Valenzuela as the passenger when limo driver, 46-year-old Stephanie Pinkard made a left turn in front of the motorcycle. Bombardo was unable to stop in time and broadsided the limo. Bombardo was pronounced dead at the scene while Valenzuela died in an area hospital. Pinkard has not been cited or arrested pending an official investigation.

I offer my deepest condolences to the families and friends of Bombardo and Valenzuela for their heartbreaking losses. Bombardo was apparently a Seabee and veteran of two tours in Afghanistan. Valenzuela is also fondly remembered by those who knew her as a lively and good-natured person. Tragic! Please keep these grieving families in your prayers. Read the rest »

Two Ventura County Sheriff's deputies and one other person suffered major injuries in a Ventura car accident after their patrol car was struck by another vehicle near Santa Paula the night of April 17, 2010. According to a news report in the Ventura County Star, the major injury crash occurred on Highway 126 near Timber Canyon Road. The patrol car bearing deputies William Meixner and Beau Rodriguez, was traveling east on the highway when a pickup truck made a sudden left turn, out of a driveway, ahead of the patrol car. Read the rest »

Two people sustained injuries in a Ventura car accident after a suspected drunk driver, who was fleeing a hit-and-run collision, crashed into their vehicle. According to a news report in the Ventura County Star, the car crash occurred the morning of April 2, 2010, when John Allen Wilson, 47, rear-ended a vehicle occupied by its driver and a 3-year-old passenger on a Fillmore street. Minutes earlier, Wilson had collided with a parked vehicle on Santa Fe Street and left without exchanging information. Wilson was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and causing injury, and hit-and-run. The driver and the child were transported to a local hospital for treatment of their injuries. However, the extent of the victims' injuries is not known. Read the rest »

Four people were injured in a Ventura car accident involving two cars the evening of February 15, 2010. The Ventura County Star reports that the major injury accident occurred at the intersection of Bardsdale Avenue and Sespe Street in Fillmore. Guillermo Andrade, 31, was driving west on Bardsdale and ran a stop sign at that intersection, California Highway Patrol officials said. His vehicle was then broadsided by a northbound vehicle carrying three people. Read the rest »

Jeffrey Decker, 50, was killed in a Ventura car accident after his motorcycle collided with a sport utility vehicle, the Ventura County Star reports. An autopsy report determined that Decker had died of blunt force trauma to the head. The fatal motorcycle crash occurred the night of October 23, 2009 when Decker was riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle east on Alamo Street in Simi Valley. Decker was involved in a collision with an SUV that was apparently heading north on Cimmaron Avenue, Simi Valley police officials said. Decker was also wearing a helmet. He was transported to a local hospital where he died shortly after the accident. The driver of the SUV, Jennifer Townes was not injured.
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The California car accident lawyers at BISNAR | CHASE have represented numerous victims who have been seriously injured by drunk drivers. It's especially frightening when the drunk driver happens to be a school bus driver. This actually happened in Ojai, California where Kim Fullenwider, 53, a school bus driver, was arrested the morning of September 30, 2009 after she hit a pickup truck while taking 31 students to school in the Ojai Unified School District. Fullenwider was driving west on Baldwin Avenue when she made a U-turn in front of an eastbound pickup truck driven by 60-year-old Dimitros Poulos. No one was seriously injured in the resulting crash.
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Two people were injured in a Ventura car accident the morning of August 27, 2009. According to a news report in the Ventura County Star, the car collision occurred near the intersection of East 5th Street and Rice Avenue in Oxnard, California. When the initial two-car accident occurred, one man was trapped in his pickup that had been pushed on to nearby railroad tracks. One person was injured in the other vehicle. A Metrolink train then came through the intersection and hit the vehicle that was left on the tracks, Oxnard fire officials said. Read the rest »