Bus Accidents

Five people were injured, one severely, in a Santa Ana car accident involving a car and an Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) bus. According to a news report in The Orange County Register, the injury collision occurred the night of October 31, 2011 at the intersection of Westminster Avenue and Clinton Street. Officials say the male driver of the vehicle that hit the bus was transported to a trauma center in serious condition. Four passengers in the bus suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The cause of this collision is under investigation.

My heart goes out to the injured victims of this car versus bus accident. I wish them all the very best for a speedy and complete recovery.

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Six students from Central High School were injured in a Fresno car accident when their school bus was rear-ended. According to a news report in The Fresno Bee, the injury bus accident occurred at Belmont and Brawley avenues near Fresno the morning of April 7, 2011. Police say that the female driver who crashed her vehicle into the back of the school bus may have been under the influence of narcotics. The six high school students suffered minor injuries. The driver of the car was hospitalized for her injuries as well. She is under investigation for driving under the influence.

My thoughts and prayers are with the injured victims of this Fresno bus accident. I wish them all a complete and speedy recovery from their injuries.

Fresno Car Accident Statistics

According to California Highway Patrol’s 2008 Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS), 81 people were killed and 1,362 were injured as a result of car accidents in the unincorporated areas of Fresno County. During the same year, there were 127 fatalities and 3,323 injuries reported as a result of Fresno County car accidents. Read the rest »

Namar Burton, 22, was injured in a Los Angeles bus accident when the party bus he was trying to catch ran him over. According to an Associated Press news report, the injury pedestrian accident occurred at McCadden Place and Yucca Street in Los Angeles the night of March 12, 2011. Burton was trying to catch the bus when it turned left and struck him. Burton is in grave condition after suffering severe injuries. An investigation is ongoing.

My thoughts and prayers are with Namar Burton and his family following this major injury bus accident. I wish him a complete and speedy recovery.

Los Angeles Pedestrian Accident Statistics

According to California Highway Patrol’s 2008 Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS), 104 people were killed and 2,716 were injured in Los Angeles pedestrian accidents. During the same year, there were 214 fatalities and 4,985 injuries reported as a result of Los Angeles County pedestrian accidents. Read the rest »

A fatal San Bernardino bus accident, which occurred the morning of February 21, 2011, was caused by the bus' driver, Won Seok Chae, 61, who died in the crash. California Highway Patrol officials said Chae lost control of the church bus, which was carrying 18 teens and four adults from the Light of Love Mission Church and heading back to Pasadena from a winter retreat. The bus crossed over the double yellow line on Highway 189 and struck a San Bernardino County Fire Department SUV.

Chae sustained fatal injuries. Eleven people are still hospitalized, three of them with critical injuries. A 12-year-old girl identified as Jae-Yun Ha sustained severe head and abdominal injuries. Doctors are doubtful if her brain will function normally again. Caleb Kim, 17, and a 28-year-old woman are in critical but stable condition. Two others sustained broken bones. Six others remain hospitalized with serious injuries.

My heart goes out to all the injured victims and their families. These are youngsters who were out having a good time and learning. What an unfortunate tragedy! Please keep these young victims and their families in your thoughts and prayers. Read the rest »

A 58-year-old woman was injured in a San Diego car accident when a tow truck hit her as she crossed the street the night of December 30, 2010. According to a news report in The San Diego Union-Tribune, the injury pedestrian accident occurred at the intersection of Paseo Montril and Rancho Penasquitos Boulevard in Rancho Penasquitos. Officials say the woman was walking in a marked crosswalk when she was struck by a tow truck that was making a left turn. The woman suffered a broken leg and has been hospitalized. It is not clear from the report if the tow truck driver has been cited for the accident. An investigation is ongoing.

My thoughts and prayers are with the woman seriously injured in this pedestrian accident. I wish her a complete and speedy recovery from her injuries.

San Diego Pedestrian Accident Statistics

According to California Highway Patrol’s 2008 Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS), 23 people were killed and 533 were injured in San Diego pedestrian accidents. During that same year, there were 63 fatalities and 998 injuries reported due to pedestrian accidents in San Diego County. Read the rest »

A man riding a Vespa was injured in an Orange County car accident when he struck two vehicles while making a U-turn. According to a news report in The Orange County Register, the injury car accident occurred on Aliso Creek near Glenhurst in Aliso Viejo the afternoon of November 16, 2010. The Vespa rider struck the back of a car and then spun out of control and hit a second vehicle. The victim was hospitalized with injuries. An investigation into the cause of this accident is underway. Read the rest »

The driver of an SUV was injured in a Los Angeles car accident after the vehicle collided with a school bus the morning of October 19, 2010. The Los Angeles Daily News reports that the injury car accident happened at the intersection of Louise Avenue and Plummer Street in Northridge. The driver of the SUV was hospitalized. The 10 children aboard the bus were uninjured. An investigation is ongoing. Read the rest »

Nine passengers on an Orange Line bus were injured in a Los Angeles car accident after the eastbound commuter bus hit another vehicle. According to a news report in the Los Angeles Daily News, the accident occurred the afternoon of October 30, 2009 when the bus was going east on Chandler Boulevard near Valley Glen when it crashed into a vehicle at an intersection in the 5400 block of Coldwater Canyon Avenue. Los Angeles fire officials said none of the injuries seemed to be major.
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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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Bisnar | Chase recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of Julie Farris, a 21-year-old graphic designer, who suffered severe brain injuries after she was hit by a trolley car on Foothill Boulevard on February 19, 2008, while riding her bicycle to Azusa Pacific University. This personal injury accident may not have occurred if an area of Foothill Boulevard near Azusa Pacific University's campus were better constructed. Farris underwent two brain surgeries, a seven-month hospital stay and a two-month coma. She also suffered damage to her nervous system and what most certainly is permanent brain damage. Our lawsuit names both the city of Azusa and the university in the lawsuit. We believe that both these parties are liable for Farris' trolley-bicycle accident and resulting personal injuries.

But Azusa city officials blame our client for the bicycle accident. They told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune that they believe the conditions on the street were safe and adequate. They call the accident "tragic and unfortunate," but state that it happened because Farris was "operating her bicycle unsafely." Farris was riding on the opposite side of the street toward oncoming traffic. But as our Senior Partner Brian Chase points out, Farris was forced to do that because of overcrowded pedestrian traffic and lack of sidewalk. By poorly designing that roadway, the city created a dangerous condition there.

Farris was caught between the cars and an Azusa Pacific University trolley and suffered massive personal injuries. We also believe that the university trolley driver was inattentive and Azusa Pacific owed a special duty to its students to provide them with a reasonably safe method to travel between the east and west campuses. In just a year and three months, our client is looking at more than $1 million in medical bills. We are also seeking future potential wages and compensation for emotional damage on Farris' behalf.

California’s Government Code section 835 provides that a public entity or governmental agency is liable for damages to an injured person because of a condition of public property when the injured person proves that:

The city and the university should have had better safety measures in place for pedestrians and bicyclists in that area. The street and campus design lacks crosswalks, bike paths, traffic signals and parking, causing a dangerous roadway condition. This was an unfortunate bicycle accident waiting to happen. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the issue of this dangerous roadway has come before the city and university officials in earlier incidents.