San Diego Injury Law Blog

In the 24-hour period after the death of 15-year-old Lucas Giaconelli, the Vista boy hit by a car while riding his skateboard, police were looking for a hit-and-run driver. Those of us who followed the story assumed it was some felonious character, who probably fled the scene because he (or she) had something to hide. When a 92-year-old man turned himself in the following day, people were stunned. Not necessarily because he was 92, but because despite a major impact - his car was damaged - he was totally unaware that he had hit a person.

This terrible tragedy raises the question: when is someone too old to drive? For friends and family of Lucas, this man should never have been allowed to have his license renewed. As one said, “If he's 92 years old, why is he on the streets driving?"

There has been a recent spate of San Diego car accidents involving elderly driver, including fatalities. Last year an elderly driver slammed into a Chula Vista home. In October, a 75-year-old man drove of a cliff in Point Loma and died when he mistook the accelerator for the brake. And just a few months ago, an elderly man with no known medical problems drove into an El Cajon Carl’s Jr., killing a diner.

According to the DMV, a California driver over 70 years can not renew a driver's license by mail, but there are no other mechanisms in place monitor elderly drivers. It is really up to individuals and families to determine when it is too old to drive.

Source: 760Kfmb.com

The car accident and injury lawyers at Walton Law Firm represent individuals throughout San Diego County who have been injured in all types of accidents, including auto accidents, motorcycle accidents, pedestrian injuries, construction accidents, property injuries, and malpractice matters. Call (760) 571-5500 for a free consultation.

VISTA - A man working on the refrigeration system at Northgate Market in Vista suffered concussive injuries yesterday when a pressurized tank exploded. The explosion caused major damage to the store. The injured man was taken to a local hospital.

It is currently unclear what caused the explosion, but authorities say the company was hired by the store to replace a compressor. The store remained open during the work, and arrangements were made to keep foods chilled while the compressor was changed. It's unclear how that was done, and whether or not it contributed to the accident.

The injured man may have barely escaped with his life. According to Vista Fire Battalion Chief Jeff Hahn, "a containment tank about the size of a scuba tank exploded with significant force, and did a lot of damage to the refrigeration system. The man was very close, but was not hit by the tank."

View Larger Map

Source: sandiego6.com

The San Diego North County injury lawyers at Walton Law Firm represent individuals throughout San Diego County who have been injured in all types of accidents, including auto accidents, property injuries, motorcycle accidents, pedestrian accidents, bicycle accidents, construction accidents, and wrongful death cases. Call (866) 607-1325 for a free consultation or submit a confidential online form.

A 15-year-old Vista boy named Lucas Gianconelli was killed Friday night when he was struck by a car from behind while riding his skateboard near Thibodo Road and Edna Way. The driver, who was thought to have been speeding, fled the scene.

Police are searching for a white, 1990s model Toyota Camry with dark-tinted windows. The accident occurred just after 7:00 p.m. Anyone with information about the accident is encouraged to call (858) 565-5200.

Source: North County Times

UPDATE (2/1/10): An elderly man from Vista has turned himself in to police on the belief that he was the driver of the car that killed Lucas Giaconelli, a student Rancho Buena Vista High School. The man apparently recalls hitting something, but didn't realize it was a person until he noticed people gathering at the site. The sheriff is still investigating and hasn't decided whether to refer the matter to the District Attorney for possible criminal prosecution.

Based in San Diego's North County, the injury and accident lawyers at Walton Law Firm represent individuals and families throughout San Diego County who have been impacted in all types of accidents, including auto accidents, motorcycle accidents, pedestrian accidents, bicycle accidents, construction accidents, and property injuries. Call (760) 571-5500 for a free consultation.

The California Department of Public Health fined three San Diego area hospitals for making mistakes that could cause "death or serious injury." The implicated hospitals are Grossmont Hospital, Sharp Memorial Hospital, and UCSD Medical Center.

According to the Union Tribune, Grossmont hospital received a $50,000 fine for marking the wrong side of the head of a 93 year old, who was undergoing brain surgery. Before the mistake was realized, part of the man's skull had been removed and the brain exposed. The mistake was corrected during surgery, and the surgery completed without further incident.

Sharp Memorial Hospital was also fined $50,000 for failing to follow surgical protocols. There, a sponge was left inside the body of a 69-year-old woman who underwent heart surgery. UCSD Medical Center was also fined for failing to follow surgical procedures, resulting in a second surgery on the patient to remove a foreign object. The UCSD surgery was performed by a first-year intern.

The DPH issued a statement: “Ensuring quality patient care is vital to protecting and promoting the health of all Californians. We will continue to work with California hospitals to attain our shared goal of excellence in patient care.”

Source: San Diego Union Tribune

The personal injury lawyers at Walton Law Firm represent individuals throughout San Diego County who have been injured in all types of accidents, including auto accidents, motorcycle accidents, medical malpractice, injuries on the property of another, construction accidents, and elder abuse and neglect. Call (760) 571-5500 for a free consultation.

State Route 94 in San Diego's Spring Valley area was closed for a period yesterday after a head-on car accident that claimed the life of one man, and injured three teenagers, one of whom plays minor league baseball for the Tampa Bay Rays' organization.

According to reports, a Ford Mustang being driven by 18-year-old Andrew Bellatti was traveling eastbound on SR-94 when, for unknown reasons, the Mustang crossed over the center line, colliding head-on with a Dodge Caravan. The driver of the van, a man in his early 50s, was pronounced dead at the scene.

A passenger in the van, and Bellatti and his passenger, all suffered major injuries, but all are expected to survive. Police say there is no evidence that drugs or alcohol played a role in the accident, and they currently do not believe the Mustang was racing. They do believe, however, that Bellatti was traveling at approximately 80 mph at the time of the accident.

The Channel 8 News video here discussed the accident:

Sources covering this story: Signonsandiego.com , CBS8.com, nbcsandiego.com, and 760kfmb.com.

The San Diego County personal injury lawyers at Walton Law Firm represent individuals throughout San Diego County who have been injured in all types of accidents, including auto accidents, motorcycle accidents, pedestrian accidents, bicycle accidents, construction accidents, property injuries, and wrongful death cases. Call (866) 607-1325 for a free consultation or submit a confidential online form.

We have heard a lot in recent years about the dangers associated with talking or texting while driving. But what about walking? According to a new report, injuries caused by distracted pedestrians are on the rise.

The New York Times is out with an article on the subject, discussing a survey done by Ohio State University. According the the survey, more than 1,000 pedestrians visited emergency rooms at hospitals in 2008 because then were distracted while walking and either tripped and fell, or ran into something. That is double the amount from the previous year, and four times the number in 2006. Thankfully, most of the injuries are minor, but there have been deaths.

Examples of such injuries include a 16-year-old boy who walked into a telephone pole while texting and suffered a concussion; a 28-year-old man who tripped and fractured a finger on the hand gripping his cellphone; and a 68-year-old man who fell off the porch while talking on a cellphone, spraining a thumb and an ankle and causing dizziness.

To read the entire article click here.

The personal injury lawyers at Walton Law Firm represent individuals throughout San Diego County who have been injured in all types of accidents, including auto accidents, motorcycle accidents, pedestrian accidents, bicycle accidents, construction accidents, and property injuries. Call (760) 571-5500 for a free consultation.

Three-year-old Omar Martinez died in his back yard yesterday when the family's pit bull attacked him. At approximately 3:00 p.m., 911 dispatchers received a call that the boy was not breathing at a home on Goshute Avenue in Apple Valley after being attacked by the dog. When sheriff and firefighter's arrived, the boy's grandfather opened the gate to let them in the yard, but the dog got aggressive with the firefighters, who were forced to retreat back to their vehicles. A sheriff deputy at the scene also tried to enter, and when the dog again became aggressive, the officer shot and killed it.

When rescuers finally got to the boy he was unresponsive. The boy was transported to St. Mary Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 4:41 p.m. According to a witness, the boy and his father were playing in the backyard with the dog. When the father went in the house, the dog attacked the boy, biting him in the throat. It is unclear why the dog bit the boy, and the Sheriff's Department said there were no previous reports of an aggressive dog at the residence.

Source: San Bernardino Sun

The Walton Law Firm represents individuals and families throughout Southern California in cases in personal injury cases, including car accidents, dog bites, medical malpractice, motorcycle accidents, uninsured motorist claims, defective products, construction accidents, slip and fall injuries, dog bites, and insurance disputes. Call (866) 607-1325 for a free consultation.

Authorities in Vista are looking for public help in identifying a hit-and-run driver who struck a 15-year-old boy, and left him with serious injuries. The pedestrian accident occurred on December 28th at E. Vista Way near Arcadia. At approximate 9:30 p.m. the boy attempted to cross the street, inside the crosswalk and on a green light, when a negligent driver ran a red light and struck the boy. The victim was thrown onto the roof, and then run over.

According to reports, the boy suffered very serious injuries, including a head injury, a ruptured spleen and kidney damage.

Police were unable to identify the car, but are asking to public to look for a car that has damage to the hood and windshield. A reward of $1,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the driver. Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477. Anonymous e-mail and text messages can be sent at www.sdcrimestoppers.com.

View Larger Map

Source: North County Times

The Vista personal injury lawyers at Walton Law Firm represent individuals throughout San Diego County who have been injured in all types of accidents, including auto accidents, motorcycle accidents, pedestrian accidents, bicycle accidents, construction accidents, and property injuries. Call (760) 571-5500 for a free consultation.

A 66-year-old man was killed while eating breakfast at his local Carl's Jr. when an SUV plowed into the building, striking the man. According to employees, the man, whose name has not been release but is said to have been a college professor, ate breakfast at the same table every morning.

What instigated the accident is unclear, but a witness told CHP that the driver of the SUV, a 74-year-old man, was at a nearby ATM just before the accident, and was upset with the ATM machine. He apparently stormed away from the machine, leaving his card still in the slot, and speeding away in his car. Seconds later, witnesses say, the SUV smashed into the restaurant, which witnesses described as sounding like a bomb going off.

It's unclear how fast the man was driving when he struck the building, but witnesses estimated he was travelling between 45 to 50 mph. A witness attempted to help the driver, who was also injured in the crash and bleeding from the head, but he said he didn't need assistance.

At least one witness believed the SUV driver acted intentionally. Yolanda Vasquez told San Diego 6 news, "there comes this car from the bank...zooming so fast...he meant it. He didn't give a crap."

Investigators are investigating the cause of the accident, and don't believe that drugs or alcohol played a role.

Source: San Diego Union Tribune and SanDiego6.com

The personal injury lawyers at Walton Law Firm represent individuals throughout San Diego County who have been injured in all types of accidents, including auto accidents, motorcycle accidents, pedestrian accidents, bicycle accidents, construction accidents, and property injuries. Call (760) 571-5500 for a free consultation.

Instead of planning a baby shower, the family and friends of Elaina Luquis-Ortiz are planning a funeral. The 21-year-old Lemon Grove woman was killed during the early morning hours of News Year Day when she pulled over on the shoulder of I-805 to help a friend change a flat tire, and a drunk driver named Joseph Anthony Venegas lost control and swerved and crashed into Ortiz's car at a high rate of speed.

Ortiz's husband, Frank Ortiz, a marine, was devastated. He told the Union Tribune, "I lost two in a tragic accident - my wife and son." The unborn son was going to be named Romeo Francisco.

According to reports, Ortiz and two friends were waiting in her car, just behind the vehicle with the flat tire when the accident occurred. Tragically, her husband had gone out looking for her when he drove upon the scene, which he described as looking "like a movie." He was informed at the scene that his wife had died. The two other women were taken to area hospitals with major injuries.

Ortiz was originally from Los Angeles, and moved to San Diego eight years ago. A memorial service has been set for 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday at Paradise Valley Seventh-day Adventist Church, 2701 E. 8th Street, in National City.

Here is a Channel 8 video about the accident:

Source: San Diego Union Tribune and KFMB Channel 8

UPDATE (1/7/10): This sad story of the death of Elaina Luquis-Ortiz continues to generate a lot of media attention. Today's Union Tribune has a long story abut the arraignment of the drunk driver, Joseph Venegas, and his failure to attend. Apparently Venegas is being held in "medical isolation" in County Jail, presumably because of injuries he received in the New Year's Eve crash.

Venegas absence upset the victim's family, who was eager to see and confront the man who took Elaina's life, and that of her unborn child.

To read the entire story, click here.

The accident and injury lawyers at Walton Law Firm represent individuals and families who have been impacted by accidents of all kinds, including auto accidents, motorcycle accidents, pedestrian accidents, bicycle accidents, construction accident. Call (760) 571-5500 for a free consultation.

Looking for a personal injury lawyer? Don't grab the phone book (who uses phone books anymore?), grab the laptop and hit Google. Avvo.com is national lawyer directory founded by Mark Britton, an attorney for 16 years and formerly the top lawyer at Expedia.com, and Sendi Widjaja, a veteran of Microsoft. Together they launched Avvo.com as a way for people to navigate "the complex and confusing" legal industry, and to help people choose the right lawyer for the situation.

We use it here at Walton Law Firm. Randy Walton is rated as "Superb" by the Avvo ratings system, and there you can find a lot of information about his background, sample cases, and read testimonials from a few of his former clients.

At its website, Avvo states that it is guided by two basic principles: Focus on the needs of regular people, and the provide information and guidance. Whether a person is looking for a car accident lawyer, an elder abuse lawyer, or a lawyer to prepare an estate plan, Avvo can give you the low down on all of them.

Source: Avvo.com

The personal injury lawyers at Walton Law Firm represent individuals who have been injured in all types of accidents, including auto accidents, motorcycle accidents, pedestrian accidents, bicycle accidents, construction accident. Call (760) 571-5500 for a free consultation.

A major injury can cause major financial burdens, particularly at Christmas time. In San Diego County, there are a few non-profit charitable organizations founded by injured individuals and their families that are there to help. The Can't Keep Me Down foundation, founded by Bobby DuCharme of Mira Mesa who was paralyzed in a surfing accident, and the Del Mar foundation HeadNorth, founded by Eric Northbrook, who was paralyzed in a motorcycle accident, have stepped up big time.

In today's Union Tribune are stories of local families who face the arduous task of caring for someone who has suffered a serious injury. For example, Maria Rodriguez was having a tough year and an event tougher Christmas. She cares for her 15-year-old son, who was rendered quadriplegic in an accident, when the transmission on the transport van failed. Then the home she was renting was foreclosed upon, forcing her to move. The events drained her savings.

That's when the Can't Keep Me Down foundation entered the scene. The DuCharme family filled the Rodriguez' living room with a big television, clothes, toys, and holiday decorations. The HeadNorth foundation added to the giving with furniture and a Christmas tree.

As an unemployed single mother with four children, Maria Rodriguez already has a tough life. But it’s been even tougher lately. “We’ve been blessed with amazing, amazing people in our lives,” said Rodriguez.

Watch this video for more about her story.

The Union Tribune story, which can be found by clicking here, profiles the stories of other accident victims.

The accident and injury lawyers at Walton Law Firm LLP represent individuals who have been injured in all types of accidents, including auto accidents, motorcycle accidents, pedestrian accidents, bicycle accidents, construction accident. Call (866) 607-1325 for a free consultation.