Articles Posted in Wrongful Death

CHP-300x209On January 13, 2024, a 28-year-old woman named Angela Hays, from Corona, was arrested for suspected DUI involvement in a fatal three-vehicle collision on Interstate 5 in Carlsbad. The incident occurred early Saturday morning north of Palomar Airport Road. Hays, driving a gray Hyundai sedan, hit a green Jeep Grand Cherokee, causing it to overturn. This led to a subsequent collision with a white Nissan Altima.

The female passenger in the Jeep died at the scene, and the male driver died later in the hospital. Both were from Richmond, California. The Nissan’s male driver sustained major but non-life-threatening injuries. Hays, unharmed, was arrested and faces potential charges including felony DUI and gross vehicular manslaughter. The crash disrupted traffic on I-5 until about 9 a.m. as the California Highway Patrol investigated the scene.

This is yet another DUI tragedy here in North County. Victims of accidents caused by drunk drivers have substantial legal rights to seek compensation through negligence lawsuits. In these cases, the law recognizes that driving under the influence inherently breaches the duty of care owed by drivers to operate their vehicles safely. The impaired judgment and reduced motor skills of a drunk driver significantly increases the risk of causing an accident, making DUI a clear example of negligence. When a drunk driver causes an accident, the injured victims or the families of deceased victims can file a lawsuit against the driver. This legal action is grounded in the principle that the driver, by choosing to drive while intoxicated, is responsible for the consequences of that decision.

Nobody wants to think about the risks of a drowning accident when enjoying time at the beach, or a California vacation to a resort with a swimming pool or to the home of a family or friend with a swimming pool in the backyard. Yet drowning accidents are more common than you think, especially when younger children are left unattended or when alcohol is involved. If you or somebody you love suffered serious or fatal injuries in a drowning accident caused by someone else’s negligence, it is important to find out more about filing a claim for compensation by speaking with a personal injury lawyer in San Marcos. In the meantime, the following are five things to know about drowning accidents in San Diego County.

  1. Thousands of People Drown in the U.S. Every Year

Every year in the U.S. alone, thousands of people die in drowning accidents. Indeed, according to the United States Swim School Association, anywhere from 3,500 to 4,000 people die on average each year because of avoidable drowning accidents, and children between the ages of 1 and 4 are killed most often in accidental drownings. Nearly 90% of those young child deaths occur in pools or hot tubs.

double-fatal-i-15-fiery-crash-300x169The City of San Diego will pay nearly $10 million to two families who lost loved ones in a 2018 car accident in I-15. In the accident, Jesus David Dominguez and Isaac Felix will split $9.7 million from the city and the limits of an additional $300,000 insurance policy maintained by the driver who initially caused the accident.

That car crash that killed Mr. Dominguez and Mr. Felix occurred when a drunk driver named Jeffery Levi rear-ended the Toyota Corolla carrying the two men near Miramar Road on I-15 on January 2, 2018. That left the Corolla disabled and without lights when an off-duty police officer driving a Ford Interceptor issued by the city crashed into the Corolla at full speed, caused the gas tank to explode.

A lawsuit was filed three years ago by attorney Warren Ellis, but was delayed because the criminal prosecution of Levi, who was sentenced to 34 years behind bars.

The differences between personal injury lawsuits and wrongful death lawsuits in San Clemente can be confusing, especially since wrongful death law is an area of law practiced by personal injury attorneys in California. The two types of claims are closely related, but they are not the same. It is important to understand the distinctions to ensure that you take necessary steps to file the proper claim and that you do so in a timely manner. Our San Clemente personal injury attorneys will tell you more about the distinctions between personal injury lawsuits and wrongful death lawsuits. 

Personal Injury Law and Wrongful Death Law Arise Out of Another Party’s Fault for Injuries

Both personal injury law and wrongful death law in California arise out of another party’s fault or liability for injuries, which makes these two areas of the law quite similar. To be sure, both personal injury law and wrongful death law allow a plaintiff to file a lawsuit in order to hold the liable or responsible party accountable for the injuries they have caused. However, there are also a number of key distinctions that you should understand.

PalaBusCrash-300x225Another charter bus accident on a San Diego freeway has claimed lives, and this one was not far from our San Diego North County law office. Last week, an Executive Lines charter bus headed from El Monte to Tijuana crashed on the rain-slicked I-15 near Fallbrook. The accident killed three passengers and injured 18 others.

According to the CHP, the charter bus about to head uphill in a downpour when the driver lost control, causing the bus to veer of the road, overturn, and then roll down a steep embankment. The bus veered off the highway, overturned, and slid down an embankment before coming to rest along the hillside.

Several passengers were ejected from the charter bus. “Little by little I start remembering and getting flashbacks and I would only hear people screaming that were inside and the others were trapped,” one victim told Telemundo20.

matheus-ferrero-159633-unsplash-copy-300x200Wrongful death claims in Carlsbad often arise out of accidents and injuries that also seem like they could have given rise to a personal injury lawsuit. For example, a serious car accident might result in life-threatening injuries for one vehicle occupant, but that same accident might have led to fatal injuries for the driver of another vehicle. Similarly, construction accidents can sometimes lead to debilitating injuries that prevent construction workers from going back to the job due to a permanent disability, but sometimes a similar type of accident can cause fatal injuries for another construction worker. For example, a fall from scaffolding can produce different types of injuries in different people and in different situations.

How does California law distinguish between a personal injury lawsuit and a wrongful death lawsuit?

Connections Between Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Law

dan-gold-227951-copy-300x169Leaving your car in an Escondido parking lot during the summer months for even a few minutes without the vehicle running typically leads to a very hot car. While hot cars are not a problem when they are unoccupied, hot cars can cause the deaths of children who are left in vehicles even for a few minutes. According to a recent report from CNN News, hot car deaths have reached a record high” as of July. 29 kids across the country have suffered fatal injuries as a result of heatstroke after being left in a hot car. California, along with Texas and Florida, had the highest number of heatstroke-related child deaths this summer.

You might think that you would never forget a child in a vehicle, but the article suggests that even the most diligent parents need to take precautions to prevent hot car deaths, particularly during the summer months.

July Hot Car Deaths Reach Unfortunate Record

kalu-ci-146209-300x200For many San Diego residents, the relatively recent and seemingly ever-expanding Takata air bag recall was a source of anxiety and frustration. As you may remember, the Takata air bags installed in dozens of different automobile makes and models ran the risk of exploding as a result of a defective inflator, causing severe and life-threatening shrapnel injuries, and some victims even died as a result of their injuries. Over the last several weeks, Takata news stories have largely focused on culpability for the Takata executives who may have known about the serious product defect yet did not take steps to remedy the issue before consumers got hurt. However, according to a recent article in CNET.com, there is a new Takata air bag safety issue that has prompted another recall.

What do you need to know about the new recall, and what should you do if you drive one of the affected vehicles?

New Takata-Sourced Air Bag Product Defect

Moving-2When we are on neighborhood roads or highways in Southern California, should we be concerned about the risk of a car accident caused by road debris? Most of us are typically on the lookout for other drivers who are not obeying the rules of the road or distracted pedestrians who might inadvertently step into traffic, but according to a recent report from CBS News, dangerous road debris causes far more car crashes than you might expect. Between 2011 and 2014, more than 200,000 collisions have been attributed to debris already in the road or to debris falling from unsecured truck loads. What else should you know about crashes caused by debris, and what can you do to prevent them?

AAA Study Highlights Severity of Crashes Caused by Debris and Unsecured Loads

The CBS News report cites a recent study conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, which determined that approximately 39,000 injuries and 500 deaths on the road between 2011 and 2014 resulted from debris. According to Tamra Johnson, a spokesperson for the AAA Foundation, “the really troublesome thing about all this is a majority of these crashes are preventable, if drivers would just take the necessary precautions to secure their load or maintain their vehicle properly.”

800px-AmericanAlligatorHow often do serious and fatal injuries happen at large resorts? When a vacationer does get hurt, can he or she hold the hotel or the resort responsible? These types of claims fall under an area of personal injury law known as premises liability. In short, premises liability law holds that property owners—including resort and hotel owners—have a duty to keep a property free of hazards and to warn guests about serious dangers on the property. Why is this an important topic to discuss now?

Given that it is summertime, many families are planning vacations to resorts and hotels across the country. But more salient, perhaps, is the recent death of a toddler at the Walt Disney Resort, according to a report in The Washington Post. The child’s death may have happened in Florida, but it should alert parents in California and across the country to potential hidden dangers on family vacations and to the consequences of hotel negligence.

Child Killed by Alligator at Disney Property

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