Car Accidents

A recent study by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) found deaths among 16 and 17 year old drivers increased by 19 percent in the first half of 2012. The study was based on data collected from all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

During the first half of 2012, 16 year old driver fatalities increased from 86 to 107, an increase of 24 percent. Among 17 year old drivers, fatalities increased from 116 to 133, a change of 15 percent. 25 states saw increases in the death rate among young drivers, while eight states and the District of Columbia reported that there were no changes.

According to researchers, the increase in teen driver deaths may be due to the fact that the benefits of state graduated driver licensing programs are leveling off. An improved economic climate may also be leading to more teens driving, increasing their exposure to serious accidents.

Preventing Teen Driver Accidents

Parents can help teens stay safe behind the wheel in several ways. Set ground rules for teen driving, including regular use of seat belts. Prohibit teens from talking on cell phones or texting behind the wheel, and limit the number of passengers a teen driver may transport at any one time.

If your teen driver has been injured in a car accident, you have certain legal rights. To learn more about seeking compensation and holding negligent parties responsible for their actions, please don’t hesitate to contact the dedicated San Diego car accident attorneys at the Jurewitz Law Group. Our number is (888) 233-5020. Call us today for a free and confidential consultation.

Thirty-five-year-old Shiden Golshani Jabdan died in a serious car accident that took place on January 19 around 3 a.m. in Mission Beach. According to the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s office, Jabdan was a backseat passenger in a BMW that struck several parked vehicles.

Jabdan was found unresponsive after the crash and was immediately taken to UCSD Medical Center for treatment, where she was pronounced dead approximately 12 hours later. Our heartfelt condolences go out to the deceased victim’s family members and friends.

The driver of the car, a 35-year-old woman, and the front passenger, a 19-year-old woman, both sustained injuries and were also taken to the hospital for treatment.

Due to the limited information on the circumstances leading up to the accident, it can be speculated that possibly distraction, driving under the influence of alcohol, sleep deprivation, or another form of negligence could have contributed to this fatal car accident.

Car accidents can often be traumatic and even life altering due to the inherent dangers of driving or riding in a car. According to the CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS), 71 people died and more than 5,500 were injured in San Diego car accidents in the year 2009.

It is important for the deceased victim’s family members to act quickly and seek counsel of an experienced car accident attorney who will fight on their behalf.

If investigation reveals that the female motorist caused this crash, then the deceased victim’s family may be able to file a wrongful death claim within two years of this car accident to obtain their deserved compensation.

Personal attention. Peace of mind. Proven results. Call (888) 233-5020 for our San Diego County car accident injury attorneys to represent you.

A 32-year-old mechanic was killed in a tragic car accident that occurred on December 13 around 7 a.m. in North Park. According to California Highway Patrol Officer Art Athans, a 2005 Nissan Altima swerved off Interstate 805 and rear ended a broken down Unified School District bus. The mechanic was trapped for half an hour under the hood before he was released by firefighters.

The 41-year-old female motorist driving the car also sustained major injuries. Medics immediately transported both injured parties to a local hospital for treatment, where later the mechanic was pronounced dead. We are devastated by this tragic event and send our sincere condolences to the deceased victim’s family.

Rear-end accidents are the most common type of car accidents that occur in San Diego. According to the National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA), around 29% of all auto accidents are rear-end collisions.

Rear-end car accidents can occur due to several reasons, such as defective auto parts, road debris, and distracted driving. In most rear-end collisions, the motorist who hits another vehicle from behind is held liable for the crash. A person involved in a rear-end accident may suffer minor to major injuries and even death.

Since the mechanic in this fatal car accident was fixing the school bus, his family may be able to seek workers’ compensation and seek justice against the at-fault motorist as well. It is important for the deceased mechanic’s family members to speak with an experienced and aggressive car accident attorney who has the caliber to fight for their rights.

Our experienced North Park workers’ compensation attorneys can help you get your deserved compensation. Call us at (888) 233-5020 for a free evaluation of your work injury accident case.

Unlike shutting off the television or ending a phone conversation, there is one thing that will never stop: time. It is inevitable that we will all grow older, hopefully of course, in wisdom and in age. Just like how we change from childhood to adulthood through mental and physical changes, the same will continue from adulthood to older adulthood.

According to research conducted by the AARP in 2005, the population of adult drivers age 65 and older has been increasing rapidly. In 1980, about 61% of drivers were over the age of 65, which has drastically increased to 80% in 2003. At that rate, about one in every four drivers will be older drivers by 2029.

So should we be in chaos over this growing epidemic?

No, just more self-conscious as a driver at any age. Older drivers as a whole are comparatively safe drivers with lower car accident rates than young drivers and have the highest seatbelt use rate compared to other age groups. Although older drivers tend to practice safer driving behaviors from years of driving experience, they are still more at risk as a driver or passenger.

If an older driver or passenger is in a car accident, there is a higher chance of severe injury or death because of fragility. A car accident that a younger person may be able to survive won’t necessarily be true for an older person that does not have the same physical strength that they use to. Other factors that put an older driver at risk of an auto accident can also include deteriorated vision, slower reaction time, and loss of hearing.

Now that we know what can put older drivers at risk, what can be done to reduce this risk?

Older Driver Safety Awareness Week was created to help bring more awareness of safety for older drivers and mobility independence, while also exploring ways to reduce the risk they face in a vehicle. Here are some ways to reduce the risk elderly driver’s face on the road:

• Get checked regularly by the doctor for overall health, hearing, and eyesight.
• Take a driver safety refresher course in a classroom or online specifically for older drivers, which will cost between $12-$20 dollars.
• If you can determine through evidence that an older loved one is a risk to him- or herself and others on the road, look into alternative forms of transportation for them.
• Seek evaluation with an occupational therapy practitioner to determine if operating a vehicle safely is still an option. Special driving equipment and car adaptations are available to help older drivers stay safe on the road.

Contact our experienced San Diego auto accident elderly injury lawyers at the Jurewitz Law Group for more information. If you or an older loved one was involved in an auto accident, let us help you get the compensation you need through this difficult time at (888) 233-5020.

Nine-year-old Xavier Williams and 10-year-old Latrelle Pearson were killed in a two-vehicle crash that took place on November 3 around 2:30 p.m. near Escondido. According to the California Highway Patrol (CHP), both of these boys were among a total of seven passengers travelling in a 2002 Dodge Caravan that crashed with a 2008 Scion.

The minivan spun, overturned, and Pearson, who was not wearing a seat belt, was thrown on the road, whereas Xavier, who was wearing a seat belt, was ejected partially out of the vehicle.

Both of the boys were pronounced dead at the accident site. Our Escondido personal injury law office sends our sincere condolences to the deceased victims’ parents and family for such a tremendous loss.

According to the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS), car accidents contributed to 71 fatalities and left 5,819 people injured in 2009.

Fifty-two-year-old Roy Ruffin Jr., who was driving the Dodge Caravan, also suffered minor injuries. The medics that responded to the fatal car crash immediately took the Caravan driver along with the other four injured passengers to a nearby hospital for medical treatment.

Lisa Wehus, 24, who was driving the Scion, fortunately escaped unhurt. According to CHP public-affairs Officer Chris Parent, it is believed that an apparent lane change from one of the vehicles contributed to this fatal crash.

The parents of the deceased victims are strongly advised to immediately contact an experienced Escondido child injury accident attorney who would investigate any negligence on the other party involved and file a wrongful death claim to receive compensation for their loss.

If your child has been injured or killed in an auto accident, contact the legal team at the Jurewitz Law Group for a free consultation. Our experienced attorneys will help you know your legal rights at (888) 233-5020.

California Gov. Edmund Brown signed the autonomous-vehicle bill, SB 1298, into law on September 25, 2012 at Google headquarters in Mountain View, CA. So far Florida, Nevada, and California are the only three U.S. states that have passed laws regarding autonomous vehicles.

The bill will allow Google to test driverless cars on public roadways in California as long as a licensed human is behind the wheel in the event that the robotic functions fail and a physical driver is needed. The bill will also establish regulations on performance and safety in order to determine when the self-driving car is road-ready, which will be developed and implemented by the Department of Motor Vehicles by January 1, 2015.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin has hopes that in a decade, self-driving cars will be commercially available to the general public.

Benefits

According to Google, driverless cars will dramatically improve the quality of our lives. With intoxication, distractions, and speeding accidents occurring because of human error, a self-driving car has the potential to reduce these major types of traffic fatalities from occurring. When a human can get tired and suffer from drowsiness, the self-driving car will not get tired and function consistently.

Another advantage of self-driving cars is that it gives people that couldn’t normally drive an option to still get transported independently. If someone was intoxicated, disabled, or even blind, they have the ability through driverless cars to travel to another location under their condition.

The cars would also have the ability to reduce traffic congestion by using highways more efficiently. Instead of driver’s trying to speed pass each other and switch lanes, self-driving cars would chain to other cars in proximity to travel at a safe and constant rate to maintain road order.

Safety & Legal Concerns

The cars have been already going through testing in Nevada and have driven over 300,000 miles. According to CNN, there have been no accidents of any Google autonomous vehicle. The only accident that ever occurred by a Google self-driving car was when the vehicle was controlled by a human.

According to Consumer Watchdog, a consumer rights group, the new bill poses certain privacy issues that deal with personal information of passengers collected by self-driving cars. Exactly what data is gathered and how it may be used in the future is not controlled by the passenger. To enforce that only certain information is gathered to operate the vehicle and not be used by third-parties unless there is opt-in consent, an amendment to the bill may be necessary to protect the privacy rights of passengers.

Now that autonomous cars have complete driving control, does liability shift to the car’s automaker, technology maker, or physical driver? Determining the at-fault party may be trickier to pinpoint. The DMV will have to tackle many of these complex questions regarding liability, insurance, and licensing as they begin drafting regulations for autonomous vehicles.

New Personal Injury Law

Although there is still a lot of work to be done, we admire Google’s innovation and leadership in pushing autonomous car technology in hopes of decreasing auto accidents. If you or someone you know was involved in an autonomous vehicle accident, make sure to call a San Diego personal injury attorney to discuss your rights in this changing area of law.

Sending or reading text messages while driving is one of the most dangerous types of distracted driving, according to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The NHTSA estimates that the average text takes the driver’s eyes off the road for 4.6 seconds – long enough for a vehicle going 55 miles per hour to cover an entire football field. Texting also distracts the brain and the hands from the important task of safe driving.

Texting and driving accidents have left thousands of people bearing intense personal costs. In a documentary produced by AT&T entitled “The Last Text,” four people whose lives have been permanently changed by a texting-related accident share their stories. They include family and friends left behind when a distracted driving accident claimed a loved one’s life, a man struggling with basic daily activities after a texting accident left him with a severe traumatic brain injury, and a college student whose texting caused the death of a bicyclist.

Each story underlines the significant costs just one text message can impose. The four seconds a driver’s eyes are off the road when texting are the four seconds that can literally mean the difference between life and death for the driver, a passenger, or another person.

You can watch the entire documentary online here, but be warned, the content may be disturbing to some viewers:

At Jurewitz Law Group, our capable San Diego distracted driving victim attorneys are dedicated to helping those injured in texting and driving accidents and their families. If you or someone you love has been injured by a distracted driver, call us today at (888) 233-5020 for a confidential telephone consultation.

During the week of September 16-22, National Child Passenger Safety Week is observed to help remind parents and teach adults to make sure that all children are seated properly in car seats. Since car crashes are currently the #1 killer of children 12 years and younger, this observance week was started to educate the public in hopes of saving the lives of our children.

In our September Newsletter, two-year-old Ryan Jurewitz explained important tips on car safety for children according to age. For those that have missed out on the important car safety tips for children in our Newsletter, let’s recap what Ryan went over in celebration of National Child Passenger Safety Week.

Here are the following child car seat rules according to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA):

• 12 Months or Less – Only use rear-facing car seats in the back seat.
• 1-3 years old – It is safest to keep child in rear-facing car seats for as long as possible until they reach the top height or weight limit of the car seat’s manufacturer. If they outgrow the car seat, the child is ready for a forward-facing car seat with a harness still in the back seat.
• 4-7 years old – Use a forward-facing car seat with a harness until they reach the height and weight limit allowed by the car seat’s manufacturer. When they outgrow car seat, the child is ready for a booster seat still in the back seat.
• 8-12 years old – Use the booster seat until they are big enough to properly fit the cars lap and shoulder seat belt. Lap belt must rest across upper thighs and not the stomach. Shoulder belt must rest across chest and shoulder; not the neck or face.

Remember, children of all ages should ride in the back seat of the car for optimal protection. Although most parents may think they are following proper car seat guidelines, three out of four parents do not use child restraints properly according to the NHTSA. We recommend stopping by your local car seat inspection station to ensure that your car seat is properly protecting your child.

To find a child car seat inspection station near you, visit NHTSA.gov.

For legal advice on your child’s injury, call our experienced San Diego child injury attorneys at (888) 233-5020.

Four male Poway High School students between 15 and 17 years old suffered serious injuries in a car accident that took place on September 5. The accident took place around 2:30 p.m. on Twin Peaks Road in Poway near Community Road.

Sherriff’s officials explained that a westbound green colored Ford Escort, which held the four teenagers, drifted into the eastbound lanes and sideswiped another car before it was broadsided by a Ford F-150 truck. Deputies have identified the driver as 17-year-old Mikey and his brother Matt Bryant. Both of these injured victims were immediately airlifted to Scripps La Jolla Hospital to receive treatment for the severe head trauma they suffered from the accident.

The other two teens suffered moderate injuries and were taken to a local hospital for treatment. Our law office sincerely hopes that everyone involved in this accident has a speedy recovery.

Due to the strong impact of the crash, one of the Escort’s doors got stuck on the truck’s grill and firefighters had to cut off the roof to get the female driver out of the vehicle. The female driving the truck and her 12-year-old sister suffered minor bruises and got transported to Palomar Hospital for treatment.

According to the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, car accidents contributed to 71 fatalities and left 5,819 people injured in 2009.

The kind of injuries resulting from auto accidents may vary due to the weight and size difference of the vehicles involved. We all know that there are numerous driving laws for safety purposes, but sometimes it is not enough to stop drivers from causing fatal auto accidents.

In cases like these, the financial future of the injured victims involved depends on the outcome of the personal injury claim filed. It would be to the teenagers’ benefit to seek counsel from a knowledgeable child accident lawyer who would explore and explain all their legal options and for the truck driver to seek a car accident lawyer for compensation.

When you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a car accident, get immediate assistance from an experienced San Diego County lawyer. Call the Jurewitz Law Group at (888) 233-5020 for a free consultation.

A 90-year-old man was hospitalized after he was hit by a pickup truck that was backing out of a driveway in the Serra Mesa neighborhood on July 10 around 11:10 a.m. According to San Diego Police, the victim was run over by a Ford F-250 pickup being driven by a 50-year-old man.

The injured victim suffered a severe laceration over his left eye and a bruised brain and was immediately transported to a nearby hospital for treatment. From the facts presented in the news story, it appears that the truck driver was at fault for causing the accident, because he backed the vehicle without checking his blind spots.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2010, there were 3092 fatalities in crashes involving a distracted driver and approximately 416,000 suffered injuries in the auto crashes that involved a distracted driver.

If it is determined that the truck driver was at fault, then he might be held liable for the injuries suffered by the elderly victim and would be required to compensate the victim for all related damages.

If you have suffered because of a careless motorist, the experienced San Diego auto accident injury lawyers can get you the compensation you deserve and hold the at-fault party responsible for his or her actions. Call our personal injury law office at (888) 233-5020 for a complimentary consultation on your case.