San Diego Car Accident Lawyer Blog

A high-speed car chase ended with the deaths of three Southern California boys when their car flipped over a wall and landed in the front yard of a home in Fontana, California.

View Larger Map

The car, a Nissan Maxima driven by a 14-year-old boy, ran a red light and was pulled over by a California Highway Patrol Officer. As the officer walked toward the car, the boy sped off and led the officer on a high-speed chase that led the cars through several red lights and reached speeds of up to 90 mph before the Nissan hit the wall.

The car accident threw the 14-year-old driver and his 11-year-old passenger from the car. They were declared dead at the scene. A 6-year-old passenger wearing a seat belt was transported to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center where he later died of his injuries.

For the second time in two days, a Southern California man was killed by a wrong-way driver on a California freeway.

This time, a Culver City Police sergeant died after his vehicle was struck by a wrong-way driver on the eastbound Santa Monica Freeway (I-10) in West Los Angeles when a wrong way driver hit his car head on. Both drivers died at the scene. The car accident happened just west of National Boulevard in the Palms area.

View Larger Map

Earlier in the week, a 60-year-old Palmdale man was killed when his car was struck head on by a Ford Explorer driven the wrong way along California 14.

The Jurewitz Law Group sends its' prayers and thoughts to Sgt. Curt Massey's family and friends in this difficult time.

Wrong-way driver head-on collisions on freeways are very rare, but usually end up as fatal car accidents. To have two in two days is alarming. Please take the time, care, and attention to always drive your vehicle carefully and to look out for the safety of others. Hopefully, these accidents will be an aberration.

Late Sunday night, San Miguel resident Monica Arryaga's car was stuck on the northbound onramp on Spring Street to Highway 101 in Paso Robles, California. Ms. Arryaga's car had been involved in an earlier car accident and was disabled.

While waiting for police officers to arrive to help her, Ms. Arryaga was hit by a Jeep. The driver of the Jeep escaped before police officers arrived on scene.

Ms. Arryaga was taken via ambulance to the hospital where she remained overnight before dying from her injuries Monday afternoon.

We here at the Jurewitz Law Group are saddened by Ms. Arryaga's death and hope that the law catches up with the driver who killed her.

Times are tough in San Diego and those tough times are affecting drivers and their ability to purchase insurance.

Even in good times, drivers often try to save as much money as they can by buying cheap insurance. We have all seen the commercials. "Call our insurance brokerage and we'll get you the best price for insurance. We'll save you money!" However, policy price is only one factor that drivers should consider when buying insurance.

A second factor, and really the reason why you buy insurance, is to protect you and your family. Car insurance does that in two ways. First, the insurance policy protects you in the event that you are at fault and cause a car accident. This is called "third party coverage" because the injured person is not part of the insurance contract between with you and your insurance company. Third party coverage by law MUST include coverage for "bodily injury" claims, i.e., claims of physical injury, and property damage claims to pay for car repairs.

Under California law, all drivers must carry car insurance with limits of at least $15,000 bodily injury coverage per person, $30,000 bodily injury coverage per accident, and $5,000 property damage. These limits have been on the books for years and have not adjusted for inflation.

As you can imagine, these limits are not sufficient to pay for all but the most minor car accidents. With the cost of medical care today, it is very easy for medical treatment alone to exceed $15,000--let alone the compensation necessary to pay for pain and suffering or for lost earnings while the injured person recovers. And any significant auto body repair can easily exceed $5,000.

Needless to say, possessing a minimum car insurance policy doesn't do anyone much good.

Continue reading " San Diego: What You Need to Know About Buying Car Insurance " »

In Part One, we told you how insurance companies and insurance adjustors love to take advantage of injury victims who have not hired an experienced injury lawyer. That is why you need to hire a seasoned, knowledgeable injury lawyer to make sure that they don't take advantage of you.

Adjustors Compete to Reduce the Money Paid on Claims

Insurance companies spend alot of time, money, and energy training adjustors how to convince injury victims into taking low-ball settlements. An adjustors' career, pay-scale, and workplace prestige is all based upon how well they are able to reduce the amount of money they pay for claims. The less they pay for claims, the more money the company makes.

Insurance adjustors are not on your side and will never pay you full value for your claim.

Adjustors Laugh When You Do Not Hire a Lawyer

Just like your workplace, adjustors talk to each other about their claims and exchange jokes--often at your expense. They particularly love when injured people do not hire a lawyer. First, it tells them that even you don't believe your case is that valuable. If you did, you'd hire an experienced injury lawyer. Second, they know they can lead you by the nose and pay as little as possible because you don't have as much knowledge as they do about your rights.

Adjustors Try to Convince You That You are Their Friend

Adjustors know that if you believe the adjustor is looking out for your best interests, you won't hire a lawyer. You'll listen to their advice. And ultimately you'll accept less for your claim, even if it is not enough to pay for your medical bills, loss of earnings, and pain. Often people realize that adjustors are not their friends when their claim is denied or they receive the low-ball offer.

Always keep in mind that the adjustor works for the insurance company. He does not work for you and does not have your best interests at heart.

For more tips and information, contact the Jurewitz Law Group to discuss your car accident.

Early Sunday morning, a 60-year-old Palmdale man was killed when a wrong-way driver struck his car head-on while he was driving on the Antelope Valley Freeway.

The accident occurred along the southbound lanes of California 14 when a driver of a Ford Explorer began travelling northbound along the highway. The accident occurred near Santiago Road in Acton, California.

View Larger Map

At the time of the accident it was unknown whether the driver of the Explorer was under the influence of alcohol. Given that the accident occurred at 3:00 a.m. early Sunday morning and involved a wrong-way driver, it is highly likely that alcohol was involved.

The Jurewitz Law Group sends their sympathies to the family of the deceased driver. We also hope that the driver of the Explorer fully pays for his negligence and--if the car accident was caused by alcohol--that he be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

An early morning single-vehicle car crash in Rancho Penasquitos left the driver of the car with severe head trauma and trapped in his car after it hit the center divider and flipped over.

View Larger Map

The driver, an unidentified man in his 20s, was driving northbound on Carmel Mountain Road the 56 Freeway when he fell asleep. The car veered out of the lane, hit the center divider, flipped, and skidded to a stop.

The driver was later puled from the vehicle and diagnosed with severe, but not fatal, head injuries.

The Jurewitz Law Group hopes that the driver's head injury is not permanent of life changing. Please remember that if you are feeling tired, it is better to pull over and rest than to severely injure, or kill, yourself or others in a car crash. Please take the time to rest.

Dozens of car accidents happen in San Diego every day. Fortunately, most are minor and don't cause injury. However, a large percentage of these accidents do cause some injury and leave victims wondering what they must do to protect themselves.

Without specific knowledge of what to do after a car accident, most accident victims are left at the mercy of insurance adjustors who are looking to exploit their lack of knowledge and the fact that they have not hired an experienced injury lawyer.

Here are some things insurance companies don't want you to know:

Continue reading " What Car Insurance Companies Don't Want You to Know, Part One " »

A 19-year-old Mountain View, California man was "clinging to life" after being struck by a truck. The accident occurred on the 1800 block of California Street in Mountain View when a 1973 Chevrolet pickup truck drove over the curb and struck the man, identified as Man Lai Leung.

Leung is said to have "serious, extensive injuries" but survived overnight at the hospital.

The driver of the truck was found not be under the influence of alcohol and the cause of the accident is under investigation.

The Jurewitz Law Group wishes Mr. Leung a speedy recovery and hopes that his injuries are not permanent or life-changing.

View Larger Map

Two Santa Barbara women were seriously injured in a car accident on Highway 154 west of San Antonio Creek Road in Santa Barbara County when the driver of the vehicle took her attention away from driving to retrieve her cell phone.

View Larger Map

The vehicle containing the two women landed on its roof after driving off the road and a 30 foot embankment.

The accident happened when Miriam Duarte of Santa Barbara heard her cell phone ring and she leaned over to pick it up. When she did so, her vehicle drifted off the road and down the embankment. Both Ms. Duarte and her passenger were trapped upside down until they could be freed by members of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department and Sheriff's Department.

The two were transported to the hospital and, luckily, only suffered lacerations and complaints of pain.

The Jurewitz Law Group wants to remind everyone that inattention is the number 1 cause of car accidents--even more of a factor than alcohol or speed. Cell phones and other distractions greatly lead to inattention. Please remember that your duty as a driver is to safely drive your vehicle. Leave the distractions alone.

A San Diego woman was killed Friday when the minivan she was driving crossed the median of Poway Road and struck an oncoming vehicle head-on. The woman was declared dead on the scene. The driver of the other vehicle was trapped in his truck for hours until he could be freed and transported to UCSD Medical Center.

The accident occurred on Poway Road between Espola Road and State Route 67. Light rain was present but there was no indication that rain or intoxication was a factor in the accident.

This story is a reminder that car accidents happen everyday due to brief inattention by drivers, often resulting in serious injuries.

View Larger Map

An Amtrak passenger train, the 701 San Joaquin from Bakersfield to Sacramento, collided with the trailer of a semi-truck Thursday morning near the intersection with Avenue 144 in Corcoran, California.

Fortunately, the train did not derail and nobody was killed due to the crash. The train came to rest nearly a mile from the accident scene.

Although the train track intersection is controlled, the tractor trailer had entered the intersection before the control arms had closed the intersection. The driver was forced to stop at the intersection with Highway 43 due to oncoming traffic, leaving the trailer on the tracks.

The Jurewitz Law Group is happy that no deaths or serious injuries resulted from this trucking accident. However, this accident serves as a reminder of a very important lesson--never enter or cross a railroad crossing unless you can safely proceed through the intersection. Often, car drivers are caught on the intersection with a train bearing down on them when they could not initially cross the intersection. It is far safer to wait until it is safe to proceed completely through.

View Larger Map