A San Diego lawsuit was filed by the surviving family members of California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor and his family against automaker giant Toyota following the infamous car accident which took their lives. The Toyota 2009 Lexus ES- 350 provided to Officer Saylor by Bob Baker Lexus while Officer Saylor’s vehicle’s was being repaired had started unexpectedly and uncontrollably accelerating. The Lexus raced across San Diego’s freeways and roads before finally crashing and bursting into flames in Santee.
The lawsuit accuses Toyota of manufacturing and distributing a dangerous product along with Bob Baker Lexus, the El Cajon based car dealership who loaned the sedan, for negligence. The surviving relatives are seeking an unspecified amount in damages.
Up to today, 58 people have been killed in the cases involving a Toyota vehicle with acceleration malfunctioning. While even one injury or lost life due to unexpected and uncontrollable acceleration is too many, these deaths are completely inexcusable. One would expect that the gas pedal or brake pedal in your car would work properly at all times. These are the controls that manage the speed of the vehicle itself. For the car to speed away without the guidance of the driver is a scary thought and can certainly cause severe injury and death.
Two U.S. Border Patrol agents suffered minor injuries in a San Diego auto accident accident on March 7, 2010, when they were sideswiped by another car near Harris Ranch Road on State Route 94 (SR-94). The car crash took place around 7:20 pm.
The driver who hit the Border Patrol officers took off after the collision but was quickly tracked down at her home. She claims that she did not realize she had hit their patrol vehicle until the investigators contacted her. She also claims that she heard what sounded like a gunshot when she struck the deputies. The driver had her driver’s license for less than 30 days when the accident occurred
We are thankful that nothing serious took place. At the same time we feel that those people who have just learned to drive should be more careful while on the road, not just for their safety but for other’s as well. Also, it is very difficult if not impossible to believe her story about how the collision occurred. Drivers feel when their vehicles strike another object with enough force to cause injury. That was most certainly the case here. She was most likely trying to escape responsibility.
Branden Butler, the 17-year old teenager serving 547 days of service in the Juvenile Hall in Vista, spoke to Rancho Buena Vista High School students in a Vista courtroom on March 5, 2010. On October 4, 2009 Butler rammed his car into a wooden fence on La Granada Road, killing his Torrey Pines High School classmate and friend, Alex Capozza (pictured below).
Butler was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol at the time of the auto accident. After partying in Rancho Santa Fe, he had gone out with friends to get some food when the fatal car accident took place.
This is the first time that Butler has spoken publicly about what happened and he did so as part of the San Diego Superior Court’s Court Day which featured talks by lawyers and judges about what the Court does on a day-to-day basis. It also featured mock trials and, in the case of Butler, speeches by convicted criminals about the impact their crime has had on their life.
While there is no excuse for Butler’s actions—and drunk driving is completely inexcusable—Butler should be commended for speaking with these students. The source article for this post was not clear whether his presence was court ordered. However, it seems from the subject of his talk and the words that he communicated that his poor choice to drive while intoxicated has caused him a tremendous amount of grief and remorse. He was very remorseful about the loss of his friend and the impact Alex’s death has had on the Capozza family. Unfortunately, it is often only after a fatal auto accident, that people reflect and acknowledge that they made a poor and dangerous choice. If only it could be the other way around.
A 27-year old Torrance man was arrested on March 4, 2010 in connection with a fatal Los Angeles traffic accident that took place on the San Diego Freeway (I-405) near the Crenshaw Boulevard off-ramp. The accident had taken place at around 2:24 am.
Baek was driving southbound on the freeway when he rear-ended a van at a high rate of speed. The driver of the van lost control, veered across two lanes of traffic and struck a third vehicle driving in the slow lane of the freeway. The van left the freeway and went down a steep embankment. Baek was booked on a count of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and two counts of driving while intoxicated causing injury or death.
Our office wishes to offer our sincere prayers and condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased. We once again urge all drivers to be more careful while attempting to switch lanes. Try not to exceed the speed limits. And never, ever, drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. If you witness motorist driving erratically, try to avoid them as much as possible. They may be driving while intoxicated.
An 87-year old man lost his life in a tragic San Diego auto wreck that occurred on March 2, 2010. The victim was driving his Toyota Camry when it crashed into a parked truck just south of Ocean View Boulevard. This car accident took place at around 11:35 am.
The deceased, David Epstein, was heading north on the Interstate 15 (I-15) in the Mountain View area of San Diego when his Toyota sedan veered to the right for unexplained reasons and collided with the parked big-rig truck. Epstein died on the spot.
Given the recent reports of braking system failure issues, unexpected acceleration, and other technical malfunctions in Toyota manufactured cars, this tragic accident might have been caused by one of these defects. We wish to express our condolences to the family and loved ones of Mr. Epstein. At the same time we urge the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation to arrive at the precise reasons of the car crash.
A 24-year old man’s body was found on March 2, 2010 in the 12400 block of Highland Valley Road around 7 p.m. San Diego Police Department suspects this to be a solo vehicle car crash. The wreckage of this San Diego car wreck was cited by a passerby in Rancho Bernardo near Lake Hodges.
The victim was found dead when the paramedics reached the site. The deceased, whose identity has been withheld pending family notification, lived in Escondido with his girlfriend. Our office wishes to express sincere prayers and condolences to the family and friends of the victim. We hope that a proper inquiry is initiated into the accident by the authorities before labeling the wreck as a solo-crash.
A San Diego County Sheriff’s Deputy lost his life after he crashed his cruiser into a bridge embankment while pursuing an alleged drunk driver going the wrong way on a freeway. The car accident occurred in the early hours of February 28, 2010. The deceased, Deputy Ken Collier, 39, died at a hospital shortly after the accident near Santee. The suspect Jose Jasso Lopez, 22, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter.
Collier was driving westbound on State Route 52 (SR-52) when he spotted a car heading toward him on the same side of the highway. He made a quick u-turn to pursue the car, turning into an auxiliary lane in the highway median, but then struck a bridge abutment between Mast Boulevard and Santo Road near Mission Trails Regional Park in northeastern San Diego County.
Our office wishes to express our sincere prayers for the family and loved ones of Deputy Ken Collier. It is sad that we lost such a competent officer who was looking out for the safety of others. There are few things more dangerous on San Diego’s highways and streets than a drunk driver—unless, of course, if it is a drunk driver heading the wrong way on a freeway. The damage that Mr. Lopez could have caused had he crashed into another vehicle or vehicles is unimaginable. Not only could he have killed himself, but he would likely have killed anyone he ran into. Deputy Collier understood this and decided to chase Mr. Lopez to prevent this tragedy. Unfortunately, he lost his life doing so. We hope that the San Diego District Attorneys’ Office prosecutes Mr. Lopez to the fullest extent of the law.
A 17-year old boy was finally arrested for causing a fatal Riverside car crash on January 16, 2010 that had resulted in the death of the female driver of a Ford Explorer. The auto accident took place on Cottonwood Avenue at Festival Way in Moreno Valley when the victim, Cynthia Rene Whitaker, 54, of Moreno Valley, had swerved into oncoming traffic to avoid a Honda Civic. By doing so, she hit a Nissan Quest.
The Civic in question was being driven by the 17-year old boy who had stolen it in Desert Hot Springs. He also admitted to being under the influence of alcohol at the time of the car crash. The Moreno Valley Police has charged him with vehicular manslaughter, two counts of hit-and-run, and possession of a stolen vehicle.
Our office wishes to highlight the severity of this case! Not only did the teenager steal the car, but was also drunk which might have played a huge part in the death of Ms. Whitaker. Such behavior from anyone, especially from a juvenile, is very disheartening and despicable. We hope that the Riverside County District Attorney prosecutes this teenager as an adult and to the fullest extent of the law. We also hope that Ms. Whitaker’s family receives whatever care, assistance, and compensation they need and deserve.
A 49-year old North County man lost his life in a San Diego car crash that took place on February 21, 2010. This fatal accident occurred at about 2:40 p.m. on a curving stretch of State Route 67 (SR-67) north of Lakeside.
The victim, Randy Fredrick Evans, was northbound on SR-67 near Slaughterhouse Canyon Road when he lost control of his SUV, causing it to skid across the pavement and overturn. Evans faced head injuries and died on the spot of accident according to the California Highway Patrol and San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office.
Our office wishes to convey our sincere prayers and condolences to the family and friends of Randy Fredrick Evans. We understand how difficult it is to come to terms with such tragedy. The accident happened on a dangerous stretch of highway—SR-67 is the most dangerous road in San Diego—that ascends into foothills near a quarry south of Poway. We once again urge drivers to drive with extreme caution in such terrain. A little bit of vigilance from your side can save your own life!
On the other hand, the cause of the accident could very well be “oversteer” leading to the SUV flipping and rolling over. Oversteer is a common problem when drivers lose control in one direction and over-correct and oversteer in the other direction. The act of oversteering and the the SUV’s high profile leads to the SUV rolling over onto its’ roof, crushing it, and commonly leading to severe head trauma and major brain injury.
Earlier today in the health care debate, President Barack Obama used this analogy about his prior experience with auto insurance to support his argument for health insurance reform:
OBAMA: ... You know, when I was -- when I was young, just got out of college, I had to buy auto insurance. I had a beat-up old car. And I won't name the name of the insurance company, but there was a company, let's call it Acme Insurance in -- in Illinois. And I was paying my premiums every month. After about six months I got rear-ended, and I called up Acme and said, "You know, I'd like to see if I can get my car repaired." And they laughed at me over the phone.
Because really, this was set up not to actually provide insurance, what it was set up was to meet the legal requirements. But it really wasn't serious insurance.
Now, it's one thing if you got an old beat-up car that you can't get fixed. It's another thing if your kid is sick or you've got breast cancer.
Now, I'm no fan of auto insurance companies. I think they try everything they can, fair or unfair, lawful or unlawful, to reduce the amount they pay out on claims to the detriment of injured people. But, I do not believe for one second that the President's story is accurate.
Here is why.
Obama was dealing with his own insurance company. That is what is known as a "first party" claim when he reported the damage to his insurance company. It is known as a first party claim because he had a direct contractual relationship with his insurance company. When you have a first part claim, insurance companies are not so brazen as to deny a claim and laugh at their customer. Sure, they might lowball his claim payment but typically they do not deny the claim outright.
Assuming that his insurance company actually denied his property damage claim, the reason most likely is that Obama had failed to purchase collision coverage for his insurance policy. Therefore, he did not have the right kind of coverage to pay for the damage to his car (this also assumes that the other driver, who sounds like he was actually at fault, did not have insurance--if he did have insurance, Obama should have filed a claim with the other driver's insurance company). Collision coverage is available to pay for damage to your property, such as your vehicle, when either you damage your own property due to your carelessness (backing into a tree, for example) or if your car is damaged by an uninsured motorist. In California, a driver is not required to purchase collision coverage. It is completely optional.
It is most likely that Obama, when he was young and not making very much money, decided that he would not increase his insurance costs by purchasing collision coverage. That may have seemed like a very prudent decision given that Obama was driving an old beater that was not worth much money.
Unfortunately, that decision is often short sighted. This is a decision made by many Californians each year. I have seen many clients who completely lost their car after an uninsured motorist destroyed their car. With no insurance for the at fault driver and no collision coverage to pay for the damages, the car is simply lost forever.
While it may seem a good cost saving measure not to pay for collision coverage for a car worth $3,000 or less, I can assure you that the cost of replacing your vehicle after a total loss will seem insurmountable unless you have collision coverage. Your decision to save $20-40 a month will seem poor when all of a sudden you must pay $3,000 for a new vehicle.
Don't be an Obama. Purchase collision coverage for your auto insurance policy.
A 20-year old Escondido woman lost her life in a Los Angeles County car accident that occurred at 3:15 a.m. in the Antelope Valley area of northern Los Angeles County on February 21, 2010. The victim, Michelle Garcia, was a passenger in a Lexus which veered off road and overturned. The driver of the car, George M. Reyes of Escondido, was arrested for causing the auto accident.
Reyes was driving his 2006 Lexus eastbound on Avenue S when his car drifted over onto the right shoulder. Although he veered back to the left, he lost control of his car which then crossed the median and rolled over. The car then slid across the westbound lanes until it came to rest on its roof. Garcia got ejected from the car because she was not wearing a seat belt. Shedied at the scene. Reyes suffered minor injuries and was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence.
Our heart goes out to the family and friends of Michelle Garcia. We understand how tragic it is to lose someone you love so dearly. At the same time we wish to highlight the issue of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and not adhering to the rules of safe driving. Always make it a point to wear your seat belt as soon as you sit in a car and never get into a car with a driver who has been drinking.
A 40-year old man lost his life in an Orange County truck accident that took place on February 20, 2010, in Fountain Valley. The deceased was a passenger in a Toyota Tacoma and was travelling south on Bushard Street when the Toyota pickup was struck by a Ford Ranger that was eastbound on Heil Avenue. This accident happened at 8:22am.
The victim was taken to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The drivers of the two pickups suffered minor injuries.
Our office wishes to convey our thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of the victim. The loss must be devastating. We repeatedly urge all Californians to be careful while on the road and ensure that you are driving responsibly--not just for your sake but for others as well! It is unclear from the Orange County Register news story whether one of the vehicles ran a red light or stop sign. However, that seems like a very safe conclusion since both trucks cannot legally be in the intersection at the same time. Entering an intersection against a red stop light is a violation of California Vehicle Code section 21453(c) which states that it is illegal for a motor vehicle to enter an intersection or proceed through the intersection against a red traffic signal.
A 55-year old woman was killed in a San Diego rollover car accident that occurred on February 23, 2010, when her sport utility vehicle was clipped by a taxi and rolled over on Interstate 5 (I-5) near the Golden Hill and East Village areas of San Diego. This fatal auto accident took place around 7:45 a.m.
The cab driver, 47-year old Andai Ogbagebri of San Diego, was changing lanes when his southbound 2006 Ford Crown Victoria hit the rear end of the 2000 Chevrolet Blazer being driven by the victim, Phyllis Lorraine Kirk, 65, of San Diego. The traffic collision made the SUV skid out of control and flip over until it came to rest upside down. Kirk died at the scene. Ogbagebri was uninjured.
Our office wishes to convey our sincere prayers and condolences to the family and friends of Ms. Kirk. We know how shattering it is to lose a loved one this way and more so when it is not their fault. It is important to remember that, when changing lanes, drivers must first make sure that it is safe to change lanes before doing so. An unsafe lane change is a violation of California Vehicle Code section 21658(a) which states: “A vehicle…shall not be moved from the lane until such movement can be made with reasonable safety.”
On Friday, we wrote about a tragic San Diego hit and run auto accident in San Diego in which Alejandra Vazquez, a 35-year old woman, lost her life when a SUV crashed into her as she was crossing the street, leaving her dead on the scene. The guilty driver was said to be driving a metallic blue, older model foreign station wagon with a missing piece of the right front bumper, which had come apart after the accident.
The San Diego Police arrested a man the very next day, on February 20, 2010, as the one suspected to be responsible for Ms. Vazquez’s death. The man, Bruce Hanson, 51, was arrested at his Encanto home on Republic Street, about 2.5 miles from the hit-and-run accident scene, and has been booked on suspicion of felony vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run. Hanson had left his blue Subaru Forester, with no license plate, at a wrecking yard on Otay Mesa with the keys on the dashboard and blood at the impact point which was seen and reported by a worker of the yard. A forensic evidence technician later determined the Forester as the suspect vehicle.
We are very happy that, through publicity of this horrible and tragic accident and good work by the San Diego Police Department, that this suspect has been caught. However, the fact that the suspect has been caught will not bring any solace or comfort to Ms. Vazquez's family and friends, especially her mother who saw her daughter be killed. Hit and run accidents are absolutely despicable and we hope that the suspect is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Ross Jurewitz is a San Diego car accident lawyer and the managing attorney of the Jurewitz Law Group, a California law firm dedicated to representing people seriously injured and the families of people killed by the negligence of others. If you or a loved one has been hurt or killed in a San Diego auto wreck, please order your free copy of Mr. Jurewitz's book, The Ten Biggest Mistakes that can Destroy Your California Accident Case. It is full of helpful information that will help you protect your legal rights and it is free to all California residents.
A 35-year old San Diego woman lost her life in a San Diego hit and run car accident that occurred in the early morning hours on February 19, 2010, in the Chollas View neighborhood of the City. This fatal accident took place around 2:15 a.m. near the Interstate 805 (I-805) ramps at Market Street where the victim, Alejandra Vazquez, had parked her car to get to Moody's Lunch Service on Euclid Avenue, where she worked.
Vazquez had just gotten out her car when a blue colored SUV, heading eastbound on Market Street, smashed into her. The impact threw her across some parked vehicles before she fell beneath the back end of a pickup. Vazquez suffered severe abdominal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. The suspect fled the scene but eyewitnesses reported that the driver was a man in his 50s with white or grey curly hair driving a metallic blue older model foreign station wagon with a missing piece of the right front bumper.
Our office wishes to convey our sincere prayers and condolences to the family and friends of Alejandra Vazquez. Though we know that no amount of good wishes will ease the pain for her family and loved ones, we only hope that the guilty hit and run driver is put behind bars. There are few crimes that enrage our office more than hit and run car accidents. If you are careless enough to hit another vehicle or strike a pedestrian with your car, for God’s sakes, STOP!!! We all have a responsibility to others on the road and if we have potentially injured a person in an accident, we need to stop and help them get any assistance they need. We hope that the driver who killed Ms. Vazquez is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Ross Jurewitz is a San Diego car accident lawyer and the managing attorney of the Jurewitz Law Group, a California law firm dedicated to representing people seriously injured and the families of people killed by the negligence of others. If you or a loved one has been hurt or killed in a San Diego auto accident, please order your free copy of Mr. Jurewitz's book, The Ten Biggest Mistakes that can Destroy Your California Accident Case. It is full of helpful information that will help you protect your legal rights and it is free to all California residents.
A 29-year old woman from Laguna Hills was killed in a fatal Orange County car accident on February 17, 2010 when the Corvette she was driving crashed into a tree on Mill Creek Drive just south of Lake Forest Drive in Lake Forest. The accident took place at around 8:15 a.m.
The deceased, Amy Thomas, was taking a prospective buyer out for a test-drive when she lost control of the gray 2003 Corvette near 23016 Mill Creek Dr. in Laguna Hills. The car skidded sideways, its driver's side door slamming into a tree. The car then apparently spun around before banging into another tree 20 feet onward. Afterward, the driver's side door of the Corvette was dangling from a hinge, the windshield was shattered, the roof bulged upward and the front end showed damage. The passenger of the car was taken to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo to be treated for cuts and chest pain.
Our office wishes to convey our sincere prayers and condolences to the family and friends of Amy Thomas. It is unclear why this car accident occurred, but it sounds like a truly tragic and horrific crash. It would be interesting to determine whether this accident was caused by any mechanical defect or malfunction. There does not appear to be any reason why Ms. Thomas, a Corvette salesperson, would be racing or driving recklessly in the vehicle.
Ross Jurewitz is an Orange County car accident lawyer and the managing attorney of the Jurewitz Law Group, a California law firm dedicated to representing people seriously injured and the families of people killed by the negligence of others. If you or a loved one has been hurt or killed in an Orange County auto accident, please call Mr. Jurewitz at 888-233-5020 for a free consultation.
In addition, if you would like more information to help you or your family following an Orange County personal injury accident, please order your free copy of Mr. Jurewitz's book, The Ten Biggest Mistakes that can Destroy Your California Accident Case. It is free to all California residents.
A 24-year old Garden Grove resident was killed in an Orange County car accident on February 12, 2010, as he lost control of the 2004 4-door Nissan Altima he was driving. The accident took place around 1:30 am as he struck the curb at the Alton and East Yale intersection and then collided with a group of trees at the southeast corner. Apparently, he was speeding at speeds in excess of 80 mph and had run a red light near the Alton Parkway and Harvard Avenue intersection seconds before he met up with the accident.
Reportedly, the 2004, 4-door Nissan Altima was stolen from a nightclub's parking lot in Newport Beach.
Our office wishes to convey our sincere prayers and condolences to the family and friends of the deceased. While the driver likely stole the Altima and was breaking the law, nobody deserves to lose their life.
Ross Jurewitz is an Orange County auto accident lawyer and the managing attorney of the Jurewitz Law Group, a California law firm dedicated to representing people seriously injured and the families of people killed by the negligence of others. If you or a loved one has been hurt or killed in an Orange County car crash, please call Mr. Jurewitz at 888-233-5020 for a free consultation.
In addition, if you would like more information to help you or your family following an Orange County personal injury accident, please order your free copy of Mr. Jurewitz's book, The Ten Biggest Mistakes that can Destroy Your California Accident Case. It is free to all California residents.
A 20-year old Santa Ana resident was killed in an Orange County auto accident that took place on February 14, 2010, sometime before 2:30 a.m. The victim, Cara Lee, a passenger in a 2008 gold Toyota Corolla, was headed west on Sunflower Avenue in Costa Mesa when the Corolla was hit by a 2008 white Toyota Tundra. The driver of the Corolla, Hao A. Nguyen, 21, of Santa Ana, was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana for treatment of minor abrasions and was later arrested on suspicion of DUI.
The Tundra driver, Gustavo A. Vega, 22, of Costa Mesa, was treated for minor abrasions at the scene and arrested on suspicion of murder, vehicular manslaughter, felony DUI, felony injury hit-and-run and possession of a controlled substance. Vega had earlier been involved in a non-injury accident in Santa Ana and also faces additional charges from this traffic collision.
Our office wishes to convey our sincere prayers and condolences to the family and friends of Cara Lee.
Ross Jurewitz is an Orange County auto accident lawyer and the managing attorney of the Jurewitz Law Group, a California law firm dedicated to representing people seriously injured and the families of people killed by the negligence of others. If you or a loved one has been hurt or killed in an Orange County car accident, please call Mr. Jurewitz at 888-233-5020 for a free consultation.
In addition, if you would like more information to help you or your family following an Orange County injury accident, please order your free copy of Mr. Jurewitz's book, The Ten Biggest Mistakes that can Destroy Your California Accident Case. It is free to all California residents.
Four people, including two small children, were killed in a six-vehicle pileup that took place on the interstate leading to San Diego County. This tragic accident occurred on February 13, 2009, during the afternoon hours, on Interstate 15 (I-15) Freeway that connects San Diego County with San Bernardino County.
According to California Highway Patrol Officer Jeff Briggs, the four victims were in a car that was found sandwiched between two tractor-trailers in Ontario, CA. The two adults and two children were killed at the end of a long chain-reaction of car crashes. Though there was no immediate word on a cause, the car in which the victims were traveling is reported to have caught fire. The victims, whose names had not been released till late Saturday, were all declared dead on the scene.
Our office wishes to convey our sincere prayers and condolences to the family and friends of the deceased. We understand how tragic it is to lose a loved one, and especially children!
Ross Jurewitz is an Ontario auto accident lawyer and the managing attorney of the Jurewitz Law Group, a California law firm dedicated to representing people seriously injured and the families of people killed by the negligence of others. If you or a loved one has been hurt or killed in a Interstate 15 auto accident, please call Mr. Jurewitz at 888-233-5020 for a free consultation.
In addition, if you would like more information to help you or your family following a San Bernardino car accident, please order your free copy of Mr. Jurewitz's book, The Ten Biggest Mistakes that can Destroy Your California Accident Case. It is free to all California residents.
A 17-year old Lake Forest teenager was critically injured in an Orange County car accident on February 7, 2010, around 1:50 p.m. on Hidalgo near the intersection of Vista Del Lago in Mission Viejo.
The victim, Brent Sirignano, was a passenger in a 2006 Scion. Brent’s friend, Parker Kalmen, also a 17-year old from Lake Forest, appeared to have been speeding when the car lost traction and slid across the roadway crashing into a tree, according to eye witnesses. The car collided, passenger side first, into the tree. The two students were transported to Mission Hospital, where Brent is now fighting for his life at CHOC. He is in a medically-induced coma. Kalmen was uninjured.
Our office wishes to convey our sincere prayers to the family and friends of Brent Sirignano. We wish for a speedy recovery for Brent. We would also like to add that drivers need to be more careful on the stretch of Vista Del Lago in Mission Viejo. Speeding on this road can lead to serious consequences.
Ross Jurewitz is an Orange County personal injury lawyer and the managing attorney of the Jurewitz Law Group, a San Diego, CA law firm dedicated to representing people seriously injured and the families of people killed by the negligence of others. If you or a loved one has been hurt or killed in an Mission Viejo auto accident, please call Mr. Jurewitz at 888-233-5020 for a free consultation.
A mother and her one-year old child were injured in a Indio auto accident on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, as the mother ran a stop sign in the intersection of Clinton and De Oro in southwest Riverside County in the city of Indio. This serious car accident occurred around 4:40 p.m.
The woman, driving a red Toyota, pulled out from a stop sign on De Oro in front of a white Nissan that was traveling southbound on Clinton, according to Ben Guitron of the Indio Police Department. Though the mother suffered from minor to moderate head injuries, the child’s car seat became unfastened and rolled forward. The baby was badly shook up after the car accident. Both the mother and the baby were taken to a nearby area hospital. The driver of the Nissan was examined at the scene of the car crash but was let go.
It has to be said that this incident could have turned into a potentially dangerous and tragic one. While driving with a baby on board, you can never be too careful! Running through stop signs is a major hazard.
Ross Jurewitz is an Indio auto accident lawyer and the managing attorney of the Jurewitz Law Group, a San Diego personal injury law firm dedicated to representing people seriously injured and the families of people killed by the negligence of others. If you or a loved one has been hurt or killed in a Riverside injury accident, please call Mr. Jurewitz at 888-233-5020 for a free consultation.
In addition, if you would like more information to help you or your family following a California personal injury accident, please order your free copy of Mr. Jurewitz's book, The Ten Biggest Mistakes that can Destroy Your California Accident Case. It is free to all California residents.
A 75-year old Murrieta man lost his life in a Riverside County auto accident as the vehicle he was driving crashed into a center median of the road along the 41000 block of California Oaks Road in Murrieta. This fatal car accident took place on February 7, 2010, around 6:30 a.m.
The deceased, Eugene Farinas, was driving his SUV when he veered off the road and crashed into the median. He was taken to the Inland Valley Regional Medical Center where he succumbed to his injuries within an hour. An autopsy has been ordered to probe into the cause of death, said Riverside County Coroner's officials.
Our office wishes to convey our sincere prayers and condolences to the family and friends of Eugene Farinas. It has to be said that driving in old age is potentially very dangerous, not only for the elderly driver but also for fellow drivers and pedestrians. Another car accident was also reported a week ago in which a 92-year-old man killed a teenage Vista boy in a hit and run auto accident. Thought has to be given to the danger posed by senior citizens driving when they perhaps should not.
Ross Jurewitz is a Riverside auto accident attorney and the managing attorney of the Jurewitz Law Group, a San Diego law firm dedicated to representing people seriously injured and the families of people killed by the negligence of others. If you or a loved one has been hurt or killed in a Riverside car accident, please call Mr. Jurewitz at 888-233-5020 for a free consultation.
The autopsy of a 27-year old San Diego woman who was struck by multiple vehicles while standing on Interstate 805 in National City is scheduled for today. This very tragic auto accident took place around 12:30 a.m. on Northbound I-805 on February 7, 2010.
The victim, whose name has been withheld pending family notification, is believed to have gotten out of her SUV when she was struck by multiple vehicles, one after the other, on this very busy freeway. She died on the spot. Her car was found on the shoulder of the highway. No immediate reason could be found out regarding why she was standing in the middle of the traffic lane.
Our office wishes to convey our sincere prayers and condolences to the family and friends of the victim. To lose someone in such a brutal way is very tragic. It goes without saying how crucial it is to be careful while attempting to cross the road on a busy route, especially at night. One can never be too careful, so do all that you can to prevent yourself and your loved ones from such tragedy.
Ross Jurewitz is a National City auto accident lawyer and the managing attorney of the Jurewitz Law Group, a San Diego personal injury law firm dedicated to representing people seriously injured and the families of people killed by the negligence of others. If you or a loved one has been hurt or killed in a National City car accident, please call Mr. Jurewitz at 888-233-5020 for a free consultation.
Two people were injured, one severely, as a hit and run driver crashed his vehicle into several parked cars in the Rancho Bernardo area of San Diego on February 5, 2010. This car accident took place around 11 p.m. near 12230 Rancho Bernardo Road.
The victims had been drinking when the driver crashed his car into several cars parked there. The driver then ran away from the scene leaving behind the two injured people said Police Officer David Stafford. One passenger suffered a serious head injury, while the other, suffered only minor injuries. The car crash is being investigated as a felony hit-and-run auto accident.
Such hit-and-run car accidents are on a rapid increase in San Diego area. Both the driver as well as the passengers should be alert while on the road. Attentiveness spares motorists from such injuries which can turn fatal at times. Also, as is well-known, the intake of alcohol while on the road increases the reaction time.
Ross Jurewitz is a San Diego injury accident lawyer and the managing attorney of the Jurewitz Law Group, a San Diego, CA law firm dedicated to representing people seriously injured and the families of people killed by the negligence of others. If you or a loved one has been hurt or killed in a San Diego injury accident, please call Mr. Jurewitz at 888-233-5020 for a free consultation.
A 21-year old Greenport resident lost his life in a Riverside auto accident as his car was hit by a transit bus. This fatal car vs. bus accident took place at an intersection in Riverside on February 3, 2010 around 7:40 a.m. The deceased, Michael Brown, was driving a 2000 Ford Focus along CR 63 when he was hit by a Suffolk transit bus moving along CR 51.
According to Southampton Police reports, Brown passed a stop sign and continued into the moving traffic, when his Ford was hit broadside by the northward bound transit bus. Michael Brown was transported to the Suffolk County Medical Examiner's Office after being pronounced dead at the scene. The bus passengers and the driver suffered minor injuries.
Our office wishes to convey our sincere prayers and condolences to the family and friends of Michael Brown. Michael, a recent graduate of Greenport High School was much loved in the community. It is so disheartening to note that so many young adults are losing their lives in auto accidents in Riverside County. We urge all residents of the area to be more cautious when they step onto the roads and adhere to all traffic rules and safety norms.
Ross Jurewitz is a Riverside County auto accident lawyer and the managing attorney of the Jurewitz Law Group, a San Diego, CA law firm dedicated to representing people seriously injured and the families of people killed by the negligence of others. If you or a loved one has been hurt or killed in a Riverside car accident, please call Mr. Jurewitz at 888-233-5020 for a free consultation.
A man suspected of killing a Banning pedestrian in a Riverside County hit and run auto accident was located, detained, and interviewed at the Banning Police Department on February 2, 2010. This fatal Riverside pedestrian accident took place in front of 4500 Ramsey Street in Banning, on January 30, 2010, resulting in the death of 17-year old Cody Rodenbucher.
The suspect, 28-year old Sachin Bhakta from Banning, was taken into custody at the Holiday Inn Express on Ramsey Street after Banning police conducted a sweep of the hotel with the help of the Riverside County Sheriff's Bloodhound team. The police were able to apprehend him as a nearby surveillance camera had caught images of his car as it went east on Ramsey Street after striking Rodenbucher.
Our office wishes to convey our sincere prayers and condolences to the family and friends of Cody Rodenbucher. It is so disheartening to note that so many teenagers are losing their lives in hit and run car accidents in Riverside County. We urge all residents of the area to be more cautious when they step onto the roads, be it on foot or in a car.
Ross Jurewitz is a Riverside County personal injury lawyer and the managing attorney of the Jurewitz Law Group, a San Diego, CA law firm dedicated to representing people seriously injured and the families of people killed by the negligence of others. If you or a loved one has been hurt or killed in a Riverside County auto accident, please call Mr. Jurewitz at 888-233-5020 for a free consultation.
In addition, if you would like more information to help you or your family following a car wreck, please order your free copy of Mr. Jurewitz's California personal injury book, The Ten Biggest Mistakes that can Destroy Your California Accident Case. It is free to all California residents.
The body of a little girl, faced down in the mud, was found in the Tijuana River Valley around 10.a.m. on Sunday, January 31,2010. It was spotted near a park at the west end of Monument Road in San Diego County.
The body, spotted by Pio Cruz--a volunteer with the Desert Angels--might belong to the 5- year old girl who was swept away in a San Diego County auto accident near the Tijuana River’s raging waters on January 20, 2010. The car accident led to the death of a mother and her eldest daughter, while two young children--a 2-year old son and 5-year old daughter--went missing. The body found by Cruz is believed to be the missing girl.
Last Wednesday, another body had been found which was believed to be of the 2-year old boy. But Lt. Margaret San Filippo with the San Diego Sheriff's Department commented that everything will be confirmed after DNA testing. The body is thought to have been swept away from the Tijuana side of the border though large tubes, big enough for a person to walk through.
We all had prayed for the safe return of the children. Unfortunately, that was not to be. Our office wishes to convey our condolences near to the family of the victims. This tragedy that has befallen the husband/father of this family cannot be expressed in words. It is just too great.
Ross Jurewitz is a San Diego car accident lawyer and the managing attorney of the Jurewitz Law Group, a San Diego, CA personal injury law firm dedicated to representing people seriously injured and the families of people killed by the negligence of others. If you or a loved one has been hurt or killed in a San Diego auto accident, please call Mr. Jurewitz at 888-233-5020 for a free consultation.
A 28-year-old San Diego man was killed in a fatal San Diego County motorcycle accident on State Route 78 just east of Pine Hills Road in Julian. The deceased, identified as Carl Davis Jr., was riding a 2007 CVR 600 motorcycle when he was hit in a head-on collision. He died at the scene.
This serious traffic accident happened on Saturday, January 30, 2010 around 12:30 p.m. According to California Highway Patrol Officer Brian Pennings, Carl was eastbound on Pine Hills road when he suddenly crossed the double yellow line and was hit by a 1976 Chevrolet pickup. A witness told the California Highway Patrol Officer that Carl had passed him at a high rate of speed and soon afterward his motorcycle crossed into the oncoming traffic and was hit by the pickup. In his defense, the driver of the pickup, Dean Young, 47, of San Diego said that he “was unable to react in time to avoid a collision with the bike.”
Our office wishes to convey our sincere prayers and condolences to the family and friends of Carl Davis Jr. The number of catastrophic motor vehicle accidents that take place in San Diego County due to speeding is on the rise. Poor decisions, like suddenly switching lanes into oncoming traffic, can lead to disastrous consequences and, as in this case, even death.
Ross Jurewitz is a San Diego personal injury lawyer and the managing attorney of the Jurewitz Law Group, a San Diego, CA law firm dedicated to representing people seriously injured and the families of people killed by the negligence of others. If you or a loved one has been hurt or killed in a San Diego car accident, please call Mr. Jurewitz at 888-233-5020 for a free consultation.
In addition, if you would like more information to help you or your family following a head-on car crash or motorcycle wreck, please order your free copy of Mr. Jurewitz's book, The Ten Biggest Mistakes that can Destroy Your California Accident Case. It is free to all California residents.
A 23 year old San Jacinto man was killed in a San Diego car accident on SR-79 near Beaumont as his car, a 2004 Chevrolet Malibu, vaulted off the road and banged into the mountain side, north of County Landfill Road.
This fatal San Diego County auto accident occurred on January 27,2010, around 3 a.m. The driver, Daniel Eugene Valdez, was driving south on the highway when he lost control of his car. According to California Highway Patrol Officer Scott Beauchene, the sedan then rammed into the mountain, cutting all escape routes for the two occupants. The car crash resulted in Valdez’s death and severe injuries to his passenger, Raymond Trejo, 23, of Hemet. Trejo was later taken to a local trauma center in Riverside.
Our office wishes to convey our sincere prayers and condolences to the family and friends of Daniel E. Valdez and Raymond Trejo, who is still in the hospital. There have been various incidents reported where young adults meet with a horrific accident. Residents of San Diego County need to be more cautious about driving during late hours when they may be tired and fatigued.
A 36-year old Julian woman died tragically as her car, a Chevrolet Astro minivan, rammed into a stationary Oldsmobile 98 station wagon, which had crossed over the center divide of highway SR-67 near San Vicente Reservoir. The East San Diego County auto accident also seriously injured the driver of the Oldsmobile, John Hallaway of Las Vegas. The driver of the minivan was killed instantly.
This fatal car accident occurred on January 26, 2010, around 2:30 p.m near Johnson Lake Road. Apparently, the station wagon, had swerved across the road and continued against the southbound traffic for over a quarter of mile.The minivan could not swerve away to avoid the wrong-way driver.The victim’s name has been withheld by the California Highway Patrol awaiting notification from her family. Mr. Hallaway suffered major injuries and was airlifted to a local trauma center. Hallaway claims that he could not control his vehicle because he had fallen asleep just before the crash. You can read more about this accident in this 10news.com story.
Such freak accidents tend to leave one shaky and faithless in the conduct of other motorists. Clearly, Mr. Hallaway’s failure to keep his vehicle on the right side of the road led to this horrific traffic collision. Who would have thought that despite adhering to all the norms and regulations of driving, the young lady would die this way? Our wishes and prayers go out to the family and friends of the deceased woman. We understand how tough it is to cope with the passing away of someone so close to you. Everything seems so unfair!
Two children who were involved in a San Diego County auto accident and were swept away by the Tijuana River last week are still reported missing by San Diego authorities. A 5-year old boy and 2-year old girl were thrown into the flowing Tijuana River after their family car crashed into the water last Wednesday. Their 9-year old sister was killed in the car accident while the parents’ conditions were unknown. Several search attempts have been made for a body drifting in the storm waters near the Border Field State Park.
It was early Sunday when migrants near the Border Field State Park reported to the authorities of a body floating in the water. Maurice Luque, spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, said that the fire crew, along with the lifeguards and US Customs and Border Protection agents, searched the area where the body was spotted for hours but found nothing. The area being searched is near where Imperial Beach and San Ysidro meet the Mexican border. The bodies of the 5-year old and 2-year old have not been found.
We can only hope and pray that the children lost in the Tijuana River will soon be found by the authorities and brought back home to safety. According to authorities, last week’s storms caused the water in the dam upstream to nearly crest, leading to a large amount of water to flow through the area. You can read more about the car crash that led to the disappearance of these two children here in this Washington Post story.
50-year old David Reid was killed in a violent car accident in Spring Valley, California last Friday. The serious injury auto accident also left Mr. Reid’s teenage son, Garrett, with major injuries. Andrew Bellatti, 18-years old recent graduate from Steele Canyon High School and a recent draftee of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays baseball franchise, crashed head-on into Reid in a red Mustang, killing him. Bellatti, along with his companion and Reid’s son, were sent to the hospital with significant injuries.
According to the California Highway Patrol, the red Mustang drove head-on into Reid’s Dodge Caravan. The crash happened in one of Spring Valley’s most dangerous highways, Highway 94, where the roads are known to be narrow and accident prone. One of the Reids’ close friends, Russ Hadley and son Joshua, expressed utter shock and sadness over the loss of David Reid and were sad to hear it happened on Highway 94. There will be an open service held for David Reid next Sunday, January 31. More information regarding the car crash in Spring Valley can be found in this 10News.com story.
There have been several reports on car accidents and injuries in which teenagers and young adults are the ones behind the wheel, all of which end up in traumatic experiences, loss, and pain. David Reid’s death is just one of the many tragic stories of San Diego car accidents that could have been avoided. It is important for the citizens of San Diego County to lessen the number of car crashes caused by young adults by being more aware of the dangers of driving along steep roads, in wet and rainy conditions, and to always observe the speed limit. Mr. Bellati’s speedometer was frozen at 80 mph in a 55 mph zone.
For more information on auto, truck, motorcycle, other forms of accidents, order a free copy of The Ten Biggest Mistakes that can Destroy Your California Accident Case by Ross Jurewitz. You can order the book, which is free to all Californians, from the official Jurewitz Law Group website.
A series of winter storms have created a series of traffic wrecks and car accidents in San Diego County during the last week. The winter storms, part of a series of strong El Nino storms from the Pacific, have brought strong winds and heavy rain to the area after a long dry period. When that happens, oils and debris on the roads rise up and make Southern California freeways slick and slippery.
Rain is a primary cause for San Diego traffic accidents during the Winter. The sad fact of the matter is that most of these collisions could be avoided by simply driving slower and leaving more space between vehicles while driving.
Please protect you and your family by using slightly more care when you are driving in the rain. Help you and your fellow San Diego motorists with exercising a little more alertness and hopefully other San Diegans will do the same.
Sometimes it is unclear who caused a traffic collision. If that is the case, can a California car accident victim still be compensated even though they may be partially at fault for causing the auto wreck?
Nobody likes to admit fault. But if you have ever caused a San Diego car accident, you know that admitting fault is often not only the right thing to do but also allows you to receive some benefits from your insurance company.
A La Mesa traffic accident occurred when a taxi cab was nearly crushed by a falling 25-ton steel pipe at the interchange of SR-125 and I-8 near La Mesa Boulevard and Grossmont Center Drive. The steel pipe was being transported on the ramp from northbound I-125 to westbound I-8 when it struck a vertical support and broke its' chains. The speed and unsecured load caused the pipe to roll over the bridge and drop 75 feet on top of the taxi cab.
The 47 year-old cab driver and his 73 year-old passenger were both injured and were taken to local hospitals to treat their injuries. Both men were expected to survive.
The investigating CHP officers believe the accident was caused by the big rig driver travelling at too fast a rate of speed on the bridge.
Our prayers go out to the cab driver and his passenger and cannot imagine how much they have gone through. Clearly this accident happened due to the carelessness and recklessness of the driver and the shipping company.
The late Thanksgiving night car accident that injured Tiger Woods just outside his Windermere, FL home appears to have stemmed from a domestic argument with his wife, Elin Nordegren. While there is speculation as to the cause of the domestic argument, including rumors that Woods was having an affair, the facts show that Woods left the home during the argument, got behind the wheel of his 2009 Cadillac SUV, and shortly thereafter crashed into a fire hydrant and a tree leaving him unconscious.
Assuming that Woods lost control of the vehicle himself due to anger or simply not paying attention, the auto accident should serve as a reminder to all drivers, including motorists in San Diego, that getting behind the wheel when angry can be just as dangerous as doing so while drunk or on the telephone. When one drives while upset or under duress, their focus is not on the road and traffic conditions but on whatever made them furious in the first place. In these kind of situations, missing a turn or running a red light is significantly more likely.
For San Diegans and other California drivers, if you are tempted to drive shortly after or even during an argument, take a few moments to collect yourself before attempting to drive. Nobody wants your argument to turn into a more serious car crash.
Recently, the Jurewitz Law Group reported on a fatal Santee car crash that was the second accident seen at the intersection within a month. The victim has just been identified as a 53-year-old radiology technician.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office reported that Pamela Sue Marabeas of Santee was killed when a pickup truck struck the driver's side of her SUV as she crossed through an intersection at Mission Gorge Road and California State Route 125, near 6:30 a.m. on September 20, 2009.
Marabeas had been the sole occupant of her vehicle, and died at the scene of the fatal San Diego County auto accident. The driver of the pickup truck had to be rushed to the hospital and remains in critical condition.
The intersection where CHP Officer Saylor perished in a fiery San Diego car wreck, along with his wife, daughter, and brother-in-law, claimed another life on September 20, 2009, making it two fatal San Diego motor vehicle accidents within less than a month for the Santee location.
This second San Diego County car accident occurred at 6:35 a.m. at the intersection of Mission Gorge Road at California State Route 125, according to Lt. Gary Steadman of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. One person riding in the vehicle was killed while another was rushed to the hospital for treatment of serious injuries. The newest auto collision was reportedly caused when their vehicle hit a berm and veered off the roadway into a dirt construction area.
For a free copy of our California injury book, The 10 Biggest Mistakes that can Destroy Your California Accident Case, click on the link above. It is full of free, helpful advice for accident victims--including what to do and what not to do following an accident.
A fatal car crash close to Ramona along state Route 78 was finally investigated, prosecuted, and the El Cajon man who was the suspect was convicted.
The auto accident killed two men and injured a woman, and left the El Cajon man clear of murder charges, but convicted on two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter. Shannon Shimp was found guilty of DUI causing injury as he had been driving with a blood-alcohol level of over .08 percent. Each of these charges had allegations that the suspect inflicted great bodily injury personally, and caused death or injury to three or more victims.
Joseph Edwards, 52, who was the passenger in Shimp's pickup, was killed in the crash, along with Ian Kinney, 19, who had been driving a Lexus that was involved in the fatal Ramona car accident. Kinney's girlfriend was also injured.
A test conducted on Shimp nearly two hours following the traffic collision found that his blood-alcohol level to be .19 percent, more than twice the legal limit. Witnesses to the scene testified that Shimp had been driving eastbound when he tried to pass vehicles on the road, but instead lost control and collided with the Lexus, which became pinned under the pickup. Edwards, of Ramona, and Kinney, of Julian, both perished at the scene. Kinney's passenger and girlfriend, Tessa Medearis of Vista had to be cut from the sedan and was hospitalized. Shimp only suffered minor injuries from the fiery wreck.
Monte Bennett, the Deputy District Attorney of the area reported that the defendant Shimp is looking at about 17 years in prison once sentenced by Judge Herbert Exarhos on the following hearing on January 8.
You may also order our free California injury book, The 10 Biggest Mistakes that can Destroy Your California Accident Case, which is full of free information.
Two people have died this week in two East San Diego County motorcycle accidents. The first was the tragic accident of Mark Anthony Taylor when he was hit by an unlicensed car driver, which the Jurewitz Law Group has already reported. The second fatal motorcycle accident occurred in Descanso and was just reported by the San Diego County Coroner's Office.
Marleea Anne Gerfen, 21, was killed September 13th after fracturing her cervical spine in a motorcycle accident along California's Highway 79 while she was traveling southbound near Lookout Road in Descanso. Gerfen had been a servicewoman with the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar on active duty. She struck a dirt berm just as she approached a bend in the highway, causing her to crash on her motorcycle.
Though 911 was called and there was serious resuscitative effort on the paramedic's part, she was unfortunately pronounced dead at the scene in this fatal San Diego motorcycle accident.
A local band from San Diego called "A City Serene" with six members, were all seriously injured last week when their tour bus, which had been traveling up the California Grapevine along Interstate 5, was t-boned over the weekend.
The band, which has been classified as a screamo/hardcore band, was riding north on Interstate 5 through the Grapevine on September 20 around 3:30 p.m. when their bus crashed on the way to a San Jose show.
A CHP officer reporting on the incident noted that a Ford pickup truck coming in the opposite direction was airborne and flew over the center divider of Interstate 5. The truck caught a Honda Civic before going broadside into the bus belonging to the band. Another Honda just behind the bus then collided with the undercarriage after the bus had tipped over.
All seven people aboard were hurt in the wreck, all with serious injuries, and all six members of the band are reported to have suffered broken bones as a result of the California car wreck. The six musicians had to be transported by air ambulances to various hospitals in Mission Hills, Bakersfield, and Valencia, California. Family members report that two of the band members are barely holding on to life and are in comas at the moment. Other injuries suffered range from severe concussions to broken bones.
Order a free copy of our California injury book for accident victims, The 10 Biggest Mistakes that can Destroy Your California Accident Case, through our website. It is a free resource for all California accident victims.
The recent tragic Santee car accident that killed a CHP officer along with his family due to floor mats that trapped the accelerator was the catalyst for Toyota make huge efforts recently to order all such floor mats to be scrutinized under mandatory inspections in all Lexus and Toyota vehicles. It appears that a wrong floor mat was installed into the Lexus loaner that CHP Officer Saylor had been driving when the fiery crash took place.
Though the investigation is not complete just yet, Toyota wanted to waste no time in getting the word out to consumer before a similar catastrophe took place. It was investigators with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that believes the all-weather floor mats found in the wreckage of the accident could have been a cause.
Released 911 tapes that the Jurewitz Law Group has previously reported on showed that backseat passenger Chris Lastrella, brother-in-law to Officer Saylor, made a call to report that their accelerator was stuck adn they had no brakes and they were driving at 120 mph, just before crashing into an SUV at the Mission Gorge intersection with state Route 125 in Santee on August 28 of this year.
By their orders, vehicles may also be taken to dealers for the inspection, and vehicles brought in for any service will have the mats checked as part of the service. The company recently released a statement noting that Toyota takes the safety of the public and their passengers very seriously and will fully cooperate with any investigation. It offers its deepest sympathies to the Saylor and Lastrella families.
An Escondido man was seriously injured last week when he crashed his car into a traffic light pole on Sunday after losing control of his car in San Diego County.
The driver was indentified as Steve Diaz. He accidentally crashed his Honda Civic just before 7 p.m. on September 12, 2009, as he was traveling south on Woodland Parkway just before Rock Springs Road. His sedan actually jumped the curb, sideswiped a concrete wall and then hit the pole. He suffered force injuries to his chest and had to be transported to Palomar Medical Center nearby.
The cause of his accident and the reason he initially lost control of his car is still under investigation, and police have not ruled out alcohol as a possible cause just yet.
Recent horrific car and motorcycle accidents in San Diego County, as well as across the country, have been horrifying the nation, and spurred many researchers to look into the causes of car crashes and other unfortunate deaths. A recent study has shown that in 2008, 5.8 million car accidents occurring in the United States has resulted in 2.35 million injuries and over 37,000 deaths. The scary notion is the finding that a huge one-third of the deaths attributed to car accidents were the results of a drunk driver.
As it reported, the California numbers are proportionate to the national average. However, San Diego County ranks among the highest three California counties to have fatal car accidents and deaths. San Diego County residents have approximately a 13 percent higher chance of being involved in a deadly car collision than the rest of the nation.
Though the state's total number of alcohol-related deaths had decreased by 103 from 2007 to 2008, there are still an alarming number of unwarranted deaths on California roadways.
They also credit drivers who text while behind the wheel to be a significant factor in traffic accidents.
Recently, the Jurewitz law Group reported on the fatal San Diego car accident that involved an off-duty CHP officer and his family, when the accelerator of their rental car stuck and they collided with an SUV before their car caught on fire and burned at the bottom of the San Diego river in a fiery Santee auto crash.
The 911 call made by the brother-in-law of the CHP officer was recently released by San Diego 10 News, in a devastating account of the last minutes of the California Highway Patrol Officer, his wife, daughter, and brother-in-law on August 28. The car they had been riding in was a 2009 Lexus. The call was made by the brother-in-law Christopher Lastrella, and released to San Diego 10 News as the following:
Lastrella: "We're on North 125 and our accelerator is stuck."
911 Dispatcher: "I'm sorry?"
Lastrella: "Our accelerator is stuck. We're on 125."
911 Dispatcher: "Northbound 125. What are you passing?"
Lastrella: "We're going 120. Mission Gorge. We're in trouble. We can't … there is no brakes. End freeway half mile."
911 dispatcher: "You can't do anything like turn off your engine?"
Lastrella: "We're approaching the intersection. We're approaching the intersection. We're approaching the intersection."
Others in the car are heard saying "hold on" and "pray."
As investigation showed, the Lexus they were driving had had "all-weather" floor mats which were made for Lexus between 2004 and 2009, but recalled by Toyota in November 2007 due to complaints that if they were not properly installed the mats would slide forward and trap the gas pedal. A full report of the crash is due to be completed in a few weeks.
It looked like Labor Day in San Diego County might be more upsetting than celebratory, when a fatal car crash occurred within the first 60 hours of the three-day holiday weekend. However, when all was said and done it was a more successful weekend than anticipated, with that fatality being the only one recorded for the weekend.
37-year-old Mitchell Paul Pinder of Spring Valley had been riding his motorcycle when he lost control of the vehicle and struck a guard rail when he was driving eastbound on state Route 94, just near Barrett Lake Road in Dulzura.
Last year for Labor Day weekend, there were two killed in local traffic accidents according to theCHP. The drunk driving arrests for this year were also down from last year. There were 82 drunk driving arrests made in the hours between 6 p.m. on Friday and 6 a.m. on Monday, as opposed to 110 last year in 2008. Throughout California, 10 people died in fatal wrecks during that same time period, 18 less than the previous year. Altogether there were 1,262 were arrested for drunk driving statewide, down from 1,416 last year.
A San Diego street racing car accident near the SDSU campus near Adam's Avenue's Antique Row injured one of its' racers. Two cars were racing one another in the southbound lanes of Interstate 15 when the cars crashed shortly after 10 p.m. on September 3, 2009.
The auto accident sent debris into the air which collided with a vehicle traveling in the northbound lanes. One of the participants in the street race had to be treated for serious injuries at the scene.
On September 2, 2009, a young 21-year-old woman from San Diego was killed as a direct result of her injuries suffered when another car collided with her vehicle in San Diego's North County area. The crash broadsided her motor vehicle and ultimately killed her.
The woman was identified as Rosa Mora of Vista, and had been the shotgun passenger in a 2006 Mazda 6 that had been stopped in a left turn lane waiting to turn while at an intersection's red light. They were riding westbound along state Route 76 at East Vista Way, according to Eric Newbury of the California Highway Patrol. It was not known why the driver of the car, a 19-year-old, ventured to make the turn against the light just after 11:00 p.m., and collided with a 2004 Nissan Xterra SUV that was traveling eastbound.
The car wreck caused major head trauma to Mora, who had to be transported via air to the hospital, where she died. The rest of the people involved in the two cars suffered only minor injuries. The driver of the Mazda looks at being faced with misdemeanor manslaughter charges because of his actions.
An 73-year-old woman from Julian, a City in San Diego County, was killed on August 10, 2009, when the 2001 Ford Explorer she was driving overturned multiple times and crashed into a large pine tree on a mountain road in eastern San Diego County. Authorities recently released the name of the victim, identifying her the next day as Charlotte Lorraine Winn.
Winn, along with her 68-year-old husband, were in the single-vehicle collision on San Diego's State Route 79, north of Wolahi Road just before 3:30 p.m. on August 10, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office. Paramedics who arrived on the scene transported Winn to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, although she died a short time after getting to the hospital. Winn's husband had suffered moderate injuries and had to be taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital.
On August 6, authorities released the name of a 24-year-old man who was killed when his Toyota truck struck a row of parked cars, lost a tire, and subsequently overturned in Imperial Beach. John Kirk Colgan, Jr. hadn't been wearing a seat belt when he was ejected by the car crash, which occurred on the 1200 block of 11th Street around 10 p.m. on August 5, according to San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office. The cause of the San Diego County rollover car accident has still been under investigation.
Witnesses to the tragic auto accident performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Colgan when they saw what had happened, but he was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics who arrived shortly thereafter. Colgan had lived in Imperial Beach and is survived by his wife and young son.
A firefighter suffered minor injuries on the morning of August 15, 2009, when a motor vehicle hit the back of his engine at an earlier freeway crash, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
The engine crew of the firefighter had just arrived at the scene of a prior car accident on northbound Interstate 15 at Mira Mesa Boulevard, and was around midnight. The California Highway Patrol reported that a car had hit a tire in the freeway lanes and rolled over as a result. When the firefighter exited the fire engine, he had seen the car approaching and tried to take cover behind the rig. However, the car hit the engine, which then had impact on the firefighter, propelling him in the air. He had to be taken to a hospital for treatment of bumps and bruises, and was thankfully released back to duty.
A San Diego car accident injured five people in the Mira Mesa area of San Diegolast week. San Diego police reported that a man they suspected had been drinking was behind the wheel of a 2001 Ford Escort driving east on Mira Mest Boulevard close to Reagan Road at 3:30 p.m. the day of the collision.
The man suspected of drinking drove straight through an intersection with a red arrow without stopping and ultimately collided with a 1998 Toyota Sienna van, resulting in a devastating San Diego auto accident that injured both drivers and three passengers. No arrrests had yet been made pending results of an investigation of the situation.
A brutal car accident in San Diego County so badly damaged the vehicle that it had to be airlifted out of Torrey Pines States Reserve last week by helicopter.. The 1984 Mercedes 300SD had exasperated park officials who did not have financial resources to remove it from the ditch where it's been lodged in one of California's most enviornmentally sensitive nature area.
Multiple agencies collaborated to remove the vehicle, led by the state Parks Department, requiring chains attached to a cable dangling from a Huey helicopter and then lifted a short distance to a remote road in Sorrento Valley. The car had originally flown off of a precipice along North Torrey Pines Road on January 5 when the driver lost control narrowly missing a man walking along the shoulder of the road. It remained lodged 140 feet down a vertical bluff near gold sandstone that faced Interstate 5. The uninsured driver of the car both survived the crash and made it halfway up the cliff by the time rescuers had arrived. The car had remained visible from roadways over a mile away, prompting many to call 911. A supervisor speculated they received about a half-dozen calls daily to emergency responders.
While it seemed easy and low-budget to simply drag the car out of the area, many feared dragging the car out would be too damaging to the natural reserve which has extremely rare wildlife that has not changed for thousands of years.
It is very fortunate that the driver survived the fatal car wreck that took him down an embankment, but avoiding such a wreck in the first place would have been much more settling to all. Please pay careful attention while on the road, often times we are unaware the power we and our vehicles have and how damaging they can be. Safe driving in the best driving.
A man killed in a single-vehicle San Diego car crash on August 13, 2009, was identified as John Kirk Colgin Jr., 24, according to the San Diego Medical Examiner's Office. Colgin had been speeding in a Toyota pickup truck on 11th Street near Fern Avenue at 10 p.m. when he hit several parked cars, officials said. The right front tire came off of the vehicle which caused Colgin to lose control of his truck and it overturned, killing him in the San Diego car wreck.
Colgin had not been wearing a seat belt and was partially thrown out of the truck, which then rolled on top of him. Witnesses had lifted the truck off of him and worked on performing CPR when the paramedics arrived, but he still died from the injuries he sustained. Colgin was married and lived with his wife and son in Imperial Beach, the Medical Examiner's Office reported.
A suspected car thief was hospitalized on August 6 following a San Diego County car crash that killed his passenger as the vehicle he was in was being pursue by sheriff's deputies in San Marcos. The auto accident occurred off the eastbound side of San Diego's State Route 78, east of Nordahl Road, just before 8 p.m. on August 5. The pursuit happened just moments earlier when deputies had spotted a stolen two-door Honda Accord by Center Drive and Nordahl Road in Escondido.
The vehicle had been reported stolen earlier in the day from another area of San Marcos, according to sheriff's Sgt. Charles Cinnamo. In the midst of the car chase it appeared as though the driver of the Honda was not familiar with how to handle a manual transmission vehicle, and lost control of it on the highway of the chase that lasted merely a quarter mile. The car chase ended when the Honda slid off the freeway across a dirt path, struck a tree and flew into a concrete drainage ditch, ejecting both the driver and the passenger. The driver, Gumersindo Gutierrez, 19, has been seriously injured in the San Diego car chase but is expected to survive.
The passenger was identified as Guillermo Ceja, 23, who died at Palomar Medical Center at 11:36 p.m. Deputies recovered a stolen car stereo and a loaded handgun in Ceja's possession. Gutierrez faces charges that will include vehicular burglary, possession of stolen property, felony evading, driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter.
A San Diego native was killed last week in North Dakota in an auto accident that occurred between his car and a semi-trailer on the road.
According to authorities, 45-year old Ray Gibbons, Jr. of San Diego was on the road when a motor vehicle crossed a center line while driving south on North Dakota's state highway 3 around 9:30 a.m. last Thursday. The state Highway Patrol of the northern United States reported that the northbound tractor-trailor truck braked and turned right before striking the car head-on. Gibbons was pronounced dead at the scene about 10 miles north of the city of Harvey. The semi driver was treated and released.
An Oceanside car accident a few weeks ago that left a 9-year-old girl dead has put the 23-year-old driver on trial. The driver plead not guilty to the charges of gross vehicular manslaughter, DUI, and child endangerment. The girl was the daughter of a woman he was dating.
Michael J. Wright Jr. of Commerce in Los Angeles County had been ordered to be held on $400,000 bail by Judge Marshall Hockett of Vista in San Diego County. Wright is facing up to 15 years in prison if convicted, according to Deputy San Diego District Attorney Jodi Breton.
The defendant was arrested after the fatal San Diego County car crash that killed his young passenger. The freeway collision occured around 1 a.m. on Monday on northbound Interstate 5 at Cassidy Street. The victim is identified as Violet Rosenquist, also of Los Angeles County, who was riding in the rear seat of the 2006 Lexus RS3300. Wright, the driver, failed to notice vehicles slowing down ahead of him in time, swerved to the right and then crashed into a Dodge Caliber, hit a Honda CRV, and slammed into the left rear side of a big-rig commercial truck.
The girl was flown to Rady Children's Hospital, where she died minutes after the arrival. Wright is charged with one count each of gross vehicular manslaughter with alcohol, DUI causing injury, DUI with a blood-alcohol content of .08 percent of higher and two counts of child endangerment with an allegation of great bodily injury.
Five people, all family members, were reported dead after their SUV crashed and caught fire on an Orange County freeway in Mission Viejo on April 4, 2009.
California Highway Patrol Officer Gabe Montoya notes that witnesses saw the SUV blow a tire causing this Interstate 5 auto accident. The vehicle then spun over an embankment and rolled several times before landing on the roof and catching on fire.
The Orange County Coroner mentioned that a 37-year-old man along with a 33-year-old woman were inside the SUV at the time, along with three other females. The passengers had apparently been trapped inside the car and could not escape. Their bodies had tragically been burned beyond recognition.
A Valley Center man was the center of a fatal truck accident in San Diego that left him dead last week. The accident took place in the Hillcrest neighborhood of San Diego. It is suspected that the man suffered a medical emergency while behind the wheel.
The truck motorist had been driving southbound near Robinson Avenue around 12:45 p.m. on August 4, 2009, and lost control of his 2002 Ford F350 when it veered off the left-hand side of the roadway and struck a guardrail. The truck then came to a stop at the center median of the road, according to the California Highway Patrol. Medics that arrived on the scene did perform CPR on the man before taking him to the nearby Scripps Mercy Hospital, but was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival. His name was withheld pending notification of his family.
Northbound Interstate 5, which runs up the western coast of the United States, saw a deadly pedestrian accident in Oceanside just north of Harbor Drive on August 10, 2009, when a pedestrian was struck and killed on the freeway.
A motorist in a Honda struck the pedestrian in the early morning hours, according to the California Highway Patrol. The CHP was forced to shut down all four lanes of the northbound I-5 highway while officers investigated the car crash. While the lanes were reopened shortly before 2 a.m., the pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene. Further information regarding the victim, driver, or accident had not been made known as of Tuesday afternoon.
A recent survey by Allstate Insurance Company of cities with the best drivers found that Los Angeles and Orange County drivers fared far worse than the national average in terms of safety. The survey, which looked at accident rates and data from 194 cities, found a number of Southern California cities within these counties to be in the bottom third of the results. In fact, four Los Angeles area cities were in the bottom 20 cities in the safety survey.
The survey also found that cities with a population of more than one million people were far more likely to have a higher than average accident rate. For example, San Diego car accidents were found to occur at a rate of 13% greater than the national average. Not too bad for a city that finished at 108, near the middle of the rankings. But Los Angeles auto accidents were 46.6% more likely to occur, earning them their 184th place finish.
A young man from Southern California died this past weekend in an Interstate 5 car accident when the vehicle he had been a passenger in swayed off of the highway and then overturned.
California Highway Patrol identified the victim as Frederick Windsor IV, 18, from Southern California's Highland. The Bakersfield rollover car accident happened at approximately noon on August 9, 2009. The car had been headed south on Interstate 5 around the Bakersfield area near the Ashe Road exit, traveling around 70 miles per hour when the driver, Melissa Chavez, 18, drifted onto the right shoulder. Chavez over-corrected and rolled the car into a dry ditch.
Windsor was killed in the fatal Kern County car crash, while Chavez and another passenger, Anythony Stith, 18, received only minor injuries. The CHP reported that Windsor had not been wearing his seat belt at the time of the wreck, and it is still under investigation whether or not drugs or alcohol played a part in the fatality.
A Fresno commercial truck driver was arrested on August 3, 2009, when his big-rig carrying tomatoes was involved in an early morning crash that ended up leaving four people dead from this Fresno interstate trucking accident.
The California Highway Patrol reported that the car wreck happened just after 5 a.m. on August 3 just 40 miles southwest of Fresno when the truck driver allegedly ran a stop sign and hit a small car nearby. Witnesses to the collision noted that the truck driver fled the scene but was located about three hours later and arrested on suspicion of both a hit-and run-accident with injuries and vehicular manslaughter. The commercial truck was towed for evidence. The collision was strong enough that it ripped the roof off of the car.
The only survivors of the multiple car pileup was one young woman, who had to be taken to the hospital for treatment of serious injuries.
Five people died on August 4, 2009, when an SUV rolled off of San Diego's Interstate 5 southbound in Mission Viejo and rolled down an embankment and ultimately burst into flames.
The crash had been reported at 10:25 a.m. near the La Paz Road exit, according to CHP Office Gabe Montoya. Initially it was unknown how many died in the fiery wreckage burned from the accident, but it was later confirmed that 5 people were killed.
Witnesses to the accident noted that a tire on the SUV blew out, and caused the driver to lose control. Investigation was still under way as of Thursday, and the exact cause is still not yet known.
What is known, however, is that there were multiple people in the vehicle. The exact number is not known, but the occupants were trapped inside while it burned. No one was able to survive and there were numerous fatalities in the deadly Orange County multi-car accident.
Some other reports note that many inside the car were children, and that the driver had survived the crash initially, but went back into the burning vehicle in an attempt to rescue the other occupants, but was unsuccessful.
A California Highway Patrol patrol car was involved in an auto accident on San Diego's Interstate 805 on the night of August 4, 2009.
The CHP cruiser was cut off by another driver on the northbound side of the freeway close to Imperial Avenue near to the Lincoln Park area of San Diego. The patrol car then spun out of control and collided with the center divider of the freeway.
The car accident, which happened around 9:35 p.m., closed a lane of the northbound I-805 and the CHP officer suffered only minor injuries and did not require medical attention.
A nine-year-old girl from Los Angeles, identified as Violet Rosenquist, was the sole victim of a multi-car pile-up on Interstate 5 in Oceanside early in the morning of August 3, 2009. The driver of the car she was riding in was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and drunken driving, according to California Highway Patrol authorities.
The deadly Oceanside car accident happened just after 1 a.m. when traffic on northbound I-5 was heavy and slowing to nearly 25 mph. It took place north of Cassidy. A Lexus sport utility vehicle was traveling at 50 mph in the fast llane and needed to swerve to avoid the slowing Dodge Caliber in the lane ahead. Unfortunately, the Lexus' left side hit the right rear of the Caliber, cause the Lexus to lose control completely/ The right side of the SUV struck a Honda CRV and a semi-truck before coming to a rest on the freeway.
The girl who died had been a back-seat passenger in the Lexus and was taken by helicopter to Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The driver of the Lexus, 23-year-old Michael Wright of Commerce, was arrested on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter and drunken driving. Authorities did not release information about his relationship to the girl.
A 38-year-old man in the Honda did suffer moderate injuries and was taken to Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside. A 50-year-old man in the Dodge suffered only minor injuries. The crash briefly closed all lanes of the freeway and affected traffic until after 3 a.m., according to the CHP Web site.
A deadly San Diego County motorcycle accident occurred last weekend when a motorcycle collided with a car on the road, and the man driving the motorcycle was killed. He has been identified as a 44-year-old Chula Vista resident.
Michael Vankleeck was the rider, who died at the UCSD Medical Center at 2:35 p.m. on July 31, 2009, merely an hour after the crash took place at Nacion Avenue and Montclair Street in Chula Vista, per reports from the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Officer.
Vankleeck had been riding southbound along Nacion Avenue and broadsided the motor vehicle while in an intersection, according to Officer C.J. Burroughs of the Chula Vista Police Department. It is a tragic occurrence and we continue to ask all on the road to exercise cautious and safe behavior while sharing it with everyone else, as lives are easily taken, especially in motorcycle accidents.
Earlier this week, a man was killed when the vehicle his wife was driving swiped a van along Interstate 8 in the East County highlands and rolled into a gorge, leading to his death. He was recently identified as being a 70-year-old man resident of National City in San Diego County.
Dennis Conrad Wolf had been the front seat passenger in his wife's vehicle, a 1999 Chevrolet Cavalier that unexpectedly swerved in front of a commercial van just off of Willows Road in Alpine around 12:45 p.m. on July 31, 2009, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Officer. The back of the their car hit the front of the truck in this fatal San Diego auto accident. The Cavalier then spun out and off the south side of the freeway, rolling around 50 feet down a steep embankment.
Wolf was partially thrown from the car, which then ended up landing on top of him, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Wolf's wife was airlifted to a trauma center for evaluation on suspicion of neck and back pain. The driver of the truck had no reported injuries.
A United States Marine was killed on August 2, 2009, when the car he was riding in as a front seat passenger crashed into a tree in San Clemente. He has since been identified as a 22-year-old corporal.
Cpl. Edmond K. Vandecasteele IV, of Rockingham, N.H. had been an ammunition technician with the 1st Marine Division based at Camp Pendleton near Oceanside, according to 2nd Lt. Joshua Benson. The fatal San Diego area car crash occurred around 2:15 a.m. on Sunday in the 200 block of Avenida Vista Montana in the Orange County city just north of the Camp Pendleton Marine base. The other three riders in the cars were also Marines. The driver is still listed as being in critical condition at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, according to Benson. The two back seat passengers escaped without serious injury.
The Interstate 405, known as the San Diego Freeway, saw a deadly motorcycle accident over the weekend when a 27-year-old man was killed in a collision along the highway.
The victim was Matthew Wekall of Cypress, who had been riding south on the 405 freeway when the accident happened, shortly after 7:40 p.m., just north of Magnolia Street. The accident was said to have involved a car, a sports utility vehicle, and a fixed object. Following the collision, Wekall was taken to Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center in Fountain Valley, and was pronounced dead at 8:32 p.m. at the medical center.
Traffic fatalities in Orange County had steadily been declining, with a reported rate of 14 percent drop in 2008. However, motorcycle deaths rose a staggering 44 percent from the previous year. The California Highway Patrol is currently investigating the motorcycle crash, with the concern of the rise of motorcycle fatalities.
An officer of the California Highway Patrol was injured on August 1, 2009, when a woman driving a stolen car ran into the cruiser head-on. The pursuit began around 8:30 a.m. along San Diego's Interstate 805.
The car was followed by a CHP officer onto West Street, which is a dead-end road close to Imperial Avenue in San Diego's Mountain View neighborhood. The woman driving the stolen vehicle backed the car into a utility pole before driving straight towards the officer, who at that point had already gotten out of his car and had his gun drawn. While the officer jumped out of the way, the woman rammed a second patrol car that had arrived at the scene.
After the car crash, the woman still refused to obey commands from the officers. She was taken into custody after officers fired a Taser at her. The injured CHP officer whose car was hit was taken to the hospital for some medical complaints following the incident but was later released.
A big rig truck wreck and car accident were involved in a large, fatal traffic accident in Orange County that closed both sides of State Route 57 in Fullerton last week.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the auto accident happened around 7 p.m. at the Chapman Avenue exit. The driver of the truck was presumed to be killed within the fiery wreck. There was also footage of firefighters tearing into the cargo compartment of the overturned truck to rid the flames.
A woman who died last week when her pickup truck collided with the back of a parked truck and burned in Clairemont Mesa was recently identified by authorities.
Melissa Ann Porter of Santee, had died at the scene of the crash, in the 5400 block of Clairemont Mesa Boulevard in San Diego. The Medical Examiner's Office reported the incident to the press on Saturday.
Porter had been driving alone and was taking at exit at Clairemont Mesa Boulevard off of southbound Interstate 805 at 4:45 a.m. on July 24, 2009, when her pickup veered across all the lanes and slammed the back of a commercial truck parked near the freeway offramp, catching fire. A local passerby removed Porter from the burning vehicle, according to the Medical Examiner's report. Severe blunt forces were identified as the cause of death, said San Diego Police Sgt. Max Verdusco. The pickup had appeared to be traveling around 60 mph when the accident happened, believing that speed may have been a factor in the crash. The offramp had to be closed for nearly five hours following the accident for cleanup. You can read more about this San Diego car accident in this SanDiego6.com story.
In Los Angeles, the California Highway Patrol is naming a Southern California man a hero after he rescued a 3-year-old girl from a burning vehicle on a Los Angeles freeway.
John McDonald of West Covina had been driving on Interstate 10 in El Monte on Wednesday, July 22, 2009, and saw an overturned sports utility vehicle engulfed in flames. There had been video footage of the man running to help while 3 people who escaped from the SUV ran away. The CHP mentioned that the driver of the SUV shouted that her granddaughter was still inside, and McDonald braved the car to rescue the girl. Both victim and rescuer had to be treated for minor injuries, including burns.
On July 19, 2009, a woman was airlifted to a nearby hospital suffering moderate injuries when the car that she had been driving plunged 200 feet into a ravine near eastbound Interstate 8, west of Pine Valley in San Diego County.
It is still unknown why the sedan the woman had been driving had veered off the San Diego Interstate highway, around 4:30 p.m., happening near the Pine Valley bridge, according to a Cal Fire spokesman. An off-duty firefighter had been passing by and was able to help the woman, who had been trapped in her car from the results of the fall. She was also aided by rescuers from Alpine, Viejas, the U.S. Forest Service and the California Highway Patrol, who responded and worked to free her from the damaged motor vehicle, which had landed upside down. You can read more about this San Diego rollover car accident in this SignOnSanDiego.com story.
Just before festivities of San Diego's Pride Weekend began on July 17, 2009, a two-vehicle car accident in Hillcrest, the hub of San Diego's LGBT community, left a 10-year-old child with serious head injuries in the wake.
San Diego police reported that the auto accident occurred around noon on Friday, July 17 when a southbound motorist made an illegal U-turn in the 4000 block of Sixth Avenue, crossing into the path of an oncoming vehicle. The child had been riding in the southbound car. Paramedics who arrived on the scene took the child to the hospital for treatment of a skull fracture, while no other injuries had been reported. You can read more about this San Diego auto accident in this SanDiego6.com story.
A fatal Riverside car crash left a 3-month-old boy from the town dead, due to injuries he had sustained in the auto accident. The car in which he was riding had apparently slammed into a power pole, San Bernardino County coroner's officials reported.
Ziad Abdel-Hadi was one of the five people riding in the white Nissan sedan when it crashed into the pole around 6:30 p.m. on July 18, 2009, near Mission Boulevard and Pyrite Street in the Pedley area of Riverside. The utility pole was down and ultimately knocked out power to about 250 Southern California customers. It also consequently sparked a blaze in a field nearby.
A San Diego car accident on July 15, 2009, hospitalized a 55-year-old woman with two broken vertebrae and a fractured hip. San Diego Police said that the auto wreck included two cars in the Roseville area of San Diego.
The woman who was hospitalized had been driving a Volkswagen on Scott Street northbound when she tried to turn onto westbound Nimitz Boulevard around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, and was struck by another motor vehicle headed eastbound on Nimitz.
The injured woman was taken immediately to Scripps Mercy Hospital after emergency crews were able to free her from her vehicle, which had serious damage and made it difficult to get inside. There were no other injuries reported. You can read more about this San Diego auto accident in this 10News.com story.
San Diego authorities reported on July 15 that two people were injured in Otay Mesa near Brown Field on Tuesday morning in a rollover auto crash that they believe may have been the result of drunk driving.
The car accident occured just before 6 a.m. on Otay Mesa Road just by Britannia Boulevard, according to the California Highway Patrol. Paramedics arrived on the scene and took two people to the hospital with injuries, according to a San Diego Fire-Rescue dispatcher. It was not made known just yet the extent of their injuries. Police are still investigating whether or not the driver was drunk at the time of the accident. You can read more about this San Diego drunk driving auto accident in this SanDiego6.com story.
A 68-year-old woman riding in a crosswalk in her motorized wheelchair was hospitalized on July 9, 2009, after being struck by a car in San Diego's Mission Valley area. She was attempting to cross an intersection at the time.
The woman had been crossing at the 200 block of Camino de la Reina around 6:30 p.m. when a 25-year-old man driving northbound in a Ford Mustang on Hotel Circle South came up to Camino de la Reina, according to Officer Brad Ruff of the San Diego Police Department. The man had been looking for freeways signs and did not see the woman when he turned onto Camino de la Reina. The man was going slow when he collided with the woman, but struck her hard enough to break her femur. You can read more about this San Diego pedestrian run over by car accident in this 10News.com story.
A man was sentenced to life in prison by a Florida jury when he stood trial after admitting to smoking crack cocaine before a hit and run auto accident that killed a San Diego boy. The fate was decided within 24 minutes.
Zachary Foster was 3 when he was killed last year in Florida. Zachary's mother Amy, talked to reporters outside the courthouse , saying "Our hearts are broken forever. He'll never know what he took from us. I'm glad justice was served."
One of San Diego County's main and most congested freeways, Interstate 15, had a six vehicle crash on July 8, 2009, leaving two lanes of traffic blocked for about an hour, just near the Rancho Penasquitos neighborhood.
None of the drivers or passengers involved in the large car wreck reported having any injuries. It occurred on the southbound lanes of I-15 just south of Rancho Penasquitos Boulevard around 8:01 a.m., California Highway Patrol indicated.
An ambulance was called to the scene due to the size and nature on the incident, but no one needed to be taken to the hospital, and it remained a precautionary measure, according to a San Diego Fire-Rescue dispatcher.
A crash in the Paradise Hills neighborhood of San Diego on the night of July 7 left the driver injured after he had crashed into two cars in the area. A dispatcher of the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department reported that the motor vehicle wreck, which took place around 8:40 p.m., happened on the 5800 block of Albemarle St. Witnesses to the car accident also reported that the woman who was driving the Ford Explorer SUV that crashed, had suffered an unknown medical problem before she lost control of the car. With two children in the car, the woman driving was the only one injured.
There were some bystanders who were outside at the time of the crash that were not injured by the San Diego car wreck, although they are now currently displaced. San Diego city housing inspectors reported that the damage to one house was substantial and made it uninhabitable, while the other house suffered only damage to a car and the subsequent garage. The San Diego Red Cross is arranging shelter for the family. If you would like to read more about this San Diego auto accident please read this 10News.com story.
A serious July 6 San Diego car wreck left two passengers seriously injured and in the hospital. Reportedly, a vehicle that had been traveling along San Diego County's State Route 56 overturned, and then was struck by another vehicle. The crash occurred on the westbound side of the freeway, west of the Carmel Valley Road exit, in the early morning hours just before 2 a.m., according to the California Highway Patrol.
The two who were injured did not yet have names released as of Tuesday afternoon, but they were taken by officials who arrived on the scene to Scripps Memorial Hospital via ambulance. Though this information was given by a member of the San Diego fire-rescue dispatch team, both they and the CHP classified the injuries suffered by the victims as "major". You can read more about this San Diego rollover auto accident in this SanDiego6.com story.
Police were on a wild car chase throughout San Diego following a suspected drunk driver early on the morning of July 6, 2009, ending when the driver ran over a spike strip and crashed into the office of Congressman Bob Filner.
The driver's name was still being withheld as of Monday afternoon, but he was known to be taken to UCSD Hospital and is expected to survive, according to Chula Vista Police Lt. Vern Solis. The chase had begun around 1:30 a.m. when an officer attemped to pull over the silver pickup truck which had been heading west on state Route 54 near Woodman Drive for speeding and failing to use turn signals. The driver had refused to pull over and simply continued on State Route 54, speeding around 110 mph before exiting onto southbound Interstate 805. Another officer went ahead to lay down a spike strip at F Street and Third Avenue in Chula Vista, and the driver came to a stop just before hitting it. When he stopped, the officer pointed his gun at the driver and ordered him out of the vehicle. The driver, refusing to be complient, then hit the accelerator, driving over the spike strip and continuing through the intersection. You can read more about this high-speed San Diego car chase and crash in this SanDiegoNewsNetwork.com story.
Jesus Fernandez Alonzo, 26, was the allegedly drunk man behind the wheel who caused a rollover car crash in Vista, killing a passenger. At an earlier hearing, Alonzo pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in San Diego County's Vista Courthouse, and was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Aaron Katz on Thursday to four years in state prison.
The sentencing comes from the April 17 incident when San Diego Sheriff's Officers reported that Alonzo was eastbound on West Vista Way near Santa Clara Drive about 11:30 p.m. when he crashed his Toyota 4-Runner. His passenger was 45-year-old Lorenzo Gabriel Lopez Gonzalez of Oceanside, who was thrown from the SUV and died before he could be airlifted to a hospital. To read more about this San Diego fatal DUI car accident, read this SanDiego6.com story.
A celebrity fashion designer crashed her car through the front window of a hardware store in San Diego last week, damaging the store and injuring a customer inside. Zandra Rhodes, who has designed for such celebrities as Princess Diana, confirmed that she was the driver involved in the San Diego car crash Tuesday but didn't want to discuss the cause of the accident.
Maurice Luque, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire Department reported that a 42-year-old woman in the Meanley & Son Ace Hardware store was hit when Rhodes's car smashed into the store, hitting a table that slammed into her. She was taken to the hospital but did not suffer any life-threatening injuries. Rhodes reported to the San Diego Union-Tribune that she wasn't hurt, and it was not known if any charge would be filed.
A high speed car chase on June 30, 2009, was led by a 35-year-old man in El Cajon, ending when the stolen car that he was driving crashed through a fence and into a vintage airplane inside a hangar at Gillespie Field. The chase had started around 1 a.m. when El Cajon police pulled over Patrick Michael Ray for driving well in excess of the speed limit, according to El Cajon Police Sgt. Pete Faubel.
Once the police officer had gotten out of his car to approach the vehicle, Ray sped off, driving north at more than 100 mph on Johnson Street near Bradley Avenue. He lost control while making a righthand turn, the vehicle went across a ravine and onto the tarmac at Gillespie Field, and then crashed into a vintage airplane. The impact was so strong it broke one of the airplane wings and damaged an antique car stored there. You can read more about this San Diego high-speed car chase accident in this SanDiegoNewsNetwork.com story.
San Diego County is among the many counties in California that see drivers continue to ignore the hands-free cell phone law. California made it illegal to talk on a handheld phone device while driving last year on July 1, 2008, but drivers cannot seem to comply. The amount of car drivers being cited seems to grow more and more each month, especially in San Diego, despite the amount of authorities on the lookout for it.
Many motor vehicle owners adapted to the law by getting earpieces such as Bluetooth-enabled headsets to connect to their phones, yet California Highway Patrol wrote 12,596 tickets statewide last month for cell phone and texting-while-driving violations, a record since the laws have been effective. San Diego itself grabbed a record in May with 994 violations, as opposed to 300 last August when the city start fully enforcing the law. For more information about San Diego cell phone while driving violators, you may want to read this SignOnSanDiego.com story.
An elderly couple, which included a 77-year-old man and a 79-year-old woman, were injured on June 25, 2009, when their car veered off of a South Bay street and struck six parked vehicles before crashing to a stop against a private residence in Chula Vista, in south San Diego County. The accident happened around 12:45 p.m., when the man, who had been driving, lost control of the vehicle while he was exiting a parking lot, located in the 200 block of Fourth Avenue in Chula Vista, according to police reports.
The car being driven by the couple actually struck several automobiles parked on the east side of Glover Avenue before veering around 180 degrees and re-entering the lot, where it again crashed into another vehicle, and then ricocheted into yet another one. The vehicle out of control continued on to strike a wooden fence just before crashing into a house. Medics that arrived on the scene took the driver to the UCSD Medical Center for treatment of a broken arm. The passenger was taken to the same San Diego hospital for evaluation of chest paints. As of the late afternoon, investigations of the cause of the accident were still underway. You can read more about this Chula Vista car accident in this 10news.com story.
Travis Chris Weber, 44, is an unemployed drifter with a longstanding history of drunk driving convictions who pleaded guilty on May 26 to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and admitted an allegation of hit-and-run causing death in San Diego County. On Thursday, June 25th, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison for an alcohol-related hit-and-run car crash in Alpine that killed a bicyclist.
The collision occurred around 5p.m. in the bicycle lane on eastbound Alpine Boulevard last December 2, killing Edward Costa, a 30-year-old self-employed construction worker and father of two. Two days after the fatal hit-and-run accident, Weber was taken into custody.
The California Highway Patrol Office Michael Edwards testified during a January 21 preliminary hearing that having searched the silver Ford F-150 belonging to the defendant at the scene, he found three empty half-pint bottles of vodka in the cab, along with seven empty beer cans in the bed in the vehicle. Edwards also reported that he questioned Weber on the night of his arrest, when Weber told him he had been on a drinking binge for five days and woke up in Campo, hours after the collision, and had no idea how he had gotten there, according to the officer. Just after his arrest, Weber was documented as having a blood-alcohol level of .19 percent, more than twice the .08 legal limit. You can read more about this fatal San Diego hit-and-run car accident in this San Diego News Network story.
The morning of June 23, 2009, in San Diego was brought in with a massive car wreck on State Route 163 that involved five vehicles on the freeway, including a school bus. The crash occurred near Mesa College and the highway was cleared a few hours later.
The San Diego five-car accident happened on the northbound side of the 163 freeway at Mesa College Drive just before 8 a.m., as reported by the California Highway Patrol. The road was narrowed down to two highway lanes, as well as the Mesa College Drive offramp for about an hour. The SigAlert was lifted at about 9:01 a.m. One of the five vehicles involved flipped onto its side. Paramedics who had arrived on the scene took had to take one motorist to Sharp Memorial Hospital due to injuries from the traffic accident. The victim's condition is still currently unknown. You can read more about this San Diego car crash in this sdnn.com story.
A police chase happened in the Clairemont area of San Diego last Thursday when a driver refused to yield to a California Highway Patrol officer along State Route 52. The driver ended up crashing his car after refusing to pull over, and then attempted to escape by running away on foot. He was caught by CHP officers in the end.
The unidentified driver had been speeding when he lost control of the car before it spun out of control and crashed just west of Interstate 805, a high-profile freeway going through San Diego county and city. After the car wreck, the driver jumped and ran away. But he did not get far before he was caught and taken into custody, according to CHP public affairs Officer Larry Landeros. It is still not certain why the driver was being signaled to pull over in the first place, but there is no question that his actions following were dangerous and illegal. You can read more about this San Diego car wreck in this SanDiego6.com story.
The well-publicized death of Alexandria Drake (we've written about her story in San Diego Car Accident on SR-67, Mother Killed in Ramona Street Racing Accident, and Alexandria Drake's SR67 Car Crash) has taken a new step now that one of the drivers will be charged with manslaughter. Alexandria Drake was a 25 year old mother who died when, according to witnesses, one car of two that were street racing on the State Route 67 in San Diego slammed into her car, killing her with her infant child in the back seat. The second car, identified as a white BMW, sped off and has not been found.
After a few months of suspense and legalities as the case was being sifted through, the driver of the car that hit Drake's, Melvin Pearless, will be charged with manslaughter and should appear in court on Thursday. If convicted, he faces up to six years in prison. Authorities are still seeking to find the driver of the white BMW that had been racing with Pearless. You can read more about this San Diego County car accident in this 10news.com story.http://www.jurewitz.com
San Diego saw another DUI car accident on June 14, 2009, when a motorist fled on foot after the two-car crash in South Bay and was arrested for driving drunk. The crash occurred on Jamacha Boulevard, just west of Sweetwater Road shortly after 10:30 p.m. according to the California Highway Patrol.
Witnesses to the accident helped police find the suspect, who fled the scene, and were able to put him behind bars. His name had not been released as of yesterday afternoon. You can read more about this car accident in San Diego in this 10news.com story.
A pregnant woman who lost control of her car and crashed in San Diego County was rescued on June 15, 2009. The La Jolla car wreck happened around 4 p.m. while the woman was driving south on Alta La Jolla Drive and Soledad Road.
Police say that the woman lost control of her car for as-of-yet unknown reasons, and her car went down a canyon and hit a tree. The woman, who has not yet been identified, suffered minor cuts and scratches, and was pulled to safety to be taken to a hospital as a precaution. She is 31 years old and three months pregnant. She and the baby are both reported to be in good condition following the car crash. You can read more about this car accident in San Diego in this SanDiego6.com story.
A multi-vehicle rollover crash that occurred last week on State Route 78 is being blamed on a San Diego hit-and-run driver. The accident ended up involved a big rig truck, a transit bus, and many other vehicles in Oceanside, leaving several people injured.
However, the damage did not stop there. Some power lines were damaged in the crash, their sparking led to a small brush fire off the road, and power was disabled to about 1,800 homes as a result. The site of the initial collision was State Route 78 eastbound just before Jefferson Street. You can read more about this Oceanside hit-and-run car accident in this SanDiego6.com story.
In East San Diego County's Live Oak Springs, a 59-year-old woman from Ramona was killed in a traffic accident.
The East County resident was identified Wednesday as Sharon Marice Clanton. She had been delivering meals in rural East County and was found dead around 2:30 p.m. on June 9, 2009. Clanton was wedged between her vehicle and a fence post on Via Road in Live Oak Springs according to San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office. Details of the accident were not initially made known.
Despite being attributed solely to the coast and beach-side towns, California's Inland Empire got a dose of June gloom with fog thick enough to cause a massive car accident resulting in a 30-car pileup, and injuring 15 in its wake. Luckily there were no fatalities reported.
Both cars and trucks stacked up against each other in the heavy fog on the Interstate 15 near the summit of Cajon Pass just north of Rancho Cucamonga in the early hours Wednesday morning. All the car collisions took place in the northbound lanes, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Daniel Hesser, who was at the scene in the pass at the western end of the San Bernardino Mountains.
Paramedics arrived at the scene and took 10 people to local hospitals, and five others interviewed declined treatment of their own accord. You can read more about this Inland Empire car accident in this SignOnSanDiego.com story.
Shannon Maureen Mahoney, 22, of Vista had been riding in a truck along State Route 78 on the evening of June 6, 2009, when she was ejected from her pickup truck as the result of a violent crash. She died at the scene.
The fatal San Diego County area car accident happened around 10:22 p.m. near the El Camino Real exit from eastbound State Route 78. The driver of the truck was identified as Charles Lemay, 27, of Oceanside, driving a 2007 Ford Ranger pickup. Apparently the pickup swerved to the right suddenly, went off the freeway and subsequently overturned multiple times. Mahoney had not been wearing a seat belt, and was ejected from the truck. CHP reported that Lemay suffered moderate injuries.You can read more about this San Diego car accident in this SignOnSanDiego.com story.
A negligent driver driving on the wrong side of the road on June 4 in San Diego lead officers on a high-speed chase both on and off of freeways. The car chase ended in a crash with a patrol car and the driver's arrest. The officer driving the patrol car was injured as a result.
The reckless dark SUV had been driving south in the northbound lanes of Interstate 805 from State Route 54 at 5:49 a.m., and was being driven by a 47-year-old woman. She eventually came up to Palm Avenue, where she made a u-turn and headed north in the right direction this time, but driving furiously at speeds of up to 100 mph. She continued her chase off 43rd St, running many red lights in Lincoln Park, and taking her vehicle onto 47th Street, and then onto Imperial Avenue, speeding toward a CHP vehicle positioned just south of the upcoming intersection.
Interstate 805 was the scene of a chaotic series of events on June 1, 2009, that ultimately injured five people in San Diego, three of them very seriously, according to authorities.
The main source of the San Diego car accident with injury was when a Ford Expedition overturned on the busy I-805 which occurred about noon near Interstate 8. It also involved two other vehicles. As of Tuesday, it was still undetermined the exact cause of the accident, or how the Expedition had overturned.
The incident seriously injured three children, aged 5, 6 and 9, all of whom were passengers in the Expedition, although San Diego fire department Fire-Rescue Department spokesman Maurice Luque reports that all were expected to survive. Two adults in the Expedition suffered moderate injuries from the crash. You can read more about this San Diego car accident in this SignOnSanDiego.com story.
A three-vehicle crash on Mission Avenue at Douglas Drive in Oceanside on May 29, 2009, left a 15-year-old boy in critical but stable condition according to an Oceanside traffic sergeant on Sunday.
Sgt. Kenneth Gow reports that the official cause of this San Diego area car crash had not yet been determined, although is appears that the traffic signal at the intersection of the car wreck was out at the time, shortly after 10 p.m., as there was a collision early that same evening. The San Diego Gas & Electric Company crew had been working to fix the light just before the second crash occurred, which involved a Hyundai Tiberon, a Chevrolet Silverado pickup and a GMC Yukon. The Silverado was carrying the 15-year-old and an 18-year-old, both males. Only the 15-year-old sustained serious injuries, which he is still currently battling through.
Four ambulances had arrived on the scene and taken two people to the trauma center at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, one person to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, and another to Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside. You can read more about this Oceanside car accident in this North County Times story.
In the early hours of June 1, 2009, an unidentified 32-year-old man from Chula Vista died when he drove on the wrong side of the road and crashed head-on into a pickup truck in this fatal San Diego County car accident.
The scene of the auto accident was at Lake Jennings Park Road, over a hill near Jack Oak Road, around 5 a.m. The man was driving a 2003 Dodge Dakota on the wrong side of the street, and collided with a 51-year-old man from Utah who had been d riving a 2004 Dodge truck west on Lake Jennings Park. The Utah man had been driving an estimated 45 to 50 mph and swerved to the left and braked when he saw the oncoming 2003 Dodge Dakota, but could not prevent the deadly collision, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Brian Pennings. You can read more about this San Diego car accident in this SignOnSanDiego.com story.
A rollover San Marcos car accident on Highway 78 in San Diego County left a 20-year-old man from San Marcos brain dead. Though the incident occurred on the morning of May 25, 2009, the man had just recently been identified.
Rafael Rivera Jr. had been the only present in the Honda CRX which rolled over around 10:50 a.m. on Monday morning in this near fatal San Diego car accident. Rivera had been traveling at an unsafe high speed on eastbound Highway 78 to make it roll, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office. Rivera had been trapped in the car and was freed from the wreckage by firefighters, though with serious head injuries. Paramedics that arrived on the scene took Rivera to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, where he was pronounced brain dead at 1 p.m. on Tuesday. You can read more about this San Marcos auto accident in this SanDiego6.com story.
IA fatal San Diego car wreck on May 26, 2009, involved two motor vehicles, one of which illegally ran the red light of an intersection. It was just announced on Wednesday afternoon that the driver of the car that ran the light may now be charged with misdemeanor manslaughter.
The California Highway Patrol reported that a 47-year-old man from Fallbrook had been driving a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck on Mission Road eastbound when he ran the red light at the intersection and slammed into a sedan turning left onto Mission Road from I-15. CHP Sgt. Lewis Hall says that it seems as though the driver of the pickup truck didn't notice the red light because of other distractions.
The driver of the sedan was 84-year-old Evelyn Crenshaw of Fallbrook, who was both died at scene of the car accident. The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed the injuries of Crenshaw. The driver of the Chevy Silverado will now most likely face misdemeanor manslaughter charges. You can read more about this San Diego car accident in this SanDiego6.com story.
A pickup truck traveling on Interstate 5 early Friday morning went off the roadway near Camp Pendleton and crashed onto Las Pulgas Road just below. Interstate 5 is one of the longest continuing freeways within the contiguous United States, stretching from the southernmost California border with Mexico, through the western states of Oregon and Washington, and into neighboring Canadian territory. The 1,381-mile stretch of this roadway sees hundreds of deadly car accidents a year, and this particular tragedy is just one of dozens to have occurred within the San Diego area in 2009.
The accident was reported at 4:52 a.m. on Friday, according to the California Highway Patrol. The truck landed just west of southbound I-5, and was the only vehicle involved in the wreck, although there was one death as a result of the wreckage on Las Pulgas Road. The main gate at Camp Pendleton was recommended for use while the police investigated the wreck. Many details are still not known and are still being investigated. You can read more about this fatal San Diego car accident in this SanDiego6.com story.
San Diego County is one of over 90 counties in the state that are preparing to work aggressively in the next two weeks to enforce seat belt and safety restraint laws for both car drivers and passengers. While the risk of death apparently isn't enough motivation for car drivers to buckle up, it might help to know that you will now be specifically targeted. Don't forget that the fines for not wearing a seat belt (and wearing it correctly), were raised Jan. 1, along with the laws that now make texting while driving illegal in California.
The fines for a first-time offense is up to $132, as opposed to $91 from last year, and for children under 16 who are fastened, first time offenses are $435 now, while they were $401 last year.
While all of San Diego County is looking to increase coverage of the seat belt laws, police in Chula Vista and National City are planning with the California Highway Patrol to enforce California's "occupant protection laws" between now and May 31. You can read more about this effort by San Diego police to crack down on car seat belt violations in this SignOnSanDiego.com story.
Two separate incidents on Sunday caused the loss of power to San Diego Gas & Electric customers on May 17, 2009, one of which was a reckless San Diego car accident.
Around 8 a.m., an unidentified car jumped a curb, smashed an electrical box, sheared off a fire hydrant, and flooded a business, according to a National City police dispatcher. It was also disclosed that someone had to be driven to the hospital after the crash in the 900 block east of Plaza Boulevard in a private vehicle. The crash caused extensive flooding at a shoe store adjacent to the crash scene, and SDG&E customers lost power roughly between Highland and Palm Avenues, and 9th and 15th Streets.
The friends and family of those closest to a Santee woman recently started a memorial site online to preserve her memory and spirit despite her death.
The 25-year-old Santee woman, Melissa Ann Porter, was the victim of a deadly car wreck last Friday. Porter was exiting Interstate 805 at Clairemont Mesa Boulevard when the Chevrolet pickup she was driving crossed the lanes of traffic. Sergeant Ramona Hastings reported that her truck collided with a parked tractor trailer, and both caught on fire from the auto accident. Despite the help of a passer-by who pulled Porter from the truck, Porter still died at the scene.
Downtown San Diego eyewitnesses spotted a DUI arrest on India and Hawthorne streets on Friday evening around 10:45 p.m. in the Little Italy district. The driver, identified only as a man was driving a champagne colored Honda Accord down India Street the wrong way. The car was pulled over by San Diego Harbor Police patrol and the driver was arrested after failing to pass a sobriety test. It is unknown what the driver's blood alcohol content was at the time of his arrest.
No other cars seemed to be involved and it did not look as though there were any injuries suffered.
A fatal San Diego County car accident on May 11 left 85-year-old Robert Francis Brunswick dead. A California Highway Patrol spokesman relayed the events that happened around 11:15 a.m. on Monday morning. Brunswick was exiting a business on Alpine Boulevard by Bay Meadows Drive in his Saturn sedan when a Ford Mustang traveling east collided with him on the driver's side.
Authorities report that Brunswick passed away from this Alpine, CA auto accident while waiting for a helicopter to arrive on scene to airlift him to a hospital after the car crash. He had not been wearing a seat belt at the time of the incident. The 40-year-old driver of the Ford Mustang reported suffering from back pain and was transported to a hospital.
The CHP officer notes that there was no evidence that either driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and the Mustang's speed was recorded as being under the speed limit of that particular road. Brunswick's name had not been immediately released, but was reported by the Medical Examiner's Office on Tuesday. You can read more about this San Diego County auto accident in this SignOnSanDiego.com story.
Conditions on the road and overall weather is something drivers have very little control over that directly contribute to their likelihood of being involved in a fatal San Diego County auto accident. The State of California has the unique and coveted quality of allowing drivers to reach the mountains from the beach in a matter of mere hours, but that does not mean that everyone has the same familiarities with different weather conditions in our varied locales.
Fog is very common in many parts of California, and the coastal area account for a huge percentage of this. For cities like Oceanside, Chula Vista, and San Diego, foggy conditions are most prevalent during the spring and summer months, which is now. Though commonly referred to as "June Gloom", the fog really tends to roll in as early as March or April and carries the blame for many a serious San Diego car wreck.
Two San Diego County border patrol agents became suspicious of a silver 1995 Ford Taurus on May 13, 2009, around 9:30 a.m., when they saw the vehicle take northbound Sunrise Highway, a route traversed often by migrant smugglers trying to evade the Border Patrol checkpoint on westbound Interstate 8 near the junction with the highway.
Border Patrol agent Jerry Conlin reports that they tried to pull the sedan over near Pine Valley but the driver sped off instead. They pursued the Taurus for only a short while before they deemed the speed too fast for road conditions, though the exact speed of the vehicle was not known. The agents finally found the Taurus about four miles north of where it was originally spotted, and saw that the car had crashed into a tree. Two men inside were seriously injured and required helicopter evacuations to San Diego hospitals, and a third was taken to a hospital via ambulance. There has been no word on their conditions nor their immigration status. You can read more about this San Diego car accident in this SignOnSanDiego.com story.
State Route 76 on Rincon Indian Reservation Road in North San Diego County was closed in both directions for nearly five hours on Monday following a head-on car crash on Valley Center Road that injured two people, one of which was a sheriff's deputy working on call.
Deputy Anthony Radicia was traveling north along Valley Center Road just by Gulch Road at about 8:50 a.m. in a clearly identifiable sheriff's Ford Expedition when another vehicle illegally crossed double yellow lines in an attempt to turn into a driveway and collided head-on with the SUV, according to sheriff's Lt. Julie Sutton. The other driver was a woman from Los Angeles but had not been identified further. The woman claimed that she was unfamiliar with the area and had been visiting the Harrah's Rincon casino nearby, according to Sutton. You can read more about this San Diego auto accident in this SignOnSanDiego.com story.
Brian Simnjanovski was identified as the 27-year-old Escondido native who died after his car crashed into a tree. The Medical Examiner's Office confirmed the details of the driver's identity yesterday morning.
Simnjanovski had reportedly been driving an Audi sedan on Valley Center Road south on Sunday just before 10 p.m. and failed to negotiate a curve at Vesper Road before running off the road. Simnjanovski was pronounced dead at the scene of the fatal San Diego auto wreck. Luckily no other vehicles were involved in the car crash. You can read more about this Valley Center car accident in this SignOnSanDiego.com story.
Many details were left unknown following a Friday morning accident that left a woman dead. According to San Diego police, a woman is dead after she crashed her car into the back of a semi-truck.
The fatal San Diego car accident transpired when the woman was getting off of Interstate 805 at Clairemont Mesa Boulevard on Friday morning around 5:00 a.m., and her vehicle veered and collided with the semi-truck, and her car burst into flames. The 805 offramp was closed for hours following the car wreck. While investigators were still deciphering the details of the accident on Friday afternoon, the name and causes would be released as they became known.
Valeria Atondo, a Chula Vista resident just 17 years old, died Thursday afternoon as a result of a three-vehicle crash on northbound Interstate 5 just south of Washington Street in the San Diego car wreck. According to authorities, Atondo was ejected from a pickup and was identified by the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Officer.
The three-car pile up reportedly happened around 2:20 p.m. on Thursday when the driver of a Toyota Corolla lost control and hit the median wall, according in California Highway Patrol Officer Brad Beahr. It is unknown why the driver lost control. The Toyota bounced off the wall and struck a Ford Mustang, which made the Toyota spin, and was then hit by a Ford Ranger. The Ranger's passenger door opened and Atono was ejected from the right-front passenger seat, creating a fatal San Diego car accident. The other passenger in the Ranger left with an injured wrist from the San Diego car crash, but no one in the other vehicles was hurt. You can read more about this San Diego auto accident in this SignOnSanDiego.com story.
The San Diego trial of Alan Lester Mabrey, the man accused of driving a truck under the influence of alcohol and killing Pacific Beach pedestrian Emily Dowdy, 24, has been set for June 25. Mabrey, who had seven prior DUI convictions while living in Texas and Colorado, now faces a felony charge second degree murder, as well as several other charges, arising from the fatal February 7 San Diego DUI and pedestrian accident.
Mabrey had allegedly been drinking at a nearby bar when he got into the driver's seat of his friend's truck and drove along Reed Avenue before hitting Dowdy as he was turning left onto Mission Boulevard. Dowdy suffered massive head injuries and was declared brain dead 24 hours later.
If Mabrey is convicted of the murder charges, he could be sentenced to 15 years to life behind bars. A guilty verdict for the remaining charges could add on an additional seven or nine years. Some of the other charges include gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, hit-and-run causing death, DUI causing death, and driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol level of .08 percent or higher.
The legal limit is .08 percent, and Mabrey's blood alcohol content was measured at .22 percent.
The Riverside County manslaughter trial of Mark Davis Julian, 31, of Homeland, has finally been set. The charges arise from a fatal 2008 Riverside County car crash that killed a Perris woman Terri Keller-Houle, 36, and seriously injured her two daughters. Julian had reportedly been driving under the influence of alcohol when he caused the fatal Murrieta auto accident.
One of the Keller-Houle's daughters, Amanda Keller, 10, remained in a vegetative state after the auto accident until she died in January. A preliminary hearing lasting by Riverside County Superior Court Judge Timothy Freer, resulted in Freer ordering that Julian be jailed in lieu of a $100,000 bail, and Julian was immediately taken into custody.
The fatal DUI car accident leaves Julian charged with two counts of DUI gross vehicular manslaughter and two counts of DUI with injury, with allegations of inflicting great bodily injury, great bodily injury causing paralysis or a comatose condition and having multiple victims. He now faces a maximum of 18 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
According to accident reports, Keller-Houle had the green light as she drove her car through the intersection of Briggs Road and State Route 74 in Murrieta around 5 p.m. As she passed through the intersection, her red Ford Excursion was broadsided by a large, lifted work truck traveling at full speed through the red light, causing the SUV to spin 180 degrees counter clockwise. Keller-Houle was killed instantly and daughter, Amanda, was almost ejected despite wearing a seat belt.
Interstate 5 in Oceanside was the scene of a fatal Oceanside car wreck that claimed the life of a 49 year-old Rosemead man on Tuesday, whose name has not yet been released. The Rosemead native was reportedly driving a box truck behind a big rig that had begun slowing down for the truck scales on northbound I-5 when he drove into the back of it. California Highway Patrol Acting Sgt. Brad Denham says that the accident occurred after the big rig stopped in traffic in the far right-hand lane at about 11:10 a.m.
While it is unknown at what speed the driver of the box truck had been driving at, investigators say that there were no signs of the box-truck driver having applied brakes before the impact took place. The Oceanside trucking accident caused several lanes to close for a few hours along the very popular and busy Interstate 5 in Oceanside which weaves on and off of the Pacific Coast. The driver of the box truck was pronounced dead before he could be taken to a hospital. You can read more about this fatal Oceanside trucking accident in this SignOnSanDiego.com story.
The long standing investigation of the March 29th San Diego County car accident which took the life of 25 year-old mother Alexandria Drake was completed recently by the California Highway Patrol and submitted for review to the District Attorney's Office. While the CHP have not released specifics on their recommendations for charges against Melvin Pearls, 48, of Ranchita, they will be made available at a later date, according to Deputy
