Taxi Cab Driver Killed, Passenger Injured in Mission Valley Accident

A 36-year-old taxi cab driver, not wearing a seat belt, was killed in a single vehicle crash that took place on December 15 around 6:04 a.m. at northbound state Route 163. According to California Highway Patrol Officers, the cab driver was speeding on the rain soaked curve when he lost control of the vehicle.

The cab went off the right side of the pathway and struck a concrete wall on its passenger side. The motorist suffered a vehicle ejection, suffered a fatal head injury, and was pronounced dead. We send our condolences to the deceased victim’s family members for such a devastating loss.

The 52-year-old male passenger in the taxi cab, who was wearing a seat belt, complained of only minor head pain. Our personal injury law office prays for a quick recovery of the injured passenger.

Around 35,000 people die in auto accidents every year and from these around 17,000 people could have been saved if they wore safety belts when the accident occurred. Looking at these statistics, it is clear that safety belts can reduce the number of injuries by 50% and fatalities by around 70%.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA), seat belt usage saved around 12,000 precious lives in the year 2009. Approximately 96.6% of motorists in California now use seat belts and there has been an increase of 0.4% from the year 2010.

Choosing a professional attorney will help the injured passenger get his deserved settlement to cover medical expenses and other accident-related damages.

If you were unfortunately injured in a taxi cab accident and want to seek justice for pain, suffering, and medical expenses--contact our Mission Valley taxi cab accident attorneys at (888) 233-5020 for a free and confidential case evaluation.

San Diego Car Accident Lawyer

Child Passenger Safety Week – Car seat check this Saturday

It’s National Child Passenger Safety Week again.  This is a very important topic, and I want to  share this information with my readers, loved ones and  Michigan drivers.

As a Michigan personal injury lawyer, I’ve handled  auto accident lawsuits involving children who were seriously injured or killed because their car seats weren’t properly installed. Some of these young children still have very serious disabilities many years later and their young lives will never been the same.

Consider the following:

•    Car accidents are the leading cause of death for children from 3 to 14 years old (U.S. Department of Transportation).

•    An estimated 8,959 lives were saved by child restraints from 1975 to 2008 (U.S. Department of Transportation).

•    You can register your child car seat and receive notifications of defects and recalls. Find out how on Safercar.gov.

Parents and caregivers are urged to have their children’s car seats checked on National Seat Check this Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011. As part of National Child Passenger Safety Week, certified child passenger safety technicians will be available to inspect car seats and provide hands-on advice, free of charge.

Here’s a child car seat inspection station locator, where you can search by state and zip code for the inspection station nearest you.

Below are safety tips for protecting babies and kids in the car. These safety tips can help prevent car accident injuries and can  save lives.

1. Infants (under the age of 1 and less than 20 lbs): Secure your infant in a rear-facing car seat in your vehicle’s back seat. Deactivate the front passenger airbag if a rear-facing car seat must be secured in your front seat.

2. Toddlers (1 year or older and 20 lbs or more): Secure your tots in a forward-facing car seat in your vehicle’s back seat.

3. Children (4 to 7 years old and under 4 foot 9 inches in height): Secure children in a booster seat in the back seat.

4. Children (12 years old and younger): Secure all children in the rear-seat of your vehicle to avoid potential injury from a deployed airbag, should a car accident occur.

Remember to follow your car seat manufacturer’s instructions and your vehicle owner’s manual on how to install your child’s car seat or booster seat.

For more child safety tips and Michigan resources for your kids, you can order a free copy of my book, How to Keep Your Children Safe – Simple Steps to Protect Your Loved Ones From Hidden Dangers.

- Steve Gursten is one of the nation’s top personal injury lawyers handling auto accident lawsuits. He is head of Michigan Auto Law and has received the highest verdict in the state for a car accident or truck accident victim in 2008, 2009 and 2010, according to Michigan Lawyers Weekly.

- Photo courtesy of Creative Commons, by Chris and Kris

Related information to protect yourself:

Protecting children in car accidents - New advice on car seats

14 tips for protecting your kids in the car

10 things to know if you’ve been injured in a Michigan car accident

Michigan Auto Law is the largest law firm exclusively handling car accident, truck accident and motorcycle accident cases throughout the entire state. We have offices in Farmington Hills, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Sterling Heights to better serve you. Call (800) 777-0028 for a free consultation with one of our Michigan personal injury lawyers.

Michigan Auto Lawyers

Child Passenger Safety Week Kicks Off to Help Save Children in Illinois Car Accidents

National Passenger Safety Week is taking place from September 18th to the 24th. During this time, the Illinois State Police (ISP) will be continuing its efforts to help keep child passengers safe in the event of a car accident in Chicago or elsewhere in the state. During the 2011 safety campaign, the Department of Human Services will be joining the ISP to conduct a number of events and child seat inspections to help parents to learn how to properly buckle a child in a motor vehicle.

ISP Trooper Mindy Carroll says that all parents and guardians are encouraged to attend these events and to have their child's car seat inspected by a certified technician. During this time, parents will be taught how to properly buckle in a child's car seat. Recent statistics show that roughly 75 percent of child seats are improperly installed into motor vehicles.

Our Illinois child injury attorneys ask that all parents do their part to help keep our children safe. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were nearly 1,500 children who were age 14-years-old or younger who were killed and another 180,000 who were injured in motor-vehicle accidents in 2009 in the U.S. We would also like to point out that nearly 250 child lives ages 4 and younger were saved in 2008 because they were properly buckled in their child seat. When these seats are used properly, they can reduce the risk of death by more than 70 percent for infants. The seats have the ability to decrease the risk of death for toddlers aged 1- to 4-years-old by more than 50 percent. Booster seats can reduce the risk of injury for children ages 4- to 7-years-old by nearly 60 percent.

"It's very important the car seat is secured properly inside the car and the child is secured properly inside the seat," says Carroll.

According to Carroll, the ISP follows the most recent child car seat recommendations from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Carroll goes on to instruct Illinois parents to keep all children that are under the age of 13 in the back seat. She also suggests that you keep your child in a rear-facing car seat for as long as they're within the seat's height and weight limits as set forth by the manufacturer.

Illinois has enacted the Child Passenger Protection Act to further its efforts to keep our child passengers safe. This Act holds parents and guardians responsible for keeping children under the age of 8 safely and properly restrained in a child-safety seat. If you're busted with a child passenger who is not properly restrained, you can face a $75 fine for the first conviction. Illinois will waive the fee if you can prove that you have purchased or received an approved child seat and have had a technician properly install it into the vehicle.

If you or your child has been injured in a Chicago car accident, contact Abels & Annes for a free and confidential appointment to discuss your rights. Call (866) 99-ABELS. There is no fee unless you win.

More Blog Entries:

Two Children Injured in a Three-Car Accident in Illinois, Chicago Car Accident Lawyers Blog, August 16, 2011

New Car Seat Regulations to Increase Child Safety in Chicago Car Accidents, Chicago Car Accident Lawyers Blog, March 22, 2011

Chicago Car Accident Lawyer

Chicago personal injury lawyer to represent passenger hurt in car accident

Illinois auto accident attorneys at Abels & Annes have agreed to help North Side resident that was recently injured in a collision. Our client was riding as a backseat passenger in a multiple vehicle crash.

The accident occurred in the area of Belmont and Kolmar Street in Chicago at the beginning of May, 2011. The plaintiff's car was traveling behind a truck in a line of traffic. At that time, the truck slowed and stopped for emergency vehicles immediately ahead of them.

The plaintiff's vehicle stopped in time, however her vehicle was rear-ended by the automobile directly behind them. The car that did not stop in time was then rear-ended by another vehicle, creating a second impact.

The Chicago Police Department responded to the scene and handled the crash investigation.

The plaintiff sustained back and neck injuries in the accident. She was seen shortly after the accident at Illinois Masonic Medical Center. There she was examined by ER physicians, x-rays were taken and she was prescribed a medication. She was diagnosed with neck and back sprain/strain.

Over the next several days following the collision our client's pain increased substantially. She is now under the care of an orthopedic physician in Chicago.

If you have been hurt in a traffic collision, contact the Illinois injury attorneys at Abels & Annes for a free, no obligation consultation. Call 312-924-7575 or click here to fill out a contact form. There is no attorney's fee unless a recovery is made on your behalf.

Chicago Car Accident Lawyer

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Chicago area car crash kills high school passenger

Next » Posted On: March 25, 2011 by Dave Abels

An auto accident in the north suburbs of Chicago has resulted in the death of a high school student, according to the Chicago Breaking News Center. The teen victim was riding as a passenger when the vehicle he was riding in lost control on a curve and ran into a tree.

The deadly Illinois accident took place early Thursday morning in Arlington Heights around 12:40 AM when a Hyundai moving south 400 block of S. Windsor Dr. lost control and left the road. The vehicle was only moving slightly above the 25 mph speed limit, but police say the street was wet from a recent snow.

The Arlington Heights Police Department responded to the scene of the accident, and they reportedly had to cut off the roof of the vehicle in their attempt to rescue the passenger. The16-year-old was transported to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital with life-threatening injuries. The news story does not report when the teenager passed away.

The driver of the vehicle, also age 16, sustained minor injuries in the crash. Drugs and alcohol did not play a role in the accident. Both of the teens were wearing seatbelts and the vehicle's airbags properly deployed.

The teenage victim is an Arlington Heights resident.

Posted by Dave Abels

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Passenger Accident Lawsuits

Next » Posted On: March 18, 2011 by Laura G. Zois

Jury Verdict Research did a study that found that the average money damages verdict in a car/truck accident case brought by the passenger is $486,098. Sounds like a lot but high (and maybe uncollectable) verdicts distort the average. The median passenger verdict is $30,000.

Here is where it gets interesting. I think it is difficult to lose a passenger accident case. Certainly the passenger is not responsible for the accident (ignoring for a second the "I knew he was drunk out of his mind and I got in the car with him anyway" passenger). Yet plaintiffs only receive money damages in 62 percent of passenger cases that go to verdict.

I just can't make sense of the numbers. Here is how it breaks out:

Host Driver's Negligence: 58%
Both Drivers' Negligence: 64%
Driver & Business Negligence: 73%
Driver & Government Negligence: 74%
Passenger Suits Generally: 62%

I would love to grab a random handful of the defense verdicts and look at the fact pattern. Because it makes no sense to me. These should be very easy cases for accident lawyers to always win.

Posted by Laura G. Zois

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Quincy man killed in roll-over car accident, passenger injured

Next » Posted On: February 18, 2011 by The Farber Law Group

The Wenatchee World reports that Luis A. Rodriguez, 18, of Quincy, was killed and his passenger, Jose Mendoza, suffered chest injuries and bruises in a rollover car accident on Highway 28 three miles east of Quincy.

According to he report, Rodriguez crossed the centerline, crashed into a ditch, causing the car to roll. The car landed on its wheels about 30 feet from the roadway.

The article did not say whether speed, or alcohol were factors in the car accident.

This information is provided by Seattle Car Accident Lawyer blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents and the family of those killed.

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