Disabled Woman Dies a Week after Hit-and-Accident

Fines and imprisonment await a hit-and-run driver if he or she is caught by the authorities. This may be the reason why a hit-and-run driver who was involved in a fatal car accident in San Diego remained hidden and has not turned himself in.

According to authorities, Judith Tellez, 63, was hit by the driver in Lakeside. The victim was struck while she was crossing Old Highway 80 near Los Coches Road, around 125 feet away from where she lived.

She suffered from a skull fracture, and broken back and legs. She died due to her injuries a week after the accident.

The car may have been a dark-colored Ford Expedition, as described by the witnesses. In addition, police said the vehicle probably sustained front-end damage.

No proper legal action that can bring justice to Tellez’s family may be done if the hit-and-run driver remains hidden. He or she should turn himself or herself in so that the victim’s loved ones will have the chance of receiving wrongful death damages after legal procedures were conducted.

Eleven-year-old Driver Killed in Car Crash

The law mandates that only drivers sixteen years old and above are allowed to drive. This law is aimed at promoting road safety.

It follows then that an 11-year-old boy is not allowed to drive because of the danger and inexperience entail with the age. Consequently, in Tulare County, when an 11-year old boy drove a car, the result has been fatal.

Three people were killed including children aged eleven and six in an accident that happened between Porterville and Tipton. The victims were all occupants of a 1993 Honda.

According to reports, the Honda driver, with four occupants on board, ran a stop sign and was hit by a 1999 Ford.

The Honda’s only survivor, Froylon Gonzales, sustained serious injuries while the Ford’s driver, Charles Seguin, was treated for minor injuries.

Aside from inexperienced driving, the fatal deaths were caused by not wearing seatbelts. Authorities revealed that the Honda’s two rear passengers were ejected from the car into a walnut grove.

This particular incident was a blatant violation of traffic rules. Negligence obviously attended its occurrence. Hence, the victims were the ones to blame for their misfortune.

For the injuries sustained by Seguin, a personal injury case may be filed to recover claims. A car accident lawyer can help expedite the claim proceedings.

Flat Tire Causes Car to Rollover

A Pomona resident must have been very grateful to come out alive from a rollover accident on the northbound 57 freeway just north of Tonner Canyon Road.

Cuong Thach was heading home when a flat tire caused his Toyota 4Runner to rollover and landed on its roof. California Highway Officer Alvin Yamaguchi relayed that Thach got flat from a bald back tire.

No reports as to whether or not Thach sustained injury.

Rollover accidents are often due to vehicle’s stability. In most cases, rollover accidents lead to the filing of product liability claims due to car manufacturer’s negligence.

A responsible driver should ensure that the car or its parts are safe. This responsibility includes checking the car’s tires. Thach should have done the same but did not. He should have realized that driving a car with a bald tire entails danger.

Sadly, Thach would have to bear with whatever damages the accident might cause. A personal injury case may be pursued against him if someone was injured. Further, a damage suit may also be filed against him for any property damage.

Five Minutes Later

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire officials have reported that a 10-month old baby boy is in a critical condition after a drowning accident in a swimming pool.

The little boy was discovered floating by his father and promptly performed CPR before the emergency unit took over resuscitating the child who was not breathing and had no pulse.

The baby, who was taken to Methodist Hospital had his pulse revived and is currently on a ventilator, fighting for his life.

The parents reportedly told the authorities that the baby was only briefly out of their sight right before they found him in the water. There was no evidence of foul play.

According to the Metropolitan Fire Captain Christian Pebbles, drowning prevention is a duty that is 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Drowning is in fact, the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children aged 1 to 14 years old in a report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

However, in a state like California where the climate is often hot, drowning is the leading cause of child death, injury and disability.

Most children under 1 year old drown in drown in bathtubs, buckets, or toilets but children ages 1 to 4 years drown in residential swimming pools. Most of the children who drowned were also out of their parents’ sight for less than 5 minutes.

Should the child survive the drowning accident, it can still cause debilitating injuries such as long-term disabilities which include memory problems, learning disabilities, and permanent loss of basic functioning.

Letting your child out of your sight briefly, even for less than 5 minutes is enough to put your child’s life at risk especially if you’re anywhere near bodies of water.

While putting barriers or fences around pools will help decrease the chances of a drowning accident (as well as liability for owners of swimming pools), the presence of parents or adult supervision is still the primary way to prevent drowning accidents.

Man Arrested for Causing Head-on Collision in Watsonville

The invention of the 2-way street system has significantly reduced incidents of head-on collisions. Under this system, vehicles going on either directions – north and south, for instance - have separate lanes to take.

Yet even though not frequent, head on collisions still happen.

The reason? Reckless driving and DUI.

And those are probably the cause of the recent head-on collision that occurred in Watsonville.

According to the CHP, 23-year-old Savatiel Sanchez Guttierrez was driving and weaving his BMW badly on Holohan road when he crossed over the other lane and collided with a Toyota Camry.

Guttierrez and the 26-year-old woman driving the Camry were brought to separate hospitals after sustaining moderate injuries.

The Camry driver should file a personal injury suit against Guttierrez to cover the expenses she sustained from medical treatment.

Not to mention the pain and suffering that the injury caused her when she was peacefully minding her own business on her side of the road.

A personal injury lawsuit, on the other hand, is the last problem Guttierrez should be worrying about.

After being treated for his injuries, he was arrested for felony DUI and for driving without a license.

If convicted, he would be lucky not to face jail time and just do community service.
He would also be placed on probation and he won’t be able to obtain his own driving license for quite a while.

Right now, Guttierrez is being held on a $10,000 bail.

Fertility Doctor Charged of Gross Negligence

After having fourteen children, Octomom Nadya Suleman filed a gross negligence complaint against her fertility doctor Michael Kamrava. The complaint was lodged before the California Medical Board.

Among other things, the complaint filed by a woman with the initials “N.S.” alleged that Kamrava acted “beyond the reasonable judgment of a treating physician.”

The gross negligence accusation was cited in three cases, first, by transferring too many embryos, second, by repeatedly transferring fresh embryos and third, by failing to refer Suleman for a mental health evaluation.

The complaint also alleged Kamrava giving Suleman too much hormone while stimulating in vitro fertilization.

Kamrava’s lawyer Peter Osinoff claimed that fertility patients are not usually screened for mental health problems.

When a doctor negligently performs, prescribes or operates on a patient, a medical malpractice case may be filed to recover damages. If Kamrava is found to be negligent, he can face jail time and pay damages.

As medical malpractice suit is hard to prove, a victim may summon an experienced personal injury lawyer to evaluate the case to be able to consider her legal options.

Safer Driving For Seniors

In Windsor, a 67-year old man died in a solo vehicle crash when his black Volvo SUV drifted off the highway and ended up in a ditch on Shiloh Road.

Authorities speculate that the man may have suffered a medical emergency while driving which caused him to lose control of his vehicle.

According to the California Highway Patrol’s estimates, by 2020, the number of senior citizens in California will double, which could also relatively increase the incident rates of elderly drivers being involved in road accidents.

Aging is an inevitable process and sooner or later, even the best drivers would succumb to the decline of their physical, cognitive, and visual abilities which in turn will seriously affect their driving capabilities.

Even physically and mentally fit elderly drivers may become a road hazard because of the medication they take.

However in terms of fatalities, drivers aged 75 and older kill fewer pedestrians, bicyclists, and other motorists and are mostly a danger to themselves and their passengers.

In order to curb the incidence of fatal car crashes involving senior citizens, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the CHP and the American Automobile Association are offering driving courses to help elderly drivers such as:

• Stay Vital seminar – A refresher course on traffic safety rules, driving scenarios and tips to improve drivers' comfort and safety.

• AAA Online Mature Driver Course – Aims to reduce the risk of traffic collisions and violations.

• CarFit – A program which helps older drivers adjust their seat and vehicle to improve their comfort and safety.

• Drive Sharp – An online program which uses a brain-fitness training program to help drivers be more alert.

• Mature Driver Improvement Course – This course provides instruction, specifically tailored to older drivers, regarding defensive driving and California motor vehicle laws.