Archive for February, 2010

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Two Killed in California Motorcycle Accident

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

Motorcycle Accident Attorney:

Motorcycle accidents can happen at any time, under any conditions and regardless of the skill or care taken by the operator of the motorcyclist. This is because when a motorcycle is involved in an accident, the majority of the time it is with another vehicle and the other vehicle is at fault. Approximately three-fourths of all motorcycle accidents involve another vehicle. Of those accidents, the driver of the vehicle is at fault for the accident two-thirds of the time. Sadly, another crash that proved the statistics played out on Valentine’s Day in Palm Springs, California.

At about 1:30 p.m. on February 14th, William Kaplan and his wife were riding his 2008 Harley Davidson along the eastbound side of Highway 74 near Palm Springs, California. The driver of a 1998 Toyota, heading the opposite direction, apparently drifted off the road, and in an effort to correct the drift, over-corrected and swung sharply back in the direction of oncoming traffic. The vehicle crossed over the center line and struck the Kaplan’s head on before they had time to react to the vehicle. Neither vehicle appeared to be speeding at the time of the accident. Both the driver of the motorcycle and a passenger in the Toyota were killed on impact and the passenger on the motorcycle and the driver of the Toyota suffered serious injuries.

The exact cause of the accident is still being investigated. Clearly, the motorcyclist was not at fault, but beyond that we can only speculate at this point. What made the Toyota veer off the road in the first place? Was the driver falling asleep? Were road conditions to blame? Was the driver intoxicated? Was a defect in the car to blame? If driver error or a defect in the vehicle played a part in the accident, then the survivors may have personal injury and/or wrongful death claims. If the driver of the Toyota was negligent, by operating while intoxicated, driving drowsy, driving while distracted, or any number of other possibilities, then he may be held responsible for the injuries suffered by the surviving victims as well as the death of Mr. Kaplan. Likewise, if a vehicle defect was to blame for the driver losing control of the vehicle, then the manufacturer could be held responsible under the laws of product liability. Unfortunately, this is yet another example of a motorcyclist being injured – or in this case killed – while he was obeying all the rules of the road and operating his bike properly. Even more distressing is that two people had to lose their lives this time.

If you have been involved in a motorcycle accident, or have lost a loved on in one, then you need an experienced California personal injury and wrongful death attorney to fight for your rights. Nothing can bring a loved one back, or take away the pain of any injuries you have suffered, but you do deserve to be compensated for those injuries. If someone else was responsible for the death of a loved one or injuries you have personally suffered, then they will be held accountable under the laws of the State of California. Talk to the experienced attorneys at Ledger & Associates at 1800-300-0001 or www.ledgerlaw.com to find out what options you may have to seek compensation.

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When does age become a factor in determining negligence in an auto accident case?

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

Most of us have had some experience with elderly drivers. Maybe you have encountered one in trafficking that seems to be driving awfully slow or appears lost. Many of us also have a family member who is elderly and is still driving their vehicle. Maybe you’ve had to sit down with that family member and discuss with them whether they really should still be driving. If so, then you know it’s not an easy conversation or an easy decision. It is, however, a conversation and a decision that should be had more frequently as the consequences of avoiding the issue may be deadly. That may have been he case this month in Vista, California.

Lucas Giaconelli, 15, was skateboarding with friends along Thibodo Road in Vista on a Friday evening when a car hit him and failed to stop. Lucas dies almost immediately. Police might not have had any leads, but for a 92 year old man who stopped at the roadside vigil the following day. According to the elderly gentleman, he had been driving past the spot the night before and thought he hit an owl. After escorting the gentleman back to his house, law enforcement personnel found damage on the front end of his red Mustang. They are awaiting forensic tests to determine if he is indeed responsible for the teenagers death. This is hardly the only recent California accident raising questions about elderly drivers. Last October, a 75 year old driver with a bad hip was killed when he mistook the break for the gas petal and drove right off a cliff. Another elderly man lead police on a “slow-speed” chase through Vista because according to him he “didn’t notice” the six squad cars and police helicopter that were following him. Last summer an elderly coupled escaped with only minor injuries when they plowed directly into a Chula Vista home.

So why are potentially dangerous elderly drivers still given driver’s licenses? First, no one wants to take away their independence. After all, we will all be elderly some day as well. Having said that, the Department of Motor Vehicles does require anyone over the age of 70 to come in a pass a vision and written retest to renew their license every five years. The only way an elderly person’s license can be taken away from them is if they are involved in an accident or the police or a family member petition to have it taken away.

If you have been involved with an accident and you believe that the age of the driver may have been a contributing factor, then seek the advice of a California personal injury attorney as soon as possible. If the driver’s negligence caused, or contributed to, the accident then you may be entitled to compensation for the injuries and damages that you have suffered as a result of the accident. The attorneys at Ledger & Associates have been fighting for the victims of car accidents in California for 12 years and are available for a consultation by calling 1-800-300-0001 or by contacting them online at www.ledgerlaw.com

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Toyota Documents Indicate That Toyota May Have Put Profits Before Safety

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

By: Leading Toyota Recall Lawyer (For a Detailed Case Evaluation Related To Your Toyota Accident Call 800-300-0001)

Toyota has certainly come under fire over the last six months for numerous safety related defects that have been found in its vehicles. To date, it has announced recalls covering close to 8 million vehicles. Investigations have been underway across the world to try and determine when Toyota became aware of the various safety defects and what they did about it when they were made aware. Toyota officials are scheduled to testify in front of members of Congress on the 24th of February to answer to those, and may other, questions. In the meantime, the Department of Transportation as well as the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee issued demands for internal documents of the giant automaker earlier this month. According to documents that have been produced to date, it appears as if Toyota may have been putting profits ahead of safety.

Toyota announced at an internal presentation as far back as July of 2009 that it had saved the company $100 million dollars or more by negotiating an equipment recall of the floor mats involved in 55,000 of the Toyota Camry and Lexus ES350’s back in September of 2007. These are just a small fraction of the almost 4 million vehicles that were eventually recalled for the floor mat problem. If Toyota put profits before safety by pushing regulators to narrow the scope of a recall then this is certainly not the end of their problems with Congress. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched an investigation into the floor mat issue as far back as March of 2007. At that time, Toyota told the NHTSA that there was “no possibility of the pedal interfering with the floor mat if it is placed properly and secured”. The government, however, had received numerous complaints from Toyota and Lexus owners about the sudden acceleration with many of those complaints involving accidents. So why did the initial recall back in September of 2007 only involve 55,000 vehicles?

This and many other questions are not going to go away for the automaker giant. For those that have been involved in an accident as a result of one of the safety defects, the recalls came too late. Unfortunately, all the investigations and inquiries won’t turn back the clock. If you are one of those people that were involved in an accident with a vehicle that was ultimately recalled, then you may be entitled to compensation for the losses that you have suffered as a result of the accident. If a manufacturer produces a defective product, then they can be held accountable under the product liability and personal injury laws of the State of California. If Toyota knew about these safety defects and did nothing, then they will be responsible for any injuries those defects have caused. Seek the advice and counsel of an experienced California product liability and personal injury lawyer immediately. The law firm of Ledger & Associates has been fighting for accident victims in California for twelve years. Call them at 1-800-300-0001 or contact them online at www.ledgerlaw.com for an initial consultation.

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Teenage Texting Is As Dangerous and Drinking and Driving?

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

At one point in time, in the not too distant past, our biggest worry for out teenage driver was that they would drive after drinking alcohol or get in the car with someone that had been drinking The good news is that the efforts we have made over the last two decades to educate teenagers of the dangers of drinking and driving are starting to pay off. Statistics show us that accidents caused as a result of teenagers drinking and driving have gone down 35% over the past twenty years. While that is certainly wonderful news, there is another teenage phenomenon that appears to be taking the place of drinking and driving as the number one danger to teenage drivers and passengers – texting while driving. It may seem odd to put text messaging in the same category as drinking and driving, but the risks and dangers to people on the nation’s roads are strikingly similar.

Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) puts driving while texting at the top of the list as the biggest distraction while driving. According to a study conducted by SADD, texting while driving is becoming every bit as dangerous as drinking and driving as far as its ability to inhibit a teenager’s driving abilities. Another research study put teenage drivers behind the wheel of a simulated car and had them operate the vehicle through simulated scenery in both rural and urban settings. Their first run through was distraction free. They then ran the same course while texting, talking on a cell phone and operating an MP3 player. The study showed that the teenagers that were texting while driving were the most dangerous – weaving in and out of lanes, slowing down erratically and even running over virtual people. Some studies have even suggested that texting while driving may be worse than drinking and driving. The theory is that texting, whether sending or receiving, takes your eyes off the road. Anything that takes your eyes off the road is a potential cause for an accident. The risk for teenagers (and the rest of us on the road) skyrockets when you combine their lack of experience with not watching the road. Not surprisingly, nineteen states, the District of Columbia and Guam now have laws that prohibit all drivers from texting while driving. An additional nine states ban novice drivers from texting while driving.

The State of California is one of the States that has passed a law banning all text messaging while driving. As of January 1st of last year, the Wireless Communications Device Law made it an infraction to write, send or read text messages on a cell phone while operating a motor vehicle in California. Despite the ban, teenage drivers continue to use their mobile devises to send and receive messages while driving. Texting while driving, or talking on a cell phone while driving, may be the basis of a negligence claim if an accident ensues. If you have been the victim of an accident and you feel that texting, or talking, on a cell phone was involved, then contact and experienced California personal injury lawyer immediately for a consultation. The attorneys at the personal injury firm of Ledger & Associates are standing by to talk to you at 1-800-300-0001 or online at www.ledgerlaw.com. The Ledger Law Group’s past cases include some of the most serious texting accidents in the United States, including the MetroLink Train Accident which occurred in Chatsworth, 2008. If you have been injured by someone’s negligence as result of them talking on a cell phone or texting while driving please contact LedgerLaw for detailed case evaluation.

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Car Crash Lawyer says, U.S. Bans Texting by Truck and Bus Drivers

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

The United States government has now chimed in on the texting while driving issue by banning all truck drivers and bus drivers from texting while driving. This ban follows some fairly high profile transportation accidents over the last year. Last April, the driver of an eighteen wheeler slammed into a school bus, killing a student. The driver admitted that he had been texting right before the accident. Sadly, records also show that the conductor of the train in the worst train crash in United States history was sending and receiving text messages just seconds before the crash.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration awarded Virginia Tech a contract to study the effects of texting while driving in an attempt to determine how dangerous it really was. The study took place over three years and included 203 trucks and over 3 million miles driven. The trucks were outfitted with cameras that were able to capture the faces of the drivers in the seconds leading up to a crash or a near miss. The study proved that texting while driving is an extremely dangerous behavior and leads to one of the worst types of driver distraction. The study showed that for the six second time span right before a crash, or near crash, that the drivers who were engaged in texting spent 4.6 of those seconds NOT looking at the roadway. That’s like allowing an eighteen wheeler to travel the length of a football field without his eyes on the road. While larger trucks account for only about 3% of the traffic on the road, they account for close to 12% of all fatal accidents each year. Driver distraction of any kind is a huge problem on America’s roadways, but someone driving a 40 ton vehicle that is not paying attention to the road is a catastrophe waiting to happen. At the present time, 19 states, the District of Columbia and Guam all ban texting while driving for all drivers. Thankfully, the nation’s truckers and bus drivers are now included in that ban regardless of what state they are driving in.

If you have been involved in an accident in the State of California and you believe that texting while driving was wholly or partially to blame for the accident, then you may be entitled to compensation for any injuries you suffered. Any type of distracted driving, including texting, can be the basis for a negligence claim. If the other driver was driving negligently, then they were at least partially responsible for the accident under the personal injury laws of the State of California. Seek the advice of an experienced California personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. An experienced California personal injury lawyer can evaluate the circumstances of your accident to determine what compensation you may be entitled to as a result of the accident. The attorneys at Ledger & Associates are knowledgeable regarding the California personal injury laws and can answer any questions you may have about your specific situation. Give them a call at 1-800-300-0001 or look them up online at www.ledgerlaw.com.

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Wrongful Death Claim in Fatal Talking While Driving Accident

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

Despite the studies showing how dangerous it can be, and despite laws in many states banning it, people continue to talk on their cell phones while driving. The consequences can be not just dangerous, but deadly. Last August, Bradley Bachelor, 34, and the father several young children, was fatally injured in a vehicle crash. According to the police reports, Kristina Tedesco, 35, was driving her 2007 Chevy Equinox when she attempted to turn left into oncoming traffic and pulled out in front of Bachelor who was driving his 2003 Suzuki motorcycle. Bachelor was pronounced dead within the hour. Kristina Tedesco was not driving drunk, nor was she speeding. She was, however, talking on her cell phone. Police attribute her talking on her cell phone to causing the accident and she was charged with vehicular manslaughter as a result of the accident. One family lost a husband and a father as a result of a tragic accident that should never have happened.

Stories like this one are hardly the exception anymore. Turn on the news or open up a newspaper and you will see story after story of horrific accident that are the result of cell phone usage while driving. Statistics tell us that almost 3,000 people die each year as a result of accidents that are caused, at least in part, by drivers talking on cell phones. Talking on a cell phone while driving is a serious distraction to the driver. Unlike having a conversation with a passenger in the car, talking on a phone involves additional physical and mental distractions. Dialing can actually take your eyes completely off the road for seconds and we all know that it only takes a second for an accident to happen. Additionally, studies have shown that we are better able to tune out a conversation that is taking place inside the car than one taking place on a cell phone if necessary.

While the driver involved in the accident was charged criminally for her part in the accident, that may belittle consolation for the family of the victim. Many times, drivers that cause fatal accidents are simply given probation or found not guilty altogether. If you have lost a family member as a result of an accident involving cell phone usage, you may be able to file a Wrongful Death claim. Many times, a family is left without much needed financial or emotional support when someone is killed in a car accident. Unlike a criminal case, a Wrongful Death claim is filed in civil court. The burden of proof in a Wrongful Death case is on “beyond a preponderance of the evidence”. The significance of this is that it may be easier to prove that the driver was negligent (at fault) in a Wrongful Death claim than in a criminal case. If you are successful in a Wrongful Death claim, then the driver will have to compensate you financially for the loss you have suffered as a result of their negligence. Filing a Wrongful Death claim cannot bring your loved one back, but it may be able to help you and your family in the future.

For more information regarding Wrongful Death claims, contact an experienced California Wrongful Death attorney at the offices of Ledger & Associates – 1800-300-0001 or online at www.ledgerlaw.com

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Distracted Driver Causes Car Crash While Talking On Mobile Phone

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

It’s hard to believe that just a generation ago we somehow managed to live without cellular telephones. We communicated from home, from the office or from a public pay phone if absolutely necessary while traveling. All those “urgent” phone calls that we now make while driving managed to wait until we got where we were going. Now, most of us can’t imagine leaving home without our cell phone. It is comforting to know that you have it in your purse or pocket – just in case of emergency. Regrettably, most of us don’t use it only in an emergency while we are driving. Studies on talking while driving show us that close to 80% of Americans talk on their cell phone while driving. That’s an incredibly high number of people that are out there driving and talking. Those same studies also show us that almost 25% of all car accidents have cell phone use as a contributing factor. Even more dangerous is texting while driving. As many are aware, The Law Offices of Ledger & Associates has been retained to work on the largest texting accident in Unites States History. In September 2008, a MetroLink Train conductor was texting and ran a red light resulting in the collision with a Union Pacific Train. The massive accident resulted in twenty-five deaths and one hundred and thirty five injured passengers. All because of texting!

Estimates are that at any given time of the day, at least 10% of all motorists on the road are talking on their cell phones. It is not surprising then that around 2,600 people die each year as a result of accidents caused by cell phone usage and another 330,000 are injured. Talking on a cell phone while driving makes it four times more likely that you will be involved in an injury accident. The risk of being involved in an accident while talking on a cell phone is so high that 6 states (California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Washington) as well as the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands ban all drivers from talking on handheld phones while driving. The reason that talking on a cell phone while driving is so dangerous is that talking is a huge distraction to drivers. While using a hands-free device helps, it doesn’t remove all the risk. The largest distraction in using a cell phone does come from dialing, but simply talking has proven to be a distraction to drivers as well. Although the risks of talking and driving appear to be well founded, millions of Americans continue to engage in this risky behavior every day putting all of our lives at risk on the nation’s streets and highways.

If you have been involved in an accident and you believe that talking while driving was a factor in the accident, then you may have the basis for a personal injury case. Seek the advice and counsel of an experienced California personal injury attorney immediately. If the person that hit you was talking on their phone while driving, then they may have been driving negligently and you may be entitled to compensation for any injuries you have suffered as a result of the accident. Only an experienced California personal injury attorney can evaluate your specific case and determine what options you have for pursuing compensation. The attorneys at Ledger & Associates are available to answer all your questions and help you navigate the legal process. Give them a call at 1-800-300-0001 or visit them on the Internet at www.ledgerlaw.com

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