Good Lawyers in Injury Divorce DUI

Four people have been injured in a Los Angeles multi-vehicle crash set off by a woman who lost control of her Toyota.

According to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, a 20-year-old woman driving a Toyota Celica on the westbound 210 freeway, set off a multi-vehicle collision that involved at least three other cars. Apparently, there was stopped traffic on the freeway, and the woman could not stop in time. She veered to the right and struck a white Honda, and then into a Cadillac. The Cadillac was sent rolling on top of a Mercedes. Four people had to be rushed to the hospital, and one had to be placed on advanced life support. The other victims suffered back, shoulder and neck injuries. The California Highway Patrol is investigating the accident. There is no indication yet that alcohol or drug use were a factor in this accident

The victims here were extremely fortunate. Collisions involving multiple vehicles in heavy traffic can be extremely serious, and lead to instant fatalities or catastrophic injuries. It seems here that the driver of the Toyota Celica was either driving at excessive speeds, or at speeds that were too high for the prevalent traffic conditions. Motorists are required to take into consideration not just existing speed limits, but also existing road, traffic and weather conditions while driving. For instance, driving on a congested freeway will require dropping speeds to ensure that you’re not tailgating the car in front, and to help you bring your car to a stop in case of blocked traffic ahead.

Speeding still remains a major factor in the auto accidents that California accident lawyers come across every day. Speeding doesn’t refer simply to vehicles that are traveling at above the posted speed limits, but also cars that are traveling too fast for prevailing road, traffic and weather conditions. Motorists must slow down, not just in heavy traffic or rush-hour, but also when adverse weather increases the risk of an accident. Driving in stormy weather, heavy snowfall, heavy rains or other adverse weather conditions requires extra caution, and driving even at your normal speed limits may be too fast.

The second biggest factor in auto accidents is drunk driving. Even with all the focus on distracted driving and the number of injuries and fatalities it contributes to every year, more numbers of people are killed in alcohol-related car accidents than accidents caused by distracted driving. Every year, over 1,000 people are killed in California alone in accidents involving drunk motorists. Those numbers have been declining as law enforcement agencies have tightened their hold on intoxicated motorists, and lawmakers have become more proactive in passing laws that focus not just on educating and informing motorists, but also making sure that repeat DUI offenders are not able to drive again.

Cell phone use while driving, texting, shaving, applying makeup, snacking, reaching for a CD, changing music stations, talking to fellow passengers, staring at billboards-all of these constitute distracted driving, and contribute to thousands of accidents every year.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of auto accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

In the city of Los Angeles, 67 percent of drivers who reported that their cars were hit while parked, said that the other motorist simply left without bothering to leave a note. Los Angeles is not alone in such dishonorable motorist behavior. In fact, the more crowded city is, the more likely it is for a motorists to be a victim of a hit-and-run where the other driver not even bothering to leave a note.

Those statistics come via a report by insurer Allstate this week. The report says that New York City had the highest number of hit-and-run accidents involving parked vehicles. In fact, in the Big Apple, 70% of hit-and-run crashes involved vehicles that were parked. Houston was at the other end of the spectrum, with just 57% of hit-and-run accident involving parked vehicles. In the cities of Chicago and Phoenix, the rate was at 67% much like Los Angeles.

Allstate mentions that those high rates don’t necessarily mean that the culture in the cities lean towards irresponsible or negligent behavior. However, the congested nature of the cities may be conducive to an accident.

Even when you are involved in a hit-and-run accident involving a parked vehicle, you are required to leave a note on the other person’s vehicle explaining exactly what happened. Allstate has advice for victims of parked vehicle hit-and-run accidents.

• Contact your insurance company immediately.
• Take pictures of the damage to your car.
• Look around to see if you can find witnesses to whatever happened. Take down their contact information.

According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were 37,000 traffic accident fatalities in 2008. Out of these, 447 fatalities involved hit-and-run accidents in which moving vehicles were involved. However, there were 91 fatalities in hit-and-run crashes involving a parked vehicle.

Just because you can’t trace the driver who struck your car while it was parked and fled the scene, doesn’t mean that you have no rights to compensation. This is where Uninsured Motorist Coverage kicks in. Motorists in California are required to maintain Uninsured Motorist Coverage, and this is part of the policy you have with your insurer. Uninsured Motorist Coverage kicks in not just during hit-and-run accidents where you can’t trace the driver, but also in accidents where there is an at-fault driver available, but he or she has no insurance.

Your Uninsured Motorist Coverage should kick in as soon as the accident occurs. Make sure you file a claim with your insurance company. The Uninsured Motorist Coverage must include your medical bills, lost wages and may be even other damages.

It’s important to understand that your Uninsured Motorist Coverage benefits are your rights because you have paid for these. When an insurer refuses to pay out benefits, or delays these, or pays you lesser than you are eligible for, it’s always best to consult with a California car accident lawyer, who specializes in Uninsured Motorist Coverage matters.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of auto accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

Pedestrians and accident lawyers in California have been very concerned at the high number of fatalities and injuries in pedestrian accidents in our state. Every year, hundreds of pedestrians are killed and thousands are seriously injured in on the streets of California. The city of San Francisco is beginning a campaign to promote pedestrian safety in the city.

The city of San Francisco was made for walking. It’s not just the residents who love walking here, but also the thousands of tourists who visit city every year. There are even walking tours that allow the tourists to see most of the city’s most famous landmarks with no stress at all.

Not surprisingly, pedestrian safety is a major concern here, given that so many of the city’s inhabitants prefer to bicycle or walk before driving. The San Francisco Police Department has now kicked off a pedestrian safety campaign that will include both pedestrians and motorists. The focus of the campaign will be twofold:

• Getting motorists to respect the right of way of pedestrians, and engage in safe driving practices
• Educating pedestrians about safe walking and avoiding jaywalking

The pedestrian safety campaign fittingly enough has been kicked off in Chinatown. This area of San Francisco has massive pedestrian traffic. Over the next few days, police officers will be educating both pedestrians and motorists about right-of-way and other pedestrian safety concepts. Accident lawyers in California often notice that many motorists are either completely unaware of their right-of-way duties, or choose to ignore these. Either way, it’s the pedestrian who suffers. Most of the pedestrian accidents that occur in California every year, can be traced to right-of-way violations by motorists. A motorist who fails to yield at a crosswalk places a pedestrian at great danger.

Here are some things that motorists can do to prevent accidents involving pedestrians.

• Watch out for pedestrians when you near crosswalks.
• Look for pedestrians especially carefully when you’re driving in poor weather or in the dark, when it may be difficult to spot them.
• When you see a pedestrian at a crosswalk, wait till the pedestrian has crossed before moving forward again.
• Avoid distractions behind the wheel, like cell phone use or text messaging. Such behaviors cause you to take your eyes off the road, and may cause you to miss a pedestrian.
• Avoid driving at excessive speeds. You may be unable to stop in time even when you do notice a crosswalk ahead.

Pedestrians must also play their part in their own safety.

• Avoid jaywalking.
• Cross only at designated and marked crosswalks.
• Walk only on sidewalks.
• Before crossing, look left, right and then left.
• Before you cross, wait for the car to make a complete stop.
• Make eye contact with the driver. This ensures that he can see you and understands that you are about to cross.
• Even when you cross at a designated crosswalk, look for vehicles that may be speeding, and may not be able to stop in time.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of pedestrian accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

With increased focus on Toyota, lawmakers are placing pressure on federal transportation safety agencies to require that all automakers equip their vehicles with brake overriding systems. These systems would allow the brakes to override the accelerator pedal when both the brake pedal and the gas pedal are depressed at the same time.

A third congressional hearing into Toyota’s safety issues was held last week, and the topic of a brake overriding system on all vehicles by all automakers, was brought up. Leading the calls for mandatory brake overriding systems on all cars is Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D- West Virginia, who is the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. Rockefeller openly wondered why lawmakers couldn’t ask all automakers to have brake overriding systems that would prevent acceleration to dangerous speeds. Such a system would help reduce the vehicle’s power, and enable the motorist to gain control over the car during an episode of sudden acceleration.

Accidents caused by sudden and excessive speeding have been traced to 52 deaths and fatalities, as reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. According to Sen. Rockefeller, the system that is in place to prevent such safety issues from slipping through the cracks has failed, and lawmakers need to fix it quickly before there are more deaths and injuries. Requiring a brake overriding system on all vehicles would prevent the kind of injuries and fatalities that are cropping up every day from this problem.

By all accounts, Toyota is not the only automaker facing the acceleration problem. Other automakers including Ford, have been linked to sudden speeding up of vehicles without driver input.

Toyota has already confirmed that it will retrofit vehicles that were included in the recent recalls with brake overriding systems. It has also said that brake overriding systems will be fitted into all future vehicles manufactured by the company. The brake override system is actually already in place in some vehicles like BMW models.

Meanwhile, Toyota is also acting to enhance safety at its US facilities. It may be a little late to stall the growing number of personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits piling up against the company, but it may help prevent future safety issues at the company. Before the crisis broke, Toyota was considered the biggest automaker in the world. According to the company’s president in North America, Toyota will set up an outside panel whose biggest purpose will be to advise the company’s North American affiliates about quality and safety issues. This will be an influential panel which will have direct access to Toyota chief Akio Toyoda.

A culture of minimizing safety problems and hiding them behind a veil of secrecy has been one of the many factors that auto safety experts and injury lawyers in California have blamed for the crisis Toyota finds itself in. For far too many years, the company has gotten away with denying that it’s vehicles were involved in acceleration episodes, or that the problem was widespread.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of product liability. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

California-based subsidiaries of Japanese retailer Daiso have been penalized $2 million by federal regulators for allegedly importing lead tainted toys into the country.

Daiso is based in California and Washington. Since 2008, Daiso California LLC and Daiso Seattle LLC have had to recall toys five separate times. A total of 690 toys and other children’s products were recalled after they were found to be contaminated with high quantities of lead. These toys included stuffed toys, wooden toys and purses. They were sold at Daiso stores in California for fewer than five dollars.

No injuries have been reported from the use of these products. However, the Consumer Traffic to Commission fully intends to enforce the provisions of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. The Act which was passed by Congress, lays down strict standards for the presence of lead in children’s toys and other products. A wide range of products are included under the new standards. These include toys, video games, science kits, books, jewelry, accessories and other children’s products.  According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Daiso had been warned several times in the past about its failure to adhere to the new safety standards.

The company has been accused by the Consumer Product Safety Commission of importing, distributing and selling toys that contain high levels of lead. The company has also been accused of importing products meant for small children that come with small detachable parts. Such toys are a huge injury risk to little children, who can easily remove the small parts and swallow them. This poses a serious choking or aspiration hazard. Besides, Daiso has allegedly also imported toys into the country that did not come with sufficient and adequate warning labels. A safely manufactured product for children must not only be safe to use, but must also come with sufficient labels cautioning parents if the toy poses a danger of risk to their children. The Consumer Product Safety Commission had warned the company several times in the past, but the company failed to comply with standard code, and hence the hefty fine.

Lead contamination in toys has been a major source of concern to California product liability attorneys, toy safety groups and health safety experts. The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act lays down high standards for lead content which are far more stringent than the earlier targets for lead in toys. The Act also sets standards for the presence of certain chemical compounds known as phthalates, in children’s toys. These compounds are added to plastic products to make them softer and suppler. They’re found in toys, feeding bottle nipples, talcum powder and a whole range of other children’s products. Phthalates have been linked to serious reproductive disorders in male children. these disorders include genital abnormalities and other conditions.

It’s good to see that the Consumer Product Safety Commission fully intends to add bite to these laws, and prevent any violations that place children at risk of injury.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of product liability. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

If a proposed new bill goes through, bicyclists in California will be subjected to the same hands-free cell phone use laws that apply to motorists in the state.

A new piece of legislation proposes extending the ban on text messaging or use of a hand-held cell phone while driving to California’s bicyclists. The legislation has been introduced by Sen. Joe Simitian, who was the man behind California’s law banning the use of hand-held cell phones while driving. Sen. Joe Simitian has introduced a piece of legislation that would heavily increase fines and penalties on violators of the hand-held cell phone and text messaging while driving bans.

Under the law, a bicyclist in California found texting while riding, or having a conversation on a handheld cell phone will be fined between $20 and $50 for talking on a cell phone while riding, and between $20 and $100 for text messaging while biking. These are the exact same fines that will be levied on motorists who are caught violating the bans. Besides, the law that the senator proposes will add a point to the record of the violator. According to the senator, California’s current cell phone laws rely heavily on light penalties. A motorist, who finds that the fine is not too heavy and will not result in a mark on his record, is more likely to violate the law. However, the threat of having a point on a record may coerce motorists to switch off the cell phone while driving.

Support for the cell phone ban for bicyclists is strong among bicycle accident lawyers in California and bicyclists. You don’t need more studies to prove the dangers that are at play when you talk on a cell phone while biking, or use it to send or receive text messages. Bicyclists must understand that they place themselves at greater risk of an accident if they’re distracted while riding.   Studies conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute have shown that the risk of an accident for a motorist, who is text messaging while driving his car, is up to 20 times greater than if he’s not. Other studies have also shown the heavy risk of accidents for drivers using cell phones while driving. A biker is at a much higher risk of injuries in an accident than a motorist. Ultimately, the law will serve to protect bicyclists from the severe injuries they can expect if they crash into another vehicle or object, because they were riding while talking or text messaging.

The law isn’t meant to corner bicyclists, or put them in an inconvenient position. It is meant to protect them from the kind of risks they will face from distracted riding. The heavy fines and penalties that will apply to motorists and bicyclists who are caught violating the laws should also be encouraged by injury lawyers in California and auto safety advocates. Ultimately, a bicyclist stands to lose the most in any accident that he is involved in.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of bicycle accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

The New York Times has been in the forefront of raising public awareness about the dangers of driving while distracted. It runs a regular series of reports called Driven to Distraction on the numerous distractions that motorists face as they drive on American highways. The most recent report in the series deals with the distractions that motorists face in the form of brightly illuminated, neon, digitized highway billboard signs.

Billboards have always been a source of distraction for motorists on a highway. In the past, studies around the world have shown that certain billboards tend to have a higher risk of crashes. For instance, a billboard featuring a scantily clad model is more likely to have male motorists lose focus, and crash. However, those distractions tempting as they are, may pale in the face of new distractions from brightly lit, neon colored highway billboards that are cropping up increasingly on our highways. The Federal Highway Administration estimates that out of the approximately 450,000 billboards in the US, only about 2,000 are currently digitized. But the trend to have these digitized billboards at heavy traffic intersections is growing stronger by the day, as advertisers find the prospect of grabbing eyeballs at heavy traffic areas too tempting to pass up.

By any account, the digitized billboard industry is in an expanding one. While a traditional billboard can cost anywhere from $5,000-$50,000, a digitized billboard can cost between $250,000 and $300,000. The price for a digitized billboard is much lower than it used to be just a few years back. As the technology improves, and these billboards become more common, California injury lawyers find it highly likely that these prices could drop further. That means more and more billboards on US highways, distracting motorists who are already talking on their cell phones or text messaging while driving.

There haven’t been extensive studies done into how much these billboards can increase the risk of an accident. In 2007, a study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that digitized billboards did not substantially increase the risk of accidents compared to traditional billboards. However, the findings of that study are suspect because the study was financed by the billboard industry, not the most impartial source.

However, federal transportation officials are beginning to take the matter seriously. The Federal Highway Administration is presently conducting a study into the effects of digitized billboards. The study includes installing eye tracking cameras in the cars of motorists, and monitoring for how long these drivers look at these billboards while driving. Last year, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute published a study which stressed the need for further investigations into the results of digitized billboard distractions on drivers. This spring, researchers will also have the opportunity to travel around the world to see how other cities have handled the distractions arising from digitized billboards.

As new technologies crop up and compete for a motorist’s attention on the road, it’s important that federal, state and local agencies also expand their policies to meet these new challenges.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of auto accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

The death of a 13-year-old girl as she was crossing the road on a crosswalk in Los Angeles, had initially led to plenty of confusion about whether the two motorists involved in the accident had been at fault. Police have confirmed now that that was not the case.

The tragic accident occurred on Friday morning in Brentwood. Initial reports indicated that the girl had been crossing the road on the crosswalk, and had been hit by two motorists who had then sped off from the scene. Reports that came out later confirmed that the girl had likely been brushed by the side view mirror of one car, causing her to lose her balance and fall right into the path of another moving car. It has also been confirmed that the two motorists did not leave the scene of the accident, but stayed with the victim until help arrived. Rumors that the crash had been caused by two different drivers caused Los Angeles police to look for cars that met the description as given by witnesses at the scene. However, police have now confirmed that the crash was a tragic accident. There are no plans to charge either of the two drivers in this accident.

As California pedestrian accident lawyers often see, accidents involving pedestrians can be fatal, or result in serious injuries.  Injuries that result in a pedestrian accident can be extremely serious, and can include severe body trauma such as head and spine injuries when the person is flung to the ground. California has a reputation for being one of the most unfriendly places for pedestrians in the country.  That should not come as a surprise to pedestrians here, or to pedestrian accident attorneys in California. While the Golden State has a great climate which encourages walking, the state has done little to improve pedestrian safety. A study last year by Transportation for America names several California metropolitan cities as some of the deadliest for pedestrians in the country. Pedestrians accidents in areas like Santa Ana are fewer in number, and form a much lower percentage of the overall population.  However, they account for a large percentage of fatalities. The fatality rates in fact, are disproportionate to the number of people who actually walk to work in these areas.

Most pedestrian accidents can be traced to motorists who simply fail to either look out for a pedestrian when they near a crosswalk, or fail to yield to pedestrians altogether. Either way, it’s a pedestrian who has to pay in the form of serious injuries, or even death. Looking out for pedestrians when you’re at a crosswalk is not a favor to the pedestrian. It is the duty of every motorist, and it is extremely frustrating to Los Angeles accident lawyers to come across motorists who have simply struck a person on a crosswalk, and then proceeded to drive off. This kind of thing happens far too often.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of pedestrian accident. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

The Los Angeles police department is promising more safety and better protection for the city’s bicyclists. That should come as welcoming news to bicycle accident lawyers as well as bicyclists in California, who have long been complaining that police officers ddo not do enough to protect cyclists from aggressive motorists.

It’s hard to understand the challenges facing a bicyclist in Los Angeles, unless you’re actually one. This is a city that was designed mainly for the motorist. This auto centric culture has helped to develop a segment of motorists, who believe that all cyclists are trespassers and have no place on the roads. Los Angeles bicyclists complain that they are constantly harassed by motorists who strike them, and then drive away without a second look back. Many times these episodes of aggression have turned fatal. Bikes have been hit, and cyclists have been killed by motorists who then drive off from the scene.

This aggression was clear to see just two years ago in a high profile road rage-related bicycle crash case in which two bicyclists were injured . In that case, the motorist was a Brentwood doctor, who had been annoyed at the frequent breaking of rules by cyclists in his neighborhood.  He pulled his car in front of the two bicyclists as they were riding along. The crash that resulted, caused serious injuries to the bicyclists. One of them had to be hospitalized for several days. The doctor was sentenced this January to five years in prison.

Although a high profile case, the anger that the doctor Chris Thompson showed the two cyclists was hardly rare or unusual. Cyclists in Los Angeles will tell you that every day they come across motorists who proceed to yell at them or taunt them. Other times, this aggressive behavior turns dangerous with motorists trying to run the bicyclist off the road. In rare but increasingly frequent cases, the motorist hits the bicyclist, causing severe injuries or death.

The Los Angeles police department is now promising cyclists that they can expect more cooperation form the police department. LAPD police chief Charlie Beck made the promise this week at a meeting of the city’s police department, bicyclists and bicycle advocates.

Bicyclists have one serious issues that must be dressed immediately. They complain that the laws do not help them when they are struck by motorists. They insist that they should receive more cooperation from LAPD police officers after a crash or a hit and run accident. All too often, however, they see that officers take their complaints lightly.

Chief Beck is promising that this will change too. He said at the meeting that he is in the process of preparing a document for officers to understand their responsibilities when responding to a bicycle crash scene. He is also focusing on special training for police officers to handle a bicycle accident.

Bicycle crash lawyers in California hope that the LAPD follows up on its promise, and enacts more measures to protect cyclists.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of bicycle accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

Any California dog bite lawyer will tell you that no animal, no matter how friendly and well trained, is completely predictable. That’s the reason why there are such huge numbers of dog bite attacks in California every year. Animal behavior is impulsive, and failure to understand and appreciate this, can lead to disastrous consequences.

In an example of such behavior, a killer whale at a SeaWorld in Orlando dragged its trainer by her hair into the water, and killed her. The tragic incident which occurred yesterday, has already made news headlines over the world. This tragedy illustrates the fine line that separates the wild from the trained, and how quickly this line can be crossed. The victim, Dawn Brancheau was giving the killer whale Tilikum, a post rub after the show of the day. Suddenly, the whale grabbed Brancheau by the hair and pulled her into the water. It was after the show had ended, so there were just a few witnesses and members of the audience who were loitering round, who noticed the incident. They say the whale grabbed Brancheau into the pool and dragged her around. It then flung her body from side to side. It was not immediately apparent whether Brancheau died as a result of injuries sustained during the thrashing, or if she drowned.

Shockingly enough, this isn’t even the first time that the killer whale had been involved in a death like this. In fact, this was not Tilikum’s first brush with a tragic incident involving a human being. The first occurred back in 1991 when a trainer fell into the pool during a training session.  She was dragged around the pool several times by three whales, one of which was Tilikum. That incident occurred at a Sealand facility in British Columbia.  The second incident occurred at SeaWorld in Orlando, the same venue of this week’s attack, and involved a man who was found dead and draped on Tilikum’s back.  He had either fallen into the tank, jumped in, or had been pulled into the pool by Tilikum. The cause of death was determined as drowning. There were bruises and scratch marks on his body.

Some of the witnesses and employees at the facility reported that Tilikum had been acting unusually fidgety and restive that day. Right now, Tilikum is still at SeaWorld and so far, there no plans to euthanize him. Apparently, because of his past safety record and his size, very few trainers at SeaWorld were allowed to work with Tilikum. Dawn Brancheau was one of just 7 or 8 trainers at SeaWorld who were allowed to handle the orca.

Animal rights groups will say that this shows that orcas should be in the wild, and not performing circus acts for the cheering public. California injury lawyers, however will have other questions too. You have to wonder why SeaWorld went ahead to place an animal that was linked to at least two other fatal incidents involving human beings, in the show.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of animal attacks and wrongful death. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

A Tracy man who was involved in a fatal rollover accident that killed one of his passengers will face charges of felony vehicular manslaughter.

The California Highway Patrol has confirmed that it will ask the San Joaquin District Attorney to seek a felony vehicular manslaughter charge and misdemeanor charge for driving under a suspended license. Forty-four year old Horace Booker was driving a Mercedes when it lost control. The car flipped over at least 6 times. The twelve-year-old passenger in the front seat was ejected from the car. He was declared dead at the scene.  Another child in the back seat as well as a female passenger in the car were seriously injured in the crash. Both children in this accident were not wearing seat belts.

Seat belts have been the single most important auto safety invention.  Over the years, these have helped save thousands of lives.  Failure to wear seat belts is often a bigger factor in accidents than driving under the influence or seeding.  Data released by the Department of Transportation shows that out of the most dangerous highways in California, most fatalities occurred not because of speeding or drunk driving, but because of the failure of motorists to wear seat belts.  In some cases, the rates of fatalities from failure to buckle up were as high as 70 percent.  These were lives that could have been saved if these motorists and their passengers had taken the time to put on a seat belt while driving.

Across the country, seat belt laws can vary widely depending on the age of the occupant and whether he is sitting in the front or back seat.  While most states have some form of seat belts laws in place, very few have laws requiring that all occupants in a car buckle up.  California’s laws require all occupants of a car above the age of 16 be buckled up. Children below the age of 16 must be adequately restrained in booster seats or a child safety seat depending on the age of the child.  However, failure of seat belts can also be a factor in fatalities. As California auto defect lawyers see, defective seatbelts are an underestimated factor in several accidents.

Defective seatbelt injuries can occur because of several factors. During a serious accident, the latch of a seatbelt may open, causing occupants to be flung out of the seat. Most occupants are seriously at risk of being ejected from the vehicle. Such ejections are very common in vehicle rollovers when the seatbelt may be placed under strong pressure. Besides, seat belt webbing may tear, placing the person at risk of ejection.  This can happen because the material is weak, or because of tears by sharp objects.  Whatever the causes of the defects, any injuries that result from seatbelt failures can be serious and result in catastrophic injuries, or even death.  Very often, these defects are caused because of poor or lax safety or manufacturing stands by the manufacturer.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of drunk driving accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

The Department of Transportation has created a draft bill that it hopes will help states planning on enacting legislation against distracted driving.  The draft bill however does seem to come with a loophole that accident lawyers in California are concerned about

The bill has been prepared by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The agency invited the participation of auto industry experts, and the American Automobile Association to help in drafting the bill.  However, if you have a look at the bill, you’ll find that it contains terminology that may not do much to decrease the effects of distracted driving.  Injury lawyers in Los Angeles will specifically have a problem with this clause of the sample bill

The clause exempts fines and penalties for texting while driving for those motorists who

Receive messages related to the operation and navigation of motor vehicle, safety related information including emergency traffic or weather alerts, data used primarily by the motor vehicle or radios.

So in states that pass laws that contain such language, motorists will be exempted from fines and penalties if they receive incoming traffic alerts and tweets. Several states allow motorists to get traffic information via tweets on Twitter, the micro blogging social site that allows messages of up to 140 characters to be sent out to followers.

In California, motorists can sign up to get traffic alerts sent to them.  This has put two branches of government at odds with each other. On the one hand is the state transportation officials who want to make it easy for motorists to get easy access to information about road blocks and traffic jams, so they can plan their route. On the other side are lawmakers who worry about the risks of receiving such frequent tweets or messages.

Operators of such messaging services say that they insist that motorists must read the messages or tweet before they drive, and must not use the mobile messaging devices while driving. However, it’s highly likely that thousands of motorists won’t think twice before checking their mobile devices to read a traffic alert. The American Automobile Association insists that constantly reading messages can contribute to accident risks.

For those who would like to see less cell phone or smart phone use behind the wheels, allowing motorists to read their traffic alerts while driving may seem like a bit of an anti climax.  There are studies showing that incoming messages can be just as much of a distraction as actually typing your message on a mobile gadget.

The problem of distracted driving can be a complex one.  States like California have laws that ban cell phone use behind the wheel or text messaging while driving. However, fines and penalties levied on motorists who violate the rules continue to be light, and this makes enforcement of these laws harder.  Right now, injury lawyers in California believe the focus should be on better enforcement of the laws that exist.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of auto accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.