“Live fast, die young.”

For 21-year old John Avinger who is driving his Cadillac SRX at a high rate of speed, the proverb was proved to be tragically true.

According to the California Highway Patrol, Avinger lost control of his car while driving fast at the carpool lane and he veered across all lanes before striking the sound wall along the on-ramp.

The crash sent the car flipping over and the driver got ejected and was killed immediately. A 20-year old passenger, Brandon Baker survived the crash with moderate facial trauma and lacerations and was taken to the Western Medical Center.

The CHP is still investigating the cause of the crash.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, more men die in motor vehicle crashes compared to women and usually because men engage in more risky driving behavior such as not wearing a seatbelt, speeding and drunk-driving.

Although the cause of the crash is still under investigation, all three may have been a factor in the fatal crash which killed Avinger. He also happened to belong to the age group of male drivers (21-24 years old) who had the highest fatality rate.

Speeding alone is already a leading cause of car crashes but if you add alcohol and immaturity to the mix, the consequences are often fatal. Wearing a seatbelt may have been the only thing that could have saved Avinger’s life but failing that, he got thrown out of the vehicle and killed.

Drunk, speeding or reckless and/or negligent drivers can be held liable for any injuries incurred by the other party who got in involved in an accident.

Drivers, when they drive, owe a duty of care in operating their vehicle and the violation of DUI laws and speeding laws often places the presumption of negligence upon the drunk or speeding driver.

Living fast may seem exciting but usually, the risks that comes along with it is not worth losing your life over.

• Bookmark on Delicious
• Digg this post
• Recommend on Facebook
• Buzz it up
• share via Reddit
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet about it
• Subscribe to the comments on this post
• Tell a friend
• Print for later

There will be no jail time for Deborah Gibney.

The 47-year-old Fallbrook mother dodged a bullet as she was only slapped with 3 years probation, a $300-fine, parenting class, and sessions with Mother’s Against Drunk Driving (MADD) victim panel after pleading guilty to violating the county ordinance against underage drinking parties.

The incident happened last June after Gibney threw an end of the school year party for her teenage children.

Most of those in attendance were students from Cathedral Catholic High School.

Gibney was arrested after driving an overly drunk girl to Fallbrook Hospital where the staff got suspicious and called the deputies.
Gibney tried to give a false story but the officers did not buy it. She was arrested as she was trying to leave.
When the investigators got to Gibney’s house, they found that many of the guests were underage.

Investigators were even told by some party goers that Gibney was hesitant to call 911 after the girl felt ill.

As parents, we should be more responsible about the message we give to our children.

Not only are Gibney’s actions a bad example, it is also against the law and she was lucky that she only got a slap in the wrist as penalties.

Under the county law, if you will be serving alcohol to guests, you have to verify the age of the guests, supervise minors and control access to alcohol.

This is to prevent any more DUI related car accidents that is actually one of the leading cause of death, not only in California, but the whole US.

• Bookmark on Delicious
• Digg this post
• Recommend on Facebook
• Buzz it up
• share via Reddit
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet about it
• Subscribe to the comments on this post
• Tell a friend
• Print for later

Escalator accidents do happen more often than you think, just ask the fans of Disney star Selena Gomez.

According to TMZ, several fans of Gomez, who trooped to Emerald Square Mall in Massachusetts to catch a glimpse of the star, were involved in an escalator accident.

It was reported that the escalator abruptly stopped and some even claimed it started going backwards fast which sent several young fans flying.

Police and firefighters assisted dozens of fans who fell down and five people were injured. Three of them were taken to the hospital for medical attention.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, there were as much as 11,000 escalator accidents in 2007. Majority of escalator accident injuries are caused by falls but 10 percent are caused by hands, feet or shoes that get trapped in escalators.

Most escalator accident victims are children and several have lost limbs or have gotten killed because a shoe, clothes, scarves, and shoelaces have gotten stuck in gaps in the escalator.

5-year old Kerriana Johnson from Florida was awarded millions of dollars worth of damages after she lost three fingers when her hand got sucked into a gap in the store’s escalator.

Defective, poorly maintained, or badly designed escalators cause thousands of injuries yearly. Most of these could have been avoided had the dangerous conditions of escalators been remedied or repaired.

Under the law, the owner of the property where the escalator is situated or the manufacturer of the escalator can be held liable for injuries or deaths suffered by passengers of the escalator.

A personal injury lawsuit can be filed by the victim against the establishment or company whose defective escalator caused the injury.

• Bookmark on Delicious
• Digg this post
• Recommend on Facebook
• Buzz it up
• share via Reddit
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet about it
• Subscribe to the comments on this post
• Tell a friend
• Print for later

In San Francisco, two major pedestrian accidents occurred in a single day, one of which was fatal.

The fatal pedestrian accident occurred in the area of Ocean and Miramar avenues near City College while a female pedestrian survived with serious injuries after a collision with a Muni Railway 9-San Bruno bus at San Bruno Avenue and Burrows Street.

Oakland City on the other hand, also had a fatal pedestrian accident when a 45-year-old woman was killed by a hit and run driver while crossing the intersection.

Pedestrian car crash fatalities account for nearly 12 percent of all motor vehicle deaths and while the percentage may seem insignificant, as many as 4,378 people died from vehicle accidents in 2008. Also, 20 percent of these pedestrian deaths are from hit and run crashes.

In a study by the Insurance Institute Highway Safety, it was revealed that pedestrians were more likely to be at fault in collision accidents.

However, while some drivers are let off scot-free from pedestrian crashes, there are several instances wherein they can be both held criminally and civilly liable for pedestrian accident injuries or death. Here are some examples:

• The driver was violating a law (traffic lights or speed limit) when the accident occurred.
• The driver was driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
• Distracted driving such as texting or talking on one’s cell phone.
• Road rage incidents wherein the driver deliberately hurts the pedestrian or uses his vehicle as a weapon.
• Hit and run accidents.

Under the following scenarios mentioned, the driver is deemed negligent and the pedestrian or in case of death, his family may sue the driver for damages.

Every driver, upon receipt of his license, has the duty and responsibility to exercise due care and diligence on the road, especially towards pedestrians.

A breach of this duty will give rise to civil liability wherein the injured pedestrian may rightfully claim compensation for his medical expenses as well as loss of wages, pain and suffering he endured as a result of the accident.

• Bookmark on Delicious
• Digg this post
• Recommend on Facebook
• Buzz it up
• share via Reddit
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet about it
• Subscribe to the comments on this post
• Tell a friend
• Print for later

Since 1999, Toyota has received more than 2,000 complaints of unintended acceleration of some of its models. Six separate investigations conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration later only yielded the finding of “unsecured floor mats” — it took the death of an off-duty CHP officer and his family to shake the giant car maker into a more exhaustive inquiry into its cars.

After recalling 4.2 million vehicles and suspending the sale of affected models, Toyota has announced it has found a way to fix the unintended acceleration. The problem with the faulty gas pedals were traced by the engineers to have been caused by a friction device in the assembly that is supposed to provide the proper pedal “feel” by adding resistance.

The repair, which is supposed to take about half an hour, consists of installing a steel shim a couple of millimeters thick in the pedal assembly, which will eliminate the excess friction between two pieces of the accelerator mechanism.

Toyota will shoulder the expenses of the repair and have shipped the steel shim out to the dealerships and customers with Toyota models the subject of recall are advised to wait to receive certified letters from Toyota before heading out to their nearest dealer.

Also, for consumers involved in any unintended acceleration accident with said Toyota vehicles, they may contact Toyota’s customer service at 800-331-4331 or file a complaint online with the NHTSA at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq.

Another option, for victims who have been grievously hurt or whose family member had perished in a car accident due to car defects, they can file a personal injury lawsuit or a wrongful death lawsuit.

Currently, there are already a number of lawsuits filed against the Japanese automaker because of their dangerously defective cars. Some suits even claim that the defect is due to the car’s electronic system.

The Toyota troubles has however, spawned a number of “Toyota lawyers” but affected drivers should be wary before engaging the services of just any lawyer. Aside from taking into consideration the benefits of a contingency fee, lawyers must be experienced in litigating product liability or car defects claims. The track record of experience must likewise be sterling because the lawyer must be good enough to have won the cases he handles.

• Bookmark on Delicious
• Digg this post
• Recommend on Facebook
• Buzz it up
• share via Reddit
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet about it
• Subscribe to the comments on this post
• Tell a friend
• Print for later