Running away from a car accident scene never led to anything good. That goes for both the victims and the liable party.

Just this weekend, police have arrested the SUV driver who tried to run not only from one but two traffic accidents.

One of those resulted to the death of an elderly woman.

According to LA County Sheriff’s Department, the SUV first struck a woman riding a motorcycle on Wilmington Avenue.

Instead of stopping, the driver of the SUV tried to make a U-turn and crashed into another car.

The car, which was carrying 71-year-old Teresa Andrade, rolled over after being hit.

Again the SUV driver fled the scene but did not notice that his plate number was left at the scene.

Sheriff’s deputies were able to track down the vehicle to a Compton residence and detained 3 males, 2 of whom are juveniles.

The driver of the SUV was brought by his family to Compton Station at about 8:30.

The driver now not only has to answer for civil liabilities from wrongful death and personal injury suits he sure will receive, he will also have to worry about being prosecuted by the state especially for the death of Andrade.

We are required by law to stop after being involved accident, exchange information and provide reasonable assistance to those who are injured or in need.

Not doing so is punishable by law.

Add to the driver’s offense the death of Andrada and you have a manslaughter case if not murder on your hands.

Nobody wins in hit-and-run car accidents, Andrada lost her life, and the SUV driver may lose some years of his life in jail.

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In Escondido, a woman was seriously injured when a vehicle hit her while crossing the street. She was not in a designated crosswalk and the vehicle was not able to stop on time.

The female victim sustained head and chest injuries while the driver and his passenger were unhurt. She was immediately brought to a hospital nearby to attend to her injuries. The police will still determine if the driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

When someone had injuries from a car accident, do not move him especially if he sustained massive injuries. The medical response team should be contacted right away to attend to the injuries she got.

The police and the insurance company should be contacted immediately. The contact information (names, numbers and addresses) of the victims and witnesses should be gathered. Pictures of the accident scene should be taken to support the evidences of the accident.

The police will investigate what happened. He will write the gathered information on the police report which will be used in the investigation during a lawsuit trial. The victims may be asked to not talk to other people who are not involved about the case by their lawyers.

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The whole Santa Fe Christian campus is grieving the loss of 16-year-old football varsity player, William Wardrip, from Enchinitas, to a tragic car accident. Wardrip died when the SUV he was riding as a passenger got involved in a rollover accident in Fairbanks Ranch.

Reports said that the driver of the 1999 Lexus recently got his license and Wardrip was the only occupant not wearing a seatbelt.

The ninth to twelfth grade students were given a choice of staying at home or to join the prayer service in memory of Wardrip.

Grieving parents and students flocked the campus to join in the service.

Although drugs and alcohol were not a factor, the driver of the SUV may be facing liability for the death of Wardrip.

Aside from that, the parents or the owner of the SUV may also be held liable because the driver was also a minor and also a new driver.

Although there may be some comparative negligence on the part of Wardrib for not following the state seatbelt law, it does not remove the liability of the driver for his own negligent acts.

New drivers are not allowed to drive between 11pm and 5am and the accident occurred at 3am.

Another violation is that new drivers are not supposed to have passengers below the age of 20 without a parent or a guardian.

Hopefully, the driver would show remorse for the tragedy and the prosecutors may choose not to file criminal charges against him.

However, that does not stop Wardrib’s parents from pursuing a wrongful death claim.

Hopefully, this becomes a lesson to all teen drivers who overestimate their driving skills.

Reckless driving is not only a danger to the driver but to those around them as well.

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September 12-18, 2009 marks the observance of Child Passenger Safety Week

According to United States Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a new research conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) showed that despite the high child safety seat use – majority of these children are still not properly secured.

A staggering figure from the study shows that while 99 percent of children ages 0-12 months old were secured in child safety seats as were 92 percent of children ages 1-3 years old and 89 percent of 4-7 years-old, three out of every four seats are used incorrectly.

Hence, regardless of the use of restraints, these children will still not be properly restrained and protected and would likely get seriously injured in case of a car accident.

In fact, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 72% of nearly 3,500 observed car and booster seats were misused in a way that could be expected to increase a child’s risk of injury during a crash.

According to the NHTSA, the errors in the use of child restraints included the wrong way of securing the child in the child seat as well as the errors in attaching the child seat to the car. Examples would include using the wrong child restraint based on age and weight and the incorrect installation of restraint to the vehicle seat.

The CDC pegs that in every day, children aged 14 years old and younger had an average of 4 deaths and 504 injuries in 2005. 1,335 children died and approximately 184,000 were injured.

While parents may be compliant with the use of child safety seats, they must also be correct in the use of it. Following the law would be futile, if they were negligent in securing the safety and protection of their children.

During the Child Passenger Safety Week, there will be thousands of free safety seat inspection stations set up across the country to provide assistance to the majority of parents in the proper installation of child safety seats.

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Hollywood star and sweetheart Renee Zellweger’s name was once again in the news but not because of an upcoming movie.

The 40-year old Oscar-winning actress was involved in a minor car accident in Beverly Hills. According to Lt. Tony Lee of the Beverly Hills Police Department, Zellweger was traveling alone in her silver Mercedes G wagon north on Camden Drive when a green Ford Explorer hit her after making an illegal u-turn.

The wrong-way driver was allegedly pulling out of a parking space when they attempted the turn.

Although the damage was minimal and the actress wasn’t hurt, she and the driver of the Ford exchanged information as the damages will be handled by their respective insurance companies. No one was cited for the crash.

Zellweger reportedly “politely” requested for her car be towed from the scene, and also requested that officers call her a cab.

Usually, collisions happen because of driver error. Drivers often misjudge distances or are unaware of their immediate surroundings especially when they back out of their parking.

According to the California Driver’s Handbook of 2009, a u-turn is considered illegal when it is done:

• Where a “No U-Turn” sign is posted.
• On a one-way street.
• On a divided highway by crossing a dividing section, curb, strip of land, or two sets of double yellow lines.
• Where you cannot clearly see 200 feet in each direction because of a curve, hill, rain, fog, or other reason.
• Business districts such as Areas with churches, apartments, multiple dwelling houses, clubs, and public buildings (except schools)

Drivers are advised that when they make a u-turn, to signal and use the far left lane or the center left turn lane.

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