18-Wheeler Sideswipes Vehicle
May 11, 2010
Three young people were injured when their car was sideswiped by an 18-wheeler on highway 99 .
Semi Accident Closes 57 Freeway—One Killed
July 28, 2009
July 25, 2009
According to reports a a semi truck accident closed both directions of the 57 Freeway in Fullerton, in which one person was fatally injured.
According to the California Highway Patrol stated that an accident occurred at approximately 7:00 p.m. in the vicinity of Chapman Avenue exit near Cal State. The accident included a semi truck that was hauling frozen meat and a passenger vehicle, injuring four people and the driver of the semi truck was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident according to Officer Gabe Montoya of the California Highway Patrol.
Fullerton Fire Chief Gary Dominguez four people involved in the accident were transported to area hospitals. Dominguez also stated that the semi truck overturned and struck the freeway rail, although he was unsure whether this occurred when the truck and the passenger vehicle collided or prior to the accident. Officer Montoya said that the truck was traveling southbound when it struck the passenger vehicle, and then struck the center divider ending up in the northbound carpool lane where it then caught fire.
The conditions of the four people that were injured have not been released and the identity of the person that was killed has not been released.
Hollister Truck Accident Kills One, Seriously Injures Two
June 25, 2009
JUNE 18, 2009 - A truck accident in Hollister, California caused by a driver making an illegal U-turn has killed one person, and left two people hospitalized with critical injuries. According to news reports, the tractor-trailer was traveling on highway 152 when the driver apparently made an illegal U-turn. The female driver of the 2006 Dodge Charger was unable to stop in time to avoid the large truck. The car crashed through the bottom of the trailer, shaving off the entire top portion of the vehicle.
One 18-year-old occupant, a Turlock Resident died at the scene of the crash. The other two occupants, Jasbir Singh, 18, a resident of Hughson and 19-year-old Gurvinder Chamal of Ceres was also driving the car, had to be airlifted to the Regional Medical Center in San Jose with critical injuries.
The California Highway Patrol has already begun an investigation, and investigators are looking into why the truck driver, David Jones, 57-year-old of Hayward, suddenly tried to make a U-turn into the eastbound lanes. So far the tractor-trailer driver has not been arrested or cited. There is no information yet on the speed of the car at the time of the truck accident. We will have to wait for investigations to be completed before we can determine what happened here.
Bus Crash survivors, relatives file lawsuit for April accident in Monterey County
June 25, 2009
06/25/09 - Wrongful death and negligence alleged in deadly accident on Highway 101.
Thirty-two French tourists and surviving family members of those killed in the horrific April crash of a tour bus on Highway 101 in Soledad are suing the organizers of the ill-fated trip and the California tour bus company.
Their suit for wrongful death and negligence was filed Monday in Monterey County Superior Court, almost two months after the April 28 crash that left four tourists and the California driver dead and dozens of people injured. The lawsuit does not ask for any punitive damages.
Among the defendants are Orion Pacific, the Brea charter bus company that provided transportation for the French tour groups, and the estate of the bus's 69-year-old driver, John Egnew, who was among those killed in the crash.
Plaintiffs include family members of two tourists who died in the crash. The heirs of the other two passengers who died will likely be added to the suit, said San Francisco attorney Jean-Yves Lendormy.
The suit names several French and Canadian travel and tour firms that arranged the 14-day "Trip to the Great American West" tour that came to a tragic end when the bus went out of control on the Front Street highway overpass in the middle of the afternoon.
The California Highway Patrol said the likely cause of the crash was driver error, when Egnew failed to negotiate a curve on the overpass and slammed into a guardrail.
The bus was carrying 34 tourists, a Canadian tour guide and the driver.
Several of the dead were thrown from the bus to the ground below. Several injured passengers spent substantial time in California after the accident, receiving medical care and waiting for arrangements to return home.
Lendormy, who is the attorney for the French Consulate in San Francisco, said all of the survivors have returned to France. Some are in hospitals there because of their injuries. Some younger passengers are back in school. Others are not so fortunate. One victim lost his arm, he said.
"Many were grievously injured with serious orthopedic and neurological injuries," the suit said. "All of the surviving passengers are marked for life in their bodies and in their souls by this catastrophic mass accident."
The tour was organized by Capitales Tour, a large French tour operator that worked with a Canadian company, Contact Amerique, which specializes in international tours, according to the suit.
Among its worldwide tour packages, Capitales Tour put together 35 packages in California this year, the suit says.
The suit accuses the tour organizers of failing to perform due diligence to ensure the safety of the tour group. The companies should have known more about Egnew and demanded a different driver, the suit says.
"Due diligence by any one of them would have disclosed that 69-year-old John Egnew had previously caused a serious accident while driving an Orion Pacific bus and did not possess sufficient skills and stamina to drive the ... bus over the 2000-mile trip," the suit said.
A woman at Orion Pacific said the company didn't have a comment.
Egnew previously was involved in a 2005 bus accident in Las Vegas when his coach hit a 71-year-old woman as she was crossing a street with her husband. Egnew admitted to police that he hadn't seen the woman and later pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor traffic violation.
The woman's lawyer said she suffered brain injuries and a broken pelvis and a $750,000 settlement was reached last year with Orion Pacific's parent company, Weeks Enterprises Inc.
The French tourists' suit doesn't name any public agencies.
"There is nothing against the good state of California," Lendormy said.
Lendormy said the suit shouldn't be viewed as any kind of negative statement about the emergency response, medical care and hospitality that the crash victims received.
"They are grateful for how they were treated after the accident by care providers, hospital nurses and people from the community," he said.
He noted that community members collected books in French, clothing and other personal items for survivors. Schoolchildren drew greeting cards for them.
"Some of the stories almost want to make you cry," Lendormy said. Source: Monterey County Herald
Family Files Lawsuit Over Death of Honeymooners
June 24, 2009
The family of two honeymooners killed outside their stranded vehicle in Las Vegas has filed a lawsuit against two trucking companies and their drivers, the Las Vegas Sun reports. According to police, the couple was first struck by a truck operated by J.B. Hunt Transport Inc. and then struck again by another truck operated by Stan Trucking Inc. as they attempted to change a flat tire on Interstate 15. The lawsuit alleges negligence by the drivers and seeks damages for failing to stop at the scene. Steve Green , Las Vegas Sun 06/04/2009
If you or someone you know has been injured in an accident like this or another type of accident, don’t guess about your rights or what you deserve as compensation. Call the Dunnion law Firm at 1-800-386-6466 for an immediate free consultation or submit the contact information to our firm. We can help you!
Lawsuit Filed Over fatal Dump Truck Accident
June 24, 2009
A truck driver, his employer and an Illinois quarry were negligent in the death of a 13-year-old boy who was crushed by a dump truck loaded with gravel, a lawsuit filed Wednesday claims. Ryan Hennemann was crushed after the driver asked him and a friend to help him unload the truck. According to the lawsuit, the truck was overloaded and driven by an unqualified and unlicensed driver. The lawsuit names James. T. Griffen, J & C Construction Co. and Falling Springs Quarry Company. Beth Hundsdorfer, Belleville News-Democrat 06/03/2009
If you or someone you know has been injured in an accident like this or another type of accident, don’t guess about your rights or what you deserve as compensation. Call the Dunnion law Firm at 1-800-386-6466 for an immediate free consultation or submit the contact information to our firm. We can help you!