The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently ruled to improve its rating system with the intention of encouraging manufacturers to produce safer vehicles. The new safety rating system includes changes such as:
People who sustain catastrophic injuries in accidents often have their lives changed for a long time—if not permanently. In order to recover, a victim must prove the value of their damages.1 The following are examples of evidence that a California accident attorney can use to prove damages after a catastrophic injury:
Past medical expenses and lost income – The financial losses that you have already incurred are often the easiest type of damages to prove in a personal injury case. For example, medical bills can concretely indicate how much your treatment cost and paystubs and timesheets can show how much work and income you lost. However, if the other party questions whether all of your treatments or time off work were necessary, you may need a medical or occupational expert to testify regarding your injuries. Additionally, if the opposing party disputes the severity or cause of your injury, your doctor may have to testify to your diagnosis.
Future medical costs and lost income – Proving the estimated losses you will likely incur in the future due to your injuries is slightly more complex. A medical professional can testify to your prognosis and the necessary future treatment for your recovery, as well as the usual cost of those treatments. If you are unable to return to your previous job, an occupational expert can assess your work abilities—if any—to determine your future earning capabilities. This can then be used by economic experts who can use inflation2 and other calculations to determine your future lost earning ability, income, benefits, and more.
Los Angeles is the proud home of many notable landmarks and accomplishments. However, it is also the home of some of the world’s most dangerous highways, freeways, and intersections.
While the city is notorious for its legendary all day traffic jams, it can also be a source of extreme peril for motorists who are unaware of just what they are driving into.
The Most Dangerous Freeway Interchange In Los Angeles
After a traffic collision, a fall, or any other type of accident, most victims wonder whether should discuss their case with an attorney. Unfortunately, if their injuries do not seem to be serious, many accident victims fail to consult with a California accident attorney because they assume their injuries are not worth a legal case. In many situations, this is a mistake, however, and victims lose out on valuable compensation for their losses.
Attorneys can help with insurance settlements
Even though filing a lawsuit may not be necessary for many victims with relatively minor injuries, that does not mean an attorney cannot be of important assistance. In such cases, the responsible party’s insurance company will likely make an offer for a lump sum settlement to reimburse you for your medical expenses and other related financial costs of your injury. However, insurance companies are businesses and they strive to avoid liability whenever possible. This means that they often offer less than a victim deserves to see if they will accept the offer.
Drug Impaired Driving Accidents in California are becoming more and more of a problem. Recent studies conducted by the Governors Highway Safety Association show that motor vehicle collisions where drivers are found to be under the influence of illegal narcotics or other drugs have significantly risen in the last decade. These studies have found that 40 percent of all people involved in a car wreck are under the influence of some type of drug. In addition, the study reveals that nearly 64 percent of all fatal car crashes involve the use of drugs.
This study takes into account all legal and illegal drug use. However, marijuana use is the highest reported substance at almost 35 percent, followed by amphetamines (a common drug used for ADD treatments and found in some diet medications) at almost 10 percent. The rest of the drugs that were discovered ranged from pain medications to prescription cough syrups.
Why California Drivers Should Be Alarmed
A recent Los Angeles jury verdict illustrates how negligent repair of a vehicle can cause serious injury for which the repair shop may be held liable. The facts and nature of the ruling were as follows:
Background Of The Case
On September 1, 2015, a California jury awarded Kenneth Fry over $2.1 million in damages for an auto repair negligence suit he filed against Larry Miller Toyota. This is a very significant case because it proves that mechanic negligence has a serious outcome when these actions lead to accidents and personal injuries.
There have been conflicting statements that have been submitted concerning the initial factor that caused the accidental death of 69 year old Kim Howe. One theory is that Caitlyn Jenner was talking or textin on a phone prior to the incident. The fatal accident occurred in early February of this year on the Pacific Coast Highway in Los Angeles. Jenner was cited as the being the primary cause of the crash when she rear-ended Ms. Howe.
California Vehicular Manslaughter Statute
There are three types of manslaughter that an individual can be charged with in the state of California. Depending on the situation and the individuals involved, the charges executed can affect the life of the assailant for a short or long period of time. Charges are basically determined based on the intent of the crime. One major concern is whether a person actually intended to commit the alleged crime or if the incident was an accident.
Los Angeles – California City Skyline
The Los Angeles City Council finally seems to be taking its culture into account when dealing with the laws of the road. The proposed Mobility Plan 2035 no longer treats the car as the king of the highway – city planners and other transportation professionals would now be mandated to design and construct the transportation modules with bikers and pedestrians in mind as well as people who are on public transit. The community has long been calling for a multimodal transportation plan from the city, and the cries of people who prefer to bike or walk seem to finally be heard.
If Mobility Plan 2035 goes into effect, it would completely replace the plan that Los Angeles adopted just before the turn of the millennium in 1999. That plan was more focused on cars in general, with plenty of rhetoric focused on getting cars to their destinations as fast as they could get there. However, many people have actually completely removed the car from their lives in Los Angeles. Public transit is more popular than ever. Bicycles have always been popular yet underserved. Although the city is still as stretched out as it ever was, many people are actually choosing to live without a car.
Hacking and cyber crimes are occurrences that frequently happen to innocent victims all over the world. More than 55 million people across the globe fall victim to computer hacking and other cyber crimes, according to a statistic provided by the Go-Gulf site. Hacking is the act of breaking into someone’s account and using it for malicious personal gain. Hacking can be a devastating experience that can ruin a person’s life, depending on the system that the hacker overrides. The types of accounts that hackers infiltrate are email accounts, social media accounts and financial accounts. Recently, consumers of high-tech vehicles learned that hackers have advanced to taking control of some computerized automobile systems.
Automobile technology grows in innovations with each passing year. The Fiat Chrysler company is an example of a company that manufactures vehicles with the wireless technology. The dashboard connectivity system that comes with some of the newer vehicles was supposed to provide a high level of convenience to consumers. The system allows consumers to have access to the Internet via Wi-Fi connections. It allows consumers to connect to GPS systems, applications, cell phone connects and more. Unfortunately, some of the newer models were suffering from some great vulnerabilities and glitches. The company had to recall more than 1.4 million of its elite vehicles because of the glitches in the dashboard connectivity system.
In an interesting personal injury claim coming out of California, the Court of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District, has reinstated a plaintiff’s case arising from injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident. (See Navarrete v. Meyer, (2015), CA Fourth District Court of Appeal, Case No. D067454).
Facts of the Case: On November 26, 2009, a vehicle driven by defendant, Brandon Coleman, was traveling with two passengers. Defendant, Hayley Meyer, was riding in the front passenger seat and the second occupant was in the rear. As the vehicle was traveling to a drug store, defendant Meyer is alleged to have encouraged the driver to turn down a street known to have a lot of “dips” and to go fast to attempt to “get airborne”. Despite the stated speed limit of 25 m.p.h., the driver got the vehicle to an estimated 80 plus miles per hour, hit the “dip”, lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a parked vehicle. At the time of the collision, plaintiff’s husband was standing alongside the parked vehicle attempting to strap a child into a car seat. He was struck, his legs were both severed and he died of his injuries. His wife brought a wrongful death claim initially against the driver and the County of Riverside, CA (claiming negligence operation of a motor vehicle and a dangerous roadway condition of public property, respectively). The lawsuit was later amended to add passenger Meyer as a defendant under theories of “civil conspiracy” and violation of California Vehicle Code 21701, which states, in pertinent part as follows:
“No person shall wilfully interfere with the driver of a vehicle or with the mechanism thereof in such manner as to affect the driver’s control of the vehicle.”
California Accident Attorneys Blog