A San Diego jury awarded a plaintiff $1.5 million on Feb. 5, holding that On The Border, a Mexican chain restaurant, was liable for one of its employee’s drunk-driving hit-and-run accident. If the case survives an appeal, the decision could potentially have a huge impact on the meaning of the scope and course of employment in future cases, which determines whether or not an employer may be held liable for the actions of their employees.
The Case
In the incident, an employee of the Mission Valley restaurant stayed there after he had gotten off from his shift in order to have some drinks with his coworkers to celebrate his birthday. The group stayed for around three hours before heading home. Intoxicated, the defendant still decided to try to drive himself home after the party. While he was on his way, he struck and severely injured a Taiwanese foreign exchange student who was riding his skateboard in the bicycle lane. Instead of stopping, the defendant then drove off. The California Highway Patrol was later able to find the defendant, and he pled guilty to a felony count of hit-and-run driving.
Let’s say you are in your vehicle headed to the grocery store and waiting at a stop light. You look up in your review mirror and see a truck twice the size of your hatchback barreling towards you. The driver is looking down at a cell phone, and he’s not slowing down. He rear-ends your car. You’re injured, and now you have medical bills and missed time from work.
A recent case in Santa Clara County in which a plaintiff motorcyclist sued a motor vehicle driver for negligence in a motorcycle and car accident case resulted in a verdict of nearly $1.2 million for the plaintiff. The defendant driver had claimed the motorcyclist was negligent and thus at least partly liable for the accident.
Los Angeles bicycle accidents are, unfortunately, on the rise especially in certain parts of L.A. Bicycles have increasingly become popular again as more people move into the larger city areas. The need for transportation in these areas is always in high demand, and own and operating a car is not always practical for city life. Public transportation is not always reliable or available and some people just prefer not to ride a bus or train.
On October 20, 2011, a young California man, who was employed as a union carpenter for Ghilotti Construction, fell and injured his back while working on a bridge. The incident occurred as the result of a piece of uncapped rebar snagging the worker’s pant leg and causing him to fall. He was wearing a 50 pound utility belt at the time of the fall, and his leg remained about two feet in the air, both of which exacerbated the injury he sustained.
The Government Accountability Office released data that showed that pedestrian fatalities increased by 3 percent – from 11 percent to 14 percent – between 2004 and 2013. During the same time frame, the numbers increased from 1.7 percent to 2.2 percent for cyclists. However, overall traffic deaths dropped by about 25 percent – from 43,000 to 33,000 – during that period.
Orange County, CA has experienced a surge in bicycle and pedestrian accidents resulting in injury or death in the past few years. Pedestrian and bicycle incidents are occurring more frequently as each day passes. In fact, by some estimates, a pedestrian is struck and killed in the O.C. 
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: