Wrong-way driver involved in fatal I-5 accident

A 42-year-old cab driver was killed after a wrong-way accident in California on the Interstate 5 freeway in the early morning hours of April 19. The fatal crash occurred around 2:30 a.m. near the Washington Street exit in San Diego in the highway"s southbound lanes. Reports say that after being struck by the wrong-way driver, the cab driver exited his vehicle and was run over several times by oncoming traffic. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

While the cab was stopped on the freeway, a white Honda Accord crashed into it and pushed it over an embankment. It careened through a chain-link fence and ended up nose-down in a nearby parking lot. The driver of the Accord was transported to a nearby hospital and treated for minor injuries.

The wrong-way vehicle that initially caused the crash made a U-turn and took the Washington Street exit and fled the scene. Authorities later located the vehicle, which had been abandoned in downtown San Diego. Around 10:15 a.m., California Highway Patrol officials arrested a blonde woman in her 40s who is alleged to have been driving the wrong-way vehicle. It was a rental car, and authorities are investigating whether the woman may have been driving under the influence at the time of the accident. CHP officials were forced to close all of the freeway"s southbound lanes for a time, and traffic was restricted to one lane for several hours while road crews cleaned up the scene.

If the deceased victim"s family wishes to collect compensation for damages related to the death of the cab driver, they might work with a personal injury attorney. After reviewing the evidence gathered by police investigators, that attorney may be able to determine if the family is able to hold one of the drivers involved in the accident liable in court.

Source: NBC San Diego, "Cab Driver Hit Several Times After Head-On Collision," Diana Guevara, Monica Garske and Vanessa Herrera, April 20, 2014

Authorities search for driver of red station wagon

After a 29-year-old man almost lost his leg in a serious car accident, Denver authorities released video footage of the woman they think was responsible for the crash. Two other people were with her, and police are asking that anyone with information on the case come forward. Police do not know the extent of the friends’ involvement in the incident.

The young father was at a convenience store on Jan. 3 buying snacks for his children when his son swung a bag of chips and accidentally hit his daughter. A stranger waiting in line spoke up and said she would have spanked the child if she were the parent. A friend of the victim said that the stranger should stay out of it. After the father went outside to rent a movie at a vending machine, the stranger drove her car, described as an old red Subaru station wagon, into him, trapping him against the movie kiosk. She then fled the scene, but store video cameras had captured her image while she was inside.

He said he could see her face as she hit him, with the impact breaking his leg and causing additional serious damage. He suffered from an infection and nearly lost his leg after undergoing 15 operations. Still required to use crutches, he lost his job as an electrician’s apprentice and can no longer work. The man’s lawyer said that he feels that while the injuries are devastating, seeking justice is even more important for his client, and he hopes that someone might have heard her talk about what happened.

Holding the responsible parties accountable for their actions after an accident might help bring closure to the incident for a victim. A personal injury lawyer may be able to pursue compensatory damages including medical expense reimbursement and recovery of lost wages.

Source: The Denver Channel, “Police release photo of hit-and-run suspect who nearly cost young father his leg,” Lance Hernandez, March 29, 2014

Tow truck accident leaves 4 injured on New Jersey highway

Officers from the North Caldwell Police Department and paramedics from the Pine Brook Fire Department responded to a report of an auto accident on Route 46 on Sunday, March 30. According to police reports, the collision occurred on a two-lane section of Route 46 when a flatbed truck struck a passenger car as both vehicles were traveling eastbound.

Authorities further elaborated that a 2014 Nissan sedan was traveling on the right lane toward Fairfield Township at around 2:51 a.m. when it was allegedly sideswiped by the truck, which was owned and operated by Passaic Towing. The collision sent the tow truck careening off the highway into a pole supporting an information road sign maintained by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

When first responders arrived on the scene, they realized that the tow truck driver and a passenger were trapped in the cabin. Police officers pulled the driver out and took him to Morristown Memorial Hospital. The passenger was also extricated by paramedics from the West Essex First Aid Squad and the Fairfield Fire Department. She was also taken to the hospital.

The driver and passenger of the sedan were transported to Pequannock, where they received treatment at the Chilton Hospital. Police officers reportedly have not yet written any traffic tickets or issued any summons in this case pending the finished investigation. While many drivers believe that unsafe driving citations issued after a car accident are indicative of liability, this is not always the case, but a civil case does not need to depend on the fact that criminal sanctions were imposed to be successful when evidence such as a completed police investigation or witness accounts may be put to use to prove negligence.

In this case, an attorney assembling a case on the behalf of the injured parties in the passenger vehicle may look to a completed investigation report for indicators of the tow truck driver"s negligence. If the tow truck driver indeed sideswiped the Nissan, it is possible that he may have been attempting an unsafe passing maneuver or distracted by a mobile device while driving, which caused him to fail to maintain his lane.

Source: The Progress, “Route 46 crash injures four,” March 31, 2014