California Car Accident Reports

A landscape worker suffered critical personal injuries in a Long Beach on-the-job accident the morning of June 9, 2009, CBS News reports. Long Beach Fire Department officials said the 28-year-old worker was shocked in the Long Beach on-the-job trench accident when he came in close contact with a power line. He went into cardiac and respiratory arrest. A 46-year-old supervisor, who apparently tried to remove the worker from the trench, was also shocked and suffered minor personal injuries. Fire department personnel and fellow workers performed CPR on the victim and were able to restore his pulse and breathing before he was taken to the emergency room.

My heart goes out to this worker who suffered critical injuries due to the electrical shock he received in this Los Angeles trench accident. I also sympathize with his family members who must be going through a tough time now. Please keep them in your prayers. Read the rest of this entry »

Question: Hi, I had my car totaled last Monday while it was parked in front of my house. I have been customizing it and the Blue Book value is around $5000 to $7000 plus I have modifications and receipts. The car is used for work and it has caused me stress and stomach problems. I have the other person's insurance information and my insurance company is only offering $4400. I want to go after the other person's insurance company. Due to the stress and the problems I have been having, I need help. I need to get another $6000 in order to pay for my new car. I based everything off of current value and receipts. I believe i deserve much more than $4400.

Answer: Sue the negligent driver for $7,500 in small claims court (replacement value of your car plus sales tax on replacement value plus unused portion of your registration fee). Sue the driver, not his insurance company. You are not entitled to anything for stress or stomach problems.

Question: So there is nothing I can due to the stress of the situation and the fact that I now have to have a payment and I do not have money for a down payment and financial hardships. It has impacted me and my job. It seems like there should be something. The driver was not licensed and the owner said he could drive it I have a police report also. It seems that since the driver was fully insured I should be able to get more from them

Answer: If this was a "personal injury" rather than "property damage" your stress would be part of the "pain & suffering" you could recover for. The person responsible for the damage to your personal property is responsible for the costs to repair or replace your property. If your property was business property and negatively effected your income, than the responsible person may be responsible for the lost income.

Your inquiry and my response are no substitute for a full consultation with a knowledgeable attorney regarding your rights and options. I do not advise taking action in the case of serious matters based upon this response. Additional facts and circumstances can make a significant difference in your rights and obligations.

Keep in mind that every attorney you consult with will have different opinions, different approaches and different criteria for the causes they take up. It never hurts to get second opinions. Also, keep in mind that every legal claim has time limits within which specific action must be taken to preserve your rights. Failure to properly comply with the time limits will terminate your rights. Generally personal injury claims have a two year statute of limitations. However, claims against governmental agencies (like school districts and cities) must be properly filed within 180 days and a lawsuit filed within 180 days of denial of claim. There are exceptions.

Seattle construction accident involved two Seattle construction companies that erected and operated a construction crane, which collapsed in Bellevue in 2006 killing a Microsoft lawyer, have settled with the victim's parents, the Seattle Times reports. The giant Bellevue crane collapsed and killed Matthew Ammon when it toppled onto his Bellevue apartment. Ammon's parents will receive an undisclosed sum in an agreement made with Seattle personal injury attorneys for Lease Crutcher Lewis and Magnusson Klemencic Associated (MKA). The case had been scheduled to go to trial this month.

Personal injury attorneys for Ammon's parents, Kathleen Gaberson and Larry Ammon, alleged that the companies were negligent in their roles in the installation, design and operation of the 210-foot crane, which was being used to build the Tower 333 building in downtown Bellevue. Apparently, the turning point in this case happened on the eve of the trial when MKA admitted some liability in the crane accident though it continued to blame Lease Crutcher Lewis for its role.

I'm glad for the parents of Matthew Ammon that this case has been settled without going to a trial. As Seattle personal injury attorneys who have represented clients in wrongful death lawsuits, we know that there is no way you can put a price tag on a person's life. Ammon's parents will never get back the time they have lost with their son. What does this settlement mean to them? It is a way for them to move on with their lives knowing that the people or entities, whose negligence caused the death of their son, have been penalized for their wrongdoing.

According to the Web site CraneAccidents.com (www.craneaccidents.com), the U.S. Department of Labor in May estimated that there are as many as 82 fatalities annually that are associated with cranes in construction. Most construction crane accidents are due to wind or operator error, experts say. Crane accidents can be devastating and cause catastrophic injuries or deaths, as in this Washington construction accident case, because of their size and the potential for damage and personal injuries. It is for the best that at least one of two companies involved in this incident admitted liability and stepped up to the plate on the eve of the trial. It was the right thing to do.

Javier Iniguez, 32, died in a Huntington Beach construction job accident after he was trapped in a trench collapse at a local construction site, The Orange County Register reports. The fatal job injury occurred the afternoon of April 27, 2009 in the 4600 block of Warner Avenue where Iniguez was trapped after soil and concrete fell on top of him. Iniguez was trapped about eight feet inside the trench head first, as about 40 firefighters tried in vain to rescue him.

Iniguez died at the scene. Iniguez was apparently working on the trench near Ocean Towers Luxury Apartments along with another worker. They were exposing the concrete foundation and painting a sealant to keep the foundation from water damage. Iniguez was the only one who was in the trench when it collapsed. The other worker, who has not been identified, was not injured.

My heart goes out to the family and friends of Javier Iniguez, who died from his fatal on-the-job injury. I offer my deepest condolences to everybody who knew and loved Iniguez. Please keep them in your prayers.

This fatal construction accident is being investigated by the California Department of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA). Trench cave-ins are unfortunately common industrial accidents that cause death and injury. According to Cal/OSHA's statistics, over a five-year period between 2001 and 2005, 26 Californians have been killed in trench collapses and 207 Californians have been injured in these entirely preventable construction accidents. In almost every instance of trench collapse, it has been determined that the cause was a failure to shore up a trench properly, the state safety agency says.

The state spells out very specific regulations when it comes to trenches. Every time a worker enters an excavation 5 feet or deeper, companies must obtain a permit from the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH). This California agency requires employers to conduct daily inspections of the trench and have competent safety systems in place. That includes paying close attention to how the soil is at the particular site. If the soil is loose or has liquid in it, it is more likely to cave in. Some of the other preventive steps include not parking heavy vehicles or equipment next to the trench and paying close attention to changing weather patterns.

There are also specific industry and safety standards for width and depth of excavations, which are designed to prevent tragedies like this. These standards require a competent foreperson to be physically present on site to ensure that they adhere to these important safety standards. In the state of California, every employer has the legal obligation to provide and maintain a safe and healthy workplace for employees, per the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973. If it is determined that the required safety measures were not followed here and the trench had not been properly shored-up, then Iniguez's employer would be fined by Cal/OSHA. Iniguez's family will no doubt be entitled to California workers compensation benefits. But they may also have a "third party claim" here. A third party claim is usually filed against someone other than an employer who is believed to have been negligent, such as a contractor, sub-contractor, maintenance personnel or the manufacturer of a defective product. Third party claims are usually worth 20 times more to a victim and/or their family than workers compensation benefits, which are extremely inadequate to compensate for such a huge loss. Javier Iniguez's family certainly needs reputed Orange County personal injury attorneys who have had success with third party claims on their side, to investigate this incident. I'd bet the construction contractor has already started their own investigation with their insurance company and attorneys. Iniguez's family needs a knowledgeable California personal injury attorney fighting for and protecting their legal rights and getting them the compensation they rightfully deserve.