Blog Topic

Pedestrian Accident Kills Los Angeles Resident
April 23, 2008

Authorities are looking for a suspected yellow school bus that was involved in a hit and run pedestrian accident in the Westlake District that killed a Los Angeles resident

The bus accident occurred at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and New Hampshire Avenue at 8:30 am on Tuesday, Los Angeles Police Officers said. The victim was a 31-year-old woman who has been now identified as Vicky Noh. She reportedly died at the scene of the bus accident.

There seems to be nothing to suggest that Vicky broke any traffic safety laws or was jaywalking. She was walking at a marked crosswalk. In fact, from all counts the bus driver seems to have been at fault, as he fled the bus accident scene. Witnesses have described him as a Latino male. The bus did not have any passengers, and was most probably a charter bus that schools regularly use for field trips. It was a new model, witnesses say.

Los Angeles Police have asked Southern California residents help from locals to trace the renegade bus and driver. There's still no information about Vicky's family situation.

From all accounts Vicky was exercising her rights as a pedestrian at the time of the accident. She was walking in a marked crosswalk. Even if she were walking in an unmarked crosswalk, she would still have the right of way, and other vehicles would have to yield to her. Sadly, pedestrians are becoming increasingly threatened in California. The sunny weather makes for more pedestrians. Unfortunately drivers in California still haven't been as educated as they need to about the rights of pedestrians on the road. More education would definitely help decrease the numbers of pedestrian accidents that we seem to be seeing.

A while back, a study tried to make a connection between demographics and pedestrian accidents. Subjects were drawn from various races, and were measures on their responses to photographs that show typical road behavior. It was found that many people still don't have as much information about pedestrian rights as they ought to. Subjects were not able to identify aggressive driving where pedestrians were concerned.

This is all due to the halfhearted education programs that are conducted for the benefit of drivers. Very little mention is made about the importance of pedestrians, and their rights on the roads. If you peruse common traffic safety literature, there's very little attempt to make a connection between aggressive driving and pedestrians. No wonder then that there are so many pedestrian accidents taking place, and so many of them fatal accidents.

The public needs to be educated about aggressive driving, and how it affects pedestrians too. When we talk of sharing the roads, we talk about sharing them with larger vehicles, bicyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians. Leaving pedestrians out of the equation is what is causing this rash of fatal car accidents.

We hope the authorities will take steps to tackle this problem, before we have to report on more Vicky Nohs meeting tragic deaths.

If you have been injured in a pedestrian accident, you need the help of an experienced California personal injury lawyer. Contact an attorney at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.

Permalink

Jogger Killed in Lake Forest, California
March 03, 2008

A 48-year-old jogger was killed on Sunday when a car struck her as she jogged in the bike lane at Bake Parkway, just off North Pointe Drive in Lake Forest, the Orange County Register reports.

The woman, Marci Soto, was employed at Costco in Irvine where she worked in marketing. Soto reportedly had been an avid running enthusiast and had taken part in marathons before. The Sunday morning jog was a weekly routine for her. The driver of the car, a 44-year-old off duty security guard, Kevin Young, was driving a company owned Toyota Saris. The accident seems to have happened when he swerved into the bike lane for no reason and struck Marci Soto.

The driver apparently told a reporter that he couldn't believe something like this had happened to him. He'd never had a police record before his. That doesn't really mean much - you don't have to have a police record to be distracted and swerve off the road and into the bike lane, which is what seems to have happened in this case.

The feeling seems to be that Marci was somehow in the wrong because she was jogging in the bike lane when there was a sidewalk available for her to use. It's common knowledge that joggers prefer the bike lane to the sidewalks because the bike lane has asphalt, which provides a softer surface to jog on. This is what happened in Marci's case and she, from all accounts was hardly a running novice.

This incident is similar to the case at Dana Point we reported on a few months earlier. Two women were awarded a $49 million settlement by Dana Point, when they were left severely paralyzed after being hit by a drunken driver. The point is not whether Marci was jogging in the bike lane. The point is that even if she had been in the bike lane riding a bicycle, the accident would still have happened with most likely the exact same results. The driver would have swerved his car for no reason and hit Marci. So let's not go pointing fingers at what seems like, a perfectly sensible intelligent woman who was used to jogging. Regardless of where Marci was jogging, she didn't deserve to get hit by a car.

There's always been a pattern of car drivers not taking bike riders or those in bike lanes as seriously as they ought to. Joggers and bikers are in fact the most vulnerable people on the road. If we have to have any semblance of sharing of the road, we need to make sure that intrusions into a bike lane are made severely punishable. When a vehicle hits a biker or a pedestrian, the results are almost always disastrous. We hope that Marci's family decides to pursue the matter further.

If you have been injured in a pedestrian accident, you need the help of an experienced California personal injury attorney. Contact a lawyer at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.

Permalink

Mother and Daughter Hospitalized in Fairfield Pedestrian Accident
December 13, 2007

The woman and her daughter enjoying an afternoon stroll on a Fairfield, California sidewalk weren't jaywalkers. They were well on the sidewalk, and within their rights, when a car jumped the curb and struck both of them. Both mother and daughter have been hospitalized with severe injuries.

Permalink

Fresno California Teenager in Coma after Pedestrian Accident
December 12, 2007

A 13-year-old boy who was struck by a car in northeastern Fresno, California is reported to be in a critical condition. Chase Hopps suffered massive head injuries and is in a coma.

Permalink

San Jose California Man Killed in Pedestrian Accident
December 04, 2007

South San Jose has seen a marked increase in the number of pedestrian accidents over the past year. On December 3rd a 59-year-old pedestrian was killed as he was crossing the street by a hit and run driver who fled the scene. According to San Jose Mercury News, the man's body was found in Branham Lane near Eagle Lake Drive. The accident is suspected to have taken place around 4:45 am. The victim has not yet been identified although it's confirmed that he is a San Jose resident.

Permalink

Simi Valley Resident Dies after Being Hit by Van
October 19, 2007

A Simi Valley, California man who was hit by a van in Thousand Oaks early Monday morning was declared dead, according to the Ventura County Star.

Permalink

Children Injured in California Pedestrian Accidents
October 15, 2007

The vulnerability of California's pedestrians was brought home to us in two different accidents over the past week. Three children were injured in two separate pedestrian accidents with both having some striking similarities.

Last week, an 8 year old boy was injured at a crosswalk in San Diego by a 16-year-old driving an SUV. Sign on San Diego reported that the girl was on her way to school when her vehicle struck the boy as he was nearing the end of his crossing. The impact threw him at least 16 feet into the middle of the intersection. He was rushed to hospital with internal injuries and several cuts and bruises. Witnesses said the motorist was driving at 55mph in a 25mph zone. As is often the case in pedestrian accident cases, the driver claimed she did not see the boy.

On October 8 another, and this time more serious, pedestrian accident occurred at the 4700 block of West Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles. As in the first accident, both girls were walking in a crosswalk when a compact car struck them. One girl suffered head injuries while the other had shoulder and leg injuries. The girls were rushed to Cedars Sinai Medical Center. Again as with the young boy in the first incident, the driver of the compact claimed he did not see the girls prior to impact.

Pedestrians are the most vulnerable users of the streets at any given point of time. Their vulnerability exposes them to the risk of severe injuries or even death when they are involved in an accident with a vehicle on the road. Head injuries are a common risk that a pedestrian faces when he is thrown several feet into the air and then crashes to the ground as is often the case in pedestrian accidents. Very often pedestrian accidents are the result of driver negligence. Drivers who are speeding, talking on the cell phone or are otherwise distracted are at greater risk for causing a pedestrian injury. Not surprisingly children are the most frequent victims of such accidents.

If you or your child has been injured in a pedestrian accident caused by a driver who was clearly speeding or other wise at fault, consult an attorney immediately. The pedestrian accident lawyers at The Reeves Law Group have successfully handled personal injury cases related to pedestrians involved in a road accident.

Permalink

Tracking Pedestrian Accident Hotspots in Los Angeles
August 02, 2007

Los Angeles' huge motorized population means that pedestrian accidents here are fewer than in other cities in California and the US. But this isn't to say they are a rarity. Between 2004 and 2005, a total of 10 fatal pedestrian accidents were reported on Western Avenue, Los Angeles alone. That gives Western the ignominious honor of being the most dangerous Los Angeles street for pedestrians.

According to a report published in the LA Times, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has recently begun posting details on its website that provide users information on the Los Angeles streets that have been the scene of traffic accident fatalities. Besides Western, Vermont Avenue and Figueroa Street with seven fatalities each, Sunset Boulevard with four and 3^rd Street with three fatalities are on the list. Information like this could prove tremendously useful in alerting pedestrians and drivers to accident zones near their homes or on their regular routes. Besides demographic factors, other causes like the level of alcohol consumption in the area could point to why some roads are more susceptible to accidents than others.

In March 2006, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation came out with a report underlining the dangers and frequency of pedestrian related accidents in the city. According to the report, out of a total of 3200 pedestrian related accidents (data collected over a seven year period) there were 78 fatalities. While this number is lower than cities in Arizona or New Mexico which top the list for pedestrian related accident fatalities, it's still high enough to warrant concern over pedestrian safety in Los Angeles.

In pedestrian accident cases, claims relating to personal injury damages must be filed with in a specified time period. For more information on how to proceed with a pedestrian accident claims lawsuit, call the experienced personal injury attorneys at The Reeves Law Group.

Permalink