Stockton Injury Lawyer Blog

Earlier this week, Toyota Motor Corporation and the survivors of the late CHP Officer Mark Saylor reach a confidential settlement in the California wrongful death lawsuit stemming from the tragic crash that claimed the life of Saylor, his wife, daughter and brother-in-law. The accident drew national attention to the issue of sudden acceleration and prompted Toyota to recall millions of vehicles due to defective parts.

Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed around the country as a result of the problems experienced with Toyota vehicles. In addition to personal injury and wrongful death claims, many lawsuits allege consumer issues based on the vehicles depreciated value.

In many cases involving car accidents that occur as the result of defective parts, more than one party may be at fault. In the accelerator defect cases, injured parties have asserted claims against both the manufacturer and various dealerships.

Although a settlement was reached with Toyota, the company has not publicly admitted fault. Further, the lawsuit will continue against Bob Baker Lexus, the dealership that installed an ill-fitting mat that may have contributed to the injury.

Despite the settlement of this case, thousands of lawsuits are pending in courthouses throughout the country. Further, questions still remain for Toyota such as when were they first aware of the potential for sudden acceleration and whether they acted quickly enough to warn of the unreasonably dangerous condition created by the defect.

Continue reading "Confidential Settlement Reached In San Diego Sudden Acceleration Case" »

In the week following the San Bruno pipeline explosion, many are asking if anything could have been done to prevent such a tragedy. One article has pointed to repair delays that if made, could have avoided the accident. According to reports, California state officials provided PG&E close to $5 million to replace a South San Francisco natural gas line identified as a "high safety risk" but never did the work.

The Utility Reform Network (TURN) alleged that the California Public Utilities Commission has granted PG&E $5 million three years ago under the assumption that it was going to replace high-risk sections such as the one that exploded. However, it failed to do so. In fact, the pipe still is in dangerous shape, with one document calling the risk of failure on the pipe "unacceptably high" and that an explosion "has a potential impact radius of 415 feet and is located in a heavily urbanized area."

As noted by one official "If they had done the work, maybe they could have found something that would have alerted then to the potential of a catastrophic failure of the pipe."

When a company knowingly allows a dangerous condition to exist and either fails to warn of the danger, or fix the dangerous condition, they may be held liable.

As evidenced by the explosion, when pipelines fail the impact can be tragic. At least four people died and dozens more were injured - possibly sustaining burns, traumatic brain injuries, head and back injuries.

Continue reading "Delays In Repairs by PG&E Could Have Lead To San Bruno Explosion" »

According to the Los Angeles Times, the doctors who examined each of the eight infants who died from whooping cough failed to make swift and accurate diagnoses. As stated by an immunization official with the California Department of Public Health, "[B]y the time the infants developed severe respiratory distress, it was usually too late for any intervention to prevent their tragic deaths." A UCLA pediatrics professor added, "All of those should've been diagnosed earlier. And a couple of them, even after they were diagnosed, the [healthcare providers] didn't take it serious enough, quick enough."

Coincidentally, an article posted in Tuesday's New York Times quotes a professor of medicine from the University of California, San Francisco as identifying diagnostic errors as "an important but neglected issue."

When the failure to diagnose an illness leads to the wrongful death of a loved one, the surviving members may have a claim for medical malpractice. Whether a proper and timely diagnosis could have saved these infants lives will undoubtedly be evaluated by those involved.

In order to prevent more whooping cough deaths, more must be done to raise awareness of the symptoms, and those who've been exposed must receive immediate and proper treatment. Counties such as Santa Clara and San Mateo are sending out information packets to students and hosting free vaccination clinics. Click here for more information on whooping cough.

Continue reading "Delay In Diagnosis May Have Contributed To Whooping Cough Deaths" »

A report issued by Allstate Insurance lists Salinas and Santa Rosa as the safest cities in California based on the likelihood of a person having a car crash. In the United States, Fort Collins, Colorado ranks number one.

Further, a study released earlier this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put the dollar amount of crashes at $500 per year per licensed driver. For those actually involved in accidents, the cost is much higher in medical bills, property damage, lost wages and emotional damages.

Other California cities leading in safety include Modesto, Bakersfield, Fresno, Lancaster and Palmdale. Los Angeles, San Francisco and Glendale are among the worst. Despite the top ratings, each of the California towns ranked other than Salinas and Santa Rosa have more accidents per year than the national average.

Despite crackdowns on texting while driving and driving under the influence, they remain the leading factors in causing California fatal car crashes - especially among teens.

Although California DUI arrests are down in 2010 as compared to 2009, many California drivers continue to get behind the wheel after having too much to drink.

Continue reading "Salinas And Santa Rosa Drivers Least Likely To Have Car Accidents" »