Child Death at Six Flags Park

According to the Los Angeles Times, 10-year-old Jasmine Martinez exited from the Revolution ride at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California after losing consciousness. Theme park officials reported that the girl “came into the ride station unconscious” after the rollercoaster route had concluded. The Revolution rollercoaster, as Six Flags describes it, “climbs up a 113-foot hill, then swoops through slopes and a long, steep straightaway to a 90-foot-tall vertical loop.”

Emergency responders airlifted Jasmine to Northridge Medical Center, and she was later transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Jasmine died at Cedars-Sinai the day after she was found unconscious at the park.

California state officials determined that Jasmine’s injuries weren’t “related to the operation of the ride,” and the park quickly reopened the looping roller coaster ride. However, following the girl’s death, Six Flags again closed the ride in order to re-investigate. According to the park, “there is no evidence to suggest that this was in any way ride related,” but Jasmine may have had a pre-existing condition. Since the park opened the ride almost 40 years ago, more than 45 million people have ridden it without incident.

However, injuries are somewhat common on rollercoaster rides. Based on an analysis conducted by the Los Angeles Times that looked at about 2,000 accident reports between 2007 and 2012, about 16 percent of accident reports indicated that a park guest had suffered back or neck pain. Worse yet, about 12 percent of reported accidents cited head injuries. At theme parks, most injuries occur on rollercoasters and waterslides, with an average of about 350 injuries each year.

More Serious Rollercoaster Injuries in Santa Clara

In the wake of Jasmine’s death, two people at Santa Clara’s Great America amusement park suffered injuries on a rollercoaster. As the Flight Deck rollercoaster was coming back into the station, a park employee sustained traumatic injuries when he was struck by the train, according to an ABC 7 report. Witnesses indicated that the worker “stepped into the path of the rollercoaster while trying to retrieve a rider’s cellphone.” At the same time, one of the guests on the rollercoaster reported a serious hand injury and was taken to the hospital for evaluation.

Due to the serious nature of the incidents, the theme park closed the rollercoaster in order to complete an investigation. News of the injuries brought back memories of a 1998 incident at the park in which a guest suffered fatal injuries from the Top Gun rollercoaster.

While a day at an amusement park can sound like a great summer activity, theme park rides can also pose serious risks of injury. If you or your child sustained an injury at an amusement park, you should discuss your case with an experienced San Diego accident lawyer. You may be eligible to file a claim for compensation.

Photo Credit: Joe Shlabotnik via Compfight cc See Related Blog Posts: Are Southern California County Fairs Safe? The Dangers of Amusement Parks

Boat Propeller Accidents and Injuries

According to Tyler Bengard, a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputy, the man “was injured in the back of the legs and had an artery severed by a boat propeller around 4:30 p.m.” Soon after the accident took place, a patrol boat from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s discovered the scene. Early reports indicated that “an off-duty medic was able to provide early treatment to the injured man before the sheriff’s department transported him across the lake to Arizona, where he was airlifted to Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas.”

Bengard emphasized that the victim was lucky that his injuries weren’t worse. To be sure, suffering a severed artery in the leg could have led to significant—and potentially life-threatening—blood loss. The deputy described the accident as “the most serious his agency responded to” over the recent Memorial Day weekend.

Just a couple of weeks after the serious accident on Lake Havasu, the Havasu News-Herald reported another boat propeller accident on the lake near Copper Canyon. This time, a 24-year-old man suffered life-threatening injuries to his chest after coming into contact with a boat propeller. A fire department boat reportedly brought the victim to Havasu Regional Medical Center where emergency responders were able to “bring the victim into stable condition.” He will require further treatment and transfer to a hospital in Las Vegas.

Boating Safety and Accident Statistics

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) emphasizes that hundreds of boaters suffer fatal injuries each year in boating accidents. In 2013, the USCG collected the following facts about boating accidents:

• More than 4,000 boating accidents occurred, which resulted in 2,620 injuries and 560 fatalities.
• The boating accident fatality rate has actually decreased from previous years, showing a 13 percent decrease between 2012 and 2013. The total number of accidents also decreased by 10 percent.
• Nearly 80 percent of fatal boating accidents were classified as drownings, and 84 percent of those victims weren’t wearing life jackets.
• Nearly 80 percent of boating accidents that resulted in death took place on boats where the operator hadn’t received any boating safety instruction. On the flip side, only 13 percent of fatal boating accidents involved operators who had “received boating safety instruction from a course provider offering a course meeting the U.S. Coast Guard-recognized national standards.”
• Small boats are most frequently involved in serious accidents. To be sure, eight of every 10 drowning accidents occurred on a boat fewer than 21 feet.
• The five primary causes for boating accidents include operator inattention, operator inexperience, improper lookout, speeding, and machinery failure.

If you or someone you loved has been injured in a boating accident in Southern California, you should discuss your case with an experienced San Diego accident attorney as soon as possible. Contact the Walton Law Firm today to learn more about how we can help with your case.

Photo Credit: micaht2000 via Compfight cc See Related Blog Posts: Boating Race Accident Fatality Summer Safety and Drowning Accidents

Deadly Pedestrian Accidents in the San Diego Area

According to a recent article from NBC 7 San Diego, police have been dealing with a number of serious and fatal hit-and-run collisions at the end of the holiday season. By December 29, authorities were investigating three separate hit-and-run accidents that occurred on the same day in National City, City Heights, and Oceanside, respectively.

How did these deadly accidents happen, and could they have been prevented? The first accident occurred in the early hours of the evening at around 6:30 p.m. in National City. An elderly pedestrian, Armando Guerrero, 75, had been crossing the street in a crosswalk. While in the bounds of the crosswalk, a white pickup truck struck Guerrero before fleeing the scene. The victim sustained fatal injuries and died at the scene of the collision. Authorities have yet to locate the truck involved in the crash, which they believe to be an older-model Nissan or Toyota with front-end damage.

A second pedestrian accident occurred at around the same time. In this case, the victim was a 23-year-old man who had been standing on a center divide near 52nd Street and University Avenue in City Heights. According to U-T San Diego, police received a call about a hit-and run accident at 6:21 p.m. on December 29th, and emergency responders rushed to the area. However, the victim was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.

Almost concurrently, another 24-year-old man sustained fatal injuries in a hit-and-run accident near Camp Pendleton. The victim tried to cross Interstate 5, and he was struck by more than one vehicle, according to police reports.

And hit-and-run accidents aren’t the only ones taking place near San Diego. Just a day prior to these deadly accidents, a tow truck driver was seriously injured in another collision in Encinitas. The tow truck driver responded to an accident that occurred early in the morning on the northbound side of Interstate 5, according to a report from NBC 7 San Diego. That accident involved only property damage, and required that one of the cars be towed from the interstate. An oncoming car “collided into the tow driver as he was attempting to get the vehicle up on the back of the tow truck.”

Hit and Run Facts and Figures

Hit-and-run accidents are on the rise in the San Diego area, but they’re also happening with more frequency across the country. A report in USA Today suggested that hit-and-run collisions are becoming epidemic in a number of major American cities, in particular in Los Angeles and San Diego. The number of fatal accidents of this type reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the last several years confirms this trend:

• 2009: 1,274 fatal hit-and-run accidents
• 2010: 1,393 fatal hit-and-run accidents
• 2011: 1,449 fatal hit-and-run accidents

The NHTSA continues to collect data on hit-and-run fatalities between 2012-14, but the early numbers appear to show a continuation of the upward trend. Can we make 2015 a year of pedestrian safety in San Diego? Time will tell whether hit-and-run prevention measures can help to decrease the occurrence of these deadly accidents.

If you or a loved one has recently been injured in a serious hit-and-run accident, you should speak to an experienced San Diego car accident lawyer today.

Photo Credit: furyksx via Compfight cc See Related Blog Posts: Fatal Pedestrian Accident in La Jolla More Hit-and-Run Accidents in San Diego

Reasons for TBIs Shift from Childhood to Adulthood

A recent article on NPR discussed the different ways in which children sustain TBIs. Adults sustain brain injuries most often following involvement in a car accident, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Children, however, tend to sustain TBIs more frequently from falls. According to the article, the changes in the ways that children, teens, and adults suffer injuries tend to shift as “their forms of motion change.” And the types of fall-related injuries also vary depending upon the age of the child.

An article published in the New England Journal of Medicine emphasized that young children sustain brain-related injuries from different types of falls than do young adults. The authors of the paper are members of the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network, and their research involved analyzing data from 43,000 children admitted into emergency rooms from “blunt force head trauma” between the years of 2004 and 2006.

Falls Most Common Cause of Childhood Head Injuries

The article’s authors found that three primary causes of blunt force head trauma exist for children under the age of two:

• Falls from elevation, or falls from heights, accounted for 54 percent—more than half—of all emergency room visits related to blunt force trauma to the head;
• Falls down the stairs led to 14 percent of all emergency room visits for kids under two years old;
• Falls to the ground from a walking or standing position resulted in nine percent of emergency room visits.

As is evident, the top three causes of brain injuries for children under the age of two are all linked to fall-related injuries. By and large, falls from heights produce the highest number of serious injuries in these young kids. At the same time, however, it is important to note that falls that occur while a child is standing, walking, or running can also lead to a severe head trauma. How many times has your child slipped and fallen while running on the kitchen tile? How frequently does your toddler trip and fall on the playground asphalt?

For kids between the ages of two and twelve years old, the researchers also discovered that fall-related injuries are the major cause of serious head injuries. The top three causes of head trauma for kids in this age group include:

• Falls from elevation, or falls from heights, accounted for 24 percent of head injuries;
• Falls to the ground from the position of standing, walking, or running led to 14 percent of brain trauma in children between the ages of two and twelve;
• About nine percent of head injuries in this age group resulted from being accidentally struck in the head by an object.

As children grow older, the causes of their head injuries look more like those of adults. Specifically, teen head traumas most frequently result from assault (24 percent), sports (19 percent), and car accidents (18 percent).

If your child suffered a brain injury in a dangerous slip and fall accident, you may be able to file a lawsuit. Contact a dedicated San Diego premises liability lawyer today to discuss your options.

Image Credit: clarita via morgueFile See Related Blog Posts: Baseball Coach Sustains Traumatic Brain Injury Brain Impairment at a Younger Age for Tackle Football Players

Head Health Challenges Allots Funds for Brain Injury Research Teams

In connection with Under Armour and GE, the league developed the “Head Health Challenge,” a plan designed to give researchers “funding to develop new ways to prevent, measure, and detect brain injury.” All in all, it is a $60 million initiative that will provide money to different groups in the months and years to come. The challenge was launched last year.

How is the money allotted? In many ways, it works like a contest, and the NFL recently announced the winners. Seven research teams will each receive $500,000, and they will also have a chance at winning an extra $1 million in 2015. They can award additional funds if the organizers find “continued innovation advancements, potential for commercialization, and on-field impact.” Researchers from 19 different countries submitted proposals, and the organizers received about 500 different proposals in total between September 2013 and February 2014, according to the NFL press release.

These winners are part of the second group to receive funding. The first group of winners received funds back in January; their projects were linked closely to the diagnosis and treatment of brain injuries. This second group of winners, according to the NFL’s press release, contains research projects that will focus more closely on protection from TBIs and new ways to measure head impacts upon collision.

Winning Projects Range from Helmet Improvement to TBI Diagnosis

Some of the winners include:

• UCLA and Architected Materials, Inc.: Based in southern California, this winning research team is in the process of developing an “energy-absorbing microlattice materials for improved helmet performance.” The material would be used as an under-helmet liner that would help to absorb energy during head hits.
• University of Miami Miller School of Medicine: This research team is in the process of developing a “portable eye-goggle that gathers and measures precise eye movements,” which “will assist in identifying mild traumatic brain injury in real time, leading to more accurate concussion diagnosis.”
• Viconic Sporting, Inc.: In Detroit, this research group is creating a synthetic turf system that will be more absorbent, and thus will help to make the football fields themselves safer for players.
• University of Washington and VICIS: This team will develop a “revolutionary football helmet” created with a shock-absorbing structure.

The San Diego area, as well as regions across the country with amateur and professional sports teams, needs more attention to brain injury prevention. Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) can lead to serious, life-threatening, and life-long consequences. If you or a loved one recently sustained a sports-related TBI, it is important to talk about your case with an experienced San Diego brain injury attorney. You may be eligible for compensation.

See Related Blog Posts: Brain Impairment at a Younger Age for Tackle Football Players New California Law Aimed at Brain Injury Prevention

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Tractor-Trailer “Flying Wheel” Leads to Fatal Injuries

How did the recent trucking accident happen in downtown Fresno? It appears Tapia’s car was hit by a “flying wheel from a tractor-trailer.” Tapia had been behind the wheel of a Toyota Corolla on Highway 99 when the wheel crushed her. Reports indicate that the wheel “rolled into her lane,” and then “smashed into the roof and driver’s side” of her vehicle. Investigators are not sure precisely how the wheel came detached from the vehicle, but the California Highway Patrol (CHP) continues to look into the matter. Some commentators described the scene as a “freak accident.”

But should we expect better safety inspections for tractor-trailers like the one involved in the deadly accident? Should we need to anticipate that the wheels of big rigs can simply come dislodged when a traffic collision occurs? The victim was working toward a master’s in public health when she was killed, and those who knew her emphasize that “she was on her way to making a huge impact,” according to an article in the Fresno Bee.

Truck Accident Safety and Statistics

Big rigs tend to weigh 10,000 pounds or greater, so it is no wonder that these vehicles often cause fatal injuries when they are involved in automobile crashes. Indeed, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) emphasizes that large trucks often weigh “20-30 times as much as passenger vehicles,” and they are also “taller and have greater ground clearance than cars.” What does this information mean? In short, “lower-riding vehicles can slide beneath truck trailers, with deadly consequences.” And while federal safety standards require these trucks to have underride guards, the IIHS estimates that many of these guards often fail in low-speed accidents.

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association (FMCSA), fatal truck accidents happen more than ten times per day—every day—in the United States. Each year, these collisions result in about 4,000 deaths nationwide. And even when passengers are not killed in these dangerous crashes, more than 100,000 suffer serious injuries each year.

Based on data from the FMCSA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the number of serious and fatal truck accidents rose over the last several years. What is causing the increase in trucking accidents? The IIHS predicts that three major factors are at work in fatal truck collisions:

• Driver speeding;
• Driver fatigue; and
• Truck braking capability.

If you are in a smaller passenger vehicle, it is important to stay alert while you are behind the wheel. But if you or a loved one sustained serious injuries in a truck accident, do not hesitate to contact an experienced San Diego truck accident lawyer. Contact the Walton Law Firm today to learn more.

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Were you been seriou

sly injured in a car accident caused by a defective automobile product? It is important to know that you can file a lawsuit to hold the manufacturer liable for your injuries. Contact an experienced San Diego product liability lawyer today to find out more about how we can assist with your case.

Airbags Can Release Metal Shrapnel, Resulting in Fatal Injuries

The defective airbags involved in the urgent recalls involve at least seven different automakers. Indeed, Takata, the Japanese automobile parts manufacturer, provides airbags for many different types of cars, trucks, and SUVs. Back in October, the U.S. government issued “an immediate recall” for nearly 5 million vehicles that were installed with defective airbags. The airbags, in case you have not read about the serious dangers they can pose, “have released metal shrapnel during crashes that has led to the deaths of at least four people.”

Since the federal recall, the consumer website providing information about the vehicle identification numbers (VINs) of those cars implicated has not been working properly. As such, it is important to check your VIN directly to see if your automobile’s airbags could be defective. By early November, the numbers for potentially affected vehicles caught up in this recall looked like this:

• 778,177 Toyota vehicles;
• 2,803,214 Honda vehicles;
• 437,712 Nissan vehicles;
• 18,050 Mazda vehicles;
• 573,935 BMW vehicles;
• 133,221 General Motors vehicles.

As you can see, millions of American drivers are at risk of a serious or fatal injury resulting from the defective Takata airbags. And those numbers continue to grow.

Recall Numbers Grow, More Automakers and Models Implicated

By mid-November, the Takata airbag recall expanded to include more Honda vehicles. According to a report in Autoblog, investigators discovered that a pregnant woman in Malaysia suffered fatal injuries in a car accident when the airbag inflator ruptured. This victim’s case was the first to be reported outside the U.S., and it resulted in the additional recall of about 170,000 Honda vehicles in Europe and Asia. With these additional recalls, the total number of potentially affected vehicles grew to more than 14 million.

Meanwhile, vehicles manufactured by Ford Motor Co. were also added to the list. A report from Automotive News indicated that Ford pickup trucks across the country may have defective Takata Corp. airbags installed in them. The recent death in Malaysia actually alerted the automaker and manufacturer to a previously unknown defect in the airbags. As such, Ford will be adding its 2004 and 2005 model year trucks to the list of Takata recalls, and it will replace both the passenger airbags and the driver’s-side airbags.

If you or a loved one sustained severe or fatal injuries in an accident caused by a defective product, you deserve to be compensated. You may be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit and should contact a San Diego defective product attorney to discuss your case.

Image Credit: DodgertonSkillhause via morgueFile See Related Blog Posts: Do Product Recalls Prevent Consumer Injury? More GM Recalls Amidst Release of Defect Report

In addition to voting against the medical malpractice cap increase, Californians also voted down an initiative that would have “required routine drug and alcohol testing for hospital doctors,” thereby reducing the number of preventable injuries in hospitals.

Background of the Medical Malpractice Cap Initiative

Just to remind you about Proposition 46 and how it would have changed medical negligence laws, we can take a look at the elements of the initiative. First and foremost, it sought to raise the state’s medical malpractice cap on non-economic compensatory damages from $250,000 to $1.1. million. Noneconomic damages are those for injuries like pain and suffering, which one cannot objectively quantifiy. The $250,000 cap was set back in 1975 with the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA). In addition, Proposition 46 would have resulted in some of the following changes:

• Allowing for additional changes to the cap based on inflation; back in 1975, accounting for inflation, the $250,000 cap is closer to about $57,000 in the 2010s;
• Requiring hospital doctors to be tested for drugs and alcohol, and requiring doctors that test positive to report their results to the California Medical Board;
• Requiring the suspension of doctors who test positive for drugs and alcohol, pending an investigation; if the doctor tested positive while on duty, the initiative would have required the California Medical Board to take disciplinary action;
• Requiring other healthcare professionals to report doctors who may be impaired by drugs or alcohol, or who may have committed medical negligence;
• Requiring healthcare providers who prescribe medications to consult the California prescription drug history database before providing prescriptions for some controlled substances.

Yet the initiative did not pass, and none of these important changes were made to California law. Why did voters not want to make sure some of these changes went into effect?

Why the Medical Malpractice Initiative Failed

According to the Wall Street Journal article, the “no” votes for Proposition 46 outnumbered the “yes” votes by nearly double—those opposed to the initiative won with a 2-to-1 margin. Why did more voters not say “yes” to Proposition 46?

Advertising may have played a considerable role in the voting numbers. Medical malpractice insurers provided substantial funding for the opposition campaign, raising nearly $58 million in total according to MapLight, which is a “nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that tracks campaign contributions.” All of that funding seems to have washed out the proponents of Proposition 46, who managed to raise about $8.5 million to promote the initiative. As such, the medical malpractice cap for non-economic damages will remain firmly at $250,000.

If you have questions about filing a claim for medical malpractice, it is very important to discuss your case with an experienced San Diego medical malpractice lawyer. Although the cap for certain damages remains at $250,000, you may potentially file a claim for substantial compensation for your injuries. Contact the Walton Law Firm today.

See Related Blog Posts: Patients at Risk of Injury in Smaller Military Hospitals Medical Error Prevention and Medical Malpractice Legislation

When you have sustained an injury in a severe accident, it is important to seek immediate medical care. Only a trained healthcare professional can assess the severity of your injuries, and this assessment can be essential to winning a personal injury lawsuit in Southern California. Yet the high price of an ambulance ride can deter injury victims from seeking immediate treatment after an accident. Should ambulance bills really cost such a high price? And why are they not covered by all health insurance plans?

An article in the New York Times reported that a swim instructor in La Jolla, California sustained an injury in the pool where she worked, and another person at the facility called 911 for an ambulance. The victim, Kira Milas, 23, had “swum into the side of the pool, breaking three teeth.” The ambulance arrived, and it took Milas to Scripps Memorial Hospital. Paramedics applied a neck brace as a precautionary measure. While Milas is one of the lucky accident victims who did not necessarily require an ambulance trip to the hospital, her story about the massive ambulance bill is all too common in Southern California and, indeed, across the country.

A week after her release from the hospital, Milas received a bill for her fifteen-minute trip to Scripps Memorial Hospital totaling nearly $1,800. Fortunately for Milas, her ambulance bill was paid by workers’ compensation insurance. However, it is not uncommon for an ambulance ride like Milas’, covering fewer than ten miles, to cost upwards of $2,000. For low-income injury victims, the prospect of paying for an ambulance can result in failing to receive the proper treatment and at the right time.

Ambulance Billing and Insurance Coverage

According to the New York Times, ambulance rides—even a few decades ago—used to be provided “free of charge, underwritten by taxpayers as a municipal service or provided by volunteers.” Now, however, ambulances are run more like other businesses, and they can result in extremely high medical bills. Indeed, the patient almost always receives the bill for his or her ambulance, and that bill can “range widely, from zero to tens of thousands of dollars.”

Even patients with health insurance can end up with a costly ambulance bill. To be sure, many patients simply do not have coverage for an ambulance ride. And the pricing can vary drastically depending on who is running the ambulance. Some ambulances are run by fire departments and volunteer groups, while other are run by hospitals and private companies. In short, “no two are alike,” according to Dr. Robert E. O’Connor, who serves as the vice president of the American College of Emergency Medicine.

Given that the pricing varies widely, it is often difficult to estimate the out-of-pocket expenses for a particular patient. And because ambulances typically only transport patients in emergency situations, there is not a lot of time to “shop around,” so to speak.

If you were injured in an accident, it is important to receive proper medical care. Although ambulance rides can be expensive, they are very important for ensuring that you get the treatment you need. In accidents caused by another person’s negligence or wrongdoing, you may be eligible to seek financial compensation. Contact an experienced San Diego personal injury lawyer today to learn more about how we can assist with your case. We may be able to help you negotiate the cost of your ambulance ride in addition to providing counsel for your personal injury claim.

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ebilitating spinal cord injuries maintain the hope that scientific innovations will result in the possibility to recover from paralysis. But how realistic is such a cure? According to a recent article in The Independent, reports of medical breakthroughs often lack the results that most spinal cord injury victims hope for. Recent reports identified stem cell treatments and the possibility of transplanting regenerative cells into the spinal cord of those suffering from paralysis. Will these new studies make headway for people across the country who sustained severe spinal cord injuries?

New Treatment May Help Americans with Spinal Cord Injuries

Recently, Professor Geoffrey Raisman of University College London performed a cell transplant on a Bulgarian firefighter who previously suffered from paralysis. This “pioneering therapy” involved “transplanting regenerative cells from his nasal cavity into his spinal cord.” According to Raisman, the treatment “represents an historic change in the outlook for people disabled by spinal cord injury.”

At the same time, however, it is important to remember that this treatment only worked on one person, and it repaired an injury that “was a clean severance of the spinal cord in one location.” In other words, not all spinal cord injuries are created equal, so to speak. Indeed, many are much more complex.

And regaining the ability to walk may not be of utmost important to those who suffered spinal cord injuries. A spokesperson for the Spinal Injuries Association indicated that most people who suffered paralyzing injuries “would put control of the bladder, control of the bowel, and sexual function above actually being able to stand and walk around.” As such, while breakthroughs in treating spinal cord injuries could be big news for Americans who currently are paralyzed, researchers and surgeons have been taking the news of the recent spinal cord treatment success with cautious optimism.

Spinal Cord Injury Statistics: Who is At Risk?

According to the Mayo Clinic, spinal cord injuries can vary drastically in type and severity. In general, a spinal cord injury involves “damage to any part of the spinal cord or nerves at the end of the spinal canal.” These injuries usually result in severe and permanent changes to a person’s “strength, sensation, and other body functions below the site of the injury.”

Who is at greatest risk? While spinal cord injuries typically result from unexpected accidents, certain groups of people are at greater risk than others. The Mayo Clinic identifies some of those at greatest risk of suffering a spinal cord injury:

• Males are disproportionately affected by spinal cord injuries, making up about 80 percent of reported cases in the United States;
• Young persons ages 16 to 30 are most likely to suffer a serious spinal cord injury;
• After young adults, the elderly, those over the age of 65 are most likely to sustain a spinal cord injury in a dangerous fall;
• Those who take part in risky activities, for instance, playing contact sports without protective gear, riding a motorcycle without a helmet, or diving into shallow water, are more susceptible to life-altering spinal cord injury.

Have you sustained a serious spinal cord injury? In many cases, the accident that led to the injury was preventable. You may qualify for financial compensation, and you should contact an experienced San Diego spinal cord injury attorney to discuss your case.

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Deadly Diving Accident Near Catalina

According to a recent article in CBS’s KUTV2, a vacationing physician was recently identified as the victim of a deadly diving accident off the coast of Orange County. The victim, Jared Royer, 40, was on a lobster-diving vacation with a group of other physicians. Royer’s brother-in-law indicated that it was an annual trip, and Royer “was an experienced diver who had been on several similar trips with his colleagues in previous years,” according to a report in The Spectrum. The group was diving in Emerald Bay late in the evening, and around 11p.m., the other physicians noticed that Royer had not returned to the boat.

Royer was an anesthesiologist, and he worked in the operating room and birthing center at a Southern Utah hospital. In addition to his work and prior diving experience, he was an “accomplished triathlete” who had also run the Boston Marathon.

What happened off the coast of Orange County, then? While autopsy results are pending, early indications suggest that Royer “may have run out of air and made a rapid ascent.” The accident happened on the third day of Royer’s dive, and according to the other physicians in the group, he was in about 110 feet of water at the time of the incident.

Royer made it to the surface and called for help, but the other divers could not locate him afterward. After nearly 70 hours in which search and rescue officials from Los Angeles County attempted to locate him, including the Los Angeles County Fire Department dive team, divers from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office, and the U.S. Coast Guard, Royer’s body was found nearly 100 feet underwater at around 11:30a.m.

Diving Accident Trend in Southern California

Since lobster season began on September 27th, Southern California has experienced a striking number of diving-related deaths. While diving fatalities are more common among inexperienced divers or those with existing medical conditions, these dangerous accidents can happen to anyone.

As of October 2nd, five deaths were already been reported, according to Fox 5 San Diego. Four of those deaths occurred at night during lobster-diving excursions, and one of the deaths resulted from a diver’s medical complications. Royer was the fifth fatality reported in just about a week’s time.

What are the primary causes of diving fatalities? According to statistics from the Diver’s Alert Network (DAN), the following represent the top three causes of death resulting from diving accidents:

• A pre-existing medical condition in the diver (such as a disease or other pathology);
• Poor buoyancy control;
• Rapid ascent or violent movement in the water.

While the overall risk of death during scuba diving is low (only 1 in every 211,000 divers suffers a fatal injury, according to the DAN), nighttime diving in Southern California can prove deadly. If you lost a loved one in a diving accident, do not hesitate to contact an experienced San Diego wrongful death lawyer. You may qualify for compensation.

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Have hit-and-run accidents become a serious problem in the San Diego area? At the beginning of the summer, we told you about recent data suggesting that San Diego County is experiencing increasing incidents of deadly hit-and-run crashes. By June of 2014, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) catalogued more than 17,000 of these dangerous collisions. Those accidents resulted in 60 fatalities, and left more than 7,000 seriously injured.

Are pedestrian fatalities becoming the norm in Southern California? According to a recent story from NBC San Diego, deadly hit-and-run accidents continue to happen in our area.

Marine Dies in Hit-and-Run Accident

The frightening trend surrounding hit-and-run accidents continued over the summer. An active duty Marine suffered fatal injuries after he was struck by a box truck in Oceanside, California. The 22-year-old Marine, Joseph Bizzarro, was riding his motorcycle when the truck hit the back of his bike. Bizzarro “suffered major blunt head trauma,” while the “truck driver fled from the scene,” according to NBC San Diego.

The truck was identified as a “B

udget Rental.” The driver attempted to make an illegal U-turn in front of the motorcyclist; after realizing the truck’s intended movement, Bizzarro was not able to stop in time. Bizzarro was riding his bike to the military base when the accident occurred.

Emergency medical responders arrived on the scene the morning of the accident, and Bizzarro was airlifted to a local hospital, where he was placed on life support. He died as a result of his injuries several hours later.

In Bizzarro’s case, the hit-and-run driver actually “changed his mind and returned to the scene,” according to Oceanside police. The driver, Ezequiel Garcia, was arrested for a felony hit-and-run accident. Later reports indicated that Garcia was driving on an expired driver’s license.

Bizzarro’s wife has mobilized members of the community to remember her husband and to seek justice. In an interview with NBC San Diego, she emphasized that she wants Garcia to receive the maximum punishment for his role in the Marine’s death.

Hit-and-Run Laws in California

In California, an offender can be charged with a misdemeanor or a felony for a hit-and-run offense. Under the California Vehicle Code, one can be charged with a misdemeanor for leaving the scene of an accident without identifying one’s self to those involved in the crash, and if another person’s property sustained damage in the collision.

One can be charged with a felony hit-and-run offense for leaving the scene of an accident without identifying one’s self to those involved in the crash, and if another person sustains an injury, which can run from a minor injury to a fatality. In other words, a misdemeanor hit-and-run offense deals with property damage, while a felony offense applies to situations where a person suffers an injury–the seriousness of the injury does affect the charge.

If you or a loved one has sustained injuries in a dangerous hit-and-run accident, contact a San Diego car accident lawyer as soon as possible. We may be able to help you secure compensation for your injuries.

Photo Credit: Alvimann via morgueFile See Related Blog Posts: Deadly Hit and Run Accidents in San Diego San Diego Crime Stoppers Addresses Hit-and-Run Accidents

According to Oseana Bratton, a nurse at Rady Children’s Hospital, “six cases of young children nearly drowning in a 48-hour period may seem like a lot, but it’s not that uncommon this time of year, and there’s plenty more hot weather ahead.” Are parents and caregivers keeping an appropriately watchful eye?

One-year-old Gabriel Clark, his four-year-old sister, and the children’s nanny were swimming in a neighbor’s pool in Oceanside. According to the article, “it was just another day for his parents, both of them at work, until his mom Karen got a heart-stopping text.” The nanny texted Gabriel’s mother with a “terrifying text” that simply said “please call me.” The nanny had placed Gabriel in a flotation device—“the kind where his feet were in the water.” Karen told San Diego News 6 that the nanny reportedly “turned away for just a few seconds to help four-year-old Mia jump into the pool.”

In the brief moment during which the nanny turned her attention away from young Gabriel, he “had just tried to get out, so he wasn’t totally out, but his head was submerged,” according to the victim’s mother. When the nanny removed Gabriel from the water, “he was blue and not breathing.” The nanny performed CPR on Gabriel. When emergency medical responders arrived, Gabriel was breathing on his own again.

Though Gabriel was okay in the end, secondary drowning can be a serious—and often deadly—result of a near-drowning. As a precaution, Gabriel stayed in the pediatric intensive care unit at Rady Children’s Hospital overnight.

Unintentional Drownings: Keeping Kids Safe

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately ten people suffer fatal drowning injuries each day in the U.S. About 20 percent of those victims are kids under the age of 15. The CDC emphasizes that drowning is the fifth-leading cause of unintentional injury death in our country. Those figures do not include people who die in boating-related accidents.

To prevent unintentional drownings, it is important to know the risk factors:

• Males are much more likely than females to die from drowning. In fact, about 80 percent of fatal drowning victims are males.
• Children between the ages of one and four years old are at greatest risk of drowning. About one-third of accident related fatalities of children in that age group are caused by drowning.

According to the CDC, important prevention measures include the following:

• Learn to swim, or ensure that your children have swimming skills before you go near or into the water;
• Learn CPR;
• Wear a lifejacket or other flotation device;
• Always make sure children are supervised when they are in the water or around water;
• Teach children to use the buddy system when in the pool or at the beach;
• Always avoid drinking alcohol before swimming.

If your child died in a drowning accident, it is important to talk to an experienced San Diego wrongful death attorney. Contact the Walton Law Firm to learn how we can assist you.

Photo Credit: taylorschlades via morgueFile See Related Blog Posts: Child Drowning Accident in San Diego Child Pool Drowning Figures Released by Consumer Product Safety Commission

Six years ago, the use of hand-held phones while driving was banned in California. The ban, aimed at preventing serious car accidents, led other states to pass similar laws. In fact, thirteen states now restrict the use of cell phones to hands-free-only devices for people behind the wheel. But has California’s cell phone ban actually reduced the number of traffic collisions? According to arecent article in UT San Diego, a new study out of the University of Colorado questions the utility of the cell phone ban.

As the article points out, for almost a decade we have heard talk about the statistics surrounding texting and hand-held talking while driving. In particular, doing so results in distracted driving, and distracted driving causes life-threatening and fatal automobile accidents. However, according to Daniel Kaffine, associate professor of economics at the University of Colorado, Boulder, there is no clear “statistical evidence of a reduction” in accidents associated with California’s cell phone ban.

The cell phone ban first went into effect in July 2008. Over the six months that followed, “researchers determined there was no evidence crashes were reduced.” Kaffine explained that, if talking on a handheld phone while driving was really so dangerous, “and if even just a fraction of people stopped using their phones, we would expect to find some decrease in accidents.” Yet Kaffine’s research team found no such evidence.

Kaffine’s team at the University of Colorado is not the first group of researchers to question the efficacy of handheld cell phone bans. In fact, a study from 2013 published in American Economic Journal looked closely at data surrounding “nationwide, single-vehicle, single-occupant crash numbers” near the time when a lot of states implemented texting-while-driving bans. According to the study, “initially, there was a notable drop in collisions.” However, only three months after the bans were enacted, “crashes had crept back up to levels seen before the texting ban was in place.”

Why Are Handheld Talking and Texting Bans Not Working?

Law enforcement officials say these bans are doing a lot of good, and California officials reject Kaffine’s study. However, the recent research suggests some compelling reasons why neither ban made much of an impact in California or across the country:

• Distracted driving does not just result from handheld phone use. It is possible many California drivers switched to hands-free devices. A number of researchers suggest this method of talking is “equally distracting;”
• Drivers choose to ignore the ban, and continue using handheld devices for talking and texting while driving;
• The drivers most likely to use handheld devices are “the type of drivers who engage in other distracting behaviors.” In short, they replaced one distracting behavior—the handheld cell use—with another;
• Talking while driving is not as dangerous as believed.

Law enforcement officials stress that we, as drivers, are less perceptive when talking while driving. According to one California Highway Patrol Officer, if the ban is not working, it is because people are not following the law. The number of tickets issued could support this point, with nearly 20,000 issued in 2011, more than 15,000 issued in 2012, and nearly 11,000 issued in 2013. The California Highway Patrol predicts that number will rise in 2014.

Have you sustained serious injuries in a car accident? Distracted driving can lead to fatal traffic collisions and debilitating injuries. If you have been hurt, it is important to contact an experienced San Diego car accident lawyer. You may be eligible for financial compensation.

See Related Blog Posts: Deadly Hit and Run Accidents in San Diego Distracted Driving Fines and Accidents

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San Diego County has been experiencing several years of “the deadly hit and run,” according to a recent article in Voice of San Diego. Indeed, between the years of 2008 and 2012, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) reports that more than 17,000 hit-and-run accidents occurred across the county. In those accidents, nearly 7,000 victims sustained serious injuries and nearly 60 suffered fatal injuries.

What’s happening in San Diego County when it comes to deadly car accidents? Officer Mark McCullough indicated that the sheer number of hit-and-run accidents hasn’t climbed dramatically in the last five years, but the egregiousness of the cases has grown. For example, in 2014 alone, “11 pedestrians have been hit and killed by drivers who fled the scene,” according to data collected by the San Diego Medical Examiner’s Office. Let’s remember that the average number of deaths is about 10, and we already have 11 heinous cases reported by June of this year.

And to make matters worse, hit-and-run drivers, by and large, are getting away with these crimes. The San Diego Police Department explained that it has only solved one of the fatal hit-and-runs that have occurred since January. As early as February of this year, NBC 7 referred to the “spike in hit-and-runs as an epidemic,” and more of these catastrophic collisions have happened since.

Examples of Fatal Hit-and-Run Accidents in San Diego County

In February 2014, San Diego news agencies had reported a “quick succession” of hit-and-run accidents. On January 31, Seamus O’Bryan, 32, was killed by a white sedan that struck his motorcycle. O’Bryan had been transporting himself and a friend, Peter Newbigin, who had been visiting San Diego from Australia. The white sedan “had been traveling in the wrong lane.” It stopped only briefly after striking O’Bryan’s motorcycle before turning and “speeding out of sight.”

Many people in the area witnessed the crash and called for an emergency medical response team. However, O’Bryan was pronounced dead less than 30 minutes later. San Diego detectives “were never able to track down the driver of that white sedan.”

Just three days after O’Bryan’s death, a 23-year-old Albertsons employee, Benjamin Ramirez, died in a hit-and-run accident while walking home from work. Shortly thereafter, Alonso Flores Pacheco, an 81-year-old man from San Ysidro, was struck and killed in a similar manner.

Accident Resources and Getting Legal Help

As the article points out, the more severe a crime, the more resources that a police department will provide to track down leads. For hit and run cases that result in fatal injuries, the San Diego Police Department does its best to collect evidence that can lead to an arrest.

However, the traffic division of the San Diego Police Department has only six detectives assigned to it due to budget constraints. As such, “detectives juggle a stack of cases each day, which include misdemeanor traffic cases as well as felonies, like hit-and-run fatalities.”

Have you been injured in a car accident or lost a loved one because of a fatal hit-and-run collision? It’s important to discuss your case with an experienced San Diego accident attorney, as you may be able to seek compensation for your injuries. Contact our office to learn more about how we can assist with your case.

Photo Credit: Geoff LMV via Compfight cc See Related Blog Posts: Distracted Driving Fines and Accidents San Diego Crime Stoppers Addresses Hit-and-Run Accidents

Falls can occur anywhere, including when we’re on vacation. If you or a loved one has sustained injuries at a hotel or motel, you should contact a San Diego hotel accident lawyer. The experienced attorneys at the Walton Law Firm can discuss your personal injury case with you today.

Details of the Del Mar Hotel Accident

At around 6:20 p.m. on the night of the accident, members of the local sheriff’s office, as well as firefighters and paramedics, were dispatched to the scene of the accident. According to the sheriff’s office, the boy had been on vacation with his family, and they had traveled to California from Korea. When the accident occurred, the child “had been playing alone in one of the rooms booked by the family.” Sgt. Dustin Lopez, who responded to the accident, indicated that when the boy’s family when to check on him in the hotel room, “they saw that he had fallen.”

Authorities don’t know yet whether the child opened the window himself or whether it was already open when he was left alone inside the hotel room. Due to the fall, the child suffered a broken leg and “major head trauma,” according to Lopez. A medical transport helicopter rushed him to Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego.

Serious Falls at Hotels

How often do serious falls occur at hotels? These hotel accidents can affect both guests and employees alike. Indeed, according to data collected in a report by a Cornell University researcher, slips and falls are the “most frequent accident type by cost for both guests and employees.” When it comes to hotel guests, the following accidents and injuries are reported most commonly:

• Slips, trips, and falls account for about 42 percent of all hotel guest injuries. These can happen when a hotel fails to warn guests that the floors are wet or slippery, or if a hotel fails to install proper railings on its stairways or balconies. A fall from a hotel balcony, much like the catastrophic hotel accident in Del Mar, can result in life-threatening and fatal injuries. According to the report, falls happen most commonly in hotel stairways, balconies, landings, ramps, parking lots, and bathtubs/showers.
• Security-related accidents and injuries account for approximately 40 percent of all hotel guest injuries. What is a security-related accident? It’s an accident where the hotel’s failure to provide security or to make an area safe led to an accident. In some cases, for instance, an area should have been better lit with safety lighting.
• Food-borne illnesses result in about 3 percent of hotel guest injuries.

While the numbers differ for hotel employees, slips and falls still cause a majority of those accidents. In fact, about 42 percent of all hotel employee injuries occur because of a serious fall. The second-leading cause of employee injury, however, relates to handling dangerous materials.

Have you sustained an injury while on vacation at a hotel? You should be able to feel safe when you stay at a hotel or motel. Contact a slip and fall attorney at the Walton Law Firm today to learn more about how we can help.

Photo Credit: Hugo-photography via Compfight cc See Related Blog Posts: Walkway Collapses at San Diego Hotel, Guests Fall Into Water Child Pool Drowning Figures Released by Consumer Product Safety Commission

Are children safe when they board a school bus headed toward home after a long day in the classroom? With news of the deadly school bus crash involving a FedEx truck, it’s not surprising that parents would be more concerned about school bus safety. But a recent bus accident in the Anaheim Hills isn’t doing much to allay concerns.

According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, the bus accident in the Anaheim Hills left six people injured. The school bus had been carrying a total of 12 people, including the driver and 11 middle-school students, from an after-school activity at El Rancho Charter School. Residents of the Anaheim Hills could hear students screaming for help just moments after the accident, and according to the news story, many “Good Samaritans rushed to free them from the wrecked vehicle.”

One witness, who had been driving in the opposite direction of the school bus, saw it “drive up and fly up and crash” as students inside screamed, “help me!” Of the injured students, two suffered critical injuries, although officials indicated that none of the injuries looked to be life-threatening. The driver also sustained critical injuries. The California Highway Patrol indicated that three other students suffered minor injuries. A report from ABC News indicated that “part of a tree went into the bus and cut a girl’s leg,” and witnesses observed “gas pouring out the back.”

The California Highway Patrol is looking into the cause of the crash. According to ABC News, investigators have interviewed the driver but “still don’t know what caused the bus to veer out of its lane, over a curb and into trees and a lamp post.” Authorities haven’t determined how many of the students had been wearing seat belts.

School Bus Safety Statistics

A recent article in WebMD emphasized that, despite the intense news coverage of school bus accidents, “taking a bus to school is the safest way to go.” According to Eric Bolton, a spokesperson for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), school transportation has some of the best statistics in terms of the total number of injuries and number of passengers. Specifically, school buses carry about 24 million students each year and travel “more than 4 billion miles,” and these vehicles only have a death rate of .2 per 100 million miles traveled.

However, the article in WebMD emphasized that statistics aren’t always so comforting. When we think about the likelihood of an accident on a school bus compared to other modes of transportation, the numbers might look good. However, there’s another way to think about school bus accidents: “over a span of 11 years, from 1994-2004, a total of 71 passengers on school buses died in crashes.” And nearly all of these deaths were preventable.

Has your child been injured or killed in a serious bus crash? In many school bus accident cases, it may be possible to file a claim for financial compensation. When bus drivers or school districts behave negligently, children can suffer severe and sometimes fatal injuries. At the Walton Law Firm, we are dedicated to helping California residents who have been injured in school bus crashes. Contact one of our experienced San Diego bus accident attorneys to discuss your case.

See Related Blog Posts:

School Bus Accident Cases

California Bus Crash Report

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