Articles Tagged with San Diego personal injury attorney

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Anyone who has been injured in an accident in Escondido or elsewhere in Southern California may be considering the possibility of filing a personal injury lawsuit. It is essential to know that personal injury lawsuits are civil lawsuits, which means that there are no criminal consequences for the party who is liable for your injury, but instead, there are typically monetary consequences. In short, by filing a personal injury lawsuit, you can seek damages — a monetary remedy — from the party whose negligence resulted in you getting hurt. 

Whether you were injured in a motor vehicle crash, in a slip and fall accident, in a sexual assault case due to negligent security, or as a result of using a defective product, you could be eligible to file a civil lawsuit and seek damages. What types of damages can you anticipate seeking? Our Escondido personal injury lawyers can tell you more.

Economic Damages

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The differences between personal injury lawsuits and wrongful death lawsuits in San Clemente can be confusing, especially since wrongful death law is an area of law practiced by personal injury attorneys in California. The two types of claims are closely related, but they are not the same. It is important to understand the distinctions to ensure that you take necessary steps to file the proper claim and that you do so in a timely manner. Our San Clemente personal injury attorneys will tell you more about the distinctions between personal injury lawsuits and wrongful death lawsuits. 

Personal Injury Law and Wrongful Death Law Arise Out of Another Party’s Fault for Injuries

Both personal injury law and wrongful death law in California arise out of another party’s fault or liability for injuries, which makes these two areas of the law quite similar. To be sure, both personal injury law and wrongful death law allow a plaintiff to file a lawsuit in order to hold the liable or responsible party accountable for the injuries they have caused. However, there are also a number of key distinctions that you should understand.

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Traffic crashes can happen in San Marcos and throughout Southern California for a wide variety of reasons, from distracted and aggressive driving to intoxicated or impaired driving. A recent study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) addressed collision rates following the legalization of marijuana in California and several other states. While the study revealed that the legalization of recreational marijuana in various states did lead to a “statistically significant increase in injury crash rates,” the beginning of marijuana sales in those states did not correspond with any additional increased risk of a collision. Accordingly, the study suggests that marijuana legalization may lead to an increase in traffic collisions at the outset, but further access to marijuana through retail sales does not result in any additional rise in accident rates. 

Car Accident Data and Marijuana Legalization in California

Recreational marijuana has been legal in California since 2016 with the passage of the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA). In the recent IIHS study, researchers looked at traffic accident rates in five states that legalized the recreational use of marijuana between 2012 and 2017, including Colorado, Washington State, Oregon, California, and Nevada. The researchers looked at car accident data in the immediate aftermath of the legalization of recreational marijuana in these states, followed by accident data in the period immediately following the start of recreational marijuana retail sales. Those dates are as follows for the states involved in the study:

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Personal injuries can vary significantly in terms of severity. In car crashes and other types of accidents in Poway and throughout Southern California, people can suffer harm that ranges from a mild injury to a debilitating or even fatal injury. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the word ‘catastrophic’ often means “causing sudden and very great harm or destruction.” In the realm of personal injury law, we often think of catastrophic injuries as those that result in disabilities and those that may be life-threatening. The following are examples of different kinds of catastrophic injuries that often lead to successful personal injury lawsuits. 

Spinal Cord Injuries (SCIs)

Spinal cord injuries frequently result in permanent paralysis. According to the Mayo Clinic, a spinal cord injury is a term that refers to “damage to any part of the spinal cord or nerves at the end of the spinal canal.” Even if a spinal cord injury does not result in paralysis, the Mayo Clinic underscores that these types of injuries frequently cause “permanent changes in strength, sensation, and other body functions below the site of the injury.” In addition, these injuries can require medical support for the rest of the injured person’s life, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars (and often much more).

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anja-137284-300x225If you are in a car accident in Vista and file a lawsuit against the negligent driver, how will your case be impacted if the defendant says you are partially to blame for the accident? This question concerns “comparative fault,” which is sometimes known as contributory negligence or contributory fault. In short, when a plaintiff files an accident claim against the responsible party, that defendant can raise the issue of comparative fault as a defense to avoid paying the plaintiff the full amount of compensation he or she is seeking. While each state has its own laws concerning comparative fault, it is important to know that a plaintiff in California can still recover damages even if the court says the plaintiff is partially to blame.

We want to tell you more about California’s comparative fault law, and to explain how it may affect a car accident lawsuit in Vista.

California Follows a Pure Comparative Fault Rule

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the-climate-reality-project-zr3bLNw1Ccs-unsplash-copy-300x200Nobody wants to think about toxic substances that may exist in the drinking water in Encinitas or elsewhere in Southern California. However, companies have disposed of toxic and otherwise harmful substances in ways that result in serious and fatal harms to consumers in California and throughout the country, giving rise to a category of personal injury lawsuits known as toxic tort claims. Toxic tort injuries in a small town in Southern California made national news back in 1996, yet as a recent article in Grist highlights, those toxic substances continue to have relevance. 

Toxic Torts Legislation in Hinkley, California

Anyone who has seen the film Erin Brockovich (2000) probably remembers the name Hinkley, a town in Southern California made famous in 1996 when, as the article explains, “a group of residents famously won a massive direct-action arbitration against Pacific Gas and Electric.” The case involved allegations against Pacific Gas and Electric, which ultimately was found responsible for “dumping hexavalent chromium (aka chromium-6), a carcinogen used to suppress rust formation at the Hinkley gas compressor station, into an unlined pond in the ‘50s and ‘60s.” By the 1990s, the chromium-6 had seeped into the groundwater in Hinkley, and many people suffered serious injuries.

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ryan-wilson-18905-copy-300x300One of the great features of any hotel when you are on vacation with your family is an outdoor pool. Even for visitors to Rancho Bernardo who are planning to spend much of their time at the beach, if you are staying at a hotel with a pool, there is a good chance that you and your children will enjoy some time by the poolside. However, pools can be extremely dangerous, and children especially can sustain serious hotel injuries at a pool. While drowning due to swimming inexperience or slipping and falling typically is the primary concern when it comes to hotel pool injuries, there are other ways that guests can get hurt while enjoying the water. Specifically, pool drain accidents and pool filter accidents happen more often than you might think.

Hotel Pools and Circulation Entrapments in Drains

Pools and hot tubs at hotels have drain systems and filter systems that are designed to clean the water and to create circulation. While these systems help to ensure that hotel guests are swimming in clean water, they can also lead to serious personal injuries if proper safety precautions are not taken or if these devices do not undergo regular maintenance. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) refers to many of these injuries that lead to drowning deaths as “circulation entrapments.” In such situations, an injured guest may be able to file a hotel negligence claim.

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anthony-delanoix-59573-unsplash-copy-300x201Ziplines are becoming more popular in Southern California and throughout the country at a wide range of locations, from outdoor education centers to local parks to summer camps. While children and teens might be excited to try ziplining, it is important for parents to recognize that zipline injuries are actually quite common, and they can be severe and debilitating. A recent study discussed in the Claims Journal indicates that the number of commercial ziplines has risen dramatically in the U.S. over the last two decades, from fewer than a dozen ziplines in 2001 to more than 200 as of 2012. That number does not even include the “more than 13,000 amateur ziplines found in outdoor education programs, camps, and backyards.”

We want to take a closer look at the study and provide key information to parents in Carlsbad about zipline accidents and risks.

Ziplines Pose a Serious Risk of Injury, Study Says

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nabeel-syed-2856-copy-300x200Pedestrian accidents happen a lot more frequently than they should in Encinitas, according to a recent article in The San Diego Union-Tribune. The city recognizes the particular risks for pedestrians who walk along El Camino Real, and the city is taking steps to try to make this stretch safer for anyone who is on foot. The city recently hired an expert to conduct a “walking audit” of El Camino Real with a group of participants and to make recommendations for preventing a pedestrian accident and improving safety in general for pedestrians in the area.

What can the city do to make Encinitas a more pedestrian-friendly place?

The “Walking Audit” and its Outcome

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bethany-legg-14229-copy-300x200For residents of Vista, California who regularly commute to work in San Diego County or have teen drivers on the road, it is extremely important to be aware of the dangers of distracted driving. As a fact sheet from the National Safety Council (NSC) explains, April is distracted driving awareness month. It is always a good idea to think about how distracted driving can impact our lives and to discuss safe driving and car accident prevention tips with your teen drivers. What else should you know about distracted driving and the risks of a crash in Southern California?

Using Technology to Prevent Distracted Driving in Vista

We often link technology with the increased risks of distracted driving. For instance, according to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), texting or talking on a cell phone while driving can greatly increase the risk of a serious motor vehicle crash. However, sometimes technology can actually help when it comes to distracted driving prevention.

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