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One person was killed and another seriously injured in a head-on collision on PCH near Newport Beach. (Photo: Orange County Register)

One driver was killed and another hospitalized with serious injuries Wednesday night after a head-on collision on Pacific Coast Highway near Newport Beach.

•   A driver was speeding and lost control of his car on Pacific Coast Highway.

•   The car veered into oncoming traffic and crashed head-on into an oncoming vehicle.

•   The driver of the speeding car died at the scene. The other driver was hospitalized with major injuries.

The highway crash occurred at around 7:40 p.m., according to a report in Corona Del Mar Today.

Newport Beach Fire Department spokeswoman Jennifer Schulz said 24-year-old Duy Nguyen of Santa Ana was driving a red Honda at high speed when he lost control of his vehicle.

The Honda crossed the double yellow lines and veered into oncoming traffic near El Morro Elementary School and Reef Point Drive, where it slammed into an oncoming  black Aston Martin.

Nguyen died at the scene, according to Schulz. The driver of the Aston Martin suffered major injuries and was transported to a trauma center.

Newport Beach Fire Department, Newport Beach Police Department, Laguna Beach Police Department, state parks officials and the California Highway Patrol responded to the crash, Schulz said. The CHP assumed the investigation because the accident occurred outside of the city limits.

What happens when the driver who is at fault dies in the accident?

Sometimes in a serious accident the individual who caused the crash suffers fatal injuries. Can the innocent victim still make a claim?

The answer is yes. The case survives even when the wrongdoer doesn’t. The insurance carrier for the car that the wrongdoer was driving remains liable for damages. If that policy does not have enough coverage, additional compensation may be sought via Underinsured Motorist coverage from the insurance carrier for the vehicle in which the innocent victim was a driver or passenger.

If a lawsuit is necessary, it would be filed against the estate of the wrongdoer. If there is no estate, then the injured party can force an estate to be set up to handle the lawsuit.

 Newport Beach Car Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented car accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A pickup truck ran a red light and slammed into a group of students in this crosswalk in front of Hemet High School. (Photo: Google Maps)

Pedestrian accident: Eight students were hospitalized — at least three in critical condition — after a pickup truck slammed into them in a crosswalk in front of Hemet High School early Wednesday afternoon.

•   A Hemet High School student drove his pickup truck into a right-turn lane, gunned his engine, accelerate and plowed straight into a group of students who were trying to cross the street.

•   Eight people (seven students and one adult) were hospitalized. Three of them were in critical condition.

•   The incident was caught on a surveillance tape.

The accident occurred just after school was letting out, according to a  report in the Riverside Press-Enterprise. A crowd of students was crossing Stetson Avenue to get from the main campus to the student parking lot by the football field.

A Ford Ranger pickup truck — driven by a Hemet High School student — was traveling west on Stetson Avenue when it entered a right-turn lane that leads to the parking lot, witnesses said. But instead of turning, the driver suddenly gunned the motor, accelerated, and drove straight into the crowd in the crosswalk.

“He revved the throttle like crazy. We heard the RPM’s build,” student Alex Bissett told the Press-Enterprise. Bissett said he and other students in the area could hear bones cracking and people screaming. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around it,” he added. “I’ve seen a lot of crazy stuff, but this tops it.”

Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department officials said in a written statement that eight people were transported to the hospital. Three of them suffered major injuries and were in critical condition.

Seven of the hospitalized victims were students and one was an adult, according to Hemet High School principal Emily Shaw. The students were taken to Riverside County Regional Medical Center in Moreno Valley, while the adult was taken to Inland Valley Regional Medical Center in Wildomar, Shaw said.

Two other people were injured but refused medical treatment at the scene, according to officials from the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department.

“The students were crossing appropriately,” Shaw told the Press-Enterprise. “That’s what makes it tough, is when the kids were doing what they are supposed to be doing.”

California Highway Patrol officers detained the driver, whose name and age were withheld, at the scene.  The accident was caught on surveillance video from multiple cameras, Shaw said. School officials were giving copies of the videotapes to law enforcement officials.

Hemet Pedestrian Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented pedestrian accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A mother and two children were killed by a drunk driver in Willowbrook. (Photo: NBC News)

An innocent driver chased and caught a drunk driver who tried to flee after a collision that killed a mother and two children Monday morning in Willowbrook.

•   A speeding drunk driver broadsided a Chevy Tahoe SUV with seven people inside. 

•   A mother and her two young daughters were killed. Her 1-year-old son remains hospitalized. The children’s father suffered life-threatening internal injuries.

•   The drunk driver tried to run away and hide, but the SUV driver caught him and held him until police arrived.

The fatal drunk driving crash occurred shortly after 7 a.m. in Willowbrook, according to an ABC News report. Willowbrook is in an unincorporated area of South Central Los Angeles.

California Highway Patrol officials said a beige Chevy Tahoe SUV with seven occupants was traveling westbound on 119th Street when it stopped at a T-intersection with Mona Boulevard.

The SUV was attempting to to make a left turn when it was slammed on the driver’s side by a white four-door sedan that was traveling southbound on Mona Boulevard at high speed.

The impact was so forceful that it knocked over the SUV and launched both vehicles out of the intersection and onto a nearby sidewalk.

Two children, girls aged 3 and 7, died at the scene. Their 1-year-old brother remains hospitalized but is expected to survive. Their mother, 30-year-old Lynzne Jane Martinez of Los Angeles, died in a hospital shortly after the accident. Their father, Juan Carlos Martinez, suffered a fractured rib and internal injuries; CHP officers said they did not know whether he would survive.

The driver of the sedan — later identified in an KCAL Channel 9 News video as 32-year-old Jason Stewart — tried to flee but the driver of the Chevy Tahoe got out of the vehicle, chased and caught him, and then held him until CHP officers arrived.

Stewart, who sustained a broken ankle, was arrested and faces several possible charges, including drunk driving, hit and run, and vehicular homicide, according to the KCAL News report.

Willowbrook Drunk Driving Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented drunk driving accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Police said speed was a factor in a double-fatal motorcycle crash in Petaluma.

Police said speed was a factor in a solo motorcycle accident that killed both the driver and his passenger Sunday in Petaluma.

•    Two men were riding a motorcycle when they approached a 90-degree turn in the road. The bike was traveling too fast to make the turn.

•   The driver lost control of the bike and crashed into a guardrail. Both men were trapped beneath the rail. The passenger also was trapped beneath the bike itself.

•   The driver died at the scene. Firefighters were able to transport the passenger, but he died from his injuries en route to the hospital.

The fatal crash occurred between 2:30 and 3 p.m., according to a report in the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat.

Petaluma Police Lt. Tim Lyons said 36-year-old Vallejo resident Richard Wilton II was driving a yellow 2004 Honda CBR westbound on Magnolia Avenue at the time of the accident.

Police believe Wilton was traveling to fast to navigate the 90-degree right turn onto Gossage Avenue and lost control of the motorcycle, Lyons said.

Wilton “laid the bike down” and it slid into and then underneath a guardrail, California Highway Patrol Sgt. David Derczo told the Press-Democrat. Neighbors heard the crash and called 911.

Wilton and his passenger, 31-year-old Michael “Seamus” Taylor of Petaluma, were pinned beneath the guardrail. Firefighters had to cut away a wooden post that was supporting the guardrail in order to extricate the victims, Petaluma Fire Captain Dan Farren told Bay City News in a report published on the Petaluma Patch news site.

Wilton died at the scene.

Taylor was trapped below both Wilton’s body and the motorcycle. Taylor suffered severe injuries, including a badly broken leg. Firefighters transported him to the Level II trauma center at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital Trauma Center, but he died from his injuries on the way to the hospital, Farren said.

Both men were wearing helmets, Lyon said. Investigators were examining evidence at the scene on Monday to determine how fast the bike was traveling.

The CHP initially responded to the accident, but Petaluma police took over because it occurred within city limits.

What happens when the driver who is at fault dies in the accident?

Sometimes in a serious accident the individual who caused the crash suffers fatal injuries. Can the innocent victim still make a claim?

The answer is yes. The case survives even when the wrongdoer doesn’t. The insurance carrier for the car that the wrongdoer was driving remains liable for damages. If that policy does not have enough coverage, additional compensation may be sought via Underinsured Motorist coverage from the insurance carrier for the vehicle in which the innocent victim was a driver or passenger.

If a lawsuit is necessary, it would be filed against the estate of the wrongdoer. If there is no estate, then the injured party can force an estate to be set up to handle the lawsuit.

Petaluma Motorcycle Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented the families of motorcycle accident victims for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Four people were killed in a three-car pileup on State Route 67 in Ramona. (Photo: Ramona Patch)

Fatal highway crash: Four people were killed Friday morning when a speeding pickup truck veered into oncoming traffic and caused a head-on collision on State Route 67 in Ramona, about 35 miles southeast of Escondido.

•  A 20-year-old driver lost control of his speeding pickup truck and veered into oncoming traffic.

•  Four people died at the scene, including the pickup truck driver.

•  Three other victims were hospitalized with serious injuries.

The fatal car accident occurred at about 10 a.m., according to a report in the Ramona Sentinel.

California Highway Patrol officer Brian Pennings said the highway was rain-slicked due to a steady drizzle at the time of the accident.

A northbound Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck was traveling at high speed on the two-lane highway when for unknown reasons it veered into the southbound lane, Pennings said. The Silverado slammed head-on into two oncoming vehicles near Rockhouse Road in the Rosemont area of Ramona. Both vehicles were Toyota sedans.

CHP officer Joe Nielsen told NBC News that the Silverado first hit a silver Toyota Camry and then bounced into a blue Toyota Corolla. All three vehicles came to rest in the southbound lanes, but the Corolla was partly in a northbound lane as well.  (See photo, above.)

The 20-year-old Poway man who was driving the Silverado pickup truck and one of his passengers — a 34-year-old man from San Diego — both died at the scene.  A 74-year-old woman and 78-year-old man who were in the Camry also died at the scene, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.

A female passenger who was riding in the back seat of the truck survived but was hospitalized with serious injuries. The Corolla driver, 24-year-old Nicole Penning of Ramona, and her 5-year-old daughter also were hospitalized. The nature of their injuries was unclear. CHP and Cal Fire spokespersons gave varying reports, ranging from minor to critical. More specific information was expected to be released after all of the families were notified.

What happens when the driver who is at fault dies in the accident?

Sometimes in a serious accident the individual who caused the crash suffers fatal injuries. Can the innocent victim still make a claim?

The answer is yes. The case survives even when the wrongdoer doesn’t. The insurance carrier for the car that the wrongdoer was driving remains liable for damages. If that policy does not have enough coverage, additional compensation may be sought via Underinsured Motorist coverage from the insurance carrier for the vehicle in which the innocent victim was a driver or passenger.

If a lawsuit is necessary, it would be filed against the estate of the wrongdoer. If there is no estate, then the injured party can force an estate to be set up to handle the lawsuit.

Ramona Car Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented the families of car accident  victims for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

An out-of-control big-rig crushed a car on I-680, killing the driver. (Photo: San Jose Mercury-News)

Police say speed was a factor in a fatal big-rig crash Thursday morning on Interstate 680 in San Jose. The truck driver lost control and his rig overturned, crushing a car and killing a passenger.

•   A truck driver was driving too fast to make the turn on a cloverleaf onramp to the freeway.

•   The fully loaded big-rig overturned and the trailer fell on top of a Toyota Camry, crushing the passenger side of the vehicle.

•   The woman riding in the front passenger seat of the Camry was killed instantly. The truck driver was hospitalized in critical condition.

The tragic accident occurred just before 10 a.m., according to a report in the San Jose Mercury News.

California Highway Patrol officer DJ Sarabia said a 30-year-old truck driver was driving too fast to negotiate the cloverleaf onramp onto northbound I-680 from eastbound McKee Road. He lost control of the truck, which overturned.

The trailer fell onto a gray Toyota Camry driven by Van Nguyen of San Jose. Her mother, 49-year-old San Jose resident Hieu Thi Thu Huynh, was riding in the front passenger seat.

Huynh saw the van beginning to tip over and warned her daughter to veer left, according to another daughter. Just as the Camry was turning away, the truck overturned onto the passenger side of the car. Huynh was killed instantly. Nguyen was not injured.

The truck driver suffered life-threatening injuries. He was taken to Regional Medical Center in San Jose, where he was listed in critical condition.

Emergency crews righted the truck and towed the Camry to the coroner’s office so that the deceased victim could be extricated in private, Sarabia said.

Investigators believe excessive speed caused the accident.

“We think he was going too fast to make that curve,” Sarabia said.

Truck Accident Statistics

Most deaths in big-rig accidents are people of passenger vehicles, not the truck driver or his passengers.

More than 3,400 people died in big-rig crashes in 2010, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).

Only 14 percent of those fatalities were people in trucks, while 72 percent were occupants of cars and other passenger vehicles, and 13 percent were pedestrians, bicyclists, or motorcyclists.

San Jose Truck Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented the families of truck accident victims for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A passenger was killed and her son critically injured in a DUI crash in Berkeley. (Screenshot: CBS News)

Berkeley police announced Tuesday that they have charged a 24-year-old man  with vehicular manslaughter after a drunk driving crash killed one of his passengers and critically injured her 6-year-old son.

UPDATE: The little boy died in the hospital on Friday night at around 6pm.

•   A drunk driver barreled through a residential neighborhood at 64 mph and slammed his car into a tree.

•   The front-seat passenger died at the scene. Her 6-year-old son, who was riding in the back seat, suffered severe injuries and remains in a coma on life support.

•   The driver suffered major injuries and was arrested at the hospital. He is charged with multiple felonies, including vehicular manslaughter.

The fatal car accident occurred at around 1:15 a.m. on Friday, according to an NBC News report.

Police officers said Jose Lumbreras’ blood alcohol level was .219 percent — more than two and a half times the legal limit — at the time of the crash.

Lumbreras was driving a Cadillac northbound at 64 mph on a residential section of California Street where the speed limit is 25 mph, police said. The Cadillac hit a traffic circle curb at Allston Way, went airborne, and crashed into a tree about 20 yards on the opposite side of the circle.

There is a stop sign on California Street before the traffic circle at Allston Way (see photo at right), but police do not believe Lumbreras even tried to slow down before hitting the curb because there were no skid marks at the scene.

The front-seat passenger, 22-year-old Milanca Lopez, died at the scene. Her family told the Daily Californian that she was a 2012 graduate of U.C. Berkeley.

Her 6-year-old son, who was riding in the back of the car, suffered catastrophic injuries. He remains in a coma at  Children’s Hospital Oakland, where he is in critical condition, according to the Daily Cal. He was on life support with “minor brain function.”

Lumbreras also suffered major injuries and was taken to the Level II trauma unit at Highland Hospital in Oakland, Berkeley Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Mary Kusmiss said. He was arrested Tuesday at the hospital.

The Alameda County District Attorney charged Lumbreras with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, drunken driving causing injury, and enhancements for allegedly causing Xavier “to become comatose due to brain injury and to suffer paralysis,” according to court documents obtained from Deputy District Attorney Teresa Drenick.

This was the second fatal collision in Berkeley this year. A young man on a skateboard was struck and killed by a car at Marin and Tulare avenues on January 30.

Berkeley Drunk Driving Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented the families of drunk driving accident victims for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A bicyclist was killed by a car that drifted to the shoulder of Silverado Trail in Napa.

Fatal bicycle accident: Police are looking into the possibility that a driver may have fallen asleep or been distracted by a cell phone when her car drifted to the shoulder of Silverado Trail and killed a cyclist Thursday in Napa.

•   A cyclist was riding on a wide shoulder of Silverado Trail when a Ford Focus veered off of the road and hit him. 

•   The cyclist was thrown from his bike and died immediately, police said.

•   The driver of the Ford Focus was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Police are looking into thr possibility that she may have fallen asleep at the wheel or been distracted by a cell phone.

The accident occurred at around 6:30 p.m., according to a report in the Napa Valley Register.

California High Patrol Sgt. Gilberto Jose said 56-year-old Alfredo Pedroza — whose son, also named Alfredo Pedroza, is a Napa City Council candidate – was riding southbound on the three-feet-wide shoulder of Silverado Trail when he was struck and killed.

The area is south of Yountville Cross Road in an unincorporated part of the county north of Napa, according to an ABC News report.

Just south of Pine Ridge Winery, a southbound 2003 Ford Focus traveling at 55 mph veered off the roadway, hit Pedroza, crashed into an embankment, and continued 20 feet up a hill. Pedroza, who was wearing a helmet, was knocked of his bicycle and thrown several feet. He died instantly, Jose said.

The driver of the Ford, 20-year-old Cammie Mutz of Calistoga, suffered minor injuries and was taken to Queen of the Valley Medical Center to be treated, according to a report in the Vallejo Times-Herald. She was not arrested at the time, but she was extremely distraught about the accident, the CHP said.

There were no signs of drugs or alcohol being involved, Jose said. CHP investigators are looking into whether Mutz fell asleep at the wheel or was using a cell phone. There were no road or traffic hazards at the time of the accident, which occurred during daylight hours, a CHP release said.

Pedroza’s son told the Register that his father was training for a 100-mile bike race and was returning home from a 50-mile ride to Calistoga and back when he was hit.

Napa Bicycle Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented the families of bicycle accident victims for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A suspected drunk driver was killed and five others were hospitalized in a freeway crash in Fallbrook.

Police suspect that alcohol was a factor in a chain-reaction car accident on Interstate 15 that left a suspected drunk driver dead and seriously injured five others early Sunday morning in Fallbrook.

•   A suspected drunk driver was traveling at high speed when he lost control of his Honda Civic and crashed into the center divider of a freeway.

•   Three passengers got out of the Honda, but the driver and front-seat passenger were trapped.

•   Another car came along and crashed into the Honda, killing the suspected drunk driver on impact. Five other people were hospitalized.

The fatal freeway crash occurred at about 3:50 a.m., according to Channel 10 News report.

California Highway Patrol officer Jim Bettencourt said a 32-year-old Chula Vista man, whose name was not released, was driving a 2000 Honda Civic southbound on Interstate 15 at the time of the accident. There were four passengers in the vehicle.

The driver veered to the left and crashed into the center divider just south of Mission Road, Bettencourt said. The car spun around and came to a stop facing east in left lane.

The three passengers who were in the back seat managed to escape from the vehicle, but the driver and front-seat passenger were pinned inside.  A southbound 1997 Isuzu Rodeo, driven by a 51-year-old Redlands man, crashed into the driver-side door of the Honda, Bettencourt said.

The trapped Honda driver died on impact. The front-seat passenger in the Honda and the driver of the Isuzu both suffered major injuries. The three passengers who had escaped from the wrecked Honda also were injured, but not as severely. All five of the victims were transported to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido to be treated, according to a report in the North County Times.

CHP officers found alcohol containers inside of the Honda and scattered around the scene. Bettencourt said alcohol is suspected to be a factor in the deadly accident.

What happens when the driver who is at fault dies in the accident?

Sometimes in a serious accident the individual who caused the crash suffers fatal injuries. Can the innocent victim still make a claim?

The answer is yes.

The case survives even when the wrongdoer doesn’t. The insurance carrier for the car that the wrongdoer was driving remains liable for damages. If that policy does not have enough coverage, additional compensation may be sought via Underinsured Motorist coverage from the insurance carrier for the vehicle in which the innocent victim was a driver or passenger.

If a lawsuit is necessary, it would be filed against the estate of the wrongdoer. If there is no estate, then the injured party can force an estate to be set up to handle the lawsuit.

Fallbrook Car Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented the families of freeway accident victims for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Three people were killed in a head-on freeway crash caused by a wrong-way driver on I-15 in Eastvale. (Photo: NBC News)

Three people were killed Sunday — including a wrong-way driver — in a head-on freeway crash on Interstate 15 in Norco, 12 miles east of Riverside.

•  A Jeep Cherokee was driving northbound in the southbound lanes of the freeway.

•  The Jeep slammed head-on into a Honda, killing both occupants at the scene.

•  The Jeep driver died about an hour later at a nearby hospital.

The fatal car accident occurred at 1:41 a.m., according to a report in the Riverside Press-Enterprise.

California Highway Patrol said a blue 2001 Jeep Cherokee was spotted traveling north in the southbound lanes of I-15 near Sixth Street.

One minute later,  about a half mile south of 68th Street, the Jeep slammed head-on into a 2012 Honda Fit in the fast lane.

The driver and a passenger in the Honda — a man and a woman — both died at the scene. They had not been identified by the coroner as of Sunday evening.

The wrong-way driver in the Jeep — later identified as 23-year-old Nicholas Perez of Corona – sustained critical injures. He was taken to Corona Regional Hospital, where he died about 50 minutes later, according to officials at the Riverside County coroner office.

CHP investigators did not know why Perez was driving the wrong way on the freeway.

What happens when the driver who is at fault dies in the accident?

In this accident, the individual who caused the crash suffered fatal injuries.  Can the innocent victim still make a claim?

The answer is yes. The case survives even when the wrongdoer doesn’t. The insurance carrier for the car that the wrongdoer was driving remains liable for damages.  If that policy does not have enough coverage, additional compensation may be sought via Underinsured Motorist coverage from the insurance carrier for the vehicle in which the innocent victim was a driver or passenger.

If a lawsuit is necessary, it would be filed against the estate of the wrongdoer.  If there is no estate, then the injured party can force an estate to be set up to handle the lawsuit.

Riverside Freeway Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented the families of freeway accident victims for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.