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12
FEB
2013

Malibu: Tow Truck Driver Struck, Killed in Hit-and-Run Crash

Malibu Pedestrian Accident Lawyers

A tow truck driver was struck and killed by a drunk driver in Malibu. (Photo: KTLA News)

Fatal pedestrian accident: A tow truck driver who was hooking up a disabled vehicle was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver Monday night  in Malibu.

•    A tow truck driver was outside of his vehicle, helping a stranded motorist on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.

•    A speeding car crashed into the truck, did a barrel roll, and slammed into the tow truck driver in mid-air.

•    The tow truck driver, a father of three, died immediately. 

•    The car fled the scene but crashed into a parked car two miles away. Police arrested the driver, who sustained a critical head injury but was expected to survive.

The deadly hit-and- run accident occurred at 8:45 p.m. on Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) near Pepperdine University, according to a KTLA News report.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies told KTLA that the tow truck driver, 45-year-old Ronald Carver of Newbury Park, was outside of his vehicle helping a motorist whose vehicle was stranded on PCH at John Tyler Drive.

A silver Audi, driven by 44-year-old Jill Rose of Venice, came speeding down the narrow highway, hit the ramp of the flatbed tow vehicle truck, and then slammed into Carver, NBC News reported.

“The driver struck the ramp, did a complete barrel roll, then hit the person in mid-air,” Sgt. Philip Brooks, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, told NBC.

Carver, who was a father of three, died on impact.

Rose continued driving and then crashed into a parked car near the Malibu Pier, two miles away. She sustained a severe brain hemorrhage in the accident, police said. She was arrested at the scene and then rushed to UCLA Medical Center, where she was listed in critical condition. Authorities said she was expected to survive.

Police did not yet know whether drugs or alcohol were involved in the accident; investigators were awaiting results of toxicology tests. Police said Rose has a history of opiate abuse.

If no drugs or alcohol are involved, Rose would face charges of vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run, police said. If she was under the influence, further charges would be added.

Malibu 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 the families of pedestrian accident victims for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

  • • Value: We offer discounted fees to callers who read our blog.

    • Experience: Our attorneys are top-ranked.

    • Consideration: We advance all expenses on cases. And we never charge a fee unless your case is successfully settled.

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16
JAN
2013

Riverside: Caltrans Worker Critically Hurt, Drunk Driver Arrested

Riverside Pedestrian Accident Lawyers

A Caltrans worker was critically injured by a hit-and-run drunk driver on Riverside.

Police caught and arrested a hit-and-run drunk driver who struck and critically injured a Caltrans worker Monday night on Highway 91 in Riverside.

•  A Caltrans worker was setting out cones in an area between Highway 91 and an offramp when a drunk driver veered off the road and hit him.

•   The motorist fled the scene but was caught and arrested about a mile away.

•   The victim suffered critical injuries.

•   The hit-and-run driver was charged with  felony hit and run, DUI causing great bodily injury, and driving without a license.

The pedestrian accident occurred at about 9:30 p.m., according to a report in the Riverside Press-Enterprise.

California Highway Patrol officials said a 37-year-old Caltrans worker, whose name was not released, was setting out traffic cones in the area between westbound Highway 91 and the 14th Street offramp at the time of the accident.

The suspect, 30-year-old Enrique Lopez Lopez of Moreno Valley, veered onto the right shoulder, struck the worker and fled the scene, the CHP said.

“He never attempted to stop or hit the brakes,” Caltrans spokeswoman Terri Kasinga told the Press-Enterprise. “The other worker just heard a thud and saw his partner slide across the ground while the driver just kept on going.”

The victim suffered critical injuries and remained hospitalized.

Riverside police found Lopez about a mile away, near Central Avenue . He was stopped in a 1996 Honda Accord with major front-end damage.

Police arrested him on charges of felony hit and run, DUI causing great bodily injury, and driving without a license. He was booked into booked at Robert Presley Detention Center, according to an ABC News report. His bail was set at $50,000.

The victim was an Azusa resident who was working for Lake Forest-based SEMA Construction, the Caltrans contractor on the Highway 91 carpool lane project.

Riverside 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.

  • • Value: We offer discounted fees to callers who read our blog.

    • Experience: Our attorneys are top-ranked.

    • Consideration: We advance all expenses on cases. And we never charge a fee unless your case is successfully settled.

22
JUN
2012

Mountain View: Police ID Man Killed by Speeding Car at Bus Stop

 

Mountain View Pedestrian Accident Lawyers

A man was struck and killed at a bus stop Thursday in Mountain View. (Video capture: Mountain View Patch)

Fatal pedestrian accident: Investigators have identified a man who was struck and killed by a speeding car while he waited at a bus stop Thursday in Mountain View.

•   A speeding car ran a red light and struck a man waiting in a bus shelter.

•   The car smashed the shelter and drug the victim into the road, then went up onto the lawn of an apartment building.

•   The victim died at the scene. The 21-year-old driver was hospitalized.

•   Police said drugs and alcohol do not appear to be involved.

Mountain View police spokesperson Jaime Garrett said the accident victim was 50-year-old William Ware of Mountain View, according to a report in the San Jose Mercury News.

Garrett said the accident occurred at about 9:30 a.m. at California Street and Escuela Avenue.

Witnesses told the Mountain View Patch news site that a navy-blue Audi A4 appeared to be speeding when it ran a red light at the intersection. The Audi struck Ware — who was standing at the VTA bus stop on the south side of the intersection — and dragged him about 30 or 40 feet.

The impact smashed up the bus shelter, but did not stop the Audi. The car continued up onto the grounds of the Maplewood Apartment Community and came to a stop on the lawn, about 100 feet from the bus shelter.

Ware died at the scene.

The driver of the Audi,  a 21-year-old Mountain View man, was taken to a hospital to be treated for undisclosed injuries, according to an NBC News report. Police said he did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Community members started a makeshift memorial on the bus bench as soon as word got out. In an article entitled, “Remembering William Ware,” people shared memories and announced details about Ware’s memorial service. He was remembered by bus drivers and people who worked at his favorite Peet’s coffee shop, as well as by neighbors and friends.

Pedestrian Fatality Statistics

More than 4,000 pedestrians are killed every year — 11 every day — after being struck by motor vehicles, according to the latest National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) statistics. An additional 59,000 are seriously injured.

The latest NHTSA figures show that:

  • 69 percent of pedestrians killed in 2009 were males.
  • Almost three out of every four pedestrian fatalities occur in urban areas (72 percent).
  • The top four states for pedestrian fatalities are California, Florida, Texas, and New York. These four states make up 41 percent of pedestrian fatalities nationwide while only accounting for 5 percent of the total traffic fatalities across the country.
  • Nearly one-half (48 percent) of all pedestrian fatalities occurred on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday — 70 percent occur at night (4 p.m. to 4 a.m.).

California 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.

  • • Value: We offer discounted fees to callers who read our blog.

    • Experience: Our attorneys are top-ranked.

    • Consideration: We advance all expenses on cases. And we never charge a fee unless your case is successfully settled.

03
OCT
2011

Burbank: Man Killed While Helping Friend Change Tire on Ventura Fwy

Burbank Pedestrian Accident Lawyers

Pedestrian Fatality: A Good Samaritan was killed on the Ventura Freeway in Burbank. (Photo: KTLA)

Pedestrian fatality: A Good Samaritan was struck and killed Saturday night after he stopped to help a co-worker change a tire on the Ventura Freeway (Highway 134) in Burbank.

•   A man who got a flat tire called a co-worker — his supervisor — to come and help him.

•   The supervisor came to the scene and helped change the flat tire. When he was walking back to his vehicle, he was struck and killed by a vehicle that drifted over onto the shoulder at freeway speed.

•   The Good Samaritan died at the scene. His co-worker was hit in the head by flying debris from the collision.

•   Police said drugs and alcohol were not factors in the accident. No arrests have yet been made.

The fatal freeway accident occurred at around 10:45 p.m., according to a report in the Burbank Leader.

California Highway Patrol Officer Adam Bender said 55-year-old Donald Bishop of Long Beach had pulled over to the shoulder of the Ventura Freeway near the Buena Vista Street off-ramp when the accident happened.  He had gotten a call from a co-worker, Daniel Cukar of Cerritos, asking for help with a flat tire.

Bishop drove to the scene, pulled over to the shoulder, got out of his Ford Aerostar minivan, and helped Cukar change the tire on a pickup truck, Bender said. As Bishop walked back to his vehicle, a 2008 Pontiac G6 traveling 65 mph drifted over to the right shoulder and crashed into Bishop and his vehicle.

“I went over to him and grabbed him. I started to shake him to see if he could move and he wasn’t moving,” Cukar told ABC News.

Paramedics pronounced Bishop dead at the scene.

Debris from the violent collision flew through the air and hit Cukar in the head. He suffered multiple lacerations to his head and was transported to Providence St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Burbank to be treated for those head injuries.

The 27-year-old driver of the Pontiac stopped immediately. His abrupt stop caused a three-car pile-up on the freeway, Bender said. The driver was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. He was not immediately cited or arrested.

“It appears to be a horrible accident and we need to fully investigate the matter before any charges are brought forward,” Bender said.

Burbank 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 more than 35 years.  The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.