Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Southern California Checkpoints Prevent Hit-and-Run Accidents

August 16, 2007 | by Moseley Collins

There is a big controversy going on south of our Sacramento home in Escondido, along with cases being brought against Los Angeles and several other Southern California counties for similar reasons. People are opposing a new system that has increased checkpoints throughout the city of Escondido. Police have two to five checkpoints up once a month to check for drunk drivers and people driving without a license. The police chief of Escondido, Jim Maher, says that this system is to reduce the amount of hit-and-run car accidents.

Hit-and-run car accidents can be a dreadful situation to be in, especially if the person injured does not carry uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. People who are drunk or do not have a license are more likely to run after a car crash, fearing jail and loss of their car.

The new checkpoint system has actually proved to lower hit-and-run accidents since begun. In the first half of 2007 there were 281 hit-and-run accidents, compared to 370 during the first half of 2006 — a 24% drop in hit-and-run accidents in one year.

South of Sacramento, Boy With Brain Injury Returns Home

August 16, 2007 | by Moseley Collins

South of our Sacramento home, in Modesto, California, a boy was severely injured in a car accident several months ago, suffering from a traumatic brain injury. This week, he is coming home to his family and friends. The boy, Tyler Allen, is going through a long process of recuperation and it will be some time before he is able to regain abilities he had before, such as walking and talking.

The accident, a collision between a semi-truck and a BMW, happened on May 9th. Tyler was sitting in the passenger seat of the BMW. Following the accident, Tyler was taken to the hospital where he was diagnosed with a broken hip, a broken knee, multiple head injuries, and placed in a coma. The driver of the BMW died at the scene.

Often times, the degree of severity for a coma will be described using the Glasgow Coma Score (GCS). The GCS assess several different aspects of a person’s skills, including verbal, eye, and motor responses. The final outcome is a number range from 3 to 15, 3 being the worst and 15 the best. Tyler has scored about a five which indicates a very severe injury.

Employer Neglect and Abuse Causes Lifelong Injury

August 15, 2007 | by Moseley Collins

A lawsuit is being tried south of our Sacramento home in Los Angeles, California. A group of twelve Central American workers are suing the fruit companies, Dole and Standard, along with chemical companies, Dow and Amvac, after being exposed to dangerous amounts of pesticides. Eleven of the twelve men are now sterile, claiming that the high level of pesticides caused their infertility.

It’s an the first time an issue like this has been at the center of a dispute. The pesticide, DBCP, was used throughout the 1970s and has since been banned in the United States. Other complaints have been registererd throughout time on matters that relate to this one. Plaintiffs claim that Dole carried out a number of intentionally dangerous activities, such as spraying the pesticides when the manufacture recommended mixing it into the soil and using 10 gallons of pesticide a year rather than the instructed 1 ½. Actions as these often take place because of disrespected for safety regulations.

Dole has several defenses, stating that very little of the chemical was used only once or twice year (a tablespoon amount) and that the infertility in the workers could be due to other problems (such as excessive drinking and gonorrhea).

Device Detects Brain Injury Immediately After Accident

August 14, 2007 | by Moseley Collins

At our Personal Injury Law Firm in Sacramento, California, our clients that have suffered from brain injuries can testify to the “invisible disability” that affects their lives. A brain injury has been often termed as an “invisible disability” because it is usually not openly obvious that the victim is suffering. This invisible quality also makes it hard to immediately detect a less serious brain injury in an individual. As I have discussed before, brain injuries can often times go unnoticed at the time of the accident, causing more serious results to occur because of lack of treatment. Therefore, I can not stress this enough, it’s of primal importance to seek medical assistance for a victim of brain injury. It may save one’s life.

A new hand-held device has recently come out, however, that is supposed to be able to detect even minor brain injury after an accident. The device is called BrainScope and translates brain electrical activity (called EEG tracings) onto a graph into quantitative numbers (QEEGs). These QEEGs are then compared to a database of about 20,000 patients and can point out any deviations from the norm of this group.

BrainScope, which is roughly the size of an IPod, is supposed to be able to detect any deviations within minutes and, using a color display, indicates if the injured person’s brain functions are normal.

Design Defect Causes Leg Amputation West of Sacramento

August 13, 2007 | by Moseley Collins

West of Sacramento, in the San Mateo Superior Court, a verdict for $1.8 million was affirmed in a case where a man was seriously injured after a forklift fell on top of him. The plaintiff of the case, a forklift operator, alleged that the forklift had a defect in its design, placing “excessive stress on the tires”. The stress eventually caused a tire of the forklift to split, sending the forklift crashing down on top of the man, crushing his leg.

You can imagine how dramatic it all must have been. The injured man eventually lost his leg in the accident. The resulting $1.8 million verdict was for lost wages, medical expenses, and pain and suffering. It is unknown if the expenses also cover for prosthetics, but likely to be so. Nothing, however, covers for the loss of the leg, in the real sense of it, or for the pain associated with it.

A design defect occurs when there should have been an alternative solution used in the making of a product and because of the product’s current design, the product is now unreasonably dangerous. Many companies have faced charges because their products failed to comply with the standard safety regulations and ended up affecting people’s lives in dramatic ways.

Brain Injury in Sacramento from Ca State Fair Roller Coaster Rides?

August 12, 2007 | by Moseley Collins

The date for the annual California State Fair in our home of Sacramento is rapidly approaching. August 17th the gates will open and remain a place filled with rides, games, and treats until September 3rd. My family and I have always loved going to the fair. You can’t help but feel like a kid again, running around from ride to ride and smelling all the delicious goodies. But along with the fun, amusement parks can at times be dangerous. I just saw a recent article on roller coasters and injuries, in

My family and I have always loved going to the fair. You can’t help but feel like a kid again, running around from ride to ride and smelling all the delicious goodies. But along with the fun, amusement parks can at times be dangerous. I just saw a recent article on roller coasters and injuries, in particular, brain injuries. At our Personal Injury Law Firm, we know how costly (emotionally, physically, monetarily) a brain injury can be, not only for a person but also for his or her family.

The article states that a head or brain injury can occur from the jerking motions of a roller coaster ride. It states that people can be particularly susceptible to this when riding in the dark (for example a tunnel) or when turning their heads while on the ride (for example to see the view, or a parent checking on their child).

Drunk Driving Car Accident Kills Two Sacramento Teens

August 10, 2007 | by Moseley Collins

It is one of the saddest things to lose a child. I can’t imagine how difficult it would be for a parent to cope with this grief. These thoughts shadowed my mind after reading an article on News 10, a Sacramento news station. The article was about two teenagers who were dramatically killed in a drunk-driving accident that could possibly have been avoided.

The accident occurred when the driver of the car, a 20-year old named Michael Dimitras, lost control of his car and slammed into a utility pole. Two passengers, Kendall Lui (18-years old) and Brian Haight (19-years old), were killed, while two other passengers, Colin White and Ryan Neal, suffered from serious injuries. Michael was charged with two counts of vehicular manslaughter and drunken driving causing great bodily injury. He was sentenced to six years and 4 months in prison.

It is amazing how a moment can change your life forever. When tested, Michael’s BAC was at a 0.09. As a 20-year old, any BAC over .01 would have been illegal, however it is interesting to note that his reading was only .01 over the legal BAC for adults 21-years and older. Even this limit can alter a driver’s ability to react in time to dangerous situations and handle a motor vehicle in a safe manner. Therefore, serves as another piece of solid proof that you shouldn’t mix drinking and driving.

Dog Attacks Postal Worker West of Sacramento

August 10, 2007 | by Moseley Collins

Many times when a dog attacks, a serious injury can occur in the victim. At our Law Firm in Sacramento, our clients that have experienced a dog attack have suffered both physically and emotionally. As I was reading an article in the news today, I came across a woman who was attacked by a dog during her job. I can only imagine the stress that must bring. The attack occurred west of our Sacramento home, in Hayward, California. The woman was a postal worker and she was attacked by a pit bull on her mail run.

The news reports state that the woman, Virginia Joaquin, received injuries that required four hours worth of surgery on her right hand. Luckily, when attacked, Virginia (undoubtedly), began to scream and neighbors rushed to her rescue, beating the pit bull away with a piece of wood. She was lucky for the fast intervention of the people. Otherwise, the outcome might have been much more dramatic.

If you have been attacked by a dog, you should seek medical and legal help. In California, State law places a person responsible for a dog attack if a person’s negligence causes the attack to happen, a person keeps a dog knowing that it has been known to attack others, or if a person is violating a leash law. I don’t think there’s a need to provide a list of the consequences that may occur from a dog bite or attack…

Accidents Causing Brain Injuries – Army Made Aware of Symptoms

August 9, 2007 | by Moseley Collins

Sitting in my office in Sacramento, California, I have read time and again about the staggering amount of brain injuries that are suffered by our troops abroad. As a Personal Injury Lawyer, I know that a traumatic brain injury can be not only devastating but unfortunately, many brain injuries go without detection and medical help. And the consequences can be devastating for an entire family.

Promising news awaits, however. As I was reading through the news today, I saw an article regarding the Army and a new campaign they are using to heighten awareness in soldiers about traumatic brain injuries. The campaign is designed to teach 1 million soldiers about the injury and how to recognize the symptoms of it in order to get immediate medical help, which can be fundamental to avoid later complications.

I am encouraged by this news, as I know that many of these injuries are “invisible” and may not be taken care of until a later, and more detrimental, date. We all, soldiers and non-soldiers alike, need to be aware of how a brain injury is caused and what the symptoms are of it. If we could recognize it, we could help more lives who have been affected by tthis condition.

West of Sacramento Bike Injury Case Gives Rise to Activist Group

August 8, 2007 | by Moseley Collins

I read in the news today an activist group called Stop Hurting Our Children (SHOK) has arisen from a lawsuit that took place just west of Sacramento in Marin County, California. The lawsuit was brought on by the families of eight children after the children were injured from quick-release bicycles sold by Wal-Mart. The quick-release bicycles have been said to spontaneously pop off, causing injury to anyone riding the bike. In the Marin County case alone, three of the eight children suffered from traumatic brain injury.

Bicycles that have a quick-release option were designed to allow the rider to take off the wheels of their bike without using tools. Many bike riders want the ability to remove the wheel(s) of their bikes for fixing flat tires, preventing theft, and putting bikes into cars. A website called Bicycling Life states the reason quick-release wheels come off is because the are often not put back on properly. There is a page on the website that describes the correct and incorrect way to put on a quick-release wheel. I suggest that if you do purchase or have purchased a bicycle with a quick-release wheel, you read the article. Information that can help save your children.

If you have ever been injured in an accident caused by a product defect, please call the Law Offices of Moseley Collins for advice. We know the law and we know how to act.