Newport Beach Drunk Driver to Stand Trial for Death of Huntington Beach Entrepreneur
Sep 21, 2009 Auto & Car Crashes, Drunk Driving, Personal Injury, Wrongful Death - Murder
Charles Lewis Jr., co-founder of a martial arts clothing company in Huntington Beach, was killed in a fatal accident that was allegedly caused by Jeffrey Kirby, a Costa Mesa resident, who was driving while intoxicated. Kirby will stand trial in the death, charged with gross vehicular manslaughter.
According to prosecutors in the case, Lewis was driving on Jamboree Road in his Ferrari, when he was struck by Kirby’s Porsche which caused the Ferrari to crash into a light pole and break in to two pieces. Mr. Lewis died at the scene, and the passenger who was riding in his car was ejected, suffering injuries. Kirby fled the scene of the crime, but has since admitted to police that he was speeding in an attempt to catch up with Lewis’ Ferrari, which he wanted the passengers riding with him to have a look at.
Kirby had two previous convictions for driving while drunk, and blood alcohol tests that were conducted a couple of hours after this crash indicated his BAC level to be .13. Kirby had been drinking prior to the crash at bars in Sang Juan Capistrano and Irvine according to evidence investigators collected from his wallet. Kirby has been denied the chance to plead guilty to vehicular manslaughter, and attorneys for him put blame for the accident on Lewis.
Over the last few years, California has been successful in decreasing the rate of drunk driving accident fatalities, but would still like to take further measures to see those rates drop further. The recent Labor Day holiday weekend brought out law enforcement in droves, in an effort to crackdown on drunk driving offenders. Still, in Orange County alone, 73 drunk drivers were arrested by the California Highway Patrol, which is a slight increase over last years number of 67. The bright news in the midst of all of the bad is that no fatal traffic accidents occurred in Orange County over the holiday weekend.
Ten people were killed over the holiday weekend in California, although it is not known if, or how many of these, involved drunk driving accidents. If you are ever in a similar situation in California, consider contacting a Huntington Beach drunk driving accident lawyer. The California Highway Patrol has confirmed that about half of the fatalities that did occur were in those who were not wearing seat belts.
The Reeves Law Group has numerous locations across California and is dedicated to representing personal injury victims and victims of drunk driving accidents. Contact us for a free consultation at (800)644-8000.
Choosing An Attorney Isn’t An Easy Choice – Make the Right Move!
Sep 18, 2009 Auto & Car Crashes, Pedestrian Accidents, Personal Injury, Product Liability
Often, when you or a loved one gets injured, you call a lawyer right away. When choosing a personal injury attorney in Kansas City, contacting a reputable lawyer immediately IS the right move, but be certain that you choose the right one. Is there a difference? There certainly is. When you want maximum compensation and results, you want someone who has vast experience with cases similar to yours.
Any time you file a lawsuit, you run the risk of losing even if you have a very strong case. This is particularly true when you choose to represent yourself, or obtain the services of a lawyer who is not experienced, or has spent no real time inside a court room. Knowledge and expertise make a world of difference when it comes to results you can depend on the be what you desire. Jumping in and calling the first lawyer you come to in the phone book or on the web simply is not beneficial to your case.
A Kansas City personal injury attorney who is well seasoned and has represented hundreds of lawsuits like yours is much more likely to obtain substantial rewards for you. They know every intricate detail of the law, and work aggressively to insure that you win. Every detail of the case, from evidence and witnesses to law enforcement documentation will be scoured with a magnifying glass to insure that no detail goes undetected. Sometimes, it is a minute detail that makes all of the difference in the outcome.
You may have been injured in an auto accident, or perhaps due to a faulty product. Motorcycle wrecks, a slip and fall accident in a slippery area with no warning signs, dog bites, construction site accidents – no matter how you were hurt, if it was the fault of another company or person you deserve compensation not only for your injuries, but for medical bills and often pain and suffering. When you are hurt so severely that you are unable to work, receiving monetary relief is even more crucial.
Whatever your circumstances, do not leave your future hanging in the balance. Serious accidents can cause people to become disable for life, and certainly affects their financial situation. Contact a highly qualified Kansas City personal injury attorney at once, and feel secure that you will be rewarded substantially for all that you have been through.
Tags: choosing an attorney
Woman Sentenced 25 Years to Life in Prison for Role in Bike Accident
Sep 14, 2009 Auto & Car Crashes, Drunk Driving, Pedestrian Accidents, Personal Injury, Wrongful Death - Murder
It was last June that a woman from Buena Park was charged and found guilty of gross vehicular manslaughter for hitting and killing a lone bicyclist. The woman has recently been sentenced to serve 25 years to life in prison for her role in the incident. The accident itself occurred in January of 2007 when the woman, who had been drinking, struck a bicyclist on the road. The bicyclist’s injuries were severe and resulted in her death shortly after the accident. Instead of phoning for help, the motorist broke the law and fled the scene of the crime, leaving the bicyclist seriously injured on the roadside. Police were able to quickly apprehend the motorist and immediately conducted toxicology tests. It turns out that at the time of the accident, she had a blood alcohol level of .18. The legal limit for driving is .08. This means that her blood alcohol level at the time of the crash was over twice the legal limit. This is a terrible accident and hopefully she had a quality dui defense attorney to help her out.
In addition to being drunk on the evening of the accident and then fleeing the scene of the crime, the female motorist had already been involved in two previous accidents in which she had been driving under the influence of alcohol. Both accidents had occurred within the prior five years before the fatal crash. It is likely that the woman had previous received sufficient warning about the dangers of drinking and driving well before she struck and killed the 41-year old bicyclist.
Driving while under the influence of alcohol is not the only way a motorist can risk the life of a bicyclist. Driving while distracted by things on and off the road can also lead to hazardous accidents. As cell phone usage continues to increase across the country, so does the number of accidents that occur involving the injury and even death of bicyclists. Although many drivers are taking precautions by using hands-free Bluetooth devices on the phone, it is still easy for them to become distracted from the road by the conversations in which they are engaging.
Speeding is another common reason behind all types of accidents, especially accidents involving bicycles. It is far too easy for motorists to lose control of their vehicles when speeding, especially if weather conditions are not ideal. The loss of control can lead to major damage and injuries, especially if there is an unsuspecting, unprotected bicyclist involved. There are many people who have been injured in bicycle accidents that have turned to fullerton bicycle accident injury attorneys for help in getting damages and compensation for their injuries. These types of accidents can result in major, long-term medical bills that could potentially bankrupt an individual or family. With the help of bicycle accident attorneys, however, victims are often able to be compensated with damages by those who were directly responsible for the accident. These damages can help cover medical costs in both the present and the future in the instance that injuries are severe and long-lasting.
Pre-Settlement Funding – Get The Money You Need Without Risk!
Sep 10, 2009 Legal Finance
If you are involved in a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit, you may find yourself short on money. Pre-settlement funding is an option that allows you to get the funds you need for monthly household bills and other expenses with no risk involved. If you have never heard of this or believe it may benefit you, read on.
Litigation funding companies offer financial aid to those who are involved in lawsuits and find themselves short on money. Those involved in personal injury cases are particularly susceptible to this problem, as sometimes the injuries they sustained prevent them from working. This means that money is short, and the monthly bills keep rolling in. You don’t want to take out a loan at the bank, because you cannot afford another monthly payment – plus all of the red tape required to even get the money.
Pre-settlement funding is offered by companies who review the details of your lawsuit in order to determine if it merits obtaining lawsuit loans. While this term sounds as though you will be paying monthly installments, you do not. You do not owe a dime to the litigation funding company until your case is final. Even at that point, if for some reason you do not win you owe no money – not one dime – back to the company. This helps put your mind at ease, knowing that if you do not prevail you will not owe yet another debt.
You may find yourself needing help with medical bills, attorney fees, household bills and perhaps even vehicle repair expenses. Often, a litigant feels they must settle out of court with the insurance companies, simply because they feel they do not have the finances to continue so that the judge or jury can determine the outcome. This often means that you end up with a considerably less amount of money than you would have won had you been able to proceed with your lawsuit.
If pre-settlement funding sounds like a plan that would benefit you and help you continue your lawsuit, it is a very simple and quick process. If you qualify, you will receive your money the very next day. Your attorney can submit the required paperwork, and you don’t have to worry about your credit ratings, previous employment or even bankruptcy – none of this affects whether or not you are eligible.
Are you involved in a lawsuit, but feel that your financial situation may force you to settle out of court? Learn more online about litigation funding, or contact your attorney to determine if pre-settlement funding may be a good solution to your dilemma. You should not settle with insurance companies for less than you really deserve unless you have exhausted all of your options!
Tags: Get Money From Injury Settlements, lawsuit loans, pre-settlement funding
Motorcycle Accidents Kills Driver in San Jose, California
Sep 8, 2009 Auto & Car Crashes, Personal Injury, Wrongful Death - Murder
A woman was killed just days ago in a motorcycle accident off of highway 101 in San Jose, California. The 57-year old woman, who was from Fremont, was driving her motorcycle down the freeway when, for one reason or another, she lost control of the bike. It is unclear at this point whether or not she may have hit an object in the road that caused her to lose control and be ejected from the bike. She was thrown dozens of feet from the motorcycle as she began to exit off the freeway and onto Story Road ramp heading for highway 101. Her injuries proved to be fatal.
There were no other vehicles involved in the accident and the only information police can rely on at this point is the information given them by witnesses to the crash. Toxicology reports are being conducted to determine whether alcohol or drug use may have been a factor in the accident, but it will be several weeks before those test results will be available for analysis. Police are also factoring in driver distraction as a potential catalyst for the accident. Driver distraction leads to a number of accidents every year, especially when drivers are talking on or texting with their cell phones.
As the number of vehicular accidents has been steadily decreasing over the years, the amount of motorcycle accidents that occur continue to increase. In fact, over 14 percent of all accidents that occur each year are motorcycle accidents. Typically the causes for these accidents can be traced to other drivers. Motorcyclists often become the unfortunate and ill-fated victims of all types of vehicular accidents, including drunk driving accidents. All types of accidents can leave a motorcyclist seriously injured or dead because of the lack of protection these types of drivers have against other vehicles. Besides a helmet, motorcyclists really have no other source of protection on which they can rely to shield them from severe injury. Although helmets have been proven to help protect accident victims from incurring severe head injuries, they by no means protect every accident victim from every fatal injury they could incur in a motorcycle accident.
Because there were no other vehicles involved in the motorcycle accident that left this 57-year old woman dead, police are investigating other reasons behind the crash. There may have been a defect in either the bike itself or in one or both of the woman’s tires that caused the bike to lose control. If it is determined that this is the case, the manufacturer of the tires or the manufacturer of the motorcycle could be held liable for the accident that caused her death. It is typically with the help of personal injury lawyers and wrongful death lawyers that those found to be liable for vehicular accidents are held responsible for those accidents and the resulting injuries or deaths. If any particular party or entity is found to be responsible for the death of this woman, San Jose personal injury attorneys could potentially help her loved ones receive compensation.
Eight-Year Old Girl Dies in Rollover Accident in Modesto, California
Sep 8, 2009 Auto & Car Crashes, Wrongful Death - Murder
Just a few days ago an 8-year old girl was killed when the car in which she was riding was involved in a rollover accident in Modesto, California. The girl was riding in an SUV driven by a woman from Turlock on Sunday when the vehicle apparently began to shake and shudder. Before the driver realized what was going on, one of the tires on the left side of the vehicle blew out. The woman slammed on her brakes as the SUV lost control, but the vehicle swerved sharply to the right and rolled into an embankment off of the highway.
The driver sustained moderate injuries, as did another adult in the car that was her passenger, and both were taken immediately to the hospital. The little girl, however, was not so lucky. Rescuers were unable to save her and she died from her injuries at the scene of the accident. Thus far the California Highway Patrol does not believe that there was any drinking of alcohol involved in or before the accident. According to reports thus far, the tire blowout was responsible for the vehicle’s loss of control and the rollover crash.
Rollover crashed are some of the most dangerous that occur in California and elsewhere every year. These crashes are so hazardous because of the potential for roof crushes to occur. Roof crushes occur when a vehicle rolls over and the roof of that vehicle is crushed into the cab of the car. These types of accidents will often involved the serious injury or even death of the occupants in the vehicle. It has become increasingly more obvious that rollover accidents occur most frequently to SUV’s and other large vehicles. Although SUV’s are typically heavier than smaller sedans and coupes, they also have a higher center of gravity, making it easier for them to flip and roll in a serious accident.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conducted studies in 2005 that showed that nearly 60 percent of the fatal victims of SUV’s accidents that year were killed in rollover accidents. A number of these accidents occurred because of tire blowouts on these vehicles. There are a number of different reasons why these tire blowouts could occur, one of which is faulty manufacturing by either the manufacturer of the vehicle or the manufacturer of the tire. Either or both could directly or indirectly be responsible for the safety and reliability of the tires on the vehicle. Another potential reason could be highway debris or weather conditions.
If you’ve had a loved one that has been killed in a rollover accident, you should contact a Los Angeles wrongful death lawyer that specializes in fatal vehicular accidents. Your lawyer will have helped potentially hundreds of clients like yourself who are the ones left behind following the death of a loved one. He or she can help you find out who is truly responsible for the accident that caused the loss of your relative.
