According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, San Francisco’s cable cars are among the most accident-prone means of mass transportation in the country─averaging one accident every month, per vehicle mile traveled annually. San Francisco city officials acknowledge the cable cars have safety issues. The city has reported 126 accidents injuring 151 people over the last 10 years. According to the Associated Press, public records show the city paid nearly $8 million to settle about four dozen legal claims generated by cable car passengers. The city pays $12 million annually to settle all claims relating to its mass transportation system, which includes cable cars, electric street cars and buses. Federal transportation accident statistics document 19 injuries and 16 cable car accidents last year, the second highest amount reported in the last 10 years. There were 36 cable car accidents reported in 2004. Recently, a cable car came to a sudden stop, injuring five passengers and two cable car workers, who suffered facial and internal injuries, including cracked ribs, transit officials reported. The incident occurred after the cable car slammed into a bolt in the track. Legal settlements for injuries sustained aboard the cable car have ranged from $4 million to $2,500. If you or a loved one has been hurt in a San Francisco cable car accident, you may be entitled to compensation. Estey & Bomberger [...] Read more »
Nearly 200,000 pounds of frozen chicken quesadillas and other meals are being recalled by Rich Products after an outbreak of E.coli The company is recalling all food products made at its Waycross, GA food plant, according to a company press release posted on the Food and Drug Administration website. The company voluntarily conducted the recall after health officials linked the E. coli outbreak to a package of quesadillas. Testing conducted by the New York State Department of Health, Wadsworth Center Laboratory, identified the outbreak strain of STEC O121 in an open package of Farm Rich brand frozen quesadillas from an ill person’s home, according to a statement on the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website. The outbreak includes reports of tainted foods from 15 states and 24 individuals who have been sickened – seven of whom have been hospitalized, according to the CDC. The E. coli O121 strain is reported to be among a potentially lethal group of bacteria known as Shiga-toxin producing E. coli or STECs. While the most people recover from STEC strains within seven days, some can become severely ill with a complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome – which causes kidney failure. None of the 24 illnesses have been linked to the products included in the Rich recall, according to a company spokesman Products included in the recall are sold under the [...] Read more »
TECATE – A 31-year-old San Diego woman tragically died Sunday after a collision on the 94 Freeway, CBS 8 News reported. The woman was riding a motorcycle eastbound on the 94 when she was cut off by a Ford F-150 truck making a left turn from Emery Road onto westbound 94. The CHP said the female motorcyclist, who was wearing full safety gear, had no time to swerve out of the path of the pickup and collided with the driver’s side of the vehicle. The driver of the Ford -150 suffered only minor injuries from the broken glass. The CHP is investigating the cause of the fatal crash. The collision was reported at 12:20 p.m. on March 3, 2013. According to the CHP, it did not appear that drugs or alcohol were a factor in the collision.
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY – A 54-year-old Walnut Creek, CA man accused of fatally striking a Santa Barbara math teacher last September has pleaded not guilty in Contra Costa County Superior Court, Mercury News reported. The defendant, Hossein Tabrizi, was allegedly under the influence of the anti-anxiety medication Lorazepam when he allowed his pickup truck to go onto a sidewalk and strike 52-year-old Sherry Hicks, and her 24-year-old daughter-in-law, Sheng Hahn. According to the news report, just prior to the accident, Tabrizi had been seen passed out behind the wheel at a downtown stoplight. A concerned citizen shook him awake, and he continued on his way. He was pulled over by police and released after passing a field sobriety test. The fatal crash that killed Sherry Hicks occurred just a few moments later.
SAN DIEGO – Last month, a San Diego jury awarded $120,000 to a woman who was bit by a pit bull at a party. In 2009, the victim attended a house party in the defendant’s home. After a noise complaint by neighbors, the party was brought inside. The woman went to smoke in what she thought was another room, but accidentally entered the garage, where she was attacked by the defendant’s pit bull. She suffered injuries to her lip and chin requiring plastic surgery. Four and a half hours after the attack, the plaintiff’s blood alcohol level was .189 at the hospital emergency room. At trial, the defendants contended that the plaintiff was contributorily negligent and her injuries resulted from the fact that she opened the wrong door due to her level of intoxication. The jury found no contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiff despite her level of intoxication at the time.
Two survivors of the Super Bowl Sunday tour bus crash in Yucaipa have filed a lawsuit, the Long Beach Press Telegram reported February 22nd. The two individuals, Pamela Morales, and her mother Guillermina Morales, filed the complaint in San Bernardino Superior Court on Friday morning. The complaint alleged that the bus companies involved were negligent and failed to properly maintain their vehicles. Seven people died in the crash including Fred Frichardson, 72, the driver of a pickup truck that was struck head-on by the bus after it went out of control. There were 38 passengers on the bus, which had gone from Tijuana to Big Bear Lake, and was making it’s way back to Mexico when the driver lost control of the bus at about 6:30 p.m. on Highway 38, northeast of Bryant Street. Guillermina Morales suffered a fractured leg, pelvis and arm in the crash.
ORANGE COUNTY – In December, an Orange County jury awarded $59,742 to a 25-year-old man who was struck by an SUV in 2010 in a Newport Beach crosswalk. The victim suffered a fractured cheekbone, broken teeth, and assorted scrapes and bruises. Prior to trial, the defendant offered $5,000 to the plaintiff. The jury found the plaintiff was 30% negligent. After reduction for contributory negligence, the plaintiff received $41,819.00
PHILADELPHIA – A wrongful death lawsuit was filed last week by the family of a Claymont, Delaware man who died in May 2012 after being crushed by a roll of newsprint about to be unloaded from a train car at the printing plant for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News. Defendants in the suit include Arcellor-Mittal, the Great Northern Paper Co., and Philadelphia Media Network and Philadelphia Newspapers, former owners of The Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News. According to the suit, Jefferson Troester, 43, an assistant engineer with Arcellor-Mittal Railways, Inc. was opening the doors of a rail car when two rolls of 4-foot by 4-foot newsprint fell out, each weighing approximately 1,500 pounds. One of the rolls landed on Troester. The roll was so heavy that getting it off of Troester’s body took several hours. The lawsuit alleged that the defendants failed to secure the newsprint rolls in the train, causing them to move around during transport. The suit also alleged that there was no procedure in place for safely opening the doors.
LAS VEGAS – Last week a father filed a wrongful death lawsuit following his 7-year-old son’s death on November 30, 2012. In the days leading up to Roderic “RJ” Arrington’s death, officials at his school reported suspicions of abuse to county child welfare personnel. According to the lawsuit, school officials had observed “extensive scarring” on RJ’s back. RJ had allegedly told school officials that when he got in trouble, his mom and her boyfriend would hit him with a broom handle, TV cord, belt or spatula. The boy’s mother and her boyfriend have been charged with murder and two counts of child abuse. They are named as defendants in the lawsuit, along with the state of Nevada, state Division of Child and Family Services, Clark County, Clark County Department of Family Services, Clark County Child Protective Services and the Clark County School District.
FLORIDA — A wrongful death settlement has been reached over the 2009 death of a mentally handicapped man who died after he was repeatedly pepper sprayed in a Florida jail, Naples News reported. The victim, Nicholas Christie, was reportedly stripped naked and pepper sprayed 10 times over the course of 43 hours. The 7-figure settlement came as the case was scheduled to head to trial next month.
