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Author: Kohan & Bablove Injury Attorneys

Kohan & Bablove Injury Attorneys was founded by three former defense attorneys who were tired of helping insurance companies and big corporations save money by paying the least amount possible to resolve claims. We wanted to open a law firm where we could use our years of experience handling the toughest and largest claims to benefit the individual. Each of us were tired of being cogs in the wheel that focused on paying the least amount possible to injured persons regardless of injuries or the validity of their claims.

The death toll from the crash of a small plane near Riverside Municipal Airport has now risen to four. The most recent victim, a woman in her forties, had suffered serious burns over 90 percent of her body during the crash. She had remained in critical condition and been on a ventilator and feeding tube since the accident, and when a third round of surgery brought no improvement, her family chose to take her off life support. The remaining survivor has shown improvement and been moved to a hospital closer to her home.

A Tragedy for Passengers and Residents

The five people on board the plane, a Cessna 310, were beginning the return trip to San Jose after watching a cheerleading competition held at a Disney park when the plane crashed about one mile from the airport shortly after takeoff. Three of the victims died in the crash.

Initial reports had created confusion about the identity of the victims and the survivors, suggesting that some had been teens from the competition or residents on the ground. All were adults on the plane, however, ranging in age from twenty-two to eighty-three.

The plane came down in a residential neighborhood and damaged three homes with an explosion that felt to some residents like an earthquake. Two homes and at least one parked car were completely destroyed in the fire that followed the crash, but fortunately, there were no injuries or deaths on the ground, although at least one resident was in one of the houses at the time. This was the second crash of a small plane in the neighborhood in two years, which has some residents worried about their safety.

Investigation Underway

A witness at the airport has told investigators that the pilot had difficulty starting the aircraft’s engine, and that the group left in a hurry to take advantage of a break in the day’s rainy weather. There has been no official word on the cause of the crash, which is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The NTSB investigation will probably take more than a year to complete and will be as thorough as possible, looking into every detail of the crash, including weather, the state of the aircraft (the plane had been built in 1974), and pilot experience (it was unclear from reports if the lone survivor was the pilot or a passenger).

The NTSB has its hands full investigating this type of crash. A 2013 investigation found that there are as many as five small plane crashes every day in the United States, accounting for up to 97 percent of all aviation accidents and as many as 500 deaths each year.

California Plane Crash Lawyer

When you’ve been the victim of an accident involving an aircraft, it’s vitally important that you get experienced help as you take action to recover compensation for the property damage and injuries caused. The team at Kohan & Bablove Injury Attorneys understands the practice of plane accident law, and we offer each client a free consultation to go over the details of his or her unique case. Call us today at 949.535.1341 or contact us online through the form below to schedule an appointment.

When a motorist is injured by a distracted driver, it’s not unusual for legal action to follow as the victim seeks to recover compensation for the property damage and injuries caused in the auto crash. Sometimes others with potential involvement in the crash are included in the suit, and their specific responsibilities in causing the crash are described in the case.

A suit filed by a California man in January goes further, arguing that computer and device maker Apple, by refusing to implement lockout technology that it has already developed, is in part responsible for an epidemic of injuries and deaths caused by distracted driving crashes. The plaintiff, who was personally harmed when a distracted driver on an Apple iPhone rear-ended him at a traffic light, claims that the company’s inaction has enabled “massive carnage” on American roadways.

 

Class Action Requested

The suit has been filed as a class action, describing as possible plaintiffs “all California residents whose safety has been put at risk as a result of Apple’s failure to install ‘lockout devices’ on their iPhones.” If that sounds like a large number, it is. But the filing includes some math to justify this broad eligibility. Based on estimates for distracted driving crashes and their causes, as well as the market share of Apple’s iPhone, the suit claims that at least 52,000 accidents are caused by drivers using iPhones in California every year.

 

The Potential to Prevent

At the heart of the suit is the assertion that despite having a patent since 2014 on technology that would lock out texting and other risky functions when a cell phone is used in a car, Apple has made no moves to actually install this feature on its devices. It alleges that Apple is concerned about the possible loss of market share if it did this, and so it has sacrificed public safety for profit.

Features like a speed lockout are not unheard of. Some individual apps, such as Pokémon Go, already have them. That app essentially shuts down if the user tries to play while travelling faster than 30 mph. Other apps, such as Snapchat (which actually has a feature that some say encourages users to drive at high speed), have not taken steps to prevent their being used unsafely. Individuals have caused crashes because they were using the app and been prosecuted, but at least one attempt to hold Snapchat legally responsible has failed.

 

Serious Distraction

Distracted driving has become a major cause of auto accidents. Research suggests that more than 660,000 drivers are on their devices at any given moment. In 2014 more than 430,000 people were injured and nearly 3,200 were killed in crashes involving distracted drivers. In 13 percent of those crashes, one or both drivers were using cell phones. All indications are that these numbers will continue to rise.

 

Orange County Auto Accident Lawyer

No matter what caused the crash, when you’ve been the victim of a motor vehicle accident you need to pursue compensation for any damages and injuries you suffer. Turn to a firm with experience in automobile accident law. Kohan & Bablove, Injury Attorneys offers a free consultation to all clients to discuss their case and explain how we might be able to help. Call today at 949.535.1341 or contact us online through the form below to schedule your appointment.

Speak to an experience auto accident lawyer below:

Kohan & Bablove Injury Attorneys
Address: 20371 Irvine Ave Suite 110, Newport Beach, CA 92660
Phone: +1 949.535.1341

A Los Angeles grocery store chain found itself looking more like the Grinch than Santa Claus this winter when an ingredient it sold for a traditional holiday meal turned out to be rotten. Hundreds of customers demanded refunds, complaining that something was wrong with the masa they’d purchased from the Amapola market in Downey.

The problem, customers said, ruined numerous holiday meals and in some cases made customers or their family members sick. The company has said that it will give refunds to affected customers, but the rotten ingredient resulted in some families not having any food on the table at Christmas.

 

Bad Masa the Problem

The main ingredient in the affected people’s traditional Christmas tamales, masa, caused their tamales to turn out inedible. No one seems quite sure what happened, but the masa sold at Amapola’s Downey store two days before Christmas seems to have been the bad batch.

The company said it believes that particular masa was made from a batch of “defective corn” sold to it by a longtime supplier. Amapola has stated that it doesn’t believe there are any health risks from the bad masa, it’s just low-quality and tastes bad. A company executive issued an apology and promised that refunds would be made to all affected customers.

 

Sizeable Refunds

Due to both the festive nature and size of the holiday tamale meal, as well as the fact that some customers buy masa from Amapola for tamales that they make and sell on to others, many of the refunds are not pocket change.

A local reporter talked with customers who had spent between $150 and $400 on masa at the store, and at least one of these had gone on to lose important holiday business because the tamales she’d made could not be sold. Amapola, in fact, ran out of cash on the first day it was giving refunds.

 

Food Safety Always a Concern

Overall, the United States has a very safe food production and distribution system, but that doesn’t mean it’s 100 percent problem-free. In fact, it’s not uncommon for there to be more than one recall in a single day, although many of these aren’t because the food is contaminated, but instead because the ingredient labels are incomplete and might not show possible allergens. A situation with outright bad or spoiled food, such as the Amapola masa, is less common.

Sometimes the problem is bacterial contamination, as happened in a number of Chipotle restaurants in 2015. More than 500 people became ill in those incidents, and close to 100 received financial compensation from Chipotle. Similar to the Amapola case, many of those Chipotle customers remained loyal to the restaurant, despite the illness it caused them.

 

Orange County Personal Injury Lawyer

The Amapola masa case seems so far to hav  e caused no serious or permanent harm. But other cases of bad food products don’t always end that way. Sometimes people are seriously injured or even die because of contaminated food products.

Businesses will often try to do the right thing when a customer is harmed by a spoiled or contaminated food product, but even so, it’s important to have help when you’re seeking a settlement that will cover the costs of restoring your health or correcting the damage done to your business.

If you’ve been harmed or made ill by a food product, give us a call. Kohan & Bablove Injury Attorneys understands the practice of personal injury law, whether it involves a motor vehicle accident, a workplace injury, or a case of food poisoning. We consult free of charge with every new client to learn the details of every case. Contact us online through the form below or call 949.535.1341 today to schedule an appointment.

Employers have argued for decades that their duty of care when it comes to exposure to toxic substances, such as asbestos, ends with their workers and is restricted to their own physical premises. The courts have largely accepted this argument, ruling in favor of employers who have been sued in personal injury or wrongful death cases by family members and others who were exposed to substances brought home on workers’ clothing.

The Supreme Court of California, however, has recently ruled that a business can be held liable in this situation. The court declared that when a substance is known to have toxic effects, it’s foreseeable that a worker can carry that substance off-site on his or her clothing and cause others to be exposed to it. Employers have a duty of reasonable care to make sure that this doesn’t happen, and they can be held liable when they don’t meet this duty and someone off their premises is harmed by material that originated there.

 

Asbestos Specifically at Issue

The Court had two cases before it, each involving the death of a family member who became ill after long–term secondary exposure to asbestos. Just as secondary smoke from cigarettes can cause harm, the second-hand exposure to asbestos in a person’s clothing can be a danger to others.

While the danger of asbestos has been known for a very long time, and the use of it has been scaled back or ended in many applications, serious health effects can take years to manifest. It’s estimated that even today between 12,000 and 15,000 people die each year of asbestos-related ailments such as mesothelioma. Some of them, as in the cases reviewed by the Court, did not even work directly with asbestos but were exposed second-hand through a spouse or relative.

 

Extension of Liability

The Court decided unanimously that many issues are at play in cases like this, but that certain principles apply in all cases. The physical boundaries of an employer or premises owner do not limit liability, for example, nor does a worker at a site have to be an explicit employee of the business in question. The duty of care, the Court stated, also applies whether the lawsuit involves a claim of negligence or a claim of premises liability; the responsibility of an employer or owner should be treated the same in either situation.

 

Orange County Premises Liability and Workplace Injury Lawyer

Legal cases of premises liability often involve simple issues, such as broken sidewalks or unsafe structures or other obviously dangerous conditions which have led to an injury. But sometimes there are more complex considerations, as this decision shows.

If you or a loved one have been harmed while on another’s property by hazardous conditions that should have been corrected, it’s important to enlist the aid of an experienced premises liability and workplace injury attorney to press your claim. Kohan & Bablove Injury Attorneys understands these cases, whether it’s something as simple as a fall down an unlighted set of stairs or as complex as a take-home asbestos toxicity case. Give us a call today at 949.535.1341 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation to discuss your situation.

The family of a California teen who died after suffering a serious traumatic brain injury while on a party bus may now be able to put some of the pain of this tragedy behind them. In a lawsuit filed against the tour operator, a jury recently awarded the family a $26 million judgment, finding the operator responsible for the young man’s death.

 

Never Recovered from Head Injury

The accident took place on July 10, 2014, during a “sweet sixteen” party held in part on a double-decker bus. Mason Zisette of Manhattan Beach, then sixteen, was attending the rolling party, which had already made several stops and taken a tour of Hollywood.

On its return, the bus entered the 405 freeway and reportedly reached speeds of up to sixty miles per hour. Around 7:25 p.m., Mason was standing on the top deck of the southbound bus looking north when it went beneath an overpass. His head struck the bottom of the overpass. He suffered a severe brain injury and lost consciousness, dying two days later when life support was withdrawn.

 

Lapses, Poor Judgment, Finger Pointing

Many issues were raised in the case and many allegations were made that ultimately convinced the jury to side with the family. One claim in the case was that the double-decker bus was too high for that stretch of road and never should have been on it. Another was that a parent host of the party, who was present on the bus, had provided alcohol to the teens and encouraged them to drink.

The defense attempted to blame the teen’s death on his own actions, including alcohol consumption, but the jury wasn’t swayed: While it assigned 5 percent of the responsibility of his death to the teen, the hosting parent was found 25 percent responsible, with the remaining 70 percent falling on the bus operator.

During the trial, the bus driver and the tour guide assigned to the bus each claimed that the other was responsible for passenger safety. The tour guide also testified that he had never received safety training and admitted that he was unaware that the upper deck of the bus even had seat belts until after the accident.

 

History on the Plaintiff’s Side

The bus operator, Starline Tours, could have learned from past experience. Nearly nine months before the Zisette tragedy, a woman suffered skull fractures and permanent vision damage after being struck by a tree branch while riding on the top deck of a Starline bus. The victim in that case won a $3.5 million verdict just over a year before the conclusion of the Zisette trial.

 

Orange County Brain Injury Lawyer

Head injuries of all kinds can be serious, even when there are few obvious signs of damage. When Mason Zisette was injured, it was reported that those around him thought he had only sustained a bump on the head. Yet the damage to his brain was so severe that he never regained consciousness. Even when not fatal, a traumatic brain injury can cause permanent damage and require an extensive recovery.

If you or someone close to you has sustained a brain injury, contact  Kohan & Bablove Injury Attorneys to arrange a free consultation to find out if we can help. Our firm has extensive experience in the practice of brain injury law. Call us at 949.535.1341 or contact us online through the form on this page to learn more.

A San Diego woman was killed last month when her car was struck head-on by a minivan being driven the wrong way on Camino del Norte. The victim, Sarita Shakya, died at the scene, but the driver of the other vehicle, who is suspected of drunk driving, survived the crash with severe injuries. The crash occurred in 4S Ranch, shortly before midnight on December 17.

It was reported that the other driver was placed under arrest for vehicular homicide and other charges after she was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla.

 

Heartbreaking Loss for the Family

Shakya was a nurse at Scripps Mercy Hospital in Hillcrest and also the mother of a four-year-old daughter. Her loss will leave a hole in the lives of her family and others who knew her. Shakya was known in her community as a dedicated healthcare professional, and she had even appeared on the local news welcoming back a medical team returning from relief efforts in Nepal after a major earthquake there in 2015. Shakya was originally from Nepal herself, although San Diego had been her home for some time.

 

Wrong-Way Wrecks Deadly

The type of crash that led to Shakya’s tragic death is all-too-common. On December 7, a man caused a wrong-way crash on the I-5 in Sacramento. His car rolled and caught fire after the crash, causing a shutdown of the highway, but all involved suffered only minor injuries. The driver in that case reportedly scuffled with police after the crash and was hit with a Taser discharge. He died shortly afterward, and the incident is now under investigation.

Closer to the 4S Ranch crash, a ninety-three-year-old man died in November when his jeep, traveling the wrong way on I-805 north of San Diego, struck a barrier and another car. The driver of the other car suffered moderate injuries.

Wrong-way crashes were such a problem around San Diego in 2015 that Caltrans has launched a pilot program on some area highways in an effort to reduce the danger. Thirteen people died in wrong-way crashes on San Diego freeways that year. It’s not yet clear if the 2016 tally will be an improvement.

 

California Car Accident Lawyer

All motor vehicle accidents that lead to injury or death are terrible for those involved, but wrong-way crashes can be some of the hardest to bear. The victims often have little or no time to react because of the surprise factor and the speeds involved, which is part of the reason why the fatality rate in wrong-way incidents is much higher than in other crash types.

When you’ve been in an auto wreck caused by another driver, it’s important to have experienced help on your side when you make a claim to recover financial damages for the losses you’ve suffered. Kohan & Bablove, Injury Attorneys understands the practice of automobile accident law, and we offer all clients a free consultation to discuss the details of their case and help them understand what to expect as the process moves forward. Call us today at 949.535.1341 or contact us online through the form below to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation.

A driver died in a still-unexplained single-vehicle crash last week when his car left the 805 freeway and landed in the backyard of an Otay Mesa family’s home. Sometime late on the night of the December 13 or early on the morning of December 14, the car crashed into the property, which is adjacent to the ramp where southbound I-805 connects to westbound California 905.

 

Crash Not Discovered for Several Hours

The car, a 2012 Chevrolet Malibu, was discovered wedged against a tree around 11:00 a.m. last Wednesday morning when the owner of the property went outside to turn off his Christmas lights, which had been left on overnight.

It’s not clear when the crash happened, because the homeowner was out that evening and there were apparently no witnesses to the accident. Reports have speculated that the crash probably took place between 10:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. After the car was discovered, a neighbor remembered hearing what sounded like a tire blowout around 11:00 p.m. the night before.

The victim of the crash, later identified as a Chula Vista resident, was found about fifty feet from the vehicle and had probably been ejected during the crash.

 

Homeowner Worried for Safety

This is the first time a car has ended up in the homeowner’s yard, but he’s been worried about this kind of problem for some time: Two people died in a crash eight years ago when their car left the 805 and struck the same tree.

The homeowner guessed that the car might actually have rolled off the highway, because it seemed to have done little damage to a fence between his property and the road before it came to rest at the tree and a retaining wall.

Photos from the scene show the car not far from the house itself. Had the car not been stopped by the tree and gone only a few yards more, it could have smashed right into the master bedroom.

 

Vehicle-Building Crashes Serious

There’s no solid data for how many times each year a car or other vehicle crashes into a house, but one organization collects that information for businesses. According to the Storefront Safety Council, a commercial building is struck by a vehicle as many as sixty times each day, leading to up to 500 deaths, more than 4,000 serious injuries, and millions of dollars in property damage annually. They suspect that the numbers for residences might be double that of businesses.

Some homes are more at risk than others. One San Jose house has been hit nineteen times since its current owners moved in sometime in the 1950s. It wasn’t reported if any of those crashes involved fatalities.

 

Orange County Car Crash Lawyers

When you’ve been the victim of an auto accident, whether you were in another vehicle, a pedestrian, or simply at home minding your own business, an important part of putting your life back on track is recovering damages from the responsible party. Choosing an attorney with the right experience is essential.

At Kohan & Bablove Injury Attorneys, we understand the complexities of automobile accident law, even in cases where the collision involves something other than another vehicle, such as a house or other building. Give us a call today at 949.535.1341 or contact us online through the form below to schedule a free consultation to discuss your specific situation and to learn how we might help.

Speak to an experience auto accident lawyer below:

Kohan & Bablove Injury Attorneys
Address: 20371 Irvine Ave Suite 110, Newport Beach, CA 92660
Phone: +1 949.535.1341

Thirty-six people are confirmed to have died in an Oakland warehouse fire at a makeshift nightclub called the Ghost Ship, making this one of the worst fires in recent history. Party-goers were trapped inside, with many victims dying of asphyxiation.

 

Interior Conditions a Hazard

It took hours for the fire to be put out, and the fortunate ones who escaped looked on as black smoke poured from the warehouse windows. Firefighters rescued as many people as they could, but their job was made harder due to the interior of the warehouse. Instead of one large open space, it was made up of numerous artist studios and small spaces that were difficult to get to.

To make matters worse, the first and second floor were connected by a staircase made up of wooden pallets. Both flimsy and highly flammable, this may have contributed to the high number of injuries and deaths, as it was hard enough for people to escape. On top of that, the entire building only had two exits.

The truth is that the Ghost Ship never would have been approved as a nightclub because it did not meet fire and safety codes, making it entirely unsafe, as proven by this disastrous fire.

 

Numerous Wrongful Deaths

The Ghost Ship warehouse fire is one of the worst of its kind in decades. The building is no longer sound structurally, the roof has collapsed, and there is debris everywhere. Because of this, the police are having difficulty accessing all of the areas inside without putting their own crews in jeopardy. They think that up to forty people may have died in the fire.

For the families of those missing, this is a horrific tragedy that goes beyond the imagination. Many are still waiting to know if there loved one was killed in the fire and waiting for bodies to be recovered. Families are providing information on distinguishing characteristics, such as tattoos and piercings that can be used to identify bodies, something no family member should ever have to do.

 

What Now for Survivors and Families?

The families of deceased victims are now grappling with significant losses. As in any accident’s aftermath, the question now becomes a matter of what to do next. Accident victims and surviving family members need to know what their legal rights are.

In the case of a victim’s family, there may be an option to file a wrongful death lawsuit. Spouses, children, and other financial dependents may be able to sue the negligent party whose actions or inaction caused their loved one to die. These cases are complex, but when negligence is involved, it may be the only way to really hold the other party accountable.

 

Orange County Wrongful Death and Premises Liability Attorneys

In the example of the Oakland warehouse fire, the entity throwing the party, the owner of the warehouse, and anyone responsible for starting the fire could be found negligent and held accountable.

While sometimes law enforcement is involved, charges are not always pressed, and even if they are and a conviction is had, that doesn’t do anything financially for a victim’s family. This is why at Kohan & Bablove Injury Attorneys, we encourage you to call 949.535.1341 or complete the form below to schedule a free consultation to discuss the possibility of filing a lawsuit.

At least eleven people have died in the United States as the result of a particular defective product—and one that you may not suspect. The very airbags that are installed in cars to keep people safe have been killing people. This does not apply to all airbags, only those manufactured by the Takata Corporation.

In perhaps one of the largest examples ever of a bad product going to market, manufacturers have been forced to recall millions of vehicles, but for some people, those recalls are too little, too late.

Ms. Delia Robles is the latest victim. She was killed while driving her Honda Civic in California. A truck turned left in front of her, and she was unable to stop in time to prevent a collision. According to her family, she would have been driving at 25 miles per hour. While traditionally a slow speed, the crash was nonetheless fatal due in large part to the defective airbag that inflated.

 

Defective Product

The Takata airbags are defective because the metal canister can explode, sending shrapnel throughout the vehicle. Ammonium nitrate creates that small explosion, but given its sensitivity to heat and humidity, it tends to burn too quickly, causing the explosion.

This is perhaps the largest recall in history, with over 100 million inflators being recalled worldwide.

 

Warning from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Concerns over Takata’s airbags have existed since at least 2008. However, with the death toll mounting, the NHTSA conducted additional tests, concluding that the airbags are extremely dangerous due to the Takata inflators.

Their reports show that there is a fifty percent chance of the inflator exploding if you get into a crash. Those are terrible odds. For unsuspecting drivers like Ms. Robles, those odds resulted in a sudden wrongful death and significant grief for her surviving family members.

The recalls extend to Honda Civics, Accords, Acuras, Odysseys, CR-Vs, and Pilots that were manufactured between 2001 and 2003.

 

Is Your Honda Safe?

There were around one million Hondas sold that were equipped with the defective and dangerous airbags. Driving one of these vehicles is unwise because you could be putting your life and the life of your family at risk.

The best way to find out if your car is part of the recall is to visit safercar.gov. You can enter your vehicle identification number (VIN) and the site will let you know whether there have been any recalls issued that affect your vehicle. At least 300,000 vehicles have not been repaired yet—and yours could be one of them.

 

Your Rights in a Defective Product Case

As a consumer, you have the right to expect the products you use to be safe, especially if you are using them as intended. A defective airbag, or any defective product, can put that trust in jeopardy—and your wellbeing at risk.

If you are then harmed by the defect, you have the right to sue the product’s manufacturer. Additionally, if you are the family member of an accident victim who died, you could sue on behalf of their estate. It is necessary to hold negligent manufacturers accountable so that they do not continue to put people at risk by selling a faulty product or device.

 

Get Help from an Orange County Product Liability Attorney

If you or someone you love was injured due to a defective airbag or any other bad product, call Kohan & Bablove Injury Attorneys at 1-844-326-4771 or contact us using the form below.

One of our attorneys can answer your questions, provide you with sound legal advice, and represent you both during negotiations and in court.

Four students were injured last week when they were struck by a car and debris from a crash outside Ayala High School in Chino Hills. One of the pedestrians was seriously injured and had to be airlifted to a nearby trauma center; the others received only minor injuries and did not require hospitalization. The driver of the car, which caught fire after the crash, was also airlifted to a hospital with moderate injuries.

Initial reports of the crash were unclear on the number of vehicles and pedestrians involved, but it now appears that a single driver lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a light pole. Debris from the shattered pole hit three of the pedestrians, who were on the sidewalk, while the car itself struck the fourth.

The cause of the crash is not yet known, but it’s been reported that the driver had been behaving erratically and caused two other minor property damage crashes just before injuring the pedestrians.

 

California Dangerous for Pedestrians

While this accident was unusual because of the high number of pedestrians involved, crashes involving people on foot are unfortunately common. Nationwide, more than 70,000 pedestrians were injured and 5,376 were killed in motor vehicle crashes last year, the most since 1996. California saw 742 of those fatalities. In 2013, the most recent year with complete data, San Bernardino County (where Chino Hills is located) saw 363 pedestrians either injured or killed in crashes—that’s nearly one per day.

 

Car Safety Improving, but Not for Pedestrians

The safety of passenger vehicles has been steadily improving for some time now, and the United States has seen a consistent downward trend in crash fatalities for a number of years. Much of this has been the result of improved safety features such as airbags and antilock brakes.

However, almost nothing has been done to make vehicles safer for pedestrians involved in crashes. So while the number of crash deaths has been declining, the proportion of those deaths suffered by pedestrians has been increasing. In fact, for 2015, it jumped 10 percent to reach the highest total deaths since 1996 and the largest proportion of overall traffic fatalities in twenty-five years.

The problem is beginning to receive recognition throughout America, but we’re significantly behind other parts of the world on this important safety concern. In Europe, for instance, vehicle design has taken pedestrian safety into account for several years now, and some vehicles already have external airbags to protect those outside when a collision happens.

So far, there are no similar safety requirements in the United States. But the US Department of Transportation, as part of its vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication research, is already looking into the feasibility of vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) technology. V2V enables cars to monitor each other’s locations and speeds to avoid collisions. Adding V2P, even in limited circumstances such as at crosswalks and bus stops, would help prevent pedestrian crashes.

 

Orange County Pedestrian Accident Lawyers

If you’ve been the victim of a pedestrian accident caused by a negligent driver or an unsafe road condition, it is often just as important to get legal help as it is to seek medical help after the accident.

When you face the possibility of large medical bills, lost income, and other recovery expenses, you need someone with a solid understanding of pedestrian accident law on your side. At Kohan & Bablove,Injury Attorneys, we have experience with all varieties of automobile accident law, and we’re ready to put it to work for you. Call us at 949.535.1341 today or reach us by completing the form below. Schedule a free consultation to discuss your case, and find out how we can help you.

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