The Reeves Law Group Blog

Compensation Fixed in Rep. Janklow Motorcycle Accident Death
May 16, 2008
Topic: Motorcycle Accidents

Relatives of a man killed in a motorcycle accident that involved former representative Bill Janklow, have settled their wrongful death lawsuit for $1 million.

In the motorcycle accident that took place on August 16, 2003 in Trent, South Dakota, Janklow was on official government duty, and was driving his white Cadillac Seville. At a busy intersection, he ran a stop sign and slammed into a motorcycle driven by Randy Scott. Scott, a 55-year-old man from Minnesota, was thrown several feet into the air. He died at the scene of the motorcycle accident. Janklow suffered minor injuries.

At his arraignment, it was disclosed that Janklow who suffers from hypoglycemia, had taken an insulin shot that morning, but had not eaten anything the whole day. As a consequence, he was feeling fatigued, and likely blacked out, which is why he ran the stop sign, his lawyers claimed.

The jurors at his motorcycle accident trial were not made aware of his record of reckless driving. This was a respected public figure who had a total of 20 speeding violations to his credit. He had also been involved in three previous accidents before the one that killed Scott. Janklow's predilection for speed, fast cars and motorcycles was well known in the state, but jurors didn't hear of it at the trial, although his bad driving record was splashed all over the media. This was a man who was completely unapologetic about his speeding, and bragged about it once during a speech to the state legislature, saying he loved speeding and when it got him a ticket, he paid it.

Sadly, this swaggering bravado had tragic results, and not for Janklow. It's shameful that a public figure, a respected congressman, indulged in such selfish and precarious behavior, ending the life of a man. Scott wasn't speeding, he didn't run a stoplight, and he certainly didn't do anything to deserve being killed in a motorcycle accident. And he paid with his life. Janklow on the other hand, who was driving at over 70 miles an hour in a 55 mph zone, and ran a stoplight, escaped with minor injuries.

Janklow was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter in December 2003, and served 100 days in jail and paid a fine. He resigned from Congress, and currently practices as a lawyer.

Because Janklow was on official duty at the time of the motorcycle accident, he was spared any personal liability, which was instead ascribed to the government. Because Scott has no minor children dependant on him (both his kids are adults) the compensation amount for the wrongful death lawsuit was fixed at $1 million. When you consider that the speeding-red-light-running Janklow is alive and well, and back practicing law, and Scott who did all his riding by the traffic rules is dead, you think it isn't a fair settlement.

If you have been injured in a motorcycle accident, you need the help of an experienced California personal injury attorney. Contact a lawyer at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.

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Foam Companies Offer $30 Million Settlement in Nightclub Fire Deaths
May 15, 2008
Topic: Explosions and Fires

A number of foam companies that were blamed in the Providence nightclub fire that killed 100 people in 2003 have agreed to pay a total of $30 million to settle lawsuits that were brought by survivors of the fire. This brings the total amount of settlement amount offered to survivors and family members of the accident up to $100 million, including settlements offered by Home Depot, and some fireworks companies.

The fire at the Station nightclub at West Warwick was devastating in its scope, only the fourth deadliest nightclub fire accident in the US. The band Great White was playing as part of the act. As the act progressed, their manager, Daniel Biechele, set off pyrotechnics, cylindrical devices that produce sparks. The nightclub was covered in foam padding, the sort you see on egg crates. When the first sparks hit the padding and set on fire at about 11:10 pm, most people who noticed the sparks thought it was part of the act.

When the sparks began to set the padding on fire on the wall near the drummer, people still assumed that it was part of the act. When people realized that there were in the midst of an out of control fire, panic broke out. Within a couple of minutes, people were crammed in the hallways leading to the front door. The nightclub had 4 emergency exits, but in their panic, most patrons ended up choking the hallways near the entrance. There was a stampede, and people began to stack up on top of each other. And all the while the club was filling up with smoke.

Those who survived estimate that the time it took from the start of the sparks to the point where the thick black smoke had engulfed the club was around 2 minutes. The casualties were horrific, but not surprising. There was simply not enough time to plan a measured response. When it came time to take a head count after the fire accident, the number was 100 deaths and 200 people injured.

There was negligence on the part of everybody who was held responsible for the accident that night. The Station nightclub itself was not equipped with sprinkler systems. Investigations after the fire revealed that fatalities would have been avoided if there had been sprinkler systems. The Station nightclub was an old building and many people believed that the age of the building exempted it from sprinkler system requirements. In fact, this exemption had expired when the nightclub had been converted into one from a restaurant. West Warwick inspectors never even noticed the missing sprinkler systems in a nightclub.

The foam companies sold foam without any fire retardant chemicals that would have prevented the large number of deaths. The foam, as it burned, produced toxic gases that added to the deaths and injuries, the victims' lawsuit stated. Further, the foam companies did not educate the users of the dangers of its products and its non-suitability for nightclubs and other enclosed spaces.

The announcement of this new $30 million settlement will go a long way in compensating survivors for their suffering on that tragic night.

If you have lost a family member or have been injured in a fire, you need the help of an experienced California personal injury lawyer. Contact an attorney at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.

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Tort Reform Advocate Judge Bork Settles Slip and Fall Lawsuit with Yale Club
May 14, 2008
Topic: Slip and Fall

There's nothing likea little sample of what you've spent your entire life being cold heartedly cynical about to give you a clearer view of things. One wishes though that Judge Robert H. Bork had chosen a slightly less humiliating accident case to make his dramatic turnaround.

The 80-year-old judge, a one time Supreme Court nominee and ardent tort reform advocate, has settled a $1 million lawsuit with the Yale Club as a result of a slip and fall injury in 2006. At that event sponsored by a magazine, Bork fell while trying to climb up to the dais to make his address. The injuries sustained in the incident, he claimed, were so severe that he needed surgery, which left him with a limp.

There would be nothing about this case to differentiate from other personal injury cases. What has made the conservative tort reform advocate red-faced and liberals turning cartwheels in delight is the level of hypocrisy shown by the judge. Consider this. One of the most illuminating moments of his public career came when he wrote a letter to Newt Gingrich in the nineties, alleging that "excessive damage awards" and "frivolous lawsuits" were having a detrimental effect on interstate commerce. More recently, in a 2002 article published in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, Judge Bork argued that the "present tort system poses dangers to interstate commerce." He concluded, "placing limits or caps on punitive damages, or eliminating joint or strict liability" while once thought to be beyond lawmakers' power "may now be constitutionally appropriate." And what does Judge Bork do in his lawsuit? He asks for punitive damages. Apparently, he has now decided to make it known that the rest of us should do as he says, not as he does.

All it took for him to see the light was to slip and fall and break his hip. Strange how a fractured hip can suddenly give you clarity.

Even more surprising than the about face, was the lawsuit itself. It claimed damages in excess of $1 million for a fractured hip, and punitive damages as well. No one is trying to take the good judge's suffering away from him, but the fact is that an 80-year-old man perhaps shouldn't be trying to climb lecterns that have no steps. With his distinguished career behind him, you would think the learned judge would be aware of the physical dangers of climbing a stairless dais that had no handrail.

What would Judge Bork himself have done if a case like this had come before him, we wonder? Throw it out with his usual diatribe against frivolous lawsuits? We're inclined to think so.

It's funny how things don't seem so frivolous when you're the one who has been injured in an accident on somebody else's premises. You could argue that Judge Bork's position on tort reform should not come in the way of a settlement, now that he himself has been the victim of a slip and fall accident. This is precisely where the hypocrisy comes in. For you to publish articles on tort reform, and then, when a slip and fall pushes you into the uncomfortable plaintiff's position that you've so condescendingly sneered at all these years, and for you to then grab the nearest accident lawyer and scream personal injury, is a bit much. We expect hypocrisy from the man on the street, not a public servant who has always behaved as if personal injury lawsuits and damages will one day lead to the demise of the human race.

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Family of Plane Crash Victim Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit
May 13, 2008
Topic: Aviation Accidents

The family of Josh Trainor, a 23-year-old man killed during a plane crash in Indiana in November 2006, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the company that employed him, the pilot who was piloting the plane at the time of the crash and the plane's engine designer.

The plane crash that killed Trainor also killed three other co-passengers on November 13, 2006. The team was on board a twin engine Cessna, and had just completed a business trip to Indiana. The plane had been chartered for the business trip. Ironically enough, it was only the second time that employees of the company had chartered a plane; they normally flew on commercial airplanes.

They were on their way home back to Des Moines, when the engine developed trouble shortly after take off. The Cessna spiraled out of control and crashed in a field, scattering wreckage and human remains all around. So great was the impact, that cranes had to be called in to dig up debris several feet from underneath the ground where it had been embedded. The crash also killed the cofounder of the company Trainor worked for, Two Rivers Marketing, Tom Dunphy. Besides Josh, two other employees were killed. The pilot John Trewet also died in the plane crash.

The National Safety Transportation Board launched investigations into the plane crash, and came up with a number of facts that could have contributed to the crash, including the foggy weather at the time of the accident.

Josh was engaged to be married at the time of the crash. He and his fiancée had just purchased a home that they were looking forward to moving into. His fiancée has, in the days since his death, set up a charitable organization called Josh Trainor Christmas for Kids that distributes gifts and other things to less privileged children.

Now Josh's family, his parents Jeff and Mary, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit that alleges that Trainor's boss and the pilots' employer face responsibility for his death. Among other things, they insist that John Trewet was in no shape to be flying on the day of the crash. He was reportedly tired and had misread several clearances before take off. The plane he was flying was also not in prime condition. It was an "overweight" machine, the lawsuit alleges. To top it all off, the weather was bad for a take off, something the pilot seems to have ignored. It was foggy, investigators later confirmed, and this played a part in bringing the plane down.

In chartering a plan to fly them back home in what were reportedly bad flying conditions, it seems that there was a careless attitude on the part of Two Rivers Marketing for the safety of its employees. The plane company that owned the plane also needs to answer about why a plane not fit for flying was chartered out to the Two Rivers Marketing Company.

If you have lost a family member in a plane crash, you need the help of an experienced California personal injury lawyer. Contact an attorney at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.

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Wrongful Death Lawsuit Upheld in Robert Blake Murder Case
May 12, 2008
Topic: Wrongful Death

An appeals court has upheld a wrongful death lawsuit verdict finding actor Robert Blake liable for the death of his wife, Bonnie Lee Bakely. The only concession the actor, who was acquitted of the murder of his wife in 2005, received was a cut in the $30 million settlement amount, which was halved by the 2nd District Court of Appeal.

Prior to 2002, Robert Blake was the actor most known for his star turn in the television series Baretta. On April 18 that year, Blake was arrested for the murder of his wife. The arrest had been more than a year coming. Bonnie Lee Bakely was shot dead on May 4, 2001, as she waited in their car on a street round the corner from a restaurant where they had just had lunch together. Blake told her he was going back into the restaurant to fetch his gun, which he had left behind on the table, and which he kept as protection. Blake later told police this story and claimed he was in the restaurant when the shooting occurred.

There were holes in his story right from the very beginning. For one, diners at the restaurant could not remember him coming back into the restaurant. Two of his bodyguards later came forward to testify that he had approached them to hire them to kill his wife. He was arrested a year later, and the case went to trial in a highly publicized fashion.

In 2005, the actor was acquitted. His defense team was able to point to reasons why the two bodyguards had come forward to give evidence. Holes were pointed out in their stories, and the case was lost.

Bakely's 4 children bought a $30 million wrongful death lawsuit against the actor. In November of 2005, the actor, who protested loudly that he was bankrupt, was found liable in the death of Bonnie Lee Bakely, and her children were awarded the settlement. Blake appealed the wrongful death verdict, and now an appeals court has upheld the earlier settlement of the wrongful death lawsuit. The amount of the settlement, however, has been reduced from $30 million to $15 million. Bakley's family is reportedly happy with the verdict.

Blake's attorneys had argued on the basis of juror misconduct, saying the jurors, at the time of the awarding the wrongful death settlement, had discussed the cases of OJ Simpson and Michael Jackson, two other high profile cases where the public felt the guilty got away, and did not get what they deserved. Discussing the matter in such terms, the attorneys argued, clouded the jury's judgment, leading them to approve a huge settlement. The court seems to have dismissed that assumption, but has allowed for a smaller settlement.

This is one more instance where civil lawsuits can deliver some justice when the criminal courts fail to deliver. It's disheartening for people to watch helplessly as high profile murderers get away with murder, quite literally. The sight of their mother's possible killer pleading bankruptcy as he withers before a $15 million wrongful death settlement is definitely justice for the Bakley family.

If you have lost a loved one in a fatal accident, you need the help of an experienced California wrongful death lawyer. Contact an attorney at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.

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Lack of Safety Standards on US-Mexico Buses Raise Fear of More Bus Accidents
May 09, 2008
Topic: Bus Accidents

Mexican immigrants who cross the border to visit family on buses owned by smaller bus companies might be at risk of accidents, but federal agencies refuse to believe there is a potential problem.

These smaller bus companies offer many Mexican immigrants a cheaper way of getting home. In some cases, a one way ticket costs as little as $70, while the comparative fare on a Greyhound to the same destination would be in the region of $120. That cheap price comes at an even higher price tag though. A spate of recent bus accidents involving buses owned by these companies on their way to and from Mexico has helped turn focus on the safety factor, or the lack thereof.

As recently as January, a bus coming in from Monterrey, Mexico to Houston crashed near Victoria, killing at least one passenger and injuring many others. One passenger lost his arm as a result of the bus accident. The bus, in this case, veered off a highway. The driver was found to have dozed off while driving, and also had the wrong kind of commercial license.

A few weeks prior to the Monterrey - Houston bus accident, there was another crash that involved a bus and a pickup that killed four passengers, including the driver of the truck. In that bus accident, the cause of the crash was much clearer. The driver was on amphetamines at the time of the bus accident. There was also no relief driver to cover for him.

These types of accidents aren't exactly a new phenomenon. They have been occurring and causing injures as far back as 2002. In September of that year, an accident demonstrated how badly these companies and their buses are being run. The accident that occurred in Mississippi took place when the driver and the replacement driver tried to change seats while the bus was going at 70 mph. This kind of foolhardiness would be unimaginable if there were strict safety standards and regulations laid down by the companies who pay these drivers. That is probably not the case, which is why we have bus accidents like these.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, however, maintains that these buses meet the standards of safety in the United States. Their record, the agency says, is no worse and no better than the record of larger companies that travel within the US.

But there's enough evidence that traveling in these buses can be more trouble than you bargain for. One passenger, who wanted to file a lawsuit against a Houston-based company in a bus accident case, was forced to place the notice of the lawsuit in the paper, after repeated efforts to trace the company owner proved unsuccessful. In some cases, suing these companies seems like a worthless exercise because they are not insured.

The companies also seem to do a great job of covering their tracks. Buses are owned by one company and leased by a different company, making it difficult to pin responsibility in the event of a bus accident.

It's unfortunate that these passengers who can't afford better are dumped in unsafe buses with maniacal drivers and shipped across the border. They are people who work hard here, and deserve to know when they leave for a visit home that they are traveling in a safe vehicle with responsible people at the wheel.

The appalling safety standards of these buses seem to be a potential disaster waiting to happen. Going by the nature of the bus accidents and their increasing frequency and intensity, there might be more severe accidents in the future.

If you have been injured in a bus accident, you need the help of an experienced California personal injury attorney. Contact a lawyer at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.

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Updates on Two Orange County, California Drunk Driving Accident Cases
May 08, 2008
Topic: Drunk Driving Accidents

Two local DUI cases in the spotlight this week have brought home how important getting the "don't drink and drive" message out to young people in Orange County really is. In the first, the driver accused of driving his car that struck and killed a Huntington Beach teenager has had felony charges filed against him. In the other, a woman who caused the death of her best friend driving while intoxicated in a drunk driving accident has pleaded guilty to felony vehicular manslaughter.

Danny Oates' case is particularly poignant. When the 14-year-old teenager headed back to school in the fall of last year, he was unprepared for the tragedy that was to come. On his bicycle and on the way to school, Danny was struck by a 20-year-old driver. At the time, there was nothing to point that the accident had been anything more than just that - an unfortunate accident. What a difference a few months make. It later came out that Jeffery Woods was not just on drugs at the time of the drunk driving accident, but he was actually in the process of closing a drug deal.

Now, Jeffrey Woods has been charged with felony vehicular manslaughter and driving while under the influence. Any element of sympathy that the man had after he ended up causing the accident has now deservedly dissipated. You don't cause a crash that's not only strong enough to send a boy flying 100 feet, but which also leaves the front of your car smashed beyond recognition by driving sober, or by driving at the speed limit. Jeffrey has not only been utterly negligent, but even criminal in his actions. This was a man who was actually engaged in a criminal act when he caused the death of young boy. Lets hope that he ends up in a place where there is no chance to kill others while behind the wheel.

The other case that's seen developments in the last couple of days has to do with Marian Teri Kahale, the 19-year-old woman who was driving in the drunk driving accident that killed her best friend, Natasha Dannov. The accident occurred on November 18 last year, a few hours after Natasha's birthday. The two girls had celebrated Natasha's birthday at a party, where Kahale admitted she had taken the drug ecstasy. After that, she left for another party in Mission Viejo, where she consumed vodka. They then set off for home in an SUV with Kahale at the wheel. On the way, the car veered off the freeway and struck a guardrail, ejecting Natasha who was sleeping in the passenger seat without a seatbelt on. She died instantly in the drunk driving accident. Now Marion Kahale has pleaded guilty to charges of vehicular manslaughter in the drunk driving accident.

Natasha's parents meanwhile, have other questions they want answered about the drunk driving accident that killed their daughter. Where, for instance, did the girls who were underage at the time of the drunk driving accident, get their hands on ecstasy and vodka? They have filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the case of their daughter's death against Kahale. This is one drunk driving accident where you can't even cheer when the bad guy gets punished - Marion has effectively ruined her life too, and faces a minimum of four years in prison.

As we said at the beginning, if there's one thing to take home from these two cases, it's how drunk driving accidents have become more common among the young. Both accused are aged 20 or below, which makes it all the more important to ram the "don't drink and drive" message home harder than before.

If you have lost a loved one in a drunk driving accident, you need the help of an experienced California personal injury lawyer. Contact an attorney at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.

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Tucson Border Patrol Agent's Family Files Lawsuit in Rollover Accident
May 07, 2008
Topic: Vehicle Rollovers

As a Border Patrol Agent, David Web was entrusted with a duty that called for great valor - protecting our country and its best interests. Too bad that same level of care and commitment wasn't paid to his life. The 36-year-old was killed in a rollover accident on November 3, 2006 while on duty, his family has now field a wrongful death lawsuit that names GM, the tire maker that manufactured his tires at the time of the rollover accident, and others for unspecified damages.

Webb was driving his agency-issued 1997 Chevrolet Tahoe that evening on State Route 86 close to Why, Arizona. The tread on the SUV'S tire separated from the tire, and Webb lost control of the vehicle. The vehicle slid and rolled over. The roof crushed instantaneously, and Webb died at the scene. He was wearing a seat belt at the time of the rollover accident. There were no others in the vehicle with him. The reason for death was cited as massive head injuries.

Now his family has filed a lawsuit that blames GM and tire maker Continental Tire North America, the company that manufactured the defective tire.

Other companies named in the rollover accident suit are Ironwood Towing Services of Gila Bend, Brim Towing of Ajo, and its owner Ralph Bustamante, and Brown and Brown Chevrolet of Mesa.

GM has been named for failing to make the roofs of their SUV safer, which could have prevented loss of life in the event of rollover accidents. It's also been cited for failing to put safe products out in the market, and failing to warn consumers that their products were defective. Continental Tire North America has been cited for failing to spend the measly $1 it would have taken per car to use a special cap that would prevent the tread from separating from the tire, thus avoiding rollover accidents.

The lawsuit claimed that both companies had also ignored the warning signs of the danger of the tread separating from the steel belt in SUV tires. Gross negligence has been cited against the two companies. The tires were manufactured by a plant that has been plagued by problems since the nineties, and had only last year been shut down. The vehicle that he was driving at the time of the rollover accident has been cited as unstable and prone to a roof crush.

The other companies on the list have been cited for failing to service, maintain, and inspect the SUV properly.

As a border patrol employee who faced danger and the prospect of death everyday, Webb deserved to have more care taken into his well being. It's sad that a person who puts his country before self or family as selflessly as these border patrol agents do has no one to look out for their own safety. Chevrolet needs to answer as to why a man driving one of their cars, with a seat belt on, and with no evidence of speeding, had absolutely no protection when their vehicle rolled over. Continental Tires also holds responsibility for ignoring warnings of tread separation in their tires.

If you have been injured or a loved one has been killed in a rollover accident, you need the help of an experienced California personal injury attorney. Contact a lawyer at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.

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Swimming Pool Accident Victim's Parents File Lawsuit Against Hotel
May 06, 2008
Topic: Swimming Pool Accidents

The family of a 5-year-old boy, who drowned in a swimming pool accident at a hotel in Omaha, is suing the hotel management for the wrongful death of their son.

Brian Guevara drowned in the murky black waters of the pool at the Howard Johnson hotel on June 19, 2006. The family had checked in, planning to spend half the day at the zoo and half at the hotel's swimming pool. The surveillance camera at the hotel, which the plaintiff's lawyers plan to use as an important piece of evidence of the swimming pool accident, shows Brian swimming in the pool, and then disappearing. From the surveillance video, in the few minutes that it took for him to slip beneath the surface and the moment his body was dragged out of the pool, you couldn't even see Brains' body lying at the bottom. The water was that dirty. There were others swimming in the pool with Brian who did not notice the swimming pool accident or even see the boy at the bottom of the pool. The lawsuit alleges that had visibility been clearer, Brian would have gotten the help he needed faster and could have survived.

The hotel had been accused of such negligent behavior several years ago in an eerily similar swimming pool accident, which occurred in the same pool, where again one person drowned. The plaintiff's attorney can be expected to bring up that point. After Brian's death, an inspector ordered the pool closed until several defects, which could cause swimming pool accidents, were fixed. These include reinstalling a safety device that had become faulty and cleaning the murky water. Also, a filtering device that is supposed to clean the water was also asked to be repaired. The inspection report also ordered for a pool operator to be on hand when the pool was in use.

For the parents of Brian Guevara, the safety measures have come too late. There is simply no excuse for a pool to be as dirty as it was on the day of the swimming pool accident. The fact that bystanders standing at the pool's edge and swimmers inside the pool couldn't see Brian's body lying at the bottom could tell you of how bad the water was. There seems to have been appalling neglect on the part of the hotel management, which has so far refused to comment on the lawsuit. Brian's parents wasted valuable time looking all over the hotel for their son when they couldn't find him around the pool. With cleaner water in the pool, it is highly likely that someone would have spotted the little boy at the bottom of the pool as soon as he began to drown.

We hope this swimming pool accident raises the bar for safety standards to prevent more accidents. We also hope Brian's family can win the compensation for their suffering.

If you have been injured in a swimming pool accident, you need the help of an experienced California personal injury lawyer. Contact an attorney at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.

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Dallas Woman's Family Sues Company in Truck Accident
May 05, 2008
Topic: Truck Accidents

The family of a Dallas woman who was killed in a truck accident, in which a concrete truck landed on top of her SUV, has filed a lawsuit against the truck company.

Texas Industries, the company that owned the truck, has been accused by the plaintiff's attorneys of keeping a fleet of vehicles that was badly maintained.

The truck accident in question dates back to April 11 of this year. Maria Gamez, a Dallas real estate agent, was driving with her 5-year-old daughter, Angelica, on John Carpenter Freeway. A Texas Industries cement truck driven by Edward Magallan lost control and, loaded with 50,000 pounds of fresh concrete, flipped over the center median landing on top of Maria's SUV. She died instantly in the truck accident. Her daughter sitting in the passenger seat of the SUV was stuck in the car for more than two hours before emergency workers were able to extricate her. All the while fresh cement poured into the car from the overturned truck, terrifying the girl.

The truck accident lawsuit that has been filed mentions the pain and suffering that this little girl has suffered. It also claims that Texas Industries has a poor history of truck maintenance.

There's enough data in the truck accident case to show that Texas Industries does indeed have a bad record of fleet maintenance. The company itself has denied that its trucks were anything less than top notch, and the driver, Magellan was properly licensed and certified. It has never had an unsatisfactory compliance review, the company says. But ground realities are very different.

During a two-year period and over 1031 inspections, Texas Industries trucks were put out of service a total of 297 times. The nature of violations ranged from maladjusted brakes, bald tires, and defective brake lights, to broken wheel rims and improperly secured loads. In short, these vehicles were in a fit condition to cause truck accidents of this nature. Magellan himself does not have a clear record. He was cited for a drunk driving accident in 1999, and has a total of 5 convictions for failure to maintain liability insurance. There have also been convictions for speeding and disregarding traffic devices. He also had his license suspended twice.

A fleet that was poorly maintained, and a driver with a record of disobeying traffic rules, speeding and drunk driving - the perfect combination to cause a devastating truck accident. Magellan has claimed that another vehicle tried to cut him off, and that's what made him lose control of the truck. When you're driving a massive truck containing 50,000 pounds of fresh concrete, you better make sure that you have your vehicle under control. People cut other vehicles off all the time, it happens everyday. When you're out on the road with a massive machine, you make sure to take all precautions, and take all possibilities into consideration. There is no information about whether Magellan was speeding at the time of the truck accident, but if he was driving at a reasonable speed, then it would have been possible to control his truck, regardless of whether someone cut him or not.

Now there's a woman dead due to no fault of hers, and a little girl that's been terribly scarred, and will have to grow up without a mother - whose fault is that?

If you have a loved one who has been injured or killed in a truck accident, you need the help of an experienced California personal injury attorney. Contact a lawyer at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.

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