Blog Post

Woman Killed in Orange County Car Accident


April 30, 2008
Topic: Auto Accidents

Once again a terrible car accident drives home the reality that driving is a privilege that should be exercised with caution. A seven-car pile up on Talbert Avenue in Fountain Valley, California triggered by a Honda Pilot crashing into a car at a red light has killed one woman, according to the Orange County Register.

There was nothing to warn vehicles that were parked at the traffic light on west bound Talbert Avenue that in a few seconds they would be faced with the prospect of death or injury in a car accident. For 69-year-old Ann Shirley Mailman sitting in her Lexus at the traffic lights, there was nothing to prepare her for the crash that was to come. No screech of brakes, no warning smell of burning rubber. Just a huge and deafening crashing noise as a Honda Pilot driving at 50 miles per hour crashed against her car. The impact of the car accident was enough to set off a domino effect that played out impacting other cars standing at the lights. The car accident slammed the trunk into the back of the Lexus, and the two cars then managed to hit a Dodge Ram right next to the Lexus. The Lexus then slammed into a Mercedes station wagon, and then a Toyota. The Toyota in turn hit a silver SUV.

In all, 7 cars were impacted in the crash, some were totaled, and others suffered just minor damage. Anne Shirley Mailman died at the scene of the car accident.

The driver and passenger of the Pilot were taken to the UCI Medical Center in Orange, and the woman in the Mercedes Benz station wagon was also taken to the hospital for injuries after the car accident.

It's obvious now that the driver of the Pilot was speeding at the time of the car accident. The size and extent of the damage in the crash - involving a total of 7 cars - indicates that there was speed involved. A car going at normal speed can not only be controlled before it does damage or causes a car accident, but it also doesn't cause the kind of damage and the fatality that we have seen here.

Nobody knows the exact version of why the crash occurred, and the driver of the Pilot hasn't yet given his version of events. Investigators will definitely have questions to ask, however. Why was it not possible to brake the car when it reached the red light? Did they even attempt to apply the brakes?

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


The California personal injury attorneys at The Reeves Law Group represent victims of accidents, injuries and wrongful death throughout California from our offices in Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Diego County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, Ventura County, Fresno County, Kern County, Sacramento County, San Fernando Valley, Long Beach, Antelope Valley, Torrance, Glendale, Bakersfield, Santa Ana, San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, Ontario, and Victorville.