Articles Posted in Pedestrian Accidents

Brett Caddell, 39, died of injuries he suffered in an Aug. 30 Fontana pedestrian accident, according to a news blog in the Riverside Press Enterprise. Caddell reportedly suffered severe head injuries when he was hit by a Mitsubishi Gallant driven by Fontana resident Darrel Eugene Stebbins. Stebbins was arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving and hit-and-run charges.

California Highway Patrol officials say Caddell was walking on Ceres Avenue, partially on the roadway when the collision occurred. Stebbins was reportedly reaching over to pick up his cell phone when his vehicle drifted to the right and struck Caddel.

My heart goes out to the family of Brett Caddell who died in this tragic pedestrian accident. Stebbins should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for his negligence. He should also be held financially responsible to Caddell’s family for the irreparable loss they have suffered. Not only was Stebbins trying to reach for his cell phone, but according to the police, he may have been driving under the influence of alcohol. I hope he does some serious jail time for his utter disregard of traffic safety laws.

A 45-year-old woman suffered major injuries in a Lennox pedestrian accident Aug. 17 after an allegedly drunk driver hit her while crossing the street, the Daily Breeze reports. The driver of the car, a 34-year-old Inglewood woman was arrested on the scene on suspicion of felony drunken driving, California Highway Patrol officials said.

The injured pedestrian, who has not yet been identified, was walking east on a marked crosswalk at the intersection of Hawthorne and Lennox boulevards when the 2006 Nissan Altima hit her. She was transported to an area hospital with severe head injuries and internal trauma.
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Michelle Kim, 54, of Redondo Beach died in a Newport Beach pedestrian accident on Monday morning after she was hit by the driver of a Honda Odyssey while walking to her job at Glidewell Laboratories near the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard and Dove Street. According to an article in the Daily Pilot, 35-year-old Sung Van Le of Santa Ana was not speeding or driving under the influence when he hit Kim.

This was a tragic accident and I offer my condolences to Kim’s family for their loss. This accident happened right in front of our office and I watched a portion of the investigation. Although I did not know Kim, I will always remember her when I leave the office for home as I pass over the exact spot where this fatal Newport Beach pedestrian accident occurred.

From the newspaper reports, it is not clear why this accident happened. Le reportedly said he saw Kim on the sidewalk before the collision. The best I can figure at this point is that both Kim and Le were not paying attention to their surroundings or their relative positions immediately before the collision. From a legal standpoint, based upon the point of impact that I saw marked on the street, Le would have had a clear sight of Kim crossing the street in front of him.

The fact that Le saw Kim on the sidewalk and had a clear line of sight for the approximate 200 feet from the time he turned onto Newport Place to the point of impact, if I were representing Kim’s heirs, there is not much doubt that I would be able to hold Le civilly responsible for Kim’s death. On the other hand, I am sure there are talented defense attorneys that would advocate the position that Kim was fully or partially responsible for her own pedestrian accident. They would argue that Kim was jaywalking and stepped out into the path of Le’s car without sufficient time or distance for Le to react to prevent the accident from happening.
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Filiberto Napoleone, 76, of Corona, was reportedly struck by a sport utility vehicle Aug. 14 at a busy Corona intersection, according to this news report. Napoleone was walking on Border Avenue when he was hit southeast of Fraser Circle. He was reportedly pronounced dead at the scene of the California pedestrian accident.

According to the California Highway Patrol’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Reporting System (SWITRS), there were three pedestrian fatalities in Corona in 2006. There were 30 pedestrians reportedly injured in Corona traffic accidents. In Riverside County, 48 pedestrian fatalities and 464 pedestrian accident injuries were reported for that same year.

My heart goes out to Napoleone’s family. I’m deeply sorry for their loss.

This and other news reports don’t shed much light on how this Corona fatal pedestrian accident occurred. They don’t say exactly how the accident occurred. We don’t know too many details about the driver of the SUV. We don’t know whether alcohol and/or drugs were involved in the incident.
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James Tedrow Gauntt, 24, of Los Angeles was killed in a San Diego pedestrian accident on the Del Dios Highway in Rancho Santa Fe after he was struck by two cars, one of them a hit-and-run vehicle, according to a news report in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

The accident reportedly occurred when Gauntt was walking after spending a night out with friends. He was hit by a 23-year-old San Marcos man driving a Honda Civic westbound on the highway near Calle Ambiente, according to California Highway Patrol officials.

The driver told officials that he swerved to avoid striking Gauntt, but couldn’t stop in time. The car rolled over, but the driver was uninjured. CHP officials say based on physical evidence that two other vehicles drove by shortly after the pedestrian accident, one striking Gauntt and the other hitting the overturned Civic. Neither one of those vehicles stopped to help Gauntt or the driver of the Civic, officials said.

If you have information about the two hit-and-run drivers, please call the Oceanside CHP at 760-757-1675.
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Armando Daniel Espinoza, 19, died in an Inglewood pedestrian accident Sunday after he was struck by a car at the intersection of Prairie Avenue and 107th Street in Inglewood, according to a news article in the Daily Breeze. Espinoza reportedly ran across the street in front of a car, Inglewood police officials say. They are looking into toxicology tests to determine if Espinoza was under the influence of alcohol. Officials say there are several bars in that area. Espinoza died from major heard injuries.

I offer my condolences to Espinoza’s family. If I were a family member, I would want to find out what really happened. This accident reportedly occurred at 2:30 a.m. when there are likely to be very few eyewitnesses. It is not clear from this news report as to who saw Espinoza “running across the street” into the path of the car.

It puzzles me why the news report seems to be placing blame on Espinoza and not on the driver that hit him. Is there a toxicology report being done on the driver? Was he/she in one of those bars drinking to the last moment of service? Who substantiated the driver’s version of this fatal California pedestrian accident.

Unless there are eyewitnesses other than the driver of the car who hit Espinoza that say Espinoza ran into the street directly in front of the car that hit him, I wouldn’t buy it. If the physical evidence at the scene and of the car that hit Espinoza don’t match the driver’s story, I’d be highly suspect about what really happened. Espinoza’s family would be well-advised to consult a reputed personal injury attorney who will not only conduct a thorough, independent investigation to find out what really happened, but will also fight to protect their legal rights.
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A 29-year-old man who reportedly struck and killed two pedestrians in a crosswalk on Hollywood Boulevard earlier this month had a blood alcohol level that was twice the legal limit to operate a motor vehicle, according to an Associated Press news report. Sergio Rogelio Delgado was reportedly fleeing police officers who tried to stop him for driving on the wrong side of the road when he ran a red light and hit 32-year-old Cecilia Diaz Vasquez and Pedro Davila, 40, who were walking on the crosswalk at Wilcox Avenue.

Delgado has been charged with two counts of murder, two counts of felony gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and fleeing the scene of the Hollywood pedestrian accident. He also reportedly was convicted once in 2003 of driving under the influence. This article says Delgado was out drinking with a friend before he drove off.

My heart goes out to the families of the two people who were killed in this horrible pedestrian vs. auto accident. In this case, the two pedestrians were crossing Hollywood Boulevard on a marked crosswalk. The blame falls squarely on Delgado, who police say was not only intoxicated, but also evading police and driving recklessly.
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Marianne Harris, who was walking on a Bakersfield Street, died of critical injuries she suffered in a pedestrian accident after being struck by a car driven by 84-year-old Charles Nowatzki, the Bakersfield Californian reports. Nowatzki was driving a 1997 Crown Victoria east on Columbus Street and was passing the intersection at Baylor Street when he struck Harris, who was walking north across Columbus Street in the crosswalk, an earlier article states.

Nowatzki and a passenger in the car were uninjured. Police say speed, alcohol or drugs were not a factor in this pedestrian accident. Investigators are still trying to determine how and why the accident occurred. If you witnessed this accident, please call Officer Patrick Dillard at 661-326-3967 or Bakersfield Police at 661-327-7111.

My deepest condolences to Harris’ family and to Marianne’s friends.

What strikes me is the age of the driver’s age, 84-years old. If I were an attorney representing Harris’ family, I would look into Nowatzki’s driving record, his physical condition/health and more importantly, if he was fit enough to drive. I would want to know if in fact Nowatzki was capable of driving safely. If he wasn’t, was his family aware of the fact and let him drive anyway.

I would also investigate if their was something about the intersection where this California pedestrian accident happened that contributed to Nowatzki not seeing Harris in enough time to react appropriately. Is this a dangerous intersection? Did the intersection itself contribute to the accident?
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Crystal Gail Bowerman, a 29-year-old San Jose woman allegedly caused an auto collision that critically injured a 76-year-old woman, according to an article in The Mercury News.

The San Jose pedestrian accident happened as Bowerman, who was in a white Ford Explorer eastbound on the Capitol Expressway, ran a red light at the Silver Creek Road and Capitol Expressway intersection and hit another sport-utility vehicle (SUV), which had the green light. The impact sent the SUV that had the right-of-way crashing into the woman on the crosswalk. Jermaine Thomas, a police spokesman said the injured woman, who was not identified in the report, remains in a serious condition at a nearby hospital. Bowerman has been arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.
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Bog Soon Seo,71, a Garden Grove woman died of the major head injuries received after she was struck by a car while crossing the street with her 2-year-old grandson in her arms.

According to an article in CBS News’ Web site, the driver of the car saw Seo crossing at the intersection of Garden Grove Boulevard and Yockey Street and swerved to avoid her, but couldn’t do so in time. The toddler was not injured, the article said.

In this case, there were no crosswalk lines at the location, but news reports say it is considered an “unpainted crosswalk” where the driver is supposed to yield to a pedestiran. Clearly this was an extremely dangerous intersection for pedestrians because it did not have a properly marked crosswalk where pedestrians can get across the street safely.

This horrible tragedy could have been avoided had city officials understood the dangers of such an intersection. This is an intersection, which is located in a commercial/business district. Garden Grove Boulevard is a major arterial road in North Orange County and such a busy intersection must at least have a well-marked crosswalk where pedestrians may cross safely. The crosswalk must have brightly painted lines to indicate to the driver that it is a crosswalk and that he or she must stop and yield to pedestrians.
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