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This holiday season has already witnessed a multitude of DUI fatality crashes in Los Angeles and Orange counties. A lot of times, the person who is killed is not the drunk driver, but the passenger or the driver of the car that is struck. This time, it happened in the case of a 26-year-old Mission Viejo woman who died in a single-vehicle rollover crash when the vehicle she was riding in crashed into a tree, The Orange County Register reported.

The driver of the 1994 Toyota Land Cruiser, Ann Velasquez, 25 of San Juan Capistrano, was reportedly driving under the influence. The victim, Yesenia Orozco who was not wearing her seatbelt, was ejected from the vehicle on impact and died of blunt force trauma to the chest. The Register reports that she was only four days shy of her 27th birthday. Velasquez, who was also not buckled up, did not suffer life-threatening injuries, but was charged with gross vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence. Two men, who were sitting in the back seat buckled up, suffered only minor injuries, the newspaper reported.
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A head-on crash involving two vehicles on Highway 111 near Indio left three people, including an infant, dead and four others injured, according to a news report in The Desert Sun newspaper. Officials are still trying to determine what caused the early morning crash, which occurred in a farming community in small-town Mecca.

From this article, it seems as if not many people might have witnesses it. Neighbors told the newspaper they came out after hearing a loud noise. Apparently one of the vehicles drifted over to oncoming traffic causing the fatal collision. Those killed in the crash were Rafael Hernandez, 47, of Long Beach; Aileen Gutierrez, a 3-month old girl from Somerton, Ariz. and a third victim yet to be identified, the article said.

The four passengers, who suffered severe injuries, were reportedly airlifted to local hospitals. The injured victims’ names were not released either. The crash reportedly caused significant delays on the highway.
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A 26-year-old man died after he crashed his Lexus ES 300 into a tractor trailer that was parked on the shoulder of the 210 Freeway in Claremont, according to an article in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.

The article says that Arthur C. Yeh, an Upland resident, was in his Lexus doing about 70 miles an hour when he drifted on to the shoulder, speeding up as he approached the disabled tractor trailer. The driver of the big rig was reportedly standing right in front of his truck when Yeh slammed into it, the Daily Bulletin reports. Fortunately he suffered only minor injuries and got a cut to his arm when the headlight from the Lexus flew off and struck him in the arm, the newspaper reports.
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A disturbing article in the Los Angeles Daily News says that many drivers who cause hit-and-run traffic collisions in the San Fernando Valley and the city of Los Angeles actually get away with it. According to this news report, last year nearly half of all 16,792 traffic collisions in the Valley were hit-and-runs. But apparently, Los Angeles Police Department investigators have solved only 54 percent of those cases.

Just from watching the news and keeping track of recent accidents, we know that hit-and-runs are only going up in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Increasingly, many of these accidents involve major injuries or deaths. But it’s outrageous and disgusting that in the San Fernando Valley, there’s a 50-50 chance that if you hit someone and leave them to die on the street, there’s a good chance you’ll get away with it!

The incidence of hit-and-run accidents is reportedly higher in the Valley and city of Los Angeles than neighboring cities such as Burbank (13 percent), Santa Clarita (24 percent) and Glendale (29 percent). So, who are most often the culprits in hit-and-run crashes? There’s no surprise there – a majority of them are drunk drivers, people driving without licenses or those who have a warrant out for their arrest, the newspaper reports. Sometimes, these folks are so drunk that they don’t even know if they’ve damaged someone’s vehicle or have struck and killed a pedestrian.
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A speeding driver traveling at more than 90 miles an hour and involved in a dangerous street race may have caused a fiery crash in Anaheim Hills last week that killed one man and seriously injured another, according to a news article in The Orange County Register.

Justin Simpkins died after losing control of his 1987 Mercedes on Santa Ana Canyon Road and his 22-year-old brother, Ryan, who was a passenger in that car, is fighting for his life. Witnesses who spoke to investigators said the Mercedes was racing another car at the time of the crash, the newspaper reported. The speed limit on that street was 45 mph, but Justin Simpkins may have been doing more than 90 mph, officials said.

Justin was pulled out of the car by firefighters just before the car burst into flames, the Register reported, while his brother was ejected from the vehicle. According to Anaheim Police Sgt. Rick Martinez who is quoted in the Register news article, these type of speed-related accidents are quite common in that area.
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Two San Clemente mothers, who became quadriplegics after being struck by a hit-and-run driver last year, have settled with the city of Dana Point for $50 million, said to be the largest personal injury case payout in Orange County history, according to an article in The Orange County Register.

Stacy Neria and Carol Daniel suffered major injuries after they were struck by William Todd Bradshaw, a homeless man who was already on probation for a DUI. He drove away after he hit the women who were running on Coast Highway in Capistrano Beach. Police tracked him down and arrested him nine days after this crash and he ended up being sentenced to four years in prison for felony hit-and-run.

Apparently, this April 8, 2006 crash was the first of three incidents at that particular spot on Coast Highway, the Register reports. In fact, two bicyclists were killed on that dangerous roadway because there was no dedicated bike path. But now, after two deaths and two major injuries, the city has built that bike path.
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Oakland Police on Friday arrested a 28-year-old man who they say caused a fatal car crash on Thanksgiving Day and then fled. That auto accident left two girls dead and a mother and her daughter with critical injuries, according to an Associated Press news report.

Salas was reportedly hiding under the covers in a bedroom of a relative’s home when officers barged in and arrested him, police told the Associated Press. Salas allegedly ran a stop sign and slammed his Ford Expedition sport utility vehicle into a Ford Mustang driven by Laura Herrera. She and her 3-year-old daughter remain in critical condition, according to the report. Killed in the crash were Herrera’s 4-year-old daughter and 15-year-old niece.

Salas’ own nephew told officials that Salas was driving recklessly even before he caused the fatal crash. Reports say he was driving in excess of 80 miles an hour and running several stop signs before the accident and was also drinking, making proclamations that he “wasn’t afraid to die,” the article states. Salas reportedly told investigators that he was only doing 25 miles an hour and missed the stop sign.
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Update: Brian Burchfield has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

A 21-year-old Yorba Linda woman died in a head-on crash in Orange County, which officials say was possibly caused by two people driving under the influence. According to a news article in The Orange County Register Ashley Knight was a passenger in one of the cars, a 2002 Honda Civic being driven by 23-year-old Samira Bahu.

Investigators, who sifted through evidence at the crash site for nine hours, say Brian Burchfield, 22, of Irvine, was driving his Toyota Tacoma and going the wrong way on the 22 Freeway. Bahu was trying to merge on to the 22 from the 55 Freeway when Burchfield crashed head-on into the Civic, the Register article stated.

Both Bahu and Burchfield reportedly suffered critical injuries. And both were also placed under arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence. Knight, who was riding with Bahu, died at the scene.
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The family of a 21-year-old Carson man is trying to find the person who ran over their loved one on the street and then sped away as if he were nothing more than roadkill, according to an article in the Daily Breeze. The accident occurred Monday in Huntington Park where Jaime Perez was riding motorcycles with his friends, the article reported.

Perez reportedly fell off his motorcycle after he collided with another vehicle. At the time, another car ran him over and the driver sped off without stopping. Perez’s family members who are already grieving the untimely death of Perez are further angered and upset by the manner in which the hit-and-run driver acted.

Perez’s older brother, Doug Sanchez, is quoted in the Breeze article: “He is not roadkill. He is a human being.”
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What are commonly referred to as silly teenage pranks can sometimes have serious consequences. Iowa resident Randy Severson experienced that first-hand.
Severson was severely injured five years ago when he accidentally drove his pickup truck into a ditch being dug by the county highway department. County workers had put up barricades to warn motorists, but three teenagers removed them just for fun.

Well, this week a jury awarded him $12.8 million in damages according to a news article in The Globe Gazette. The two miscreants were found guilty of causing the auto accident and sent to prison for five years on a felony conviction. By all accounts, Severson had the most horrific experience of his life.

His truck was wedged in a pile of dirt and suspended 10 feet above the bottom of the ditch, the article states. Severson suffered a spinal fracture at the base of his skull, a broken hip and developed pneumonia. He had to spend 100 days in the intensive care unit and had to undergo four major surgeries to fix his injuries.
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