What started off as a near-pedestrian accident quickly turned into an assault and battery case, leaving one of the people involved dead, and the other facing an arraignment this morning.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the victim, 55-year-old John Osnes, a pianist, was crossing the street at the intersection of Schrader Boulevard and Selma Avenue when a sports utility vehicle edged into the crosswalk. The SUV was being driven by Swedish hip-hop artist David Moses Jassy, aka Dave Monopoly. Osnes, who’s also a well-known pedestrian rights activist was annoyed at this intrusion into pedestrian space, and slapped the SUV using his hand, the LA Times reports. An enraged Jassy then alighted from the SUV and began punching and kicking the pianist. He then got back in the car and – here comes the shocker – drove the SUV over Osnes’ body. People in the vicinity who witnessed the assault and battery, tried to restrain Jassy, but he got back into his SUV and fled from the scene. Osnes was rushed to the hospital where he was declared dead.

Jassy has now been charged with assault and battery, as well as leaving the scene of an accident. His bail has been set at $1 million. His lack of familiarity with English seems to have hampered initial proceedings, which had to be postponed when he asked for a Swedish interpreter.

Meanwhile, family and friends of Osnes struggled to come to terms with his senseless death. They remembered him as a kind man who loved playing at piano bars, and hated aggressive motorists with the same passion. He didn’t own a car and never learned to drive. He had lived in cities across the country and had used public transportation each time, never buying a car. At the piano bar that Osnes visited often, residents in the neighborhood spoke of regularly seeing him walking on the sidewalks.

Our deepest sympathies go out to the Osnes family at this terrible time in their lives.

Jassy deserves the most severe punishment that he can receive for his behavior. That this incident happened in sunny Los Angeles doesn’t even surprise us. This is the city that ranks fourth on a list of road rage incidents in the country, behind New York, Miami and Phoenix. Whatever you blame road rage on - congestion on the streets, high stress levels etc. – there is simply no excuse for Jassy’s behavior. It will be interesting to see what the Public Defender assigned to him will present as his defense. So far, there has not been any comment from the Public Defender’s office.

We’ve all been victims of road rage in some form or the other. It could be the rude gesture in your face in the morning rush hour traffic, or the curse thrown in your direction as a motorist overtakes you. Across the country, people exhibit aggressive driving in different ways. Osnes’ death is simply the most extreme manifestation of a vicious and aggressive mindset that we see all too often.

The Osnes family must seek the experienced counsel of a California wrongful death lawyer to determine their options in this case.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of assault and battery. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

A Yuba City, California driver can expect to be charged in connection with a drunk driving accident in which two of his close friends were killed.

The accident that occurred on Highway 99 near Live Oak, California on November 16th, is just one more reminder of the needless risks we take with the lives of those closest to us when we drink and drive. The driver in this car crash, 20-year-old Abdul Umar Hay, was returning from an all-night party with his friend Rafael Courtland Walker and Matthew Stephen Fair. Initial reports say that Hay must have dozed off at the wheel, causing the car to zip though a stop sign. A short while later, it was broadsided by a Ford Explorer. The impact of the crash caused Hay’s car to be pushed over into a nearby orchard. Both Walker and Fair were declared dead at the scene of the car accident. Both were 20-years-old.

Hay was the only survivor, and was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. He can now expect to be charged with felony vehicular manslaughter and felony driving under the influence causing injury. He doesn’t have a previous criminal record, but could be looking at a minimum of 6 months in prison, if found guilty.

The reactions of Walker’s and Fair’s parents were a study in contrast. Fair’s father remains indignant at the thought of a six-month sentence for the man he holds responsible for killing his son, while Walker’s mother, who is a member of MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), insists that prison time is not an appropriate sentence. Last Friday, the families of the two victims took part in a memorial service that celebrated their lives.

You have to understand Richard Fair’s anger. Matthew was his only son and whether the two victims in the car had also consumed alcohol or not, the fact is that only Hay was in charge of driving them home. At 20, Hay is looking at an irredeemable stain on his record. This young man has a lifetime ahead of him, and has voluntarily cast a pall over his ambitions and his future through his negligent actions. Hay will have to deal with a lifetime of guilt for the deaths of his two friends.

Underage drinking continues to be a problem, and is cited as a factor in too many California drunk driving accidents for us to take any debate on lowering the drinking age seriously, as proposed by many college deans. What’s needed to tackle the problem is not lowering the drinking age, and giving every 18-year-old in California carte blanche with alcohol, but a joint effort by parents, college administrators as well as the community. In Yuba City, for instance, many parents including Walker’s mother, Jean Hammonds, believes that the area just doesn’t offer enough recreation opportunities for the young to let off steam. The result is underage drinking binges like the one that took place here, and the tragic drunk driving accidents that result from these.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of drunk driving accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

In the days since the fiery aviation accident that left him with severe burn injuries, former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker has spoken to the Los Angeles entertainment media about the way his life has changed after the plane crash. He couldn’t go swimming anymore, he said, and couldn’t do so many of the things that other people find normal. So the news that the musician has filed an aviation accident lawsuit against Global Executive Aviation, the California-based company that owned the plane, and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., hasn’t really come as a surprise. The suit, filed more then two months after the plane crash also names an airplane maintenance company for its part in the September accident.

On the 19th of September, Barker, along with his assistant Chris Baker, and bodyguard Charles Monroe Still Jr., was part of a group on board a Learjet that crashed during take off at an airport in South Carolina. The plane burst into flames, leaving the former Blink-182 drummer with intense burn injuries. Both Baker and Still were killed in the crash. Barker’s lawsuit is shared with Charles Monroe Still’s mother, who is claiming compensation for grief and sorrow, funeral expenses, as well as loss of earnings. According to Huffington Post, Barker’s lawsuit names pain and suffering, loss of earnings, and medical and legal expenses. Barker spent four painful weeks in a Los Angeles hospital recovering from his extensive third degree burn injuries, before he was discharged. His recovery is far from complete, and he has asked for privacy to recover in peace at his home.

According to the lawsuit, the pilots of the plane were improperly trained, and should have attempted to take off instead of continuing down the runway until they eventually overshot it. Goodyear has been named because the plane was equipped with its tires, which were found after the plane accident to have been nearly bald, and suspected to have blown just before the airplane burst into flames. The lawsuit alleges as much, claiming that the tires failed, strewing fragments of burnt tire all along the runway. The lawsuit also alleges that components of the airplane, including the brakes, landing gear and wheels were not well maintained. Bombardier Inc., a Toronto-based airplane maintenance company, has been named in the lawsuit for poor maintenance of the aircraft.

The lawsuit is not entirely unexpected, and considering the severity of his injuries and the evidence of the plane’s poor condition, Barker looks ready to receive the compensation he’s entitled to. It appears that the musician isn’t only looking for monetary compensation, but to seek justice for the kind of suffering he underwent as a result of his burn injuries. Barker, who has two young children and blogged about his post-crash experiences on his MySpace page, has clearly been scarred physically and emotionally by the crash, and hence his need to hire a Los Angeles aviation accident lawyer to hold persons he holds responsible for his suffering, accountable.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of aviation accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

Less than three months after the devastating Metrolink train accident in Chatsworth, California, another crash involving a commuter train and freight train about a half mile from the Rialto station, sent five persons to the hospital with complaints of pain. The commuter train hit the end of a Northern Burlington Santa Fe Railway train.

The scenario was eerily similar to the one that occurred on September 12th near Chatsworth when a Metrolink commuter train and a Union Pacific freight train crashed into each other. 25 people died in the crash, one of the worst in the state’s commuter train history. Several were sent to the hospital with catastrophic injuries in the crash that was later linked to the driver of the Metrolink commuter train missing a stop signal just before the train accident. Investigations into the driver’s cell phone records after the accident revealed that he had been sending text messages to a rail fan just seconds before the crash. Investigations in that train accident are still on.

Thursday’s train accident must have seemed to commuters like a replay of September’s tragedy. According to a spokesperson for Burlington Northern, the freight train driver had been given the go ahead, although it wasn’t clear whether the go ahead had been given by a signal or a dispatcher. In the September crash too, the driver missed a stop signal, although the reason for this still hasn’t been confirmed.

The crash occurred on a track that is owned and maintained by Metrolink, just like the one that occurred in September. This accident was markedly minor in its impact. For one, it was a side swipe, and not the kind of devastating head on accident that killed so many in September. There was no damage either to the freight car or the passenger coaches. September’s tragedy had crushed the first few passenger cars of the commuter train. Cars had been bunched up together like an accordion. In this recent train accident, only the last passenger car suffered some minor damage.

At least five commuters were taken to the hospital after they complained of pain, but no severe injuries were reported. The train was reported to be traveling at a low speed at the time of the accident, which might account for the lack of damage. As a response to the September train crash, there were two engineers present on board the commuter train.

Metrolink officials are making the usual promises of safety features. Board Vice Chairman Keith Millhouse announced that although the accident had occurred at a low speed, the agency would still treat investigations seriously to “ensure that incidents like this do not happen again.” Within the agency, awareness is high that Metrolink’s poor safety record is drawing attention among rail authorities around the country. Fortunately, there was very little damage, and not severe injuries in this accident, but the agency has a pitiful safety record with the highest fatality rates of all similar sized commuter rails in the country. Even some of the bigger networks like Chicago and Massachusetts commuter rail have had fewer train accidents than Metrolink, which carries fewer passengers than these rails.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of train accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

An El Cajon, California man will stand trial in a drunk driving accident case that occurred in July of this year. 35-year-old Shannon Shimp is charged with two counts each of murder, as well as gross vehicular manslaughter in the deaths of Ian Kinney and Joseph Warren Edwards.

The accident took place on Highway 78 on July 22nd. 19-year-old Tessa Medearis was in a Lexus with her boyfriend, 19-year-old Ian Kinney. A pickup driven by Shimp attempting to pass three vehicles skidded out of control, and into the westbound lanes. It crashed into the Lexus, which was also westbound, ending up on top of the car. Ian was killed instantly. Also killed was Shimp’s passenger, 58-year-old Joseph Warren Edwards. Both men died at the scene. Ian left behind his parents, while Edwards is survived by his wife.

Tessa suffered moderate injuries, and had to be extricated from the wreckage. After the accident, Shimp, who had suffered injuries in the car accident, was taken to the hospital for treatment of his injuries, and then arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. He was found to have been driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.19 when tests were conducted two hours after the car accident.

On Wednesday, Tessa appeared in court to testify about the car accident that killed her boyfriend. The Superior Court Judge ruled that there were grounds for a trial. There will be a hearing on December 3rd to decide on a date for the trial.

For the two families that lost the most in this tragedy, it seems like justice gets nearer every day. They have had to face the pain of losing their loved ones though no fault of their own.

California has a multi-pronged approach to dealing with the DUI menace. Not only does it have some of the most severe drunk driving laws in the country, but it has also had a significant amount of success in bringing down accident rates in the state, through better awareness programs for motorists, stronger checks and monitoring of drivers, as well as graduated licensing programs for teens that encourage them to be fully educated before they are allowed to drive on their own. The stringency of these laws has led to criticism from groups who believe that license suspensions and the focus on passing breath tests, are unfair. When we continue to have drivers like Shimp who think nothing of tanking up with alcohol that’s more than twice over the legal limit, it’s clear that these criticisms are baseless.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of drunk driving accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

After a spate of product recalls involving its Digitek tablets, Iceland-based drug manufacturer Actavis, is facing a lawsuit by U.S. attorneys who want a shutdown of the company’s three plants until such time as they are made compliant with FDA laws for manufacturing and testing.

The move comes after the company recalled its Digitek tablet for heart conditions. Digitek is prescribed primarily for the treatment of heart failure and other abnormal heart disorders. Over dosage however has been found linked to dizziness, low blood pressure, and even death, in patients who are already suffering from kidney problems. In April, Actavis recalled stocks of Digitek after fears that some tablets had been produced in an extra thick form, raising the possibility of overdosing.

This product recall was followed by another one in August that was prompted by FDA inspection at its facility that revealed non-compliance with agency standards for manufacturing practices. This second product recall included all drug manufacturers at the company’s Little Falls plant in New Jersey.

The company has two other facilities in Totowa. The FDA claims that it has inspected the three facilities a total of five times between January 2006 and May 2008, and had on all occasions, found the safety standards lacking. These unsafe practices include incomplete lab records of testing data, and failure to follow its own stability testing procedures. Actavis, it was found, had failed to ensure that the conditions under which the drugs were tested were the same conditions under which they were used. Test samples also didn’t meet the company’s own standards. The company on its part, has issued a press release claiming that it has been focusing efforts on meeting compliance standards, and has invited the FDA to revisit its facility for another inspection, but has not heard from the agency.

The lawsuit was field by U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie and the Department of Justice’s Officer of Consumer Litigation and seeks a permanent injunction that would bar the company’s three plants as well as the executives of the company, Douglas Boothe and Sigurdur Olafsson from manufacturing drugs until they are able to bring manufacturing conditions under the compliance of FDA requirements.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of product recalls. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

California’s Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) law, one of the toughest in the country has been a great success, the California Office of Traffic Safety claims, and has contributed to a significant drop in the number of teens killed in car accidents in the state.

The objective of having the GDL laws is to introduce young drivers slowly to the correct ways of driving responsibly. The law which separates the process that a driver has to go through to be able to hold a full-fledged license into three levels, may have frustrated teen drivers itching to break free of parental controls, but it has definitely kept them a lot safer. The law requires teen drivers to pass through an initial first stage when they can only drive with a parent, after they have reached the age of 15 years and 6 months. This Learner’s Permit must be held for at least six months before they can graduate to a Provisional License which allows them to drive without parental supervision, but forbids them from having passengers below the age of 20 in their car, unless another driver who’s above 25 years of age, is present. A full license is given only when the individual reaches the age of 18, and if he or she has been able to complete the first and second levels of the process.

Now, according to a study conducted by the Auto Club of Southern California, the number of teen car accident fatalities in the state earlier stood at an average of 81.5 at-fault car accidents that caused fatalities and injuries in the age group of 16-year-olds, between the hours of 11 pm and midnight. This was before the GDL laws were passed in 2004 and 2005. In 2006 and 2007, these same numbers were down to 54.

The Office of Traffic Safety is funding a number of other such traffic safety programs aimed at teen drivers, including the “Smart Start” teen driver safety classes, “Real DUI trials” in high schools, a seatbelt challenge program to encourage more teens to buckle up (an area where there are still concerns) as well as other programs to boost traffic safety awareness.

It’s gratifying to see that these measures are taking effect, although much more needs to be done. Still, we can take pride in the fact that the state of California is on the forefront of enhancing safety standards, not just for teen drivers, but also adults. The authorities have been seeing a decrease in the number of car accident fatalities involving adults, and now they are noticing the same trend with teen accident deaths.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of car accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

A family outing turned deadly for a San Jose family that lost its son in a car accident involving a teenage driver in Livermore, California on Saturday. The Alameda County Coroner has identified the boy as Jonathan Manzo.

Jonathan was in his mother’s minivan, along with his sister and bother, with his mother driving. According to reports in the San Francisco Chronicle, the family was driving along in their Mercury minivan when a teenage motorist heading in their direction, attempted to over take another car. In doing so, the driver of that car, a Toyota Corolla, lost control of his vehicle, and veered into oncoming traffic, and the minivan. The van broadsided the Corolla, leaving the occupants, and especially Jonathan, with severe injuries.

Jonathan was airlifted to an Oakland hospital, along with one of his siblings. He died in the hospital from injuries sustained in the car accident. His mother, and the other sibling who was in the car, were hospitalized for their injuries. There’s no information about their condition.

This is no doubt a terrible time for the Manzo family, and our hearts go out to the surviving members who have lost so much in this car accident.

The driver of the Toyota, a 17-year-old boy was also hospitalized for treatment of injuries he sustained in the crash. Alcohol is not suspected to be a factor in the accident.

Investigations are ongoing, and we will doubtless hear more details as the days go by. For instance, at what speed was the teen motorist driving? Was there reckless or aggressive driving involved? What about the possibility of street racing in this accident? A young boy has been killed, and the people in charge of driving him do not seem to have been at fault.

The Manzo family, including Jonathan’s two siblings, continues to be in the hospital for treatment. They deserve to be compensated not just for their heart-breaking loss, but also their own trauma and injuries suffered as a result of this car accident. There are medical expenses involved, and loss of earnings that must be accounted for. The family must seek the advice of an experienced California car accident attorney as quickly as possible, to explore the legal avenues they have.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of car accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

Most California drivers will tell you they get nervous when they share the roads with a big rig, and after the semi truck accident on Sunday on Interstate-40, it seems like that nervousness is justified. According to the Orange County Register, a total of four people were killed in a horrific pile up on I-40 that was caused by a big rig crashing into a Porsche.

In the Porsche was a prominent Fullerton surgeon, Dr. Stephen Wilson who has been working at St Jude’s Medical Center for more than 30 years. He was with his wife Faith, and the couple was on their way to Santa Fe for a short holiday. It appears that a big rig rear-ended the Porsche, pushing it off the Interstate, and into the desert. Dr. Wilson’s was treated at a hospital for severe injuries. He and his family didn’t have time to focus on his injuries, however. They had to grieve for Faith who was killed instantly in the truck accident.

The same big rig accident killed at least three other passengers in another car. The Ramirez family, Jose, Wendy, and Robert William were all from Canyon Lake, and were on their way to Nevada to attend a Western Region Clown Association Conference. Robert William was just 15-years-old. Their Toyota Avalon seems to have been pushed under another semi truck that was included in the pile up, after having been rear ended by another truck.

All in all, the accident involved a number of cars, as well as big rigs. With vehicles the size of these trucks involved in the crash, it’s no surprise that the fatalities were so many, and the injuries so severe. The scene of the car accident, California Highway Patrol officers say resembled a pile of wreckage, with several cars pushed under big trigs, and at least one truck ending up on top of a car.

According to CHP officials, they are still not sure what happened to cause a multi-vehicle collision like this. A Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team has been called in to investigate the accident. Police are now trying to piece together witness and survivor testimonies with skid marks on the ground, to ascertain the reasons for the truck accident. They are also looking into the possibility that weather conditions on that day, which were windy, could have played a part in causing the crash.

Since there are big rigs involved here, it would be worthwhile to look into how much of a factor speeding big rigs had a part to play in the crash. The California Highway Patrol might also want to look at the condition of the drivers who were behind the wheels of the big rigs. Were the windy conditions exacerbated by the carelessness of the drivers? Big rigs need to be handled much more carefully than an ordinary car. These massive machines can get out of control quicker in bad weather and road conditions, and can take longer to stop after the brakes have been applied, because of their gigantic bulk.

Unfortunately, all too often we see trucking companies sacrificing driver fitness and preparedness, for the sake of quick profits. Investigations into the roles of the semi trucks here may provide clues as to what caused this fatal truck accident.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of truck accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

A Rancho Cordova cop has been killed in yet another motorcycle accident involving an older motorist. The accident occurred on Wednesday afternoon when the officer, Deputy Lawrence Canfield, was trying to overtake a suspected speeding driver on his motorcycle. According to officer.com, a car driven by a 79-year-old man took a turn right in front of the motorcycle, slamming against it, throwing Canfield off. The officer suffered severe injuries, and was helped by several passersby until medical help arrived. He died later at the hospital.

Police are investigating the cause of the motorcycle accident, and whether traffic violations played any part. The accident occurred in a school zone, and both schools in the area were just closing for the day. It’s clear that Deputy Canfield died in a heroic enactment of duty, trying to keep the streets free of speeding drivers. We extend our sincere sympathies to his wife and two young children. Canfield has been remembered by his peers as a jovial, fun-loving guy who will be sorely missed.

Just yesterday we carried a story on our Orange County motorcycle accident lawyer blog involving Henry Eaton, the young man who was severely injured in a motorcycle accident that also included an elderly motorist. There too, the driver seems to have made a turn right in front of the motorcycle, throwing the rider off. There are several reasons why the elderly may be more prone to accidents as they get older, and defining a set driving policy for elderly drivers should be a priority. So far, there has been no indication that there were traffic violations in the Rancho Cordova accident, although it’s too early to confirm. There also doesn’t seem to have been any criminal intent on the part of the motorist.

Fingers are also being pointed at the road in question. Apparently, there had been another similar accident in the area about three years ago, in which an officer on his motorcycle was thrown off his bike when a car slammed into him. He spent the next two months in the hospital, recovering from his injuries. That accident took place just about 50 feet from the site of the accident that killed Deputy Canfield on Wednesday. According to Sheriff John McGuiness, it might be prudent to conduct a complete safety investigation of the road to determine if there were construction and design flaws that could be causing an increase in fatal and near-fatal car accidents on that stretch. Besides the previous accident, there seem to have been many more pedestrian and motor vehicle accidents on that stretch of road. A study conducted by engineers would be able to pinpoint any flaw in the dangerous road that may have escaped the attention of the authorities until now. Any failings could be corrected, helping avoid more auto accidents in the area.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of motorcycle accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.