Posted March 2, 2010

By wsfb.com

STAMFORD, Conn. — A man was killed in a Tuesday morning collision with a tractor-trailer on Interstate 95 in Stamford.

Police said a Toyota Sienna driven by Xiaoyuan Huang, 28, was either stopped or traveling slowly in the right, northbound lane of Interstate 95 before 5 a.m. Police said Clarence Edwards came up behind Huang’s vehicle in a tractor-trailer. They said Edwards attempted to swerve around the Toyota, but struck the rear of the car.

The Toyota went into the roadway’s right shoulder, striking a metal guardrail. The tractor-trailer traveled into the median and struck the barrier, police said.

Huang was extricated from his vehicle and taken to Stamford Hospital, where he later died. Edwards was uninjured in the crash.

The crash, which closed northbound lanes of the roadway for hours, remains under investigation.

Tom Bowen said he commutes to Stamford from Long Island, usually on Interstate 95, but said he took back roads on Tuesday.

“I used to work in the local area and I know the local roads,” he said.

Posted December 19, 2009

By: www.thedenverchannel.com

EVERGREEN, Colo. — A 3-year-old boy was in critical condition after being struck and dragged by a car on Saturday afternoon in Evergreen.

Evergreen Fire Rescue Chief Garry Dejong said firefighters were called to the parking lot of a Wal-Mart store at 952 Swede Gulch Road in Evergreen at around 1:40 p.m. on a report of a person being struck by a car.

A witness told 7News that a woman was pulling into a parking spot in the lot when she struck the boy, who was apparently kneeling and trying to pick something up.

The woman kept driving a short distance, dragging the boy under the car. The witness said bystanders rushed to the scene and lifted the car off of the boy. Dejong said the boy was with his grandmother and other siblings when the accident happened.

Dejong said the boy was airlifted out to The Children’s Hospital in Denver. He was listed in critical condition.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the accident.

Posted December 1, 2009

By: Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Washington – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday let stand a record $83-million judgment in favor of a San Diego County woman who was paralyzed when her Ford Explorer rolled over and its roof partially collapsed.

The justices rejected an appeal from lawyers for Ford Motor Co., who argued that the punitive damages were unfair and unconstitutional because the design of the sport utility vehicle met all the government and industry safety standards.

The jury had been told, however, that Ford could have strengthened the roof and possibly avoided such a catastrophic accident had it spent an extra $20 per vehicle.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups had joined Ford in appealing the case. They urged the justices to take a more skeptical look at the notion of juries imposing punishment on manufacturers. But without comment, the court refused to hear the appeal.

In January 2002, Benetta Buell-Wilson, a 46-year-old mother of two, was driving on Interstate 8 east of San Diego when she swerved to avoid a metal object that fell from a vehicle in front of her. Her Ford Explorer rolled four times. She sustained spinal damage.

She and her husband sued Ford, and her lawyers argued that the Explorer was dangerously prone to rollovers and its roof was defectively weak.

In 2004, a jury in San Diego handed down a verdict of $369 million in her favor, one of the largest to date against a manufacturer. About one-third of the award was to compensate her for her losses, and two-thirds was to punish Ford for its “conscious disregard” of the safety of its customers.

Both the trial judge and a California appellate court reduced the verdict. In 2006, the state appeals court set the verdict as $27.6 million in compensatory damages and $55 million in punitive damages.

In its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, Ford’s lawyers challenged only the punitive damages.

Posted November 19, 2009

By Peter Mucha, Inquirer Staff Writer

Posted October 25, 2009\

By Gary Taylor, Orlando Sentinel

One teenager was killed and six others injured early Saturday in a single-vehicle accident on E. Michigan Street at Center Avenue in Orlando.

Brandon Wesley Wise, 17, of Orlando, is the 22nd person to die in a traffic crash in Orlando this year, Orlando police Sgt. Barb Jones said this morning.

Wise was the driver of a 1997 Jeep sport utility vehicle involved in the crash that occurred about 1:20 a.m., Jones said.

Wise was eastbound on Michigan in the left through lane when he attempted a left turn onto Center at a high rate of speed, Jones said. The SUV overturned and came to rest in the parking lot of a business at the intersection. Wise, who was wearing a seat belt, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Passengers in the vehicle all suffered minor injuries. Jones identified them as Pablo Rodriguez, 15; Emily Aleman, 16; Kassandra Lopez, 16; Bianca Rodriguez, 16; Alexander Ortiz, 17; and Sabastian Viloria, 16, all of Orlando.

Published on September 24, 2009 by the Associated Press

NEW YORK — The bankruptcy court judge overseeing certain Chrysler assets has approved a $24 million settlement in the death of a California longshoreman run over by a Dodge pickup.

The settlement comes more than two years after a Los Angeles Superior Court jury awarded damages of more than $55 million to the family of Richard Mraz. The family argued the automaker had failed to fix and adequately warn consumers about a transmission defect that made it appear trucks were in park position, when they actually were between gears.

An appeal of the jury verdict by the former DaimlerChrysler was delayed by Chrysler’s Chapter 11 bankrupcty filing in April, leading to negotiations that resulted in a settlement, attorneys for the Mraz family said Thursday.

U.S. Judge Arthur Gonzalez in Manhattan approved the settlement, said attorneys from the firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein.

Mraz, 38, suffered fatal head injuries when he was run over by a 1992 Dodge Dakota at the Port of Los Angeles on April 13, 2004. Both sides in the lawsuit said he had left the truck running without setting the parking brake, but they differed on who was to blame for the accident.

Attorneys for the Mraz family argued that the truck slipped into reverse after Mraz got out. Those attorneys said DaimlerChrysler had received more than 1,000 “park-to-reverse” complaints involving 1988 through 2003 model Dakotas. The company issued a recall in 2000 but it was for repairs that failed to fix the problem, the family’s attorneys argued.

DaimlerChrysler denied there was a defect and argued that Mraz failed to follow proper safety procedures.

Jurors found in March 2007 that DaimlerChrysler was negligent in the truck’s design, and for failing to warn consumers or adequately recall the vehicle.

Charles Naylor, an attorney for the family, said his demand that Chrysler post bond while the case was under appeal proved crucial when the bankruptcy case threw the status of the jury’s damages award into doubt. The bankruptcy case halted the appeal, but the stay order was lifted over the summer.

Naylor said that led to negotiations with the appeal bond issuer, Safeco Insurance Co., that focused in part on how compensation to the family would affect Chrysler’s creditors based on how the appeal bond was structured.

Safeco posted an $81 million bond to guarantee payment of the judgment and interest after the judgment, Naylor said.

“Ultimately, the $24 million settlement offered a substantial return to Chrysler’s creditors while providing fair compensation to the Mraz family, our ultimate goal,” said Naylor.

            You are stopped at a red light and you hear a bang and your car lurches forward.  Or, maybe, you are driving down the road and a car comes out and hits your car in the side.  Do you know what to do?  More importantly, do you know what you should not do?

            First, you should:

            ►        Call the police.  It’s “your word against his” without an official report.

►        Get immediate medical attention and ongoing treatment for any injuries sustained.  Insurance companies will often use the excuse that there must

            have been a subsequent injury when there is a “gap” in treatment.

►        If possible, get the names, addresses and phone numbers of any witnesses

            on the scene. 

►        Contact an attorney who specializes in auto accident cases.

You should not:

►        Agree to work out property damage or bodily injury issues at the scene

            with the defendant.  People can change their minds and their stories!

            The simple fact is that auto insurance companies are not non-profit organizations and they are not your friends.  They don’t hand over cash voluntarily because they are in business to make money and they will use any excuse available to avoid paying a claim. 

            So, if you have been hurt in an automobile, truck or motorcycle accident, you need to speak with someone who has your interests at heart.  You need an advocate who will fight for you to obtain the compensation to which you are entitled. 

            Our firm has been representing the victims of automobile, truck and motorcycle accidents for over 25 years.  If you or a member of your family have been the victim of a motor vehicle accident,  you can complete an online consultation form or engage in an online chat.  Don’t wait. 

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