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San Diego Personal Injury Attorney Blog

Boy fatally chokes on pushpin, family files wrongful death suit

No parent should have to deal with the premature death of their young child. Sometimes these unfortunate incidents are accidental; other times they are wrongfully inflicted upon the victim and their family. In any case, though, the victim's family wants to know how and why their young one passed away so needlessly.

For the family of a 3-year-old boy who fatally choked on a pushpin at his preschool, the results of an investigation into their boy's death will not provide relief. The California Department of Social Services found that the preschool the 3-year-old was attending violated three safety rules that contributed to the boy's death. In light of the information, the family has filed a wrongful death suit.

Passengers increase distraction, crash risk for teenage drivers

It is not really surprising that teenagers are involved in a disproportionate number of car accidents in California and throughout the U.S. But according to two new studies, the driver's inexperience is not solely to blame for the high accident rate. Teenage drivers are most likely to be involved in car crashes when they have other teenage passengers in their vehicles.

In the study, which asked teen drivers to describe their behavior prior to a serious auto accident in which they had been involved, researchers reportedly found that drivers with friends or other teen passengers in the car were more likely to engage in risky behavior than those who were driving alone. Specifically, about 70 percent of teenage boys and 50 percent of girls admitted that the actions of their teenage passengers had distracted them prior to the accident.

California women face manslaughter charges in pit bull death

A California mother and daughter are facing criminal charges after the death of an elderly woman who was attacked by the family's two dogs earlier this year. The women previously pleaded not guilty to the lesser charges against them, but it is not yet known how they will react to the additional charge.

According to police reports, the fatal dog bite attack occurred in June. A 75-year-old San Diego woman was in her backyard in the Paradise Hills neighborhood when multiple pit bull dogs entered her backyard and attacked her. She suffered massive injuries, and was forced to undergo multiple surgeries including the amputation of one of her arms and one of her legs. She ultimately succumbed to her injuries in December.

Strong traffic safety laws result in fewer accident deaths

It may seem like a no-brainer, but a new report is claiming that the states with the safest roads are those with the strongest traffic safety laws. Specifically, California and the 17 other states that ranked the highest in the annual report from the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety also spend the least on car, truck and motorcycle accidents and related costs.

The report is the group's annual ranking of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia based on whether they have adopted the 15 basic laws that the group deems essential to traffic safety. The group is made up of several health, safety, insurance and law enforcement organizations that work to advance state and federal highway safety laws and policies.

California man faces felony dog bite charge after pit bull attack

A elderly California man is recovering from several deep leg wounds he suffered in an attack by a pit bull on his driveway. Now, the dog's owner is facing felony dog bite charges for failing to keep his dangerous dog properly leashed on the afternoon of the attack.

According to police reports, the incident occurred last month in Santa Rosa, California. The 90-year-old victim was in his driveway with his own dog, a black lab, when the pit bull and his owner walked by the victim's home. The pit bull managed to break from its leash and came running toward the victim and his dog.

Teenage girl injured in California motorcycle accident

When we write about motorcycle accidents in this personal injury blog, they usually involve a crash between a car and a motorcycle. More often than not, they involve some level of carelessness on the part of the car's driver and result in significant injury to the motorcyclist. But in a recent motorcycle accident in California, none of those common characteristics were present.

The crash occurred in Moss Beach, California, which is about 500 miles up the coast from San Diego. According to a report from the California State Highway Patrol, a 15-year-old girl was walking eastbound across a highway on her way to school in the early morning hours. Suddenly, the teenager was struck by an oncoming motorcycle.

Are NFL players aware of brain injury risk? Part two

Earlier this week, we talked about a recent report from the Associated Press in which professional football players admitted that they would be hesitant to leave a football game after suffering a concussion.

Certainly, a player should be able to decide whether he wants to continue playing after a potential concussion or other brain injury. But some believe that the NFL should do more to protect them from themselves and their willingness to play with a head injury. Of the 44 players surveyed, more than two-thirds said that they would like to see independent neurologists - doctors not associated with or paid by the NFL - on the sidelines during games.

Are NFL players aware of brain injury risk? Part one

In recent months, we have written multiple blog posts on the pending lawsuits filed by several former professional football players against the National Football League. In those suits, the plaintiffs accused the NFL of negligently or purposely ignoring the potential for brain injury to football players, causing them to suffer concussions and other head trauma that has already or likely will lead to long-term brain injuries. You can read more about those head injury lawsuits in our earlier blog posts.

Now, the plaintiffs and other football players who have complained about the league's lax approach toward brain injury prevention are facing some backlash. The reason for the negative attention is a recent Associated Press report in which players admit that they would try to conceal or ignore a potential concussion or similar injury rather than take themselves out of a game.

Economist says that driving drunk is less risky than walking drunk

Earlier this week, economist Steven Levitt went on the popular "Freakonomics" radio show and made a very interesting statement: "If you're faced exactly with two choices, walking drunk or driving drunk, you absolutely should drive drunk," he said.

While it is doubtful that Levitt was promoting or expressing his approval of drunk driving, his statement illustrated some interesting statistics about what he calls "drunk walking." In comparison with auto accidents caused by drunk drivers, there is a much higher risk of pedestrian accidents caused in some part by drunk walkers. Despite this fact, however, there is little to no attention paid to the dangers of drunk walking, either in California or at a national level.

Study links brain injury and violent crime

There are many known complications that commonly result from traumatic brain injuries, such as headaches, an inability to concentrate or work, memory loss, reduced verbal abilities and more. According to a new long-term study, a brain injury may also increase the likelihood that the head trauma victim will someday commit a violent crime against another person.

The study, which was conducted by researchers in Sweden and Great Britain, was one of the largest of its kind ever to be carried out. It examined nearly 23,000 traumatic brain injury victims and compared them with the general population to determine the comparative likelihood that members of each group would commit a homicide, assault, robbery, sex crime, or a similar violent crime.

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