A motorcyclist was killed Sunday in a crash on Topanga Canyon Boulevard near the Pacific Coast Highway about 2:30 p.m., the California Highway Patrol reported. The victim was pronounced dead at a hospital. Investigators were still on the scene, and no further details were available.

Also, a man died early Sunday when he was trapped under a flaming 1971 Chevy Monte Carlo that had been stopped on the shoulder of the southbound 110 Freeway near 52nd Street.

The 2:40 a.m. incident began when the 18-year-old driver of a 2008 Smart car slowed to avoid rear-ending a vehicle directly ahead, swerved onto the right shoulder and struck the Monte Carlo. Both vehicles burst into flames.

The Monte Carlo rolled over and fatally injured one of three men who had been standing near the car after it had broken down, the CHP reported. Two other victims were taken to hospitals, one in critical condition and one with lesser injuries.

The driver of the Smart car sustained scrapes and was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder and driving under the influence, the CHP said. Names of the suspect and victims were not released.

About 11 p.m. Saturday, a pickup truck driven by a 17-year-old male overturned on the 710 Freeway, killing a female passenger and injuring three others. The accident occurred in the northbound lanes just south of the 91 Freeway, the CHP reported. No names were released.
A 23-year-old man driving a Honda Accord died late Saturday when he hit a power pole and tree on Somerset Ranch Road near Paramount Boulevard in South Gate.

The accident occurred about 10:50 p.m. when the driver exited the 105 Freeway at a high rate of speed, collided with another vehicle and slammed into the pole and tree, said South Gate Police Sgt. Mario Saldivar.

The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. A female passenger was in stable condition at a hospital with minor injuries. No names were released.

And a 43-year-old Irvine man was killed while trying to cross the eastbound lanes of the 101 Freeway after crashing his car near Laurel Canyon Boulevard about 9:40 p.m. Saturday, officials said.

The man had been driving west in a black Lexus when he drifted off the shoulder, struck a guardrail and came to rest in the number one lane, the CHP reported.

He got out of the car, tried to run across the freeway and was hit by a BMW driven by a 76-year-old Encino man. The driver of the Lexus was pronounced dead at the scene. His name was not released. The BMW driver was unhurt.

Last year, only one traffic-related fatality was reported in Los Angeles County during the first 36 hours of Labor Day weekend, according to the CHP. Statewide, the CHP has reported six fatalities so far, compared with eight last year.

In Los Angeles County, 227 people have been arrested on suspicion of drunk driving, up from 209 last year, while statewide, the CHP has arrested 1,008 motorists on that charge, compared with 990 last year.

Traffic-related incidents so far this weekend are also higher than the July 4 and Memorial Day numbers this year, authorities said.
“There was a somewhat downward trend, and we were hopeful that would still be the case because people had gotten the message about safe driving,” said CHP Officer Ming Hsu. “Unfortunately, the numbers we have for this period are spiking.”

If you or your family has been injured anywhere in Los Angeles County or the State of California, you may contact our law firm for a free consultation at 800-816-1529 ext. 1, or submit your case through our website at http://www.therpersonalinjury.com

Los Angeles County Car Accident Attorney and California Personal Injury Website

Zachary Parke

Zachary Parke, 25, of Santa Cruz, was found dead on the University of California at Santa Cruz campus on Wednesday after he was killed in a by a hit and run driver.

His body was found near Heller Drive on Empire Grade Road, which is a primary route for students entering and leaving the campus.

He was in the bushes 15 feet in front of his bicycle, and broken glass littered the ground.

California Highway Patrol officers said Zachary Parke was riding a bicycle when he was hit by a car. A driver traveling in a maroon Nissan or Infiniti fled after hitting the bicyclist, CHP officers said.

Another bicyclist found Zachary Parke’s body at 8:05 a.m. on Wednesday and called 911.

Zachary Parke, who is not a UCSC student, was returning home at midnight from the campus after hanging out with friends, his mother April Parke said.

“His friend left at the same time he did. He saw Zachary take off on his bike going down Empire Grade,” April Parke said. Her son never made it home.

Zachary Parke was an avid outdoor rock climber and studied art at Cabrillo College, according to his Facebook page. He went climbing at Sebastian Big Wall in Yosemite with his friends recently.

April Parke described the pain she felt when an official from the coroner’s office knocked on her door Wednesday morning.

“She said she was from the coroner’s office. I said, ‘Is my son OK?’” April Parke said. “She said, ‘No, I’m sorry, he isn’t.’”

The California Highway Patrol needs help finding the hit-and-run driver. Anyone with information on this accident should contact the CHP at 662-0511. The maroon Nissan or Infiniti is missing a side mirror and likely has front-end damage, officers said.

“Somebody was probably drunk, somebody hit him, and it has to be their fault,” April Parke said.

The bicyclist was seasoned in navigating roads on two wheels. He worked as a bike messenger four days a week for Clutch Couriers and pedaled all over the county, April Parke said.

“They weren’t going to let me see him, but I begged them to let me see him one last time,” April Parke said as tears welled up in her eyes.

UCSC students are taking final examinations this week before the spring semester ends.
Campus security did not block off the road while investigators surveyed the scene. Parke’s body was moved into a coroner’s truck before 10 a.m. and few students realized the tragedy that had happened as they drove by.

Santa Cruz Wrongful Death and Bicycle Accident Attorney

The first thing two things you need to do are; (1) get the other drivers information, and (2) get medical help; not necessarily in that order.

When you get the other drivers information, try to get as much information as possible, such as all of the information on their drivers license, their phone number, the year, make, model, license plate and vin number of their vehicle, the color of their vehicle, and even a description of the driver and their passengers. You also need to get their insurance information.

Without the other driver’s information, your chances of recovery in the accident are slim to none.

I have had people with great cases, who could not recover because they failed to get the information of the person who hit them.

Most uninsured motorist coverage policies also require you to identify the person who hit you.

With respect to your injuries, you need to seek immediate medical treatment. If you feel like you need to be transported by paramedic to the emergency room, chances are that you are probably right. It is better to error on the side of caution.

Even if you do not have medical insurance, all emergency rooms are required to treat you, and stabalize you. Go to the emergency room if you need to.

When you go to the doctor, make sure you tell the doctor about all of your problems; do not underestimate your complaints.

I cannot tell you how many people I have talked to who are hurt bad, yet when they describe their complaints, they hold back. How can a doctor treat you if you do not tell them what is hurting?

I know you are also concerned about getting your vehicle repaired, finding temporary transportation, and so on.

The best thing you can do now is to retain a personal injury attorney for your California car accident case.

There are many damages that you may be entitled to such as all out of pocket expenses related to the accident, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, emotional distress, and so forth, which you have no clue how to value or go after on your own.

Further, if you are married, you spouse may also have a cause of action for loss of consortium even if they were not in the car with you.

I estimate that a reputable personal injury attorney such as myself, can get you more money in your pocket for your personal injury case, than you would ever get on your own in 99% of all cases.

The reason is simple, personal injury cases are complex.

The insurance companies exist for one thing only; to make a profit, not pay you money. If they can, they will try to get you to settle for pennies on the dollar for what your case is actually worth.

They may offer you a couple of thousand dollars on a case that may be worth tens of thousands of dollars.

They know that if you are unrepresented, that you are an easy mark!

Don’t be a victim a second time around. You should be worried about getting better, and not about fighting the insurance company. Let me do that for you.

If you have been injured in a car accident, or any other motor vehicle accident in the State of California, give me a call 7 days a week, 24 hours a day at 800-816-1529 ext. 1.

By California Car Accident Attorney Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © March 3, 2011

California Personal Injury Attorney Norman Gregory Fernandez

As a California Personal Injury Lawyer, I give free consultations to injury victims throughout the State of California almost every day.

Inevitably about 5% of the people I talk to have either tried handling their California personal injury matter on their own, or are very reluctant to “get lawyers” involved because of what they heard about lawyers, or are clueless about how the legal system works.

Ultimately, out of the 5% of the people mentioned above, about 1% or 1 out of 100 people I talk to decide to handle the matter on their own.

To me, an experienced California Personal Injury Attorney, it is inexplicable why someone would choose not to retain an attorney to handle their personal injury case. Let me tell you why.

Firstly, most people have no clue that they are entitled to recover the following damages in a typical personal injury matter:

Out of Pocket Expenses: All out of pocket expenses flowing out of the personal injury matter such as: loss of wages, medical cost, prescription cost, cost of travel to and from the doctor, prescriptions, loss of use of vehicle, either the repair cost of a damaged vehicle, or the fair market value of a damaged vehicle when the repair cost exceeds the fair market value, rental car, loss of future wages, future medical expenses, etc.

Non Economic Expenses: Pain & Suffering, Emotional Distress, Loss of Enjoyment of life (loss of enjoyment of life consists of compensation to a person for not being able to do things that they used to do, while they are injured. Such as cleaning, cooking, walking, dancing, going out, etc.)

In a nutshell a typical person has no clue that they are entitled to the things mentioned above, how to value such things even if they know about it, and most importantly, how to get it.

Going further, if an injured person is married, they typically do not know that their spouse also has a cause of action against the person who injured them for loss of consortium. Hell most personal injury lawyers in California do not even go for loss of consortium.

Loss of consortium in a nutshell is damages that a spouse of an injured party are entitled to, for the loss of the things that their spouse used to do with and for them in the marriage, because of their injury. In many cases loss of consortium can amount to a substantial amount of money.

I have just touched the tip of the iceberg with this article. Ultimately, only a fool has themselves for an attorney.

I can assure you that in 99% of cases, a person without an attorney will get less than a person with an attorney in a California Personal Injury case.

If you or a loved one have been injured in a California Personal Injury matter you may call my personal injury hotline 7 days a week, 24 hours a day for a free consultation at 800-816-1529 extension 1. You may also check out my personal injury website at http://www.thepersonalinjury.com.

By California Personal Injury Lawyer Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © February 10, 2011

California Personal Injury Attorney Norman Gregory Fernandez

Yes you read the headline of this article correctly; I am sick and tired of ambulance chasers who give ethical personal injury attorneys such as me, a bad name.

An ambulance chaser has been defined by an online dictionary as:

“A lawyer or entrepreneur who hurries to the scene of an accident to try to get the business of any injured persons.”

First of all let me tell all of you something right now, lawyers or their representatives are prohibited from soliciting your business at the scene of an accident in the State of California.

Any attorney who engages in such conduct can face disciplinary proceedings.

If someone is coming up to you at the scene of an accident and recommending an attorney to you; chances are they are engaging in prohibited conduct.

You should never select an attorney based upon a solicitation at the scene of an accident, at your doctor’s office, by the tow truck driver, by a body shop, etc.

Always select someone based upon your own research.

My good friend who is an ex NICB agent, and who now runs an investigative corporation, has told me stories of unethical attorneys illegally paying runners, cappers, doctors, tow truck drivers, body shops, to refer cases to them.

He has also told me stories of personal injury attorneys who are in illegal partnerships with non attorneys to get business.

No attorney can fee share or be in a partnership with a non attorney to get your business.

To be frank, I am absolutely shocked to hear such stories. It is beyond my belief that some unethical attorneys are engaging in such behavior. It is to be frank, despicable.

For attorneys such as me who play by the rules, it is outrageous to think of the poor victims of this type of illegal activity.

Going one step further, you may have recently heard about the explosion in San Bruno and the horrible aftermath.

Sure enough, there are some bottom feeder law firms putting out press releases trying to scavenge business from those poor souls in San Bruno.

Historically in the State of California, attorney advertising was prohibited. In the last several decades attorneys have been allowed to advertise. Some have taken it too far.

I am not against attorneys being allowed to advertise, but I am against what I consider to be ambulance chasing in advertising.

The same thing happened after the Chatsworth Metrorail crash, and many other disasters.

As for me, I am no ambulance chaser. I do not need to be because I am good at what I do.

All of my past and present clients know this to be true. To be good at what you do, you need to actually care about your clients, and get them the money that they deserve.

Ask yourself a question; have you ever heard any other personal injury attorney discussing the topic of this article? Heck No. Do you wonder why? It is the dirty little secret that no one wants to talk about.

Well I am talking about it.

I would like to hear any comments you have. You may comment by clicking the comment link below.

By California Personal Injury Attorney Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © September 15, 2010

You neck jerks back, and then forward, your body hits the seatbelt going across your body. You are shocked. You did not imagine that a mild rear end car accident would sound so loud, or violently jerk your body like it did.

You heart starts racing as you realized what happened. You may not feel pain yet because your body is producing chemicals which mask pain, or your may feel mild pain or stiffness at this point.

You head feels light as you unbuckle your seat belt and get out of the car. The person who hit you is a nice clean cut guy or gal. They run over to you apologizing greatly about how sorry they are, and that they did not mean to hit you.

They offer to pay for the damage to your car, sometimes on the spot. They usually have the same story; they do not want to get their insurance involved because their rates will go up, or their spouse will get upset, etc.

You empathize with the person who hit you; you know that they are required to exchange insurance information with you, but they are so nice, and they are offering to pay, you actually feel bad for the person who hit you. They are talking a good game. They give you a $100 or $200. You go on your way; later that night you realize that you cannot turn your neck and you have the worst headache in history. It turns out that you are going to miss work for a couple of weeks recovering.

You find out later that you have $3,000 damage to the back of your car.

What have you done; you screwed yourself out of thousands of dollars in just compensation that you were entitled to because you let an accident scammer and con artist talk you out of doing what was right.

Make no mistake about it; there is no way to know right after a vehicle accident what your damages are. I have seen people who thought they were not injured after an accident, turn up with shooting pains a numbness hours later, they had nerve damage.

The California vehicle code requires all persons involved in a vehicle accident to stop after an accident, and to exchange identifying information and insurance information. You can be nice after an accident, but firm at the same time.

The first thing you should do is to call the police if you can, and then ask the other party to produce their driver’s license and insurance information. Ask them if the address on the license is current, and request their phone number.

If they try to play the same old con I discussed above simply tell them, look the law requires that we exchange information and I cannot take a chance on getting in trouble, can you please give me your drivers license and insurance information? If they refuse, tell them that you have already called the police.

Make sure that you note the model and make of their car along with the license plate information.

The vast majority of persons out there will comply with the law. However, there as those few asocial assholes that will try to scam and con their way out of not being responsible when they cause harm. Don’t let yourself be a double victim by being injured by them, and then turning around and letting them get off for a few hundred dollars.

If you have been the victim in a motor vehicle accident anywhere in California, call my firm ASAP for a free consultation at 800-816-1529 x.1, or go to http://www.thepersonalinjury.com .

By California Motor Vehicle Accident Attorney and Lawyer Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © 2009

The California Highway Patrol says 12 people have died in accidents statewide over the Christmas holiday weekend, one more than in 2008.

Of the 10 vehicle occupants who died in the CHP’s jurisdiction between Christmas Eve and noon Saturday, half weren’t wearing seat belts. A motorcycle rider also died, the CHP says. The twelfth victim was handled by local law enforcement officials.

Last year, 11 people died statewide in Christmas holiday accidents.

The highway patrol says drunken driving arrests are up, from 409 in 2008 to 549 this year.

The holiday weekend continues through Sunday night.

California Traffic Accident Attorney Website

You will be the only one getting screwed with tort reform; mark my words.

 I hear a certain political party constantly preaching about tort reform this and tort reform that in a way to demonize personal injury attorneys as the fall guys for excessive costs of medical care, insurance, and everything else you can imagine.

You see they like to blame attorneys for taking on big business, the insurance companies, the big pharmaceutical companies, and big medicine, when they screw up and harm you.

Hell, 99.9% of the time, we are the only way you are going to be compensated when you are harmed due to the negligence of big business, doctors, pharmaceutical companies, or big insurance companies.

You don’t hear members of this political party telling you this do you?

One thing they don’t tell you is that since the 1970’s, there has already been a cap on general damages in medical malpractice cases of $250.000 in the State of California.

This means that if a doctor screws up and let’s say cuts out your only good kidney, or let’s say misdiagnosis an illness like cancer, you only get $250,000 for general damages in the State of California. Does this seem right to you? Hell no!

The laws of the State of California basically protect doctors from their negligence and the laws have done so since the 1970’s. States such as Texas have in the past couple of years, recently enacted their own tort reform laws. My understanding is that in Texas there is a $750.000 cap on general damages.

California is way behind the eight ball in this regard; we can only get $250,000 for general damages. It is time to either remove the cap in California or to increase it to reflect the inflation that has occurred since the 1970’s.

Look if you are the victim of medical malpractice, how much would the pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and emotional distress be worth to you if let’s say a doctor screws up and cuts off the wrong leg, or even caused the death of a loved one?

Do you want some law to prevent you from recovering from your loss? This is tort reform. It is time to get educated folks and stop believing those talking heads who pocket big bucks from those who would save money with tort reform.

This is the essence of tort reform; it is taking away your legal rights, to protect a class of persons or corporations from the harm that they cause by limiting what you can get from them if they screw up your life.

You will see that one political party preaches about less government, and less regulation and intrusion, and they in the same breath will argue to regulate your legal right to obtain compensation as an individual when you are harmed. Who are they protecting? Big business, big medicine, insurance companies, everyone but you. These people are full of shit.

It does not matter what political party you are from when your life gets turned upside down in a personal injury case does it. In the end we are all the same; when we are sitting on our couch injured and hurting due to the negligence of another, all we want is to get better, to get compensated, and to get our lives back. Tort reform prevents this. This is what pundits do not tell you.

These are the same guys that are saying that providing medical coverage to millions of Americans, and prohibiting insurance companies from denying you coverage for pre-existing coverage is a bad thing. These guys are despicable.

It is time to expose the lies America. Tort reform is against your interest and your freedom as Americans.

This is another way to screw the little guy and protect those who are already making a fortune at your expense!

It is time to become educated folks. I am on the front lines of this fight on a daily basis. Any one of you could be sitting in my office looking for help for your personal injury case; you never know. What you should know is tort reform is bad for you; it is bad for all of us.

By California Personal Injury Attorney Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © 2009

There have literally been hundreds of car, truck and other motor vehicle accidents over the past week all over the State of California. Everybody is blaming the bad weather, but in 99% of all cases, the fault is on drivers who were not being careful while driving in the bad weather.

Everyone needs to be careful out there on the roads. I flew in to Los Angeles International Airport last night from San Francisco. Although it was not raining in Los Angeles, the traffic was horrible because of the rain earlier in the day. There were still your ubiquitous assholes on the road, not letting people switch lanes, tailgating, driving recklessly, you name it.

To protect yourself against the bad drivers you need to make sure that you have uninsured motorist coverage and under insured motorist coverage in a decent amount to protect yourself against these bad drivers with bad insurance.

If you are hit, the first thing you need to do is make sure you get a police report, go to the emergency room if you need it, and call me for a free consultation on your car, truck, or any other motor vehicle accident, anywhere in California, at 800-816-1529 x. 1. As all of my clients all over the State of California know; I am an attorney that cares about my clients. I will do what I can to take care of you.

By California Accident Attorney Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © 2009

This policy is aimed to protect so-called undocumented or I should say illegal aliens who are otherwise law abiding citizens, from having their vehicles impounded even though they are breaking State law by driving without a license and presumably also breaking State law by not having the required mandatory minimum liability insurance to protect others in case they hit them in their vehicles.

As a personal injury attorney and lawyer my only thought is what the heck? What about law abiding citizens and legal immigrants who follow State law and have a valid drivers license, and also carry mandatory insurance?

This new policy is absurd and an accident waiting to happen. As a matter of fact this new policy may violate State and Federal law to boot.

Look, I am all for protecting law abiding people, but by definition, those driving without a driver’s license are not law abiding are they? Hell, the protected class of citizens that Mayor Gavin Newsom is trying to protect are in fact breaking our laws by being here illegally in the first place.

I think that if someone is hit by an unlicensed and uninsured driver in San Francisco, the city of San Francisco should now be held liable for inviting this type of law breaker into their city by advertising the fact that they are not enforcing State law. It is reasonably foreseeable that law breakers will flock to San Francisco to take advantage.

What about the victims of this policy. Hell, I deal with personal injury victims on a daily basis, especially those that are hit by uninsured and illegal drivers. In the end we all pay for those that choose not to drive with insurance through increased insurance rates.

Furthermore, I do not think that it is wise to allow a major city like San Francisco to pick and choose which State laws it chooses to abide by or enforce.

This new policy is a disaster in the making. Mayor Gavin Newsom, you need to pull your head out of your ass and jump on the team here for the big win. You are endangering legal citizens and legal residents in order to protect those who are breaking the Law!

By California Personal Injury Attorney, Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © 2009