Tag Archive: highway traffic safety

Bus Driver is convicted in Colusa gambler bus crash; Charter Bus Safety Act, AB636

Quintin Joey WattsDriver Quintin Joey Watts faces a maximum of 76 years in prison for his role in the gambler’s special bus crash that killed 11 passengers on their way to Colusa Casino Resort last year.

A jury of six men and six women deliberated for three hours Thursday before convicting Watts of 11 counts of gross vehicular manslaughter and 21 counts of causing great bodily injury, stated the Colusa County District Attorney today.

“I believe this is the first case in California of gross vehicular manslaughter based strictly on sleep deprivation,” said the DA. “There was no alcohol, no drugs, no medication in his system, it was simply exhaustion.”

Watts, 53, had slept no more than three or four hours in the 27 hours prior to the Oct. 5, 2008 Sunday night crash on a rural road, the DA said.

Watts repeatedly told investigators, “I was hecka tired,” the DA stated.

“On the day before the accident, he got up at 4:40 a.m. and didn’t go back to bed until 4 a.m. and got up an hour or two later,” stated the DA.

Watts was on his third casino run in a day-and-a-half when he fell asleep at the wheel, three witnesses said.

One was Chouangseng Saechao, 48, “who was very badly hurt and had almost every bone broken in her body,” stated a case worker at Lao Family Community Development who is helping some of the 23 passengers who were injured in the crash.

“I’m happy he’s been convicted and will be in jail forever, but I feel very sad I have to carry this injury forever,” Saechao said through her case worker. “Any bus driver has to be checked and has to be a good driver.”

The California Legislature has passed The Charter Bus Safety Act, AB636 — sponsored by Assemblyman Dave Jones (D-Sacramento) — which will revoke operating permits of bus companies operating without proper permits or qualified drivers. The bill will suspend unlicensed bus drivers for five years.

Watts had a commercial driver’s license but did not have the proper DMV certificate to allow him to drive a bus with 10 or more passengers, said a spokeswoman for Jones. “And the bus company was registered as non-operational, even though the bus in the crash was still being used,” she said.

“The tragic loss of 11 of my constituents to a rogue bus operator demonstrates the need for the ‘one strike and you are out’ approach,” Jones said. “I have no patience for those who undercut the process, thumbing their nose at regulations, and making California roads unsafe for us all.”

Gov. Schwarzenegger has until Oct. 11 to sign or veto the bill.

California Bus Accident Attorney

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Biggest Recall in Toyota History; Stuck Accelerators; Important Info for Toyota and Lexus Owners!

Toyota recallYou may have read an article we wrote below about a fatal accident involving a family test driving a lexus and allegations that there may have been a defect that caused the accident.

Federal investigators have said of the 102 accidents caused by stuck gas pedals on Toyota vehicles, there are four possible causes involving the floor mats: The mats are too long or too thick, they weren’t properly secured, the gas pedal design is flawed or the floor geometry is defective.

The wide array of causes presents a challenge to Toyota engineers who are trying to come up with a way to fix the problem that is leading to a recall of 3.8 million vehicles, including the Camry, the top-selling car in the U.S.

“We’ve evaluated a number of different years, makes and models of Toyota and don’t believe that there is a one-size-fits-all answer as to why these incidents are occurring,” said National Highway Traffic Safety Administration spokesman Rae Tyson on Tuesday. “I think Toyota is going to have a challenge on its hands to come up with a remedy that is going to address the problem.”

Toyota spokesman John Hanson acknowledged the problem is more complex than vehicle floor mats alone, but involves the way the floor mat interacts with other parts of the vehicle.

“Other factors may be coming into play here,” he said. “That’s why we feel that probably the remedy could be different from vehicle to vehicle.”

On Tuesday, the Japanese automaker issued a safety advisory urging owners of 3.8 million car and trucks — including popular models like Camry, Prius and Tacoma — to remove driver-side mats. It wants drivers to watch out for loose or incorrect mats that could slide out of position and cover pedals.

Toyota is still studying the problem. Once it comes up with a fix, it will issue a recall of the models. It will be Toyota’s largest-ever U.S. recall, accounting for about 15 percent of all the automaker’s vehicles on U.S. roads, the company said.

The safety advisory was prompted by an accident last month killing four people near San Diego. In that incident, a floor mat trapped the gas pedal on a 2009 Lexus ES 350, causing it to accelerate out of control, strike an SUV, launch off an embankment, and burst into flames.

NHTSA said it had received reports of 102 incidents in which the accelerator may have become stuck on the Toyota vehicles involved. The problem has led to 13 crashes, 17 injuries and 5 fatalities in Toyota vehicles, according to NHTSA.

Toyota’s warning affects the following vehicles:
2007-2010 model year Toyota Camry;
2005-2010 Toyota Avalon;
2004-2009 Toyota Prius;
2005-2010 Tacoma;
2007-2010 Toyota Tundra;
2007-2010 Lexus ES350; and
2006-2010 Lexus IS250 and IS350.

If you, your family, or friends have been in a Toyota vehicle, and had the accelerator stuck resulting in an injury accident in the State of California, you may be entitled to compensation, under California product liability laws.

Please call our Personal Injury Hotline at 800-816-1529 or click here now.

By California Product Liability Attorneys

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Fatal crash continues to raise questions as to whether the Accelerator Stuck. What do you do when a Car Accelerator Sticks?

California Fatal Car Accident Attorney and LawyerSAN DIEGO, California –

A horrible car crash that killed a California Highway Patrol officer and three of his family members continues to raise questions as investigators try to determine whether their loaner car’s accelerator stuck and what – if anything – could have prevented Friday’s tragedy.

The 2009 Lexus ES 350 came from Bob Baker Lexus El Cajon, where CHP officer Mark Saylor of Chula Vista had dropped off his regular vehicle for servicing.

Toyota, which makes Lexus cars, had recalled the “all weather” floor mats in its 2008 version of that car model because of complaints about them sliding forward and jamming the accelerator. A sales manager at Bob Baker Lexus said he wasn’t sure which mats were in the Lexus loaned to Saylor.

On Monday, Toyota issued a statement saying the company is deeply sorry to hear about the Saylor incident.

“We are unable to comment on this tragic accident until all the facts are known,” the statement said. “It is important to avoid speculation and allow any investigation to run its course.”

It’s not known whether Saylor, a 19-year CHP officer whose job entails vehicle safety inspections, tried to shut off the engine or put the car in neutral – the two most common ways to slow down a vehicle with a stuck accelerator.

Car experts said it’s not always that simple.

An electrical or mechanical failure could have made it impossible to shift into neutral, said Daniel Vomhof III, a vehicle accident reconstructionist with La Mesa-based Expert Witness Services.

Shutting off the engine also can be tricky because most modern vehicles will then lock the steering wheel, leaving the driver unable to steer, Vomhof said.

Asked if drivers have a third option, he replied: “Pray a lot.”

Another complication: A report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that some Lexus drivers with stuck accelerators tried to turn off the car with the engine control button but didn’t know the button must be held for three seconds.

The agency’s researchers recorded seven crashes, 12 injuries and 40 complaints involving the recalled floor mats in Toyota vehicles.

They also said that when the throttle pedal is fully open unintentionally, some drivers react by hitting the brakes multiple times. This action depletes the vehicle’s vacuum-based power assist, and without that assistance, the brakes must be applied with much more force. Continued driving in that manner can result in overheating the brakes, further diminishing their effectiveness.

Toyota acknowledged the complaints and created new instructions for installing the mats properly. There have been no recalls of the 2009 ES 350, the traffic safety administration said.

On Friday, someone in the Saylors’ Lexus called 911 just after 6:30 p.m. to report the stuck accelerator. Witnesses said the car was traveling northbound on state Route 125 in Santee at more than 100 mph when it entered a T-intersection with Mission Gorge Road.

The vehicle slammed into the rear end of a Ford Explorer and then plowed over a curb and through a fence before hitting an embankment and going airborne. It rolled several times before stopping and bursting into flames in the nearby San Diego River basin.

The CHP said those killed were Saylor, 45; his wife, Cleofe, 45; his daughter, Mahala, 13; and his brother-in-law, Chris Lastrella, 38.

The accident was a wake-up call for some Lexus owners.

Marcelle Khalil of Del Mar, a pharmacist who drives a 2006 Lexus GS 300, said she had a problem with her accelerator two weeks ago. It stuck as she drove into her employer’s parking lot and she narrowly missed a truck before slamming into a curb.

Khalil said she was positive she didn’t step on the gas instead of the brake, but began to doubt herself until she read about the Saylors.

“This could happen to anybody,” she said. “I’m scared to drive my car.”

Blair Carter, a sales manager at Bob Baker Lexus, said “our hearts sunk when we heard” about Friday’s accident.

He said the vehicle had a double redundant fail-safe system that should have shut the car off if there were a major malfunction, and that he had never heard of a situation in which the accelerator was stuck and the car couldn’t be stopped.

“I would get in any of our cars today with my family and drive to Maine,” Carter said.

Product Liability Law –

If it can be proven that the vehicle had a manufacturing or design defect, the family of the persons who were killed in the car crash would be able to sue for wrongful death for a defective product, and not have to prove negligence in Court.

However, if the vehicle which was loaned to the decedent’s had the mats that were recalled by Toyota, then the dealer could be sued under negligence or product’s liability law.

In the end, this is a horrible tragedy for the family of the victims. We have posted this story to provide education to the public on stuck accelerators, and what can be done pursuant to California law if you are the victim of a defective product.

What do you do when your Car Accelerator Sticks?

Car experts recommend trying the following actions if the accelerator becomes stuck while a vehicle is moving:

  • Repeatedly step on the gas pedal to jar it loose.
  • Step on the clutch to disengage the gears or shift the vehicle into neutral.
  • If all else fails, turn the vehicle off. This option could cause loss of power steering or lock the steering wheel in place.

California and San Diego Products Liability and Personal Injury Lawyer and Attorney Website

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