JULY 28, 2009 - A jury awarded nearly $2 million to a woman whose husband was killed when his golf cart plunged down a steep rocky hillside at a San Diego County golf resort, authorities said. Edwin Payne, 65, was halfway through a round of golf when he lost control of the golf cart in May 2007 and plummeted down an 80-foot cliff, according to the attorney for the plaintiff. Payne was ejected onto the southbound lane of Old Highway 395. Pala Mesa Resort was found negligent by a North San Diego County jury last week, and the Payne’s widow was awarded $483,426 in economic damages and $1.5 million for non-economic damages. The jury found that Payne was 30 percent to blame for the golf cart accident and the resort 70 percent liable.

A 20 page report released this week by the Bureau of Justice Statistics at the United States Department of Justice revealed plaintiffs won more than half of all civil trials in state courts in the year 2005.  The report was the first of its kind to represent national statistics for civil trials.

Out of the approximately 26,950 civil trials held in 2005, a jury decided nearly 70% of them.  For both jury and bench trials, plaintiffs won about 60% of trials, or 14,000 cases.   

60% of civil trials involved tort claims, including motor vehicle accidents, premises liability, medical malpractice, product liability, animal attacks, and professional negligence. The most common tort claim involved motor vehicle accidents, which accounted for 35% of civil trials in 2005, or 9,431 trials.

While the median compensatory awards for all trials in 2005 was $28,000, certain tort cases saw much higher awards.  Asbestos related claims, for example, had a median award of $682,000. The largest award was $172 million, a class action lawsuit brought by 116,000 Wal-Mart employees.

Estey & Bomberger, LLP is a law firm with offices throughout the state of California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of car accidents and wrongful death accidents. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 672-1036 or visit our web site.

A man was killed after falling off the cliffs at Black’s Beach on October 22^nd. 43-year-old Nestor Revilla Hernandez was walking along a 300-foot cliff when witnesses saw him fall approximately 50 feet. The witnesses contacted authorities, and lifeguards and firefighters used a helicopter to bring a paramedic to the victim on the cliff. They brought Mr. Hernandez down to the beach and then transported him to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla. He was pronounced dead a short time later.

Delta Enterprises has announced today that they are voluntary recalling infant cribs made between 1995 and 2007, after two infants died. This latest defective product recall involves nearly 985,000 drop-side cribs with Delta’s “Crib Trigger Lock with Safety Peg” and 600,000 cribs with Delta’s “Crib Trigger Lock with Spring Peg.” The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (U.S. CPSC) has confirmed two infant deaths caused by defective drop side cribs.  The Delta crib recall is being conducted in cooperation with the CPSC.

The effected “safety peg cribs” were sold between December 2005 and September 2007 at mass retailers including K-Mart, Wal-Mart, and Target. These cribs may be commonly sold secondhand as well.  If the safety peg is missing, the crib can disengage, causing a possible entrapment or suffocation situation. The “spring peg crib”, due to a defective design, could cause a similar risk of entrapment and suffocation. The spring peg (located at the base of each crib leg), could stop working after many uses, causing the drop side to detach from the crib. The model numbers can be found at the top of the mattress support board.

Model numbers of recalled safety peg cribs (Crib Trigger Lock with Safety Peg):

4320, 4340, 4500, 4520, 4530, 4532, 4540, 4542, 4550, 4551, 4580, 4600, 4620, 4624 (production dates January 2006 through November 2007), 4640, 4660, 4720, 4735, 4742, 4750 (production dates January 1995 through December 2000), 4760, 4770, 4780, 4790, 4820, 4840, 4850, 4860, 4880, 4890, 4892, 4900, 4910, 4920, 4925-2, 4925-6, 4930, 4940, 4943, 4944, 4947, 4948, 4949, 4950, 4958, 4963, 4968, 4969, 4980.

Model numbers of recalled spring peg cribs (Crib Trigger Lock with Spring Peg):

4340, 4343, 4520, 4600, 4620, 4624, 4625, 4629, 4660, 4665, 4720, 4750, 4751, 4850, 4855, 4857, 4880, 4920, 4925-2, 4925-2B, 4925-6, 4980, and 8605.

Delta Enterprises is providing free repair kits for the cribs through their website, www.cribrecallcenter.com.   The recall does not affect any cribs currently in retail stores.

Estey & Bomberger, LLP is a San Diego defective products law firm with offices throughout the state of California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of defectively designed and negligently manufactured products and children’s injuries.  If you would like a free case evaluation with an attorney on a personal injury or defective product matter, please call us at (800)672-1036.

SEPTEMBER 25, 2008 — It has been 30 years since Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182 collided into a private Cessna 172 in the skies above San Diego, killing 135 passengers on the PSA flight, two people aboard the Cessna, and seven people on the ground. Plane wreckage fell into the North Park area of San Diego, and 22 homes were damaged or destroyed. The plane had been in its final approach to Lindbergh Field at about 9 a.m. when it collided with the small Cessna. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that the likely cause of the deadly collision was the failure of the PSA flight crew to adhere to proper air traffic control (ATC) procedures. There were no survivors.

The San Diego International Airport is America’s busiest single-runway commercial airport. The September 25, 1978 crash is the deadliest aviation disaster to date in California history.

A man is injured after a motorcycle accident in Hemet. Robert Bayer was struck by a car at the intersection of Sanderson and Menlo Avenues after the driver made an illegal left turn on a red light and crossed in front of his motorcycle. Mr. Bayer was wearing a helmet, but he was knocked unconscious after his head struck the car’s front bumper. Mr. Bayer was transported to Riverside County Regional Hospital with severe injuries. He is listed in critical condition.

As more people are downsizing their vehicles because of high gas prices, motorcycle and bicycle collisions are rising. The San Diego County Bicycle Coalition believes that the amount of bike-commuters has doubled in the past year. The number of motorcycle licenses has also increased in the California from 908,000 in 2002 to over 1 million currently. Consequently, deaths involving motorcycle and bicycle accidents are rising throughout California, as well as the nation. Considering the state of the economy, it is likely that more people will take to the road in motorcycles and bikes, even scooters and mopeds. However, this is not the first time this has happened. Accidents increased several years ago when bikes became more common on the roads because of environmental concerns. In order to reduce the amount of accidents, both cyclists and drivers need to become more aware. Motorists must learn how to share the road properly, and bikers need to follow safety laws, such as observing stop signs. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation offers classes for new motorcyclists that includes 10 hours of driving instruction.   

A settlement has been reached in a 2006 accident in La Jolla. 71-year-old Robert Coon had been riding his bicycle in the bicycle lane on La Jolla Mesa Drive when his front tire got caught in a sunken depression in the roadway. Mr. Coon was thrown of f the bike and landed on his head, neck, and shoulder. He suffered a fractured neck and mild traumatic brain injury. His injuries required neck surgery; however, Mr. Coon continued to experience pain and numbness in his legs and buttocks. He then underwent epidural corticosteroid injections and lumbar laminectomy, foraminotomy, and decompression to his central spinal cord. This aggravated Mr. Coon’s pre-existing spinal stenosis. He continues to experience pain and numbness in his lower back and buttocks, and this may require an additional neck operation. Mr. Coon also underwent knee surgery.  

Mr. Coon believed that Westcoast Communications Co., an agent of Time Warner Cable, was responsible for the depression in the roadway. In 2000, the City of San Diego required Time Warner to move their overhead wires underground. Time Warner hired Westcoast Communications to dig a trench and install their wires underneath the bicycle lane on La Jolla Mesa Drive. Construction and industry standards required Westcoast Communications to place a concrete cap over the trench and compact the backfill material. This would prevent the asphalt from sinking and creating a depression. Westcoast Communications claimed they were unaware of the City Standards and therefore did not cap the trench or compact the backfill. Consequently, a 4-inch depression resulted in the bike lane on La Jolla Mesa Drive. Mr. Coon also believed the City of San Diego should have been aware of the condition of the roadway because the depression had been present for three years prior to his accident. It was discovered that the City had failed to inspect the area.  

Time Warner Cable Co. and Westcoast Communications argued that SDG&E and Par Electric were primarily responsible for the depression. They claimed the companies had previously dug trenches and had not arranged the backfill correctly, allowing ground water to penetrate the backfill, causing the depression. SDG&E and Par Electric denied any responsibility, claiming their work had met City standards.  

The case was settled for $1,830,000.

A motorcyclist was hurt in an accident in Oceanside on August 24^th. The 25-year-old man was allegedly racing another motorcyclist when he struck a curb while making a left turn on College Boulevard. The motorcycle then hit a tree and the driver was ejected, his body hitting a utility box He was transported to the hospital with serious injuries.

The victims and their families of the 2003 Rhode Island nightclub fire are being awarded by the State of Rhode Island and the town of Warwick. 100 people died at the Station nightclub during a Great White concert when pyrotechnics started a fire with soundproofing foam. Both state and the town have each agreed to pay $10 million to the victims and families.