MAY 31, 2009 - A 13-year-old boy was airlifted to Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego after falling off his skateboard on a steep grade in the Olivenhain neighborhood, said a captain for the Encinitas Fire Department. The boy was not wearing a helmet when he crashed just after noon on Mountain Vista Drive near Trailview Road, authorities said. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, approximately 15,600 skateboarders are treated in emergency rooms each year.
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MAY 31, 2009 - Two adults and two teenagers were injured, with at least two of the victims listed in serious condition, during a multi-car accident, according to an Oceanside traffic officer. The collision occurred just after 10 p.m. at the intersection of Mission Avenue and Douglas Drive. A Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck carrying the two teenagers overturned during the crash. A Hyundai Tiberon and GMC Yukon were also involved, police said. Two victims were transported by ambulance to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, another to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido and the fourth to Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside. The cause of the crash is under investigation, but a traffic sergeant for the Oceanside police department said Sunday that it appears the traffic signal at the intersection was out at the time of the crash.
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MAY 29, 2009 - A woman was sent to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido with minor injuries as a result of a four-car collision, according to Escondido police. The crash occurred about 3:45 p.m. and sent one vehicle through a corner office building. The Chevrolet Suburban crashed through the commercial business located at 403 W. Fifth Ave., entering diagonally through a floor-to-ceiling glass window and exiting through another floor-to-ceiling window. Nobody was in that area of the building, authorities said, and the driver of the Suburban was also unhurt. The injured woman was driving one of the other three cars involved in the accident.
MAY 27, 2009 - An 84-year-old Fallbrook woman was killed when a Chevrolet Silverado 2500 broadsided her Chrysler 300 on a freeway overpass about 1:50 p.m., the California Highway Patrol said. Evelyn Ison Crenshaw died shortly after Richard Goodlake, 47, of Fallbrook allegedly ran a red light as he headed east on East Mission Road at the Interstate 15 overpass, authorities said. Crenshaw was trapped in her vehicle and declared dead at the scene. Goodlake told authorities he became distracted shortly before the accident. He was not immediately taken into custody, but the investigation continues, the CHP said.
MAY 26, 2009 - An on-duty California Highway Patrol officer was hit by a pick-up truck as he stood next to his motorcycle on the I-15 median, then dragged beneath the vehicle before he was freed by other motorists, the CHP said. The officer had just wrapped up an investigation of an earlier accident when the 2000 green Toyota Tacoma entered the southbound I-15 from the eastbound I-8 just before 9 a.m., lost control and veered across all lanes. The vehicle first struck the center-divider wall, authorities said, then grazed a CHP cruiser and then the officer’s BMW motorcyle before hitting him. The officer and driver were taken to a local hospital, where their conditions were unknown.
MAY 26, 2009 - An 11-year-old boy was taken off life support, 16 days after he was struck by a car while riding a miniature electric motorcycle on a private street in Olivenhain, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner. Robert Franklin Thompson died at 3:30 p.m. at Rady Children’s Hospital in Encinitas, where he had been pronounced brain dead earlier this month. Thompson was injured after riding the “pocket bike” out from a private driveway in the 1000 block of Double LL Ranch Road and into the path of a car. He was airlifted to Children’s Hospital following the collision.
Pocket bikes, which resemble miniature street bikes, gained popularity about five years ago. They reach speeds of 15 mph and can only be legally ridden on private property. They present a danger because they ride low to the ground and often can not be seen by other vehicles.
MAY 26, 2009 - The California Highway Patrol said a 20-year-old man suffered massive head injuries and later died when his vehicle lost control on eastbound Highway 78 near the Mar Vista Drive Exit in Vista and flipped several times. Authorities believe Rafael Rivera Jr. was racing a yellow Ford Mustang in excess of 90 mph when he lost control of his 1988 Honda CRX about 10:50 a.m. Witnesses reported the cars had been weaving in and out of lanes when Rivera attempted to pass the Mustang on the right shoulder. He then lost control of the vehicle and spun up an embankment, flipped in the air and the car landed on its trunk in the middle of the eastbound lane, authorities said. No information was available on the driver of the Mustang.
MAY 22, 2009 - One person was injured in a multi-vehicle crash near University City early yesterday morning. The unidentified 21-year-old man was traveling north on the 805 Freeway when his vehicle drifted to the right shoulder and then veered left, traveling across all the lanes. His car then struck a guardrail and came to rest in the roadway. As the man was exiting his vehicle, it was struck by two other cars and an SUV. He was transported to Scripps La Jolla Hospital with major leg injuries and a possible head injury.
MAY 22, 2009 - A motorcyclist was injured in the San Pasqual Valley last night. The unidentified 37-year-old man was traveling west on San Pasqual Valley Road when he lost control of his motorcycle in a curve in the road near the Wild Animal Park. His vehicle then veered off the roadway and struck a rock, throwing him to the ground. He was transported to the hospital with a broken pelvis and leg injuries. Authorities have reported that the victim was speeding at the time of the crash.
MAY 21, 2009 - Two area hospitals were fined today by the California Department of Public Health for causing harm to patients. UC San Diego Medical Center-Hillcrest received a fine of $25,000 after they left a surgical sponge in a patient during a spinal operation. Although the patient suffered no complications, a second surgery had to be performed to remove the object. Scripps Mercy Hospital was also fined $25,000 for an incidence where respiratory equipment malfunctioned while treating a patient with a traumatic brain injury. The patient was without proper ventilation for several seconds and was left in a permanent vegetative state. However, it is unknown whether the ventilator malfunction or the existing brain injury led to the patient’s condition. Both facilities have been fined the Department of Public Health in the past. Future fines for incidences that occur in 2009 will be raised to $50,000.
