According to the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, a 19-year-old man suffered major injuries following a two-car crash about 1 p.m. Wednesday, June 2 on Grand Avenue at Snow Creek Drive. 

He was hospitalized in critical condition but was upgraded to guarded condition at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. 

According to authorities, a woman in the other vehicle was hospitalized with minor injuries.  The crash may be the result of the man driving an Acura at excessive speeds southbound on Grand, sheriff’s Sgt. Ernie Vanderporten said.

The man lost control of his vehicle, struck a truck and then continued somewhat southbound and struck a light (pole).  The truck, which the Acura hit, was in the left turn lane on Grand and waiting to turn onto Snow Creek.

The Acura’s driver apparently slammed on the brakes prior to the impact.  This caused the car to skid sideways and slam driver-side first into the rear of the truck.

According to the Associated Press, Lauren Rosenberg, a resident of Los Angeles County filed a lawsuit on Thursday in the U.S. District Court in Utah.  The lawsuit names the motorist who hit her as she walked alongside a highway as well as Google Inc. for supplying unsafe directions. 

Rosenberg says she used her phone in January to download walking directions from one end of Park City to the other.  Google Maps led her to walk on a busy road without sidewalks that was “not reasonably safe for pedestrians,” according to the lawsuit filed by Rosenberg.  Rosenberg claims she was led onto a dangerous highway and then struck by a motor vehicle.

Rosenberg’s lawsuit seeks more than $100,000 for compensation for unspecified “severe” injuries and lost wages in addition to punitive damages. 

On computers, Google Maps provides a disclaimer to “Use caution – This route may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths.”  However, the mobile version of Google Maps, does not come with this warning. 

The court papers did not explain why Rosenberg walked along state Route 224 instead of choosing streets with sidewalks.

According to Artist Direct, Grammy-nominated and three million-selling saxophonist Boney James is recovering from injuries he suffered Saturday, May 15 after a drunk driver rear-ended him at 70 MPH while he was stopped in traffic on the 405 freeway.  His injuries included a gash in his chin resulting in 14 stitches, a fractured jaw and two broken teeth.  James was on the speakerphone with his wife at the time of the accident. 

James was pulled from his vehicle by passersby who were afraid that the car who had hit him, which was fully engulfed in flames, would set his car on fire.  OnStar alerted authorities and he was taken away for medical attention by Long Beach Fire & Rescue.  While his vehicle was totaled, the trunk of his BMW stayed intact and his saxophones were apparently fine.

According to the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Alexander Deleon Velasco, a 21-year-old San Bernardino man, is being detained at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and driving under the influence.  A 12-year-old girl was killed and four others seriously injured Sunday when Velasco ran a stop sign in Muscoy while allegedly drunk.  He broadsided the vehicle the victims were in, according to California Highway Patrol officers.

According to authorities, Velasco was driving his 1998 Chevrolet truck when he ran a stop sign at the corner of Mesa and Macy streets, striking a 2004 Kia who was heading south.  The Kia careened into a wood fence and stopped against a palm tree.

Sandra Ceballos, of Los Angeles, was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other people in the Kia, who range in age from 13 to 37, suffered major injuries.

Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles is facing a $19 million civil lawsuit for brain damage and un-consented surgery.  Eduardo Rivas, a 43 year-old Spanish speaking roofing inspector, claims that he never consented to the surgery that he says left his son brain-damaged.  This claim is the root of the lawsuit.

In 2007, a doctor at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles told Eduardo Rivas that his 6-month-old son, Nathan, needed surgery to repair double hernias.  Rivas had to decide on his own as his wife had died of breast cancer soon after Nathan’s birth.  Nathan had been born four months premature.

Nathan had been transferred to the hospital from Glendale Memorial Hospital the evening Rivas got the call from a doctor and a Spanish-speaking social worker saying his son needed an operation.

Rivas said he was told that the surgery was “minor.”  He claims that he was told that the only thing that could happen was an infection, which was treatable. 

Rivas said he refused consent. The next day, Nov. 16, 2007, doctors operated on Nathan.  Hospital officials contend that Rivas consented verbally. But investigators with the California Department of Public Health found the hospital could not supply any records proving that Rivas consented to the surgery, according to a report released last month.

Although Nathan was scheduled for morning surgery, doctors postponed it until that afternoon “due to inability to get consent,” according to a physician’s progress note cited in the state report.

A doctor attempted to get Rivas to consent to the surgery about 7 a.m., according to the state investigators’ account. When Rivas refused, the doctor told him to return to the hospital later that day “for further discussion,” according to nursing notes.  Rivas said he refused the surgery because he was nervous about the procedure, particularly the anesthesia. He said he was never offered a Spanish interpreter while Nathan was at the hospital.

Rivas testified that he returned but could not reach his son’s doctors by phone from the hospital lobby. A consent form completed at 9 a.m. was signed by a nurse and the surgeon, Dr. Dean Anselmo, but did not include Rivas’ signature, according to the state report. Hospital spokesman Steve Rutledge said Rivas consented to the surgery in English during a phone call with Anselmo that morning that was witnessed by a nurse. Rutledge said hospital staff offered Rivas a Spanish interpreter, but he refused. Investigators found that the hospital’s failure to provide a Spanish interpreter violated hospital policy.

After the surgery, Nathan, who had arrived at the hospital with a nasal breathing tube, became dependent on a ventilator and feeding tube, according to Rivas’ lawyer, Nathaniel Friedman.  However, hospital officials attribute Nathan’s complications to his premature birth, which left him “frail,” with chronic lung disease and neurological problems.

Rivas believes the damage was caused by his son’s reaction to anesthesia.

By law, if damages are awarded in the case, Medi-Cal, the state health insurance program which has paid about $913,000 for Nathan’s care, must be reimbursed first.

Rivas, who also has a 10-year-old son, said Nathan’s nursing care alone costs $1,100 a month. Nathan, nearly 3, has the mental capacity of a baby.

According to the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, a jury awarded an Upland woman $23.4 million Thursday in a civil judgment against Ford Motor Co. for a 2007 freeway accident that left her a quadriplegic. Cynthia Castillo, 40, lost control of her 1997 Ford Explorer on March 23, 2007, after the tread separated from her left-rear tire as she drove on the 15 Freeway near Murrieta.

The car left the freeway and rolled three times down an embankment.  The accident left her legs and most of her body paralyzed, with limited movement in her arms, said Castillo’s attorney, Brian Brandt.

“I was devastated,” Castillo said. “I thought my life was over but with my daughter and my family’s support, and with God and my faith in him, it helped me be stronger and believe there was life after this, that I could do it.”

On Thursday in West Valley Superior Court, a jury returned a 12-0 verdict in Castillo’s favor.

“My reaction is very happy,” Castillo said. “I’m thankful to God and to the jury for making this happen. It’s going to help us so much to make a better life for me and my daughter. I want to thank my family for supporting me for these past three years. It’s been hard.”

The jury deliberated for five days following a six-week trial in which Castillo’s attorneys presented evidence that design faults caused the vehicle to easily lose control when the tire tread separated, Brandt said.

Three witnesses who saw the accident said Castillo’s car immediately began fishtailing when the tread separated, Brandt said. Brandt said internal Ford safety memos from the `80s and `90s obtained during the litigation show the company was aware the vehicle easily lost control without rear tire tread.

Engineers found ways to improve the vehicle’s safety, but management turned down their recommendations, Brandt said.

“They were putting profits over safety,” he said. “The jurors felt very strongly about that, with the memos and documents from Ford.”

An attorney for Ford said the car doesn’t have a design flaw. Rather, said Warren Platt, the accident was caused by an “old, worn-out tire that shouldn’t have been on the vehicle in the first place.”

Platt disputed claims that the Explorer performed more poorly than most cars would have after losing tread on a rear tire.

“The same accident would have happened regardless of what vehicle she was driving,” Platt said.

According to Brandt, attorneys for Ford also argued during the trial that high vehicle mileage and worn-out shock absorbers contributed to Castillo’s accident.

“Also, one of the front tires was an incorrectly sized tire,” Brandt said. “It wasn’t the correct size for the vehicle she was driving.”

Platt said he didn’t feel the evidence supported a verdict in favor of Castillo. He said Ford will appeal the case.

“It’s a very sad, unfortunate accident,” Platt said. “Ms. Castillo is a very nice lady.”

Ford offered to settle the case prior to trial for $1.2 million, Brandt said.

Castillo, an Ontario native, said she was living in Murrieta with her 9-year-old daughter at the time of the accident.

After her injuries, she moved into her parents’ house in Upland. She shares a bedroom with her daughter Daniella, who now assists in caring for her mother, Brandt said.

“They’ve really sort of reversed roles,” Brandt said.

Castillo requires round-the-clock care, and can’t feed, clothe or bathe herself. She has be turned over every two hours to keep from suffering bed sores, Brandt said.

With the large judgment in her favor, Castillo said she will likely move out of her parents’ house and into a home that allows her to move more freely.

She said she has was knocked unconscious during the accident and woke up in the hospital with no memory of what happened.

“My family is very happy for me, for my daughter,” Castillo said. “They are glad that justice has been served.

“And they also thank God that everything is going to be a lot better for me and my daughter. We both just came from church right now and we gave our thanks.”

According to Rolling Stone, the frontman of the band Weezer was injured severely enough in a tour bus accident that the band was forced to cancel their remaining December tour dates.  Cuomo suffered three cracked ribs, “painful internal damage” (the injuries were later described by Rolling Stone as a cut on his spleen and a small puncture in his lung) and a lower leg injury, which was not a result of the accident, according to band associate Karl Koch.  Cuomo was transported to a larger hospital for observation.  Koch wrote on the band’s official website that Cuomo’s condition is improving.  “He went from being barely able to talk and open his eyes yesterday to partially sitting up, talking clearly, reading books and checking the Internet, plus his color and energy seemed much brighter.”

Band assistant Sarah Kim was also injured in the accident and fractured a lower vertebrae and two ribs.  Koch indicated that Kim was released from the hospital and will begin her “frustrating and painful 3-4 weeks of recovery.”  Cuomo’s wife, two-year-old daughter and her nanny and the driver were not injured.

Koch described the accident and wrote that the tour bus skidded on ice and careened across several lanes of traffic on I-90 in upstate New York, crashing over a guardrail and into a muddy ditch.  Cuomo was alone, sleeping in the bus’ back lounge at the time of the incident, and he was trapped and unable to speak immediately after the crash due to his injuries.  Emergency responders used the “jaws of life” to pry the back window of the bus off to free Cuomo, and Koch writes that he was horrified by the scene once the other buses in the convoy caught up to the accident site.

Koch posted several photographs on the band’s website of the accident and the bus’ extensive damage.  He writes, “I couldn’t believe what was happening in front of me, as Rivers lay so helpless, shivering in the center of the chaos, and meanwhile the sun was coming up and revealing an utterly beautiful light covering of snow on the surrounding trees.”

According to the New York Times, Jennifer Smith, 35, is suing the companies that provided phone and wireless service to the driver who was talking on his cellphone when he hit and killed her mother.  She hopes to prove that the companies should have foreseen the dangers and that they failed to provide adequate warnings.

Legal experts say that her lawsuit faces steep challenges as it is currently the only such case and one of only a handful ever filed.  The lawsuit raises interesting questions about responsibility for behavior that is a threat to everyone on the road. 

The lawsuit involves a crash in Oklahoma City on September 3, 2008.  Ms. Smith’s mother, Linda Doyle, 61, died after her Toyota Rav4 was hit by Christopher Hill, then 20, who was so distracted by a cellphone call that he ran a red light in his Ford pickup at 45 miles an hour.  He hit Linda Doyle as she crossed in front of him.

Hill was talking on a Samsung UpStage phone on the Sprint Nextel service. Samsung declined to comment. Sprint Nextel said that it “rejects the claims of negligence” in the suit and that it includes safety messages on packaging and user manuals, on its Web site and in its advertising.

Past lawsuits involving similar situations have been dismissed for reasons that include the unforeseeability of the accident and the absence of a legal relationship between the plaintiff and the service provider.  Also, the courts have said that the crashes are caused by driver inattention, not by cellphones, adding that drivers often talk on phones without crashing. 

Hill plead guilty to negligent homicide, a misdemeanor, does not blame the cellphone companies.  He indicated that “It’s our choice if we’re going to talk on the cellphone while driving or walking down the street or in the office.”

According to the Associated Press, Tiger Woods accident outside his Florida home caused $3,200 in property damage.  Woods wasn’t wearing his seat belt, was driving erratically and ultimately crashed into a tree.

A six-page was released on December 2, 2009 and only describes the accident and does not include statements from Woods, his wife, Elin Nordegren, or witnesses.  105 photos of the accident scene were included.  The report was released hours after Woods released a statement saying that he had let his family down with “transgressions” he regrets “with all of my hear.” 

That statement follows the claims of a cocktail waitress that she had a 31-month affair with Woods, as reported by Us Weekly magazine.  The magazine published what it said was a voicemail, provided by Jaimee Grubbs, that Woods left on her phone on November 24, three days before the car crash outside his home in Isleworth, an exclusive gated community outside Orlando.

An illustration in the report shows that upon leaving his driveway, Woods’ vehicle rubbed up against a line of bushes, crossed over a curb, onto a grass median and into a row of hedges before swerving left into the hydrant and crashing into the tree.  The golfer was traveling 30 mph in a 25 mph zone. His vehicle sustained an estimated $8,000 in damage.

Several photographs of the accident show damage to both front sides of the Cadillac Escalade and the windows on the back passenger doors were broken.  Woods’ wife told Windermere police she used a golf club to smash the back windows to help Woods get out.

The Floriday Highway Patrol ended its investigation into the crash on Tuesday.  Woods was charged with careless driving, which carries a $164 fine and four points on his driving records.  He has refused to talk to authorities about the incident.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Tiger Woods will not be playing in his golf tournament in Thousand Oaks this week and canceled his appearance Tuesday at a pre-tournament news conference following an accident in his car that left him with facial cuts and sparked worldwide speculation about what happened.

The accident occurred at 2:25 a.m. on Friday in front of his mansion near Orlando, Florida, when he backed his black Cadillac Escalade out of his driveway and then ran over a fire hydrant before hitting a tree on a neighbor’s property.  The vehicle sustained bad damage to the front end.  According to police, Woods’ wife said that she used a golf club to break through a window to remove him from the vehicle.  Woods was treated for injuries including cuts on his face.

Woods stated that the situation was his fault and was embarrassing but did not address any details of the accident that he termed “a private matter.”  He has declined to speak with state troopers since then.  The Florida Highway Patrol is seeking a warrant for Woods’ hospital records that would document the treatment Woods received after the accident.

A statement on his website indicated that “due to injuries sustained in a one-car accident last week, Tiger Woods will be unable to play in the 2009 Chevron World Challenge” and also “will not participate in any other tournaments in 2009 and will return to action next year.”