Los Angeles Personal Injury Lawyer

Any California vehicle crash is a potentially tragic event. A fatal car accident is even more agonizing. What's even more heartrending is when the death is caused by a hit-and-run driver. Sadly this was the case for one woman -- a wife and mother -- after her husband was killed in a recent car accident that also left her 7-year-old daughter in a coma.

On Friday, April 20, just prior to 6 p.m., the father and his daughter were crossing the road in a crosswalk when an SUV struck the pair and fled the scene. Unfortunately, the father died at the scene, and the daughter was rushed to a local hospital. She is currently listed in critical condition.

California is in the midst of a period of slight decline in motorcycle fatalities, as the number of deaths dropped 37 percent between 2009 and 2010. Compared to the 175 percent increase in motorcycle fatalities from 1998 to 2008, this change may be comforting to many California drivers, whether motorcyclists or otherwise. However, there is still more to be done to further prevent these devastating motorcycle accident fatalities.

Despite the recent decline in deaths related to motorcycle crashes, there were still 352 deaths caused by motorcycle accidents in California. Now, the Motorcycle Safety Enforcement Operation seeks to continue to reduce not only the rate of deaths, but the rate of collisions and injuries as well, by cracking down on both motorcyclists who are violating traffic laws as well as drivers of other vehicles violating these laws.

Each year 1.7 million people suffer from some form of brain injury. These injuries can be devastating, and sometimes go unnoticed when victims don't realize their injuries are actually affecting their brains. The leading causes of these brain injuries across the nation are car and boat accidents, and the resulting brain injuries can range from a minor concussion to a more serious and traumatic injury.

In one example of the severity of these accidents, a recent car accident left a young California woman comatose and in need of brain surgery. She was driving with a friend when she came upon a previous collision. When she attempted to evade the accident, she struck another vehicle. She slipped into a coma following the crash.

Almost 60 percent of train operators say that they rarely get an adequate night's sleep on a work night, says a recent study from the National Sleep Foundation. The survey also reveals that 26 percent of train operators believe their lack of sleep affects their job performance, and 18 percent of train operators responding to the survey have made a serious mistake, or had a "near miss" accident due to lack of adequate sleep. All of these factors, in California and across the nation, have the potential to cause serious injuries or even wrongful death in train accidents.

There is a very slim margin for error concerning the operation of a train due to the significant amount of damage an accident involving a train can cause. Train operators must understandably be wide awake and clear-headed to appropriately operate such a large vehicle. Interestingly, the National Sleep Foundation's survey also notes that 56 percent of train operators take at least one nap during the day, and 33 percent report taking a nap while on the clock.