Major Accident on Interstate 5 in Lathrop Involves Rollovers
I’m Ed Smith, a Lathrop personal injury lawyer. A major accident on April 4 on Interstate 5 caused three vehicle rollovers and resulted in injuries with at least two persons requiring medical assistance. An investigation is being conducted as to the cause of the crash, and no other details are available at this time.
What Happened?
The accident occurred along Interstate 5, moving southbound, near the junction of west Highway 120, southwest of Lathrop, at about 7:40 a.m. It involved four vehicles, including a Mitsubishi Eclipse and a tractor-trailer. According to the report received by dispatch, three of the vehicles were overturned, and one of the overturned vehicles was the tractor-trailer. The accident resulted in traumatic injuries to a minimum of two people. The fire department had to extricate them from the vehicles before they were transported to a hospital. Tow trucks were called to remove the vehicles from the roadway, including a tow truck capable of removing the tractor-trailer.
Driving With a Duty of Care
California law requires all persons to act with a duty of care in order to avoid injuring other individuals. To recover damages following injuries suffered in an accident in California, negligence must be shown to prove that the other individual neglected that duty, which caused the accident. In accidents involving multiple vehicles, damages may be sought from the drivers of the other vehicles involved since each may have contributed in some part to the injuries. Common reasons for motor vehicle accidents include distracted driving, decision errors, drowsy driving, reckless-driving and drunk or drugged driving. According to the Insurance Information Institute, it is estimated that speeding contributed to 28 percent of the fatalities in traffic accidents in 2014, drunk drivers accounted for 29 percent and fatigued driving accounted for 21 percent of crashes that resulted in fatalities.
Rollover Accidents
Statistics by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that rollovers were responsible for 32.5 percent of traffic fatalities during 2014. The proportion of fatalities was highest for utility trucks, followed by pickups, vans and other types of light trucks. Passenger vehicles accounted for 22.3 percent of the total number. Vehicles that are narrower and taller are at higher risk of rollover. To reduce the risk of rollover, drivers should obey speed limits, avoid drinking and driving, and all occupants of the vehicle should wear seat belts, while smaller children are properly restrained in car seats.
Attorney Ed Smith
Lathrop Personal Injury Lawyer
I’m Ed Smith, a Lathrop personal injury lawyer. If you, or a family member has been injured in a collision caused by a negligent driver, call me at (209) 227-1931, or call my toll free number at (800) 404-4500 for free and friendly advice.
I have served the people of California as a personal injury lawyer since 1982.
You can read reviews by my former clients and peers on Google, Yelp and Avvo.
I am a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, a group restricted to attorneys who have obtained $1 million and multimillion dollar verdicts and settlements for their clients.
For more information about the cases I have resolved, please visit my Past Verdicts and Settlements page.
Picture Source: https://pixabay.com/en/highway-crash-barriers-vehicles-pkw-1666635/
:cd