Archives : 2010 : January

Toyota was Aware of Jammed Throttle Problems Last Year

The bad news just doesn’t end for Toyota.  USA Today reports that the automaker was aware of problems with accelerator pedals from its supplier in late 2009, but did not believe that the problem was serious enough to require a recall.

Read entire article

Newer Radiation Technologies Increase Chances of Medical Injury

The New York Times is running a series of reports on increasing instances of radiation errors that have left patients seriously injured and facing premature death.

Patients in California and California personal injury lawyers are no strangers to the high risks of injury from over dosage of radiation therapy. Last year, Cedars Sinai Medical Center admitted that there had been dozens of cases of radiation overdoses at the hospital. Patients were administrated radiation overdoses that were up to 8 times the normal dose. According to the hospital, the errors occurred in February 2008 when hospital officials began using new protocols in scans used for the diagnosis of strokes. The CT scanner was set erroneously, causing dozens of patients to be exposed to the dramatic overdoses. Shockingly enough, Cedars-Sinai never even noticed the errors until August of 2009 when a stroke patient informed hospital officials that he had begun to notice hair loss after a scan. The hospital then examined its records, and found that out of 206 people who had received the overdose, 40 percent had suffered hair loss, while others noticing reddening of the skin.

Read entire article

UPS Honors 92 Truck Drivers from California for Safe Driving

UPS has inducted 92 truck drivers from California into the Circle of Honor, an elite group of drivers who have completed 25 years or more of driving without an accident. With the induction of 92 drivers this year, California now has 403 Circle of Honor UPS drivers who have a combined 11,352 years of driving without an accident to their credit. The safest UPS driver in California is Yucaipa-resident Peter Pavilion. Mr. Pavilion has completed 39 years of driving UPS trucks without a single crash.

Read entire article

Yet another Accident on Route 67 Kills San Diego Woman

Route 67 has been the scene of dozens of accidents over the past 10 years.  This week, the highway stretch claimed yet another victim.  A 36-year-old woman from Julian, San Diego died yesterday in an accident involving a wrong way driver near Lakeside.

Read entire article

Camp Pendleton Marine Sentenced in Fatal Newport Beach Drunk Driving Accident

A Camp Pendleton marine will send 15 years in prison for causing a drunk driving accident in Newport Beach that killed a doctor and seriously injured his wife.

On the day of the crash, February 22^nd 2008, Lance Corporal Elijah Leigh Ferguson was driving a car home to Santa Ana, Orange County. He had been drinking, and had planned to sleep off the alcohol at the marine base, but changed his plans. His friends tried disparately to prevent him from driving home in an intoxicated condition by taking away his keys. However, later that night, he bullied a private into giving him the keys and began to drive off home.

Read entire article

FAA Announces Progress in Commuter Airline Safety Post Buffalo Crash

Close to a year after a devastating commuter airline crash in Buffalo, New York, the Federal Aviation Administration has presented a report on commuter airline safety. The report shows that progress has been made in meeting safety goals.

Read entire article

Tips to Prevent Accidents While Driving With Children

There has been a major focus on distracted driving over the past few months. Most of these efforts however, are concentrated on distractions from electronic devices like cell phones and text messaging devices. However, as any parent knows, driving with children can present far greater distractions. Yet little attention is paid to the problems that face parents as they try to keep their car in lane while they are driving, simultaneously tending to their kids.

Read entire article

Truck and Bus Drivers Banned from Texting While Driving

The US Department of Transportation has announced a ban on text messaging while driving for all commercial bus and truck drivers. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the ban this week, saying that the administration wants truck and bus drivers as well as the motorists who share the highways with them, to be safe. Under the new rule, commercial truck and bus drivers caught text messaging while driving, could face civil and criminal penalties that touch up to $2,750.

Read entire article

Toyota Announces Halt in Sales of Several Models Due to Unintended Acceleration Issues

An embattled Toyota has announced that it will for the time being, stop building and selling several of its models in North America. The announcement is linked to the company’s continuing troubles with unintended acceleration involving several of its vehicles. There have been several reports of accidents involving runaway Toyota vehicles that accelerated to uncontrollable speeds without any input from the driver.

Read entire article

Concussions in Children could Lead to Brain injuries

A Canadian research team is warning that parents simply don’t take children’s concussions seriously enough, but should. According to the researchers, a concussion is not just a minor head injury, but could be a sign of a more severe brain injury that parents, teachers and coaches must take more seriously.

Read entire article