Two Killed in San Jose Car Accident
It had all the signs of a rollover accident involving the Ford Explorer – the flipping over of the SUV several times, the ejection of passengers, the deaths and the serious injuries resulting from the car accident. At the end of it, two people were dead, and at least four others were seriously injured.
According to a news report by the San Jose Mercury News, the car accident occurred on Sunday on Highway 237 west of North First Street. The Ford was being driven by 18-year old Fernando Valencia, an East Palo Alto resident. There were five other occupants, all children between 4 and 15 years of age. All children were residents of Milpitas. There’s no information about the identity of the kids, or their relationship to Valencia.
For reasons still unknown, the Ford Explorer veered and hit a 1996 Nissan. The impact caused the Nissan to go out of control, and smash into a guardrail at the right side of the road. The Explorer meanwhile rolled over several times. At least five of the 6 people inside the SUV were ejected out of their seats, and onto the highway. The car finally came to a rest on a center divider. All passengers in the car suffered some amount of injuries. A 4-year-old in the car suffered a broken leg, while a 6-year-old suffered a broken arm. A 10-year old suffered facial lacerations. The 15-year old seemed to have minor injuries, and was taken to the Regional Medical Center of San Jose after complaining of some pain.
There were two people in the Nissan. The driver, a 52-year-old man, and his 42-year-old passenger, both escaped injuries. They were found to be not at fault in the car accident, and were released at the scene of the accident. Compare this to the kind of destruction that was wreaked on the Explorer.
Initial investigations of the car accident are still on. The police are also looking into the absence of child car seats in the car, and the possibility that the passengers in the SUV weren’t wearing seat belts. There have been some comments made by officials about the fact that there were all these kids in the car, driven by an 18-year-old driver.
We might be looking in all the wrong places for clues as to the reason for the car accident. The fact of the matter is that during an SUV rollover accident, often no amount of restraints and seat belts will eliminate injuries received in the car accident. Over the years, we have seen hundreds of Explorer-related car accidents – all follow a predictable path during a vehicle rollover accident. There is a collision, not always very severe in intensity, and while the occupants of the other car get away with minor injuries, and no loss of life or limb, the occupants of the Explorer are ejected from their seats. If they are wearing seat belts, it isn’t really a guarantee of their safety in the Explorer, because they are very likely to be partially ejected from their seats. There’s catastrophic injury to the passengers, which is only to be expected as several thousands of pounds of steel are flipped over and over on concrete, like an empty tin can. Unfortunately, it seems like this car accident might be just another rollover-related car accident involving the Ford Explorer.
The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of car accidents and rollover accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.
