San Jose Personal Injury Law Blog

It was supposed to be a fun evening to celebrate a couple's love and marriage. A town car limousine was rented and nine women crammed inside, laughing and talking excitedly. As the limo driver maneuvered the vehicle over a bridge, tragedy struck resulting in five of the nine woman dying.

Survivors of the fatal accident recalled the desperate moments prior to the fire engulfing the limo. They reported smelling smoke and knocking on the glass partition that separated the back seat passengers from the front seat  limo driver. The driver relayed how he too smelled smoke. He stopped and pulled the vehicle over onto the shoulder of the bridge. By the time he exited the vehicle, however, it was too late.

Distracted driving is a common topic of legislation and traffic safety conversation. When most think of it, they envision drivers on their cellphones, texting and driving. But distraction comes in other forms, some of which are built into the features of drivers’ cars.

Many newer cars come equipped with more than just automatic windows and seat warmers. They now come with internal computer systems with navigation programs, music programs and more. Basically, some drivers have laptops built into their vehicles. Traffic safety advocates might call the in-car convenience a built-in distracted driving risk that endangers motorists.

It is a situation that no one would ever want to face; yet, it is also a situation that sounds familiar now. The ideas of sudden acceleration or faulty brakes might bring to mind the years-long cases against Toyota. The company's legal issues might not be over, as a California family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit related to the car manufacturer.

Early last month, officials searched the Sacramento River and found a Toyota Camry with its deceased driver inside. Further investigation into the matter indicated that the woman inside the car had made an emergency 911 call earlier. The call suggested that it might have been a product liability issue that resulted in the tragic incident.

There are various tourist destinations within the state of California. Yosemite National Park is a classically American tourist spot, and tour bus companies run their buses to and from the site on regular basis. What might be a routine Yosemite run, however, turned into a bus accident last weekend.

Seventeen people were riding in a tour bus leaving the park last Saturday evening. Sixteen of those people wound up needing medical attention from a hospital after the bus went off of the winding road. Authorities suspect that speed was a factor in the accident, an accident that could easily have been catastrophic.