California Personal Injury Lawyers File Wrongful Death Action Against Caltrans

The California personal injury lawyers of BISNAR | CHASE (www.BestAttorney.com) have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Caltrans, Holly Ann Lee, Gaylene Lee, Victoriana Vazquez and Miguel Alvarez.

The suit alleges that the lack of lighting on an high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane resulted in a dangerous condition that precipitated several collisions and resulted in the demise of 22-year-old Kimberly Anne Downes. Additional allegations of DUI and speeding fall upon motorists Holly Ann Lee and Victoriana Alvarez for the death of Downes. Gaylene Lee and Miguel Alvarez are named as owners of the vehicles involved in the collisions. The action was brought against the defendants by James R. Downes and Myung Sun Kim, Kimberly's parents.

A Cascade of Collisions and a Preventable Fatality

On February 13, 2009, Kimberly Anne Downes was driving to work in her 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe within the speed limit on SR-60 in the Los Angeles County city of Diamond Bar when, for unknown reasons, she swerved to the left, striking the center concrete median wall and overturning in the HOV lane. Shortly thereafter, Holly Ann Lee, driving a 2007 Toyota Yaris, struck Downes' Hyundai. Downes was at that time standing outside of her Hyundai, close to the collision of the two vehicles. Immediately following this collision, Victoriana Vazquez, driving a 2003 Jeep Liberty, struck Downes, who may have been thrown into the eastbound lanes of SR-60, fatally injuring Downes.

Suit Alleges Caltrans Failed to Provide Safe Lighting

The plaintiffs contend that Caltrans was negligent in its duty to provide a safe public roadway. They allege that Caltrans failed to ensure that the double armed center median lights east of the Grand Avenue overpass near SR-60 (the Pomona Freeway) were turned on at the time of the accident--at approximately 3:30 a.m. The plaintiffs further allege that Caltrans neglected to perform regular and routine inspections of the lighting on SR-60 just east of the Grand Avenue overpass and that they neglected to warn motorists of this dangerous condition.

"Before this tragic car accident occurred, Caltrans undertook traffic surveys and scene analysis studies in the immediate vicinity of the crash site," noted Orange County personal injury attorney Brian Chase, a partner at BISNAR | CHASE. "Line-of-sight and vision issues prompted Caltrans to erect four double-armed high-intensity light poles in the center median of SR-60, immediately east and west of the Los Angeles county car accident site, and just east of the Grand Avenue overpass. The lack of lighting prior to construction resulted in a dangerous condition of darkness, which was compounded by the impaired line-of-sight overpass at Grand Avenue."

DUI and Speeding Alleged as Contributing Factors

The plaintiffs contend that the dangerously dark conditions and poor line-of-sight visibility prevented defendants Lee and Vazquez from seeing Downes and her vehicle so as to take evasive actions to avoid colliding with Downes. The plaintiffs also contend that Lee was negligent and careless in operating the Toyota Yaris, since she was driving at an excessive and unsafe speed and allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol. The plaintiffs further allege that Vazquez was driving at an excessive and unsafe speed when she struck Downes.

The wrongful death case (number KC056861) was filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, East District. The action seeks economic and non-economic damages for the wrongful death of Kimberly Anne Downes.

About BISNAR | CHASE

The BISNAR | CHASE law firm's Los Angeles personal injury lawyers represent people who have been very seriously injured or lost a family member due to an accident, defective product or negligence throughout California. The law firm has won a wide variety of challenging personal injury and product liability cases, involving car accidents, on-the-job accidents, dog attacks and defective products made by Fortune 500 companies. For more information, visit www.BestAttorney.com and www.CaliforniaInjuryBlog.com.