The city of nearly 200,000 is located in San Bernardino County of California. The city has seen their fair share of fatal car accidents and other severe personal injuries in recent years.
One accident described as "the worst accident... in terms of the number of fatalities and children" a California High Patrol officer, who was working on the scene, had ever seen, happened on the 10 Freeway near Vineyard Avenue. A 30-year-old woman driver suddenly lost control of the vehicle and struck a large eucalyptus tree before impacting a soundwall. She and four of her six passengers died, while the survivors - children ages 3 and 10 - remained in critical condition.
The California Highway Patrol reported that since the truck, an F-150, only seated six total, the seventh passenger was not likely wearing a seatbelt. Though unclear initially what caused the crash, a resident who lives on the other side of the soundwall said accident happen "quite often here."
After some investigation, this already dangerous stretch of freeway was proven to not be the only factor in the accident: an odd tire was left behind amidst the mangled steel of the crash. The tire was from the left rear of the F-150 and was manufactured by Continental Tire who had recalled certain sizes of its ContiTrac AW tires in 2002. The tread from the F-150's tire was torn off in the fashion that had been reported for the recalled tires with "lower than specified rubber gauge between the belt edges."
It is possible that a faulty piece of a equipment was the reason that five people died in this tragic accident. An Ontario personal injury lawyer would suggest staying current with any reports on recalled equipment and to pursue any product liability lawsuits that may arise if you have been the victim of malfunctioning car parts or any other kind of product.
Ontario Increases Safety Traffic Features and Illegal Firework Citations
An intersection near Chaffey High has recently been restructured after it became the site of two separate hit-and-run injury accidents. The first victim was a 15 year-old boy who was riding his bike across the Euclid Avenue portion of the intersection. His father pleaded with the city council to improve the crosswalk there to lower the risk of future pedestrian accidents.
The revision did not come soon enough for a 17-year-old girl who was critically injured while crossing the intersection only a couple months later. The family of the girl filed a $5 million claim against the school district for the danger surrounding the school and the city promptly worked with Caltrans to install a standard traffic light that can be triggered for pedestrians needing to cross.
Illegal firework laws have also become more strict, especially around the 4th of July and New Years. The fine has increased to $1,000 for possession of illegal fireworks and many more checkpoints are planned to find people attempting to transport fireworks from Nevada into San Bernardino County. In 2004, officers passed out 104 citations and in 2005 they passed out 68 in the county.
The increase in fines and concern is to protect residents, their children and their property from catastrophic injury that is often a result of dangerous fireworks being set off amidst celebrations.
Though it seems the new laws are affective, "There's a lot more work that needs to be done," according to a police detective of Fontana, a neighboring city to Ontario.
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