Real Examples of Oceanside Car Accidents and Settlement Amounts

Facts: Ms. D was driving her minivan westbound on SR-78 in Oceanside when she rear-ended at a high rate of speed. The force of the impact caused her van to veer into the adjacent lane, where she was struck a second time.

Injuries: In the course of her treatment for neck pain, Ms. D was noted to have spinal cord herniation syndrome, and a ventral tear. She required invasive spinal surgery, including a cervical laminectomy.

Settlement: $500,000.00 (policy limits)

Facts: Mr. B’s injuries occurred in Oceanside, California, when was driving his 2001 Mazda and traveling southbound in the number four lane on I-5, just south of Cassidy Street. The defendant was in the No. 3 lane also traveling southbound. Looking in his rear-view mirror, Mr. B saw the Jeep veer from the number three lane into his lane, and then felt the strong impact as the Jeep rear ended his Mazda at a high rate of speed.

Injuries: Mr. B complained of pain to his neck and shoulder at the scene. He was taken by ambulance to Tri-City Medical Center, where x-rays were negative. Over the next year, his symptoms remained, and after conservative treatment, he ultimately underwent unhelpful spinal injections, and then a successful C6-7 anterior discectomy, fusion and instrumentation with allograft bone graft.

Settlement: $250,000.00 (including $20,000.00 of third-party insurance, and $230,000.00 of underinsured motorist coverage).

Facts: The accident which caused Ms. E's injuries occurred in Oceanside, California when she was walking with her dog and her husband. They were walking northbound on Wisteria Drive while the defendant was traveling westbound on Cannon Road at about 35-40mph. The defendant, a teenager, was listening to loud music, and was “looking at the sunset,” when he struck Ms. E as she was crossing at a green "walk" sign. Ms. E was thrown up onto the hood and partially onto the roof of the defendant's car before falling onto the roadway.

Injuries: Ms. E was taken by ambulance to Palomar Hospital where she arrived with complaints of pain to her left shoulder and she had sustained a laceration to her scalp along with numerous other scrapes and bruises. CT scans and x-rays were performed revealing a comminuted fracture of the distal clavicle, which required surgery.

Settlement: $192,000.00

Facts: Ms. F, 54-years old, was driving her two children to school in Oceanside when a car driven by the defendant exited a private driveway and collided with Ms. f's minivan, causing it to roll onto its roof.

Injuries: At the scene of the accident, Ms. F complained of pain to her head and neck at the scene and suffered lacerations to her left arm and hand. Because of concerns that she may have suffered a closed head injury, when was airlifted by REACH Air Ambulance to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla. According to the airlift staff, Ms. Franco seemed to have had a brief loss of consciousness. Luckily, tests revealed no serious injuries, but her lacerations required stiches, and she did suffer from hearing loss that she attributed to the accident.

Settlement: $100,000.00

Facts: Ms. J's car accident occurred on SR-76 in Oceanside. No collision report was filed but a San Diego Sheriff's officer at the scene wrote a statement confirming the occurrence of the accident. Indeed, he witnessed the defendant run a red light at the intersection of SR-76 and Frazee Road.

Injuries: The day after the accident, Ms. J called her health care provider at Kaiser to report that she had been in an accident and was experiencing pain. She stated having pain to her upper back and shooting pain down her right leg that she rated 4/10 on a pain scale. She was then scheduled for an appointment with her primary physician the following day. After two-weeks of recovery, M. J was referred to physical therapy, of which she did approximately 7 sessions. While her strength increased, she continued to have lower back pain, including shooting pains. Eventually, she had a single epidural injection.

Car Accident Settlement: $27,000.00

Facts: Ms. R’s car accident injuries occurred in Oceanside, California when she was travelling westbound in the number one lane of SR-76, west of Douglas Drive. It was early morning, and there was heavy commuter traffic on SR-76 and Ms. R had come to a stop behind several other vehicles. While she was stopped she suddenly felt a violent rear impact, which pushed her car forward and into the rear of a white Honda stopped in front of her.

Injuries: The impact of the collision caused Ms. R to hit her face on the steering wheel and she suffered a contusion on her forehead, a small cut over her left eye, and a bruise on her right thigh. She also complained of immediate pain to her neck, jaw, shoulders and lower back. She was transported via ambulance to Tri-City Medical Center. She recovered over time but missed three weeks of work.

Settlement: $19,000.00

Facts: C.H. was injured while driving in Oceanside, CA when she stopped at the signal getting off Highway 78 at El Camino Real. When the light turned green, she proceeded to turn left, but the defendant, coming from her right failed to stop at the red light and collided with C.H. The property damage was relatively minor.

Injuries: C.H. was transported via ambulance to Tri-City Medical Center on c-spine precautions due to pain to the right side of her neck. She was also experiencing pain to her right chest and right hip. For the next several months, C.H. has persistent pain in her spine and completed a series of physical therapy.

Settlement: $17,000.00

Facts: The defendant was travelling northbound on Myers St. and came to a complete stop at the Cassidy St. intersection, and, allegedly looked both ways before entering the intersection. She got about 10 feet into the intersection when she saw our 53-year-old client client Rich, on his motorcycle, nearly on top of her. She cut him off. Rich laid the bike down and was able to avoid the collision, but rolled quite a distance.

Injuries: Rich immediately expressed pain in his neck and shoulder and had a large scrape on his forearm. He took himself to urgent care, and then eventually Tri-City Medical Center and over the following weeks was diagnosed with a tear in his rotator cuff that required surgery, which was performed. He required post-surgical physical therapy, but healed well.

Settlement: $100,000.00