Case details
Motorist’s unsafe turn caused motorcyclist’s fatal crash: family
SUMMARY
$1000000
Amount
Settlement
Result type
Not present
Ruling
KEYWORDS
blunt force trauma to the head, fatal injuries, head
FACTS
On April 10, 2013, at approximately 2:30 p.m., claimants’ decedent Oscar Alaniz, an unemployed 35 year old, was riding his motorcycle in the number one lane of southbound Superior Avenue in Costa Mesa when he entered the intersection with Industrial Way/West 16th Street and crashed into a vehicle operated by Margit Braathen, 98, who was making a left turn from northbound Superior Avenue. Alaniz was launched from his motorcycle and sustained fatal . The decedent’s wife, Kathrine Grogan Alaniz, and the decedent’s daughters, Devon Alaniz, Elianna Alaniz, and Kathrine Soledad Alaniz, sued Braathen. The decedent’s family alleged that Braathen was negligent in the operation of her vehicle, in violation of California Vehicle Code § 21801(a), causing the decedent’s wrongful death. Claimants’ counsel contended that Braathen failed to yield the right of way to oncoming traffic, in that she suddenly and without warning made an improper left turn into the decedent’s path of travel. A Costa Mesa Police Officer investigated the subject traffic collision and noted in his report that Braathen stated that she was traveling approximately 15 to 25 mph prior to the collision. Braathen also admitted that she did not see the decedent’s vehicle until the collision occurred. The officer also obtained written statements from three independent witnesses who all claimed that Braathen caused the accident when she made a left turn in front of the decedent, who was proceeding straight through the intersection on a green light. Thus, Braathen admitted liability for the accident., Although Oscar Alaniz was wearing his helmet at the time of the collision, he sustained massive physical from the crash. He was subsequently transported by ambulance to an emergency room and was pronounced dead upon arrival. The cause of death was determined to be from blunt force trauma . Prior to his death, the decedent was unemployed, having last worked as a dental assistant six months prior to the accident. He previously served in the U.S. Marine Corps and received an honorable discharge. He is survived by a wife and three daughters, ages 8, 7, and 4. He also had a life expectancy of approximately 42 years at the time of his death. The decedent’s wife and daughters sought recovery of Braathen’s $1 million insurance policy limits to cover their damages, a figure they did not delineate. They would have sought an expert economist to calculate the decedent’s anticipated lost earnings/benefits. The respondent’s insurance adjuster contended that since the decedent was unemployed at the time of the accident, the decedent’s family would have required further substantiating for any alleged damages for loss of earnings.
COURT
Matter not filed, CA
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INJURIES:
- anxiety
- brain
- brain damage
- brain injury
- cognition
- depression
- epidural
- extradural hematoma
- face
- facial bone
- fracture
- head
- headaches
- hearing
- impairment
- insomnia
- loss of
- mental
- nose
- psychological
- scapula
- sensory
- shoulder
- skull
- speech
- subdural hematoma
- tinnitus
- traumatic brain injury
- vision
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