Becky Anderson of San Diego, California was under the influence of several prescription drugs when she struck and killed a mother of two who was walking to work. Right after the accident, Anderson admitted to a sheriff’s deputy that she had taken Valium the night before the accident and Methadone at a clinic earlier the morning of the accident.
She claimed that the accident was caused because she reached down to pick up a piece of paper off the floor of her car and lost control of the vehicle. She then swerved into the bicycle lane, and hit thirty-six year old Kristen Bedard. Bedard, who had two small children at home, was using the bicycle lane to walk to work.
Anderson eventually pleaded guilty to a count of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and one count of DUI causing great bodily injury. Anderson, who already had two previous DUI convictions on her record, was sentenced to sixteen years in prison for her crimes.
Tragically, this accident is very similar to a case Callahan & Blaine successfully settled in orange County, California. In that case two joggers were hit and paralyzed by a drunk driver while jogging in the bicycle lane.
Attorney Daniel J. Callahan knew from previous experience that the bicycle lane was dangerous and that the city of Dana Point, California knew it and had failed to do anything about it. In the Dana Point case, Callahan & Blaine achieved a record-breaking $50 million settlement for the injured joggers, and convinced the city of Dana Point to make the highway safer for pedestrians.
At Callahan & Blaine, California’s premier litigation firm, we believe our success in litigating and negotiating personal injury cases comes from our uncommon approach; we handle each personal injury case as though it were a complex business litigation case, attacking it from every angle possible; our approach is persistent, thorough and relentless.
If you or someone you know has suffered a catastrophic injury or died as the result of a road accident, please contact our Orange County, California law firm for expert legal counsel.
