Washington Injury Attorney Blog

The Washington State Liquor Control board has cited two Spokane bars for over-serving a young driver resulting in a fatal head-on car accident on I-90.

According to a report in The Seattle Times, the Board has cited Lions Lair, and are seeking a 5 day liquor license suspension, and BLVD, and are seeking a 30 day liquor license suspension.

Sterling Kruger, age 22 of Davenport, had visited both bars before driving drunk and being involved in a a head-on collision on December 17, 2009. Kruger was killed in the accident along with two of his passengers.

In civihttp://www.washingtoninjuryattorneyblog.com/l court, a bar, restaurant, bowling alley or other commecial estabilishment can be held legally liable if they served alcoholic beverages to an obvioulsy intoxicated person and that person subsequently injuries or kills another person due to their intoxication. This legal concept is called Dram Shop Liability. The family of the deceased would then have recourse to file suit against the bar or restaurant under Washigton's wrongful death statute.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney Blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been been the victims of drunken drivers and the families of those killed by drunken drivers.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

Christopher Paul Lilly, age 25, of Concrete, was killed and his passenger, Brice D. Kucera, age 21, also of Concrete, was injured when their vehicle went off the road and hit a utility pole. The single-car accident occurred around 4:35am on Saturday on Highway 20 west of Concrete.

According to a report in The Seattle Times, both men were ejected in the accident as neither was wearing a seat belt.

Police believe that Lilly may have been driving under the influence (DUI) at the time of the motor vehicle accident as Kucera told them that both men had been drinking in Bellingham and were on their way home.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in car accidents and the families of those killed. With our help, you may recover compensation for your damages.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

The Washington State Patrol (WSP) was awarded the Outstanding Law Enforcement Agency Award by Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) for its efforts in 2008 to remove drunk and impaired drivers from the road according to WSP media release.

In 2008, WSP troopers arrested 20,240 impaired drivers which was 45% of all DUI drivers arrested by all law enforcement agencies. Coinciding with the efforts to remove drunk drivers from the roads, the number of fatal car accidents related to drunk driving fell from 10.4 percent in 2007 to 9.4 percent in 2008 in Washington. The legal limit for driving under the influence in Washington state is 0.08%.

The WSP has put into place many systems which help them remove drunk drivers from the road. These include emphasis patrols on weekends and over holidays, targeting aggressive drivers, air patrols and public education.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent victims of drunk drivers and their families. We aggressively work to help victims receive compensation for their damages including medical costs and pain and suffering.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

The Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC) calls their program "X52." What does "X52" mean? Extra DUI patrols every weekend of the year. The WTSC has given local law enforcement agencies $450,000 to fund extra patrols on the weekends in order to reduce speeding and DUI car accidents which cause so many fatalities and serious injuries.

In Washington state, every year approximately 250 people are killed due to driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. More than 40,000 motorists are arrested for DUI offenses every year in our state.

What are the penalties for DUI drivers?

• license suspension
  
• jail time
  
• up to $5,000 in fines
  
• ignition interlock devices

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in car accidents caused by drunk drivers and the families of those killed. We aggressively represent drunk driving victims so that they can be fully compensated for their losses.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

The Olympian reports that Andy Zapolski, a 13-year-old boy from Idaho has died from injuries he sustained last week in a go-cart accident. John E. Kautz, age 39, has been charged with felony vehicular manslaughter in the boy's death.

The go-cart accident occurred on October 23rd when the two were driving go-carts on a city street. Kautz, who was intoxicated at the time of the accident, rear-ended the go-cart driven by Andy Zapolski. Zapolski suffered severe head trauma and died three days later at Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Kautz is charged with vehicular manslaughter which is equivalent to vehicular homicide in Washington state. It can be charged if a person is killed and a person was operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In this case, the motor vehicle was a go-cart but the same charges apply if the person was operating a motorcycle, boat, auto or truck.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents and the family of those killed.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

Olympia police have arrested Brandon J. Roth, 26, on multiple charges including DUI, assault and hit and run with injury after he hit a couple of pedestrians with his car in the Olympia Town Tavern early Sunday morning. One victim was taken to Providence St. Peter Hospital for treatment of injuries and the other victim left the scene.

Police were called to the Town Tavern around 12:30 am Sunday after 911 calls reported a black Mitsubishi striking pedestrians reports The Olympian. Roth fled the Tavern parking lot but police pursued him and arrested him at Kaiser Road and 13th Avenue Southwest.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in car accidents.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

The Washington State Patrol reports that Mandalynn E Summers, 18, of Buckley was seriously injured in a car accident when the car she was driving was rear-ended and she was involved in a four-car pile-up just west of the Puyallup fairgrounds.

According to the WSP media patrol, Cynthia S. Rice of Enumclaw was driving too fast for road conditions and she rear-ended the car driven by Summers causing a chain reaction car accident which involved two other cars. Luckily, the people in the other two cars were not injured.

The WSP report says that Rice may have under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the accident. They arrested her and may charge her with her with Vehicular Assault. According to vehicle code RCW 46.61.522, Vehicular Assault can be charged if a person was seriously injured in a car accident and the driver was driving recklessly, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs or driving without the regard for the safety of others.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in car accidents.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

Two adults and five children were injured in a single-car accident at Highway 3 at Belfair around 8:30pm Monday night. No one in the vehicle was wearing a seat belt when the driver missed a turn onto Highway 3 and went down an embankment, hitting several trees.

The two adults in the car, a 32-year-old Belfair woman and a woman, seemed to have the most severe injuries. The man, who was driving, suffered chest pains and the woman sustained a head injury. The children suffered abrasions and sprains according to Seattle's King5.com. All seven were taken to Harison Medical Center in Bremerton for treatment.

According to the article, the driver may be charged with driving under the influence. The driver could also be charged with Vehicular Assault, RCW 46.61.522, which is a statute that can be used if a person is seriously injured and the driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

In Washington, according to statute RCW 46.61.688, all vehicle occupants must wear a seat belt and it is the responsibility of the driver that each child be properly secured.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in car accidents due to the negligence of another. With our help, you may recover compensation for your damages.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

Washington state's Supreme Court ruled that police officers may obtain search warrants to force motorists, who they suspect of drunk driving, to submit to a blood test reports The Seattle Post Intelligencer.

The case in front of the court was brought by a man, Robert St. John, who was forced to undergo a blood test after his Seattle motorcycle accident. The arresting officers obtained a search warrant to test St. John's blood. A Seattle Municipal court ruled that the blood evidence could not be used against St. John and when a King County Superior Court overruled the lower court ruling, St. John appealed.

The court voted 7-2 in favor of the King County Superior Court ruling. Writing for the majority opinion, Justice Susan Owens wrote:

"The implied consent statute explicitly allows a police officer to obtain a blood alcohol test pursuant to a warrant even after a driver refuses a voluntary blood alcohol test."

Some opponents of the ruling believe it is unreasonable search and seizure. Justice Richard Sanders wrote that the ruling goes against state law which allows a driver to refuse such tests.

"If we accept the majority's reasoning, a driver's refusal to consent … would be meaningless."

I don't think we have heard the last of this ruling just yet as many of the dissenters believe it tramples on the 5th Amendment, "nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.'

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in car accidents caused by drunken drivers and the families of those killed.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

Motorists have paired up with the Washington State Patrol (WSP) by using their cell phones and dialing 9-1-1 when they see another motorist driving drunk. Over the Labor Day weekend, the patrol responded to 44 such calls.

In a media release, the WSP said that when they were able to contact the suspect vehicles, that:

• 19 of the vehicles had drivers who were driving under the influence of alcohol
  
• 1 driver was under the influence of drugs
  
• 1 driver was arrested on a warrant
  
• Four drivers of suspect cars were cited for traffic infractions and released.

This year there were three traffic fatalities over the holiday weekend compared with four in 2008. The fatalities were in King, Okanogan and Skagit Counties.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured by a drunken driver and the families of those killed.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

The Washington State Patrol (WSP) has organized the 2009 Boating Under Influence (BUI) emphasis for Seattle's Seafair which kicks off July 29. Like driving a car, Boating Under the Influence laws state that a Boater is intoxicated if their blood alcohol content is 0.08% or above.

During Seafair, the WSP partners with the Mercer Island Police Department's marine unit, the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the King County Prosecutors Office to apprehend boaters who are under the influence to insure the safety of others.

The Seafair BUI emphasis has been very successful and has resulted in 418 Boating Under The Influence Arrests since its inception. The emphasis patrols made 83 BUI arrests last year and 21 Minor in Possession of alcohol arrests.

The WSP says with the emphasis patrol, there are fewer boating accidents on Lake Washington during Seafair. Last year, there was only one boating injury accident during the entire Seafair week.

Annually, there are approximately 20-30 boating fatalities in Washington State and around 4,000 injury boating accidents.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in boating accidents because of the negligence of another boater. Boating accidents are often caused by speeding, alcohol or drug use, and improperly maintained or defecting boating equipment.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

The Washington State Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, has upheld a lower court ruling that awarded a family $14 million dollars after the family was injured by a drunken driver after he was over served at a Bellingham tavern reports The Bellingham Herald.

Bianca Faust was driving in a car with her two children and a grandbaby when 58-year-old Hawkeye Kinkaid of Ferndale crossed the center line and hit her car. Kinkaid was killed and everyone in Faust's car was injured in the drunk driving accident. Her son, who was 7 at the time, was critically injured and is a paraplegic today.

Faust sued the Moose Lodge in Bellingham and the bartender for "negligent over serving." The bartender was Alexis Chapman and she was Kinkaid's girlfriend at the time of the accident. Washington State allows victims of drunk driving to sue an establishment such as a restaurant, bar, tavern or club if they served a obviously intoxicated person. This is known as a DRAM shop claim.

A forensic consultant testified that Kinkaid, whose blood alcohol content was around 0.32% at the time of the car accident, probably consumed the equivalent of 21 12-ounce beers before the accident. Chapman testified that he was "tipsy" and she had refused to continue serving him.

The $14 million dollar settlement will help provide for Faust's son medical and educational needs and well as compensate other family members for the damages they suffered.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent drunk driving victims and their families. We will aggressively investigate your car accident and determine if you were injured by someone in the course of their employment or if they were negligently served alcohol by a bar or restaurant. With our help, you may recover compensation for your damages.

Contact The Farber Law Group today to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation.

For more information about the case, see the Washington State Supreme Court, Faust v. Albertson, docket number 81356-6.

See our Victims of Drunk Driving Resources.

The National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration study reports that 16 percent of drivers on weekend nights test positive for some type of drug including cocaine, marijuana and prescription sedatives. This is the first time the NHTSA has done this study so it is hard to compare it with previous years. However, former Seattle Police Chief, Gil Kerlikowske, who now heads the Office Of National Drug Control Policy, deems this statistic, "troubling."

Law enforcement officials are pleased that the number of drunk driving car accident fatalities has declined along with alcohol-impaired driving. Alcohol is a factor in about 20% of car accident fatalities.

Drunk driving statistics:

• A driver with a blood alcohol content of 0.08% or greater is 42% more likely to be male than female.
  
• The hours of 1am to 3am are the hours when drivers are more likely to be drunk driving
  
• Drunk driving among motorcycle drivers is twice that as automobile drivers(5.6% compared with 2.3%)
  
• Pick up truck drivers have a higher rate of driving under the influence, 3.3% pick up truck drivers are DUI compared to 2.3% of auto drivers.

Information for this blog was found in the Los Angeles Times in a column written by Martin Zimmerman.

If you or a loved one is seriously injured in a auto accident caused by a drunk driver, you should contact The Farber Law Group immediately. We may be able to help you recover compensation for your injuries including medical costs, lost wages and for pain and suffering. We have more than 30 years experience representing the victims of drunk drivers and their families.

Contact The Farber Law Group today at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

The Washington State Patrol has issued a media release that they are targeting unsafe and dangerous drivers over the 4th of July holiday weekend.

The WSP said they will being their holiday emphasis patrols on Friday July 3 in Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom and Island Counties and continuing the patrols through Sunday, July 5.
Troopers focus on dangerous driving behaviors which they know cause injury car accidents fatalities. Behaviors such as speeding, weaving in and out of traffic, aggressive driving, driving without seat belts and driving under the influence are the things they will be looking for.

The WSP patrol asks drivers if they see someone driving erratically, impaired or aggressively to phone 911 and provide the license plate number, a description of the vehicle location and the direction the vehicle is headed. They will be using aircraft to track down these drivers.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured in car accidents and the families of those killed. With our help, you may recover compensation for your damages including pain and suffering.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or e-mail attorney@hgfarber.com. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

The Washington State Patrol, in a media release, reports that they will have 25 extra state troopers on King County highways over the Memorial Day weekend between May 22 through May 25.

The troopers will be vigilant to find drivers who are speeding, driving under the influence or otherwise impaired, and drivers who are not using seatbelts. In addition, the troopers will be looking for signs of aggressive driving. Aggressive driving can include the following behaviors:

• Tailgating
  
• Speeding
  
• Honking the horn
  
• Flashing head lights
  
• Braking suddenly to annoy following drivers
  
• Passing traffic and the slowing down
  
• Speeding to beat red lights

The WSP is committed to keeping the roads safe and to prevent car accidents over the Memorial Day holiday.

This information is brought to you by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured and the families of those killed in car accidents.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a car accident, contact the personal injury law firm with more than 30 years experience representing car accident victims and their families. Call The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

The Seattle Times reports that the City Manager of Burien, Mark Martin, has been charged with driving under the influence. Martin was arrested on April 19th in Burien after he ran his car off the road.

According to the report, Martin refused to perform a field sobriety test or a preliminary breath test. After his arrest, he also refused a Breathalyzer test.

Washington State Law RCW 46.25.110 states that blood alcohol tests may be administered at the direction of a police officer if he/she has probable cause to believe that the driver was operating their vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drug. If a person refuses to submit to the test, they will be disqualified from operating a motor vehicle for a period of at least one year.

This is not the first alcohol-related offense for Martin. In 2005, he pled guilt to an alcohol-involved hit-and-run accident.

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This information is provided by Washington Injury Accident Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured and the families of those killed by drunken drivers.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or e-mail attorney@hgfarber.com for a free and confidential case evaluation.

The Seattle Times reports that a 53-year-old Des Moines woman hit a parked fire truck on Interstate 5 in Tukwila.

The woman was injured and was taken to the hospital. No one in the fire truck was injured. Police believe the woman was driving under the influence (DUI) at the time of the car accident.

The fire truck was parked alongside the road responding to a medical emergency and had cones placed and emergency lights flashing when the woman hit the truck from behind.

In Washington State approximately 45% of all traffic fatalities in a year are alcohol-related. Washington State has a BAC (blood alcohol content) intoxication standard of 0.08% and penalizes DUI drivers with fines and loss of license.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured or a loved one killed by a drunken driver, you should contact a personal injury attorney. The Farber Law Group has more than 30 years experience representing victims of drunken drivers and their families. We will investigate your accident and determine if the drunk driver was in the course of his/her employment, whether a bar or restaurant served an obviously intoxicated person or if the DUI driver had previous drunken driving charges.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or e-mail attorney@hgfarber.com. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

A Lakewood motorcyclist has died and an off-duty Tacoma firefighter may be charged with Vehicular Homicide after a motorvehicle accident in Tacoma on Monday night.

Mark Kaytna, age 43, was riding his motorcycle when he was hit at the intersection of North Sixth Street and Grant Avenue. Kaytna died at St. Joseph Medical Center on Tuesday afternoon reports The Tacoma News Tribune.

A off-duty Tacoma firefighter was booked into Pierce County Jail for suspicion of driving under the influence. In Washington State a blood alcohol content of 0.08% is above the legal limit.

The firefighter may charged with Vehicular Homicide. Vehicular Homicide can be charged if an accident victim dies of injuries and the driver was driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, driving recklessly or without regard to the safety of others.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent victims of drunk drivers and their families.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 to discuss your case. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you. If you can not come to us, we will come to you.

The Washington State Supreme Court has upheld an Appeals court ruling saying that a woman cannot be liable as an accomplice in a driving under the influence (DUI) case as she was a victim in the accident that killed her fiancé and five friends.

The case stems from a horrific accident that occurred in 2001. Teresa Hedlund, who was 28 at the time, held a party at her home where she served alcohol. When the party ended, Hedlund, her fiancé and five other young people all piled into a car with Hedlund's fiance, Tim Stewart, driving. Hedlund videotaped the group joking and clowning in the car. Stewart drove recklessly and the car plowed into a freeway concrete support post. Hedlund was the only survivor. Stewart's blood alcohol limit (BAC) was later found to be twice the legal limit at the time of the accident.

Hedlund was convicted in 2003 in Auburn Municipal Court of encouraging drunken driving and providing alcohol to minors as one of two of the underage assengers in the car drank at the party. The Auburn court ruled that she was an accomplice to DUI since she served the alcohol and she also encouraged Stewart's reckless behavior by videotaping him while he was driving. Hedlund appealed the conviction saying that she could not be convicted of being an accomplice to DUI as she was a victim of herself. The crux of the case was the definition of the word victim. In 2007, the State Court of Appeals overturned the lower court ruling. On Thursday, the State of Washington Supreme Court affirmed the Appeals Court decision, ruling in a 5-4 decision.

"The Legislature has declared, 'A person is not an accomplice in a crime committed by another person if: (a) He is a victim of that crime,' " said Justice Tom Chambers, writing for the majority.

Information for this posting is from The Seattle Post-Intelligencer as reported by Hector Castro

The information in this blog is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured and the families of those killed in car accidents. If you or a loved one has been the victim of a drunken driver, you should contact a law firm with a proven track record. At The Farber Law Group, we have more than 30 years experience in the Pacific Northwest. With offices in
Seattle and Bellevue, we are here to help you.

Contact The Farber Law Group today at 1-800-244-9087 or e-mail attorney@hgfarber.com

A report on KNDO.com reports that Darla Atkins, age 40, lost control of her vehicle and crashed into another on State Route 97 near Toppenish around 6 pm on Friday and was killed in the car accident.

Washington State Troopers are concerned about the increase they see in the number of motor vehicle accidents on this stretch of road. Most fatalities have one or both of two things in common: the drivers and passengers are failing to wear seat belts and alcohol is involved. They say in this fatality, alcohol was definitely a factor and no one in both cars were wearing seat belts.

This information was brought to you By Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been injured and the families of those killed in car accidents.

Contact us today.