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Long Beach Streets With The Most Car Accidents

Long Beach Streets With The Most Car Accidents

by | Nov 20, 2022 | State Law

Long Beach is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful cities in California.

With a population of 460,000, Long Beach is the 7th most heavily populated city in California. A large population directly implies more traffic on the road, therefore increasing the probability of accidents in the area.

The streets of Long Beach can be potentially deadly for a distracted person. The wider roads and highways are equally, if not more, unsafe for motorists. In 2019, the California Office of Traffic Safety ranked Long Beach fifth in the number of fatalities and injuries caused by traffic accidents compared to other California cities with similar populations.

If you are a citizen of Long Beach, be aware of your area’s worst freeways, highways, intersections, and traffic circles. Of course, you cannot choose not to drive on these roads, but the least you can do is be extra cautious while going in high-risk areas.

Where Are Collisions Happening?

Collisions occur on all our streets, but certain streets have had a higher number of crashes and more severe cases than others. The high-injury corridors and interconnections concentration remain in Downtown and Central Long Beach. Additionally, North and West Long Beach have more high-injury intersections and corridors than East Long Beach.

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It is worth noting that many streets with a higher driving risk pose an even greater threat to people riding a motorcycle, cycling, or walking. The following section lists Long Beach, California’s most dangerous corridors, intersections, traffic circles, and freeways.

Top 10 high-injury motor vehicle intersections of Long Beach:

  1. Pacific Coast Highway and 2nd Street
  2. Anaheim Street and Atlantic Avenue
  3. Long Beach Boulevard and Anaheim Street
  4. Willow Street and Pacific Avenue
  5. Artesia Boulevard and Long Beach Boulevard
  6. Ximeno Avenue and 7th Street
  7. South Street and Downey Avenue
  8. Carson Street and Clark Avenue
  9. Ocean Boulevard and Pine Avenue
  10. Pacific Coast Highway and Pine Avenue

Top 10 high-injury motor vehicle corridors in Long Beach:

  1. Pacific Coast Highway from Terminal Island Freeway ramps to Molino Avenue
  2. Anaheim Street from Oregon Avenue to Ximeno Avenue
  3. 7th Street from Orange Avenue to Federation Drive
  4. Pacific Coast Highway from Studebaker Road to 8th Street
  5. Redondo Avenue from 3rd Street to Anaheim Street
  6. Willow Street from Oregon Avenue to Pine Avenue
  7. Long Beach Boulevard from Spring Street to Wardlow Road
  8. Bellflower Boulevard from Stearns Street to 27th Street
  9. Los Coyotes Diagonal from Stearnlee Avenue to Deborah Avenue
  10. Cherry Avenue from 37th Street to Tehachapi Drive

The lists are based on the severity and deaths caused by accidents in a particular area. However, this is not a static list, and the level of risks on these roads may vary with respect to the actions taken by the local authorities.

The Long Beach Traffic Circle

Ranked as the #1 intersection for accidents in Long Beach, the Long Beach Traffic Circle (LBTC) connects the Pacific Coast Highway, Lakewood Boulevard, and Los Coyotes Diagonal. A 1932 construction, the LBTC can accommodate 6,000 vehicles per hour and is ranked as the highest capacity traffic circle in California, perhaps even the nation. The Long Beach Traffic Circle is also known as the Los Alamitos Traffic Circle.

Although some find that more traffic can get through a signaled intersection and accidents tend to be less catastrophic, opponents of traffic circles denounce them as dangerous, confusing, and pedestrian unfriendly. According to one of the city’s head traffic engineers, this traffic circle is too large because people drive way faster inside the circle than otherwise. Therefore, the roundabout merging of vehicles and vehicle control becomes tricky.

Another significant issue is that there is no lane stripping inside the circle. Therefore, drivers are left to waltz in and out of traffic lines to guide them.

There has been a series of severe car accidents in this area. Some of them are listed below:

  1. A 25-year-old woman was killed in a car collision when her vehicle collided with a van that went out of the driver’s control as he traveled West on Katella Avenue near Reagan Street. (Source: Patch.com/California)
  2. An eight-car crash in Los Alamitos left one person and his dog dead and three others injured at Katella Avenue and Los Angeles Boulevard during the early morning hours. (Source: Los Angeles Times)
  3.  One man was killed on the spot, and two others were hospitalized as a result of a crash on North Cypress Way involving an Amazon delivery truck and a Camaro. (Source: Patch.com/California)

Long Beach 710 Freeway

The 710 Freeway, also known as the Long Beach Freeway, experiences heavy big rig traffic. The highway, running 23 miles from Long Beach Alhambra, connects the port of Long Beach to the port of Los Angeles and the railyards in East LA and Vernon. Nearly 16% of the vehicles on the 710 Freeway are 18-wheelers hauling cargo from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Tractor trailers carrying cargo loads are the most prominent cause of accidents on the Long Beach Freeway.

The initial purpose of constructing the 710 Freeway was not to cater to the heavy volume of cargo trucks it currently experiences. The result is a seriously damaged freeway. Furthermore, the state of disrepair of the Long Beach Freeway makes it much more dangerous for drivers. A few of the car crashes on the Long Beach Freeway are listed below:

  1. A two-car collision took the life of a 40-year-old man on the northbound lanes of the 710 Freeway near Willow Street at around 6:30 am. (Source: CBS Los Angeles)
  2.  A fiery multi-vehicle crash in the middle lanes of the southbound Long Beach Freeway took the life of one person at approximately 3:02 am. (Source: FOX 11 Los Angeles)

Thousands of car accidents occur daily in the US, and Long Beach, California, is no exception. Car accidents can cause serious injuries to drivers, bystanders, and pedestrians. These physical injuries and financial losses can be life-altering for many people.

Therefore, before going on the road, be cautious of the routes you take because staying safe is always better than being sorry.

How Long Could A Car Accident In Long Beach Impact You?

How Long Could A Car Accident In Long Beach Impact You?

by | Nov 20, 2022 | Laws-regulation

Driving in Long Beach is not at all safe these days. Especially when a report listed Long Beach as one of the top 20 cities with the worst speeding problems, you must be cautious while on the road.

But what if, due to unfortunate circumstances, you were caught in a road accident? What should you do immediately after a car accident? How long do such cases take?

Let us help you find the answer to all these questions.

How Long Does A Car Accident Case Stretch In Court?

This depends on the nature of your case and the actions you take. For example, if you were involved in a personal injury during a car crash case, then you must immediately seek medical help and call someone for a thorough investigation. This could be the police or an attorney. Attorneys are more helpful because they conduct deep investigations, especially when the eyewitnesses are in contradiction regarding the person at-fault. Once all the information is gathered, it is generally presented to the insurance company, which sets off the process of negotiations and settlement.

But if you fail to settle the case, a lawsuit becomes the requirement. In such a case, you will be consulted throughout the entire stage of the lawsuit, from the initial filing of the summons and complaints to preparing the documents for trial. Once the case is filed for a lawsuit, then it sets off the discovery process. Quite similar to the investigation process, it’s generally done in a more formal setting involving lawyers, written sworn statements, and deposited documents or other testimonies to be presented that involve both parties. However, the purpose still remains the same: having a clear understanding of what has occurred (or could have occurred).

Once this discovery phase is complete, an attempt is made to resolve the case informally. One of the most common attempts is mediation, whereby both parties try to come to a compromise through the involvement of a neutral third party.

If the case still remains unresolved, it is set for trial. Once the case is set for trial, the parties should appear on a specific date and time before the court. Here, they present their version of facts, and accordingly, the judge or jury shall decide who has proven the case in the most appropriate manner and thus announce their verdict, which depends on the extent to which both parties could be involved.

An important question is, to what extent could the verdict impact you?

This depends on the nature of your case and whether or not you are the at-fault party. According to the California Vehicle Code, a person can be sentenced to different kinds of punishments depending on the nature of the case. Some of them are explained below:

1. Killing someone in a car accident

A person is said to commit vehicular manslaughter by driving in a negligent or unlawful manner, thereby causing the death of another person. According to the Penal Code of California, vehicular manslaughter depends on whether one committed it in gross negligence or ordinary negligence.

          a) Gross negligence: 1 year in county jail or a maximum of 6 years in state prison.

          b) Ordinary negligence: Maximum sentence of 1 year in county jail.

In addition, you could also be fined for the property damage and personal injury caused to the individual.

Despite being guilty, you have the right and means to defend yourself by making use of legal defenses such as:

    •  You didn’t act with negligence,
    •  Your negligence did not cause harm/death to the victim,
    •  You acted reasonably in such circumstances.

2. Causing injury to someone while driving recklessly

While driving a car at high speed, if you collide with a motorist and cause an injury, or cause injury to a pedestrian or other driver, then the offense is punishable by:

  1. Custody in county jail for up to 6 months and/ or
  2. A maximum fine of $1000.
How Long Could A Car Accident In Long Beach Impact You

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Potential defenses include:

  • You were not recklessly driving,
  • You had a necessity to drive recklessly,
  • Your reckless driving did not cause injury to someone else.

A judge could also offer misdemeanor probation in lieu of jail, lasting up to 5 years.

3. Hit & run causing injury/death to a person in a car accident

If a person is charged with a misdemeanor, then the crime is punishable by:

  1. Imprisonment in county jail for up to 1 year
  2. Maximum fine between $1,000 to $10,000

However, if a person is charged as a felony in a hit & run case, then the offense is punishable by:

  1. Imprisonment in state prison for 4 years and/ or
  2. Maximum fine between $1,000 to $10,000

Possible defenses include:

  • There was no injury or death,
  • The accused wasn’t the driver,
  • It was unsafe to stop there.
  • Failure to appear in court

If a person is supposed to appear in court and fails to do so, then the same may be charged with custody in county jail for up to 6 months or a fine up to $1,000 for misdemeanor charges and up to 3 years or a fine up to $10,000 for felony charges. However, even in such cases, certain excuses are acceptable. For example:

  • The subject did not sign an agreement to appear in court,
  • The accused didn’t willfully fail to appear,
  • An emergency prevented him from appearing.

But showing evidence of your innocence could take a long time. Therefore, you must try to resolve the issue as early as possible, with or without the involvement of the court or as the need may be. However, whether it’s your fault or not, you should keep a few things in mind if you’re involved in a car collision.

  1. Seek medical help from a personal physician you trust. If you don’t have a personal care provider (PCP) or family doctor, ask your attorney for a reputable health provider. Your personal physician might decline treatment due to fear of litigation or documentation. Also, your personal physician can be questioned by the insurance company.
  2. Document all your harm and losses. You may forget that due to the hassle an accident can cause. This is important if you need to get an accident claim. It’s equally important to report your accident to your insurance company for quick action.
  3. California law requires any collision with bodily injury or $1,000 of property damage to be reported to the DMV. Remember to take pictures of the area on your phone as a testimony of the car accident.

The best advice is to follow all traffic laws of the state. Even so, when you are in a car accident, it is best to retain the services of a reputable attorney, as the law is not always on your side.