The city of Santa Clarita in Los Angeles County is looking at how it can avoid a repeat of a fatal accident on Valencia Blvd. over the Fourth of July holiday, in which one person was killed. The city has had a long-standing tradition of holding a fireworks display, but has never seen the need to block traffic on that day. That, however, changed on the Fourth of July. An Infinity and a sports utility vehicle collided on Valencia Blvd. The impact of the accident caused one of the vehicles to jump the curb, striking a pedestrian, who was watching the fireworks display. The woman was killed in the accident and seven people, including two of the women’s children, were injured.
Investigations have shown that the driver of the Infinity ran a red light just before the accident. He has not yet been charged however.
Santa Clarita city has never seen it fit to close traffic during its fireworks display. The accident is forcing the city to answer questions from residents, who wonder why should take a fatal accident for the city to understand that there is a need to close off traffic when there is such a major gathering of people.
Holding a city or county agency responsible for an accident in California is not easy. Many cities and counties enjoy certain immunities from lawsuits, and this can impact your results when your Los Angeles car accident lawyer files a claim. However, California laws do allow city, county and state agencies to be named in a car accident claim, when an accident has been caused due to defective road conditions or poor maintenance. The defective conditions can include poor design or construction of a road. City and county agencies can be named in an accident caused by malfunctioning traffic lights, lack of streetlights, lack of speed breakers, and other details that can increase a motorist’s risk of accident.
