A stunningly tragic 10-car pileup on the Pacific Coast Highway in Newport Beach has claimed three lives, including that of the driver whose vehicle was the first involved in the crash, former Stanford track star Julie Allen, 27.
According to news reports, the accident occurred at Riverside Avenue and West Coast Highway when Allen’s Ford Taurus suddenly swerved into the oncoming lanes of traffic. Witnesses described a horrific scene of cars being smashed and going airborne. Allen was killed instantly, along with two other adults – Christopher De La Cruz, 49, of Laguna Niguel and Linda Burnett, 69, of Santa Ana – who were in a truck that was hit by Allen’s Taurus.
Newport Beach police said that a preliminary investigation indicated that Allen was speeding, but that is all they have been able to determine so far. Allen’s Taurus veered into oncoming traffic, first hitting a Toyota Prius and a white Taurus, then smashing into a Nissan Titan pickup and sideswiping a Toyota Tacoma that carried De La Cruz and Burnett, which caused Allen’s Taurus to go airborne and land in a southbound turn lane, hitting several other vehicles and a motorcycle.
The motorcyclist was taken to a nearby hospital for his injuries and is expected to recover. Two other people suffered minor injuries in the accident and were also treated at a local hospital.
If you or a loved one is involved in an accident that causes death or serious injury, call Callahan & Blaine, California’s Premier Litigation Firm. We are one of the leading catastrophic injury firms in the state of California. In fact, in the last five years alone our lawyers have obtained over $1.2 billion in verdicts and settlements, including a record breaking $50 Million settlement against the City of Dana Point, which has been certified as the largest personal injury settlement in the history of the United States. Callahan & Blaine has also recently obtained a $28 Million settlement for a driver who was hit by a runaway truck wheel on the freeway, a $7 million settlement for a bicyclist who was struck by a newspaper delivery truck, and a $7.25 million settlement for a man who was run over trying to board a city bus.
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. While our firm is located in Orange County, California, we handle serious personal injury, wrongful death and product liability cases nationwide.
If you or someone you know has suffered a catastrophic injury or died as the result of a car accident, please contact our California law firm for expert legal counsel.
