Callahan & Blaine

Residents who live in Huntington Beach, California near the intersection on Springdale Street and Croupier Drive say the intersection has been a dangerous crossing for many years. The danger was only highlighted when seven month old Ruby Rose Gould was struck and killed in the crosswalk at the beginning of September. She was being pushed across the street in a stroller by her mother when a Chevy Tahoe rear-ended a Toyota Tundra that had stopped to let the family cross. Ruby was killed and her mother, an Australian tourist, suffered a broken back.

Local residents have had enough, and at a recent City Council meeting, they asked the city to do something to make the intersection safer. And it’s about time. Kathleen Stahl was hit in the intersection twenty-five years ago, when she was just a teenager. At the time she suffered a broken pelvis and a cracked skull. Another resident stepped forward saying she personally knew two people who had been killed in the intersection.

The council says that they understand the situation is serious, but a traffic signal would cost $250,000; a flashing light at the crosswalk would cost $125,000. Mayor Cathy Green has said that she plans to make sure there is enough flexibility in the budget to take care of it.

Unfortunately, the story of this intersection is far too similar to the details of a case Callahan & Blaine successfully settled in Orange County, California. In that case two joggers were hit and paralyzed by a drunk driver. Attorney Daniel J. Callahan knew from previous experience that the stretch of road they were on 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 an accident at a known dangerous intersection, please contact our Orange County, California law firm for expert legal counsel.