Highway 46--Blood Alley upgrade

November 7, 2009--According to the Bakersfield Californian, a section of Highway 46 in Kern County will soon become a 4 lane expressway.  The bad reputation of this roadway dates back to the death of Michelle Phillips in 1999, or even back to the death of actor James Dean in 1955.

The Highway 46 widening project will be done in stages.  A ground breaking ceremony will occur on Tuesday at the Lost Hills Park with construction set to begin on November 16, 2009.  The plan is to provide a generous median strip to buffer the opposing lanes of traffic.  However, a similar upgrade to Highway 41 east of Selma resulted in a post-construction fatality when a second stop sign was not provided to force crossing traffic to cross the expressway in 2 stages.  It is our contention that the wide median in that case in part caused another accident and that state design manuals mandated a second stop sign.  Suit was filed in that action by Attorney John Rozier of the law firm of Nelson & Rozier in Visalia in the past couple of months.  Discovery will soon be initiated including the depositions of CHP and Cal Trans personnel.  www.nelsonrozier.com

Highway 46 Crash near Lost Hills

October 23, 2009--Another Highway 46 fatality occurred Friday which took the lives of a baby and 3 adults.  A blue Chevy Cavalier was passing 2 big rigs when it ran out of room and swerved to the shoulder just as a Toyota Prius also headed for the dirt.  A major head-on collision resulted.

10 years ago a Toyota Lexus hydroplaned in the rain on Highway 46 and veered into oncoming traffic.  6 deaths and other major injuries resulted.  The driver of the Lexus had been heading to the family cabin in Cambria and that particular stretch of roadway was slanted such that water pooled and thereby contributed to the accident.  The law firm of Nelson & Rozier was able to establish that Cal Trans knew of the roadway defect and cause them to contribute to settlement.  This came only after extensive records were produced by Cal Trans at their regional construction offices in San Luis Obispo.  If you would like us to investigate this accident please call Attorney John Rozier at 559-713-0159.

Cal Trans Defect Causes Accident on Highway 41

Suit was filed in the Fresno County Superior Court on September 23, 2009 alleging a roadway defect on Highway 41 at the intersection of Floral Avenue near the town of Selma.  Plaintiffs lost their only child in this tragic accident.  The accident occurred on February 1, 2009 when a car driven by Ms. Valdovinos attempted to cross the roadway.  It is alleged that Cal-Trans negligently designed the roadway by forcing a crossing to take place without the benefit of a second stop sign.  The roadway was too wide to cross all at once.  In addition, signage was of the improper size such that it blocked the driver's view and finally the light pole should have broken away and did not.  According to Attorney John Rozier, this matter will proceed to trial in about one year.  The defendant's are currently being served with the suit.