Pearblossom Highway, which many known as CA 138, is a beautiful road known for its scenic vistas. It is also known to locals as “blood alley.” It once averaged ten fatal car accidents every year. Long considered one of the most dangerous roads in California, today we are going to look at how this road has actually become safer and what to do if you are in an accident on this or another California road.
The history of CA 138
In past decades, CA 138 was very dangerous. Why? Because it was a twisting, two-lane highway that had a very narrow shoulder on both sides and no divider between lanes of traffic. As a direct route from Las Vegas to San Fernando Valley, it also saw a lot of traffic. In reality, the number of car accidents was not higher but the accidents that did happen were very often catastrophic and sometimes fatal.
Changes in the road
The stretch of road in question is more than 100 miles long and though there was work performed to widen the road, there was a delay in the most dangerous part of the road. In fact, one newspaper article that tracked the road found 56 deaths and 875 injurie (more than 500 of which were serious) on CA 138 in just five years. Said article put the chance of a person being involved in a fatal injury on this road as 34% higher on the San Bernardino County side compared to the Los Angeles side.
A 2003 accident that will never be forgotten
In 2003, a driver without a license was driving a pickup truck. The truck left the road and went into the California Aqueduct. The result was the death of the driver’s four passengers and the driver himself ended up a quadriplegic. The state of California paid out $10 million to the victims of the family on the grounds that if they had finished the improvements, the accident was much less likely to have happened.
As you can see, in some cases the government can be held accountable if an accident is the result of road conditions. In the case above, the issue was in the design of the road. In other cases, it may be a lack of maintenance that leads to dangerous conditions.
You have limited time to sue the government
If you have reason to believe that an accident in which you were injured or lost a loved one was caused at least partially by the negligence of the state, city, or federal government then you need to act right away. The statute of limitations to file a motion on these cases is as short as six months. This is why you should contact The Law Offices of Larry H. Parker at 800-333-0000 right away. We can begin with a free legal consultation.
