More than 6,000 deadly car crashes a year are caused by drowsy driving, according to AAA. Sleepiness is now being blamed for cases of colon cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer.

Key Facts: Drowsy driving

• 37% of drivers report having fallen asleep behind the wheel at some point in their lives; 11% report having fallen asleep behind the wheel in the past year
• Drowsiness was involved in one in five fatal crashes
• An estimated 328,000 crashes each year, including 109,000 injury crashes and 6,400 fatal crashes, involve a drowsy driver.
• Men have twice as many drowsy driving crashes as women
• More than half of drowsy driving crashes involve drivers drifting out of their lanes or off the road
• After getting only 5 to 6 hours of sleep, crash risk increased by 1.9 times compared to getting normal sleep of 7 hours.

Drowsy Driving

Drivers can barely keep their eyes open, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety’s annual Traffic Safety Culture Index. More than a third of drivers report having fallen asleep behind the wheel at some point in their lives, and more than one in ten has fallen asleep behind the wheel in the past year.

A Foundation study completed in Novembr 2014 found the impact of having drowsy drivers on the road is considerable. Drowsy drivers are involved in an estimated 21% of fatal crashes, up from 16.5% from the previous 2010 study, as most drivers drift out of their lanes or off the road. Drivers themselves are often crash victims who die in single-car crashes.

In December of 2016, the Foundation released a new report about crash risk and lack of sleep. Crash risk rises dramatically with only one to two hours of sleep less than the recommended average of seven hours of sleep per night.

Drivers have a near-universal understanding that driving when you’re too tired to keep your eyes open is risky. Almost every driver surveyed in our Traffic Safety Culture Index surveys – 96% -- reported that they find driving while extremely drowsy “unacceptable.”

As with so many risky driving behaviors, too many people are inclined to apply their knowledge of drowsy-driving risks to others, but not themselves. Through our educational materials and outreach efforts, we hope to offer drivers strategies for managing the risks of drowsy driving and changing their own behaviors.


========================= ‘You can sleep when you’re dead’ is actually deadly advice, according to experts

Nov. 11, 2017, 9:08 AM
 
Losing sleep puts your body at a disadvantage when fighting off diseases, including cancer. 

More than 6,000 deadly car crashes a year are caused by drowsy driving, according to AAA.
Just a week of short sleep nights (around five or six hours) can make you pre-diabetic.



Rocker Warren Zevon is often credited with coining the mantra that’s been embraced by everyone from partying college kids to early-morning exercise evangelists: “You can sleep when you’re dead.”

Or as Bon Jovi put it, “Gonna live while I'm alive, I'll sleep when I'm dead.”

It’s an intoxicating thought, but the truth is that not getting enough sleep is literally killing us.

That’s what neuroscientist Matthew Walker, who directs the sleep and neuroimaging lab at UC Berkeley, says in his new book, ‘Why We Sleep,’ which was published in October.


Walker has dolled out sleep advice to the NBA, NFL and Pixar, among others. His first book is a deep dive into the latest research on the importance of sleep, as well as a how-to guide for getting better sleep.

He succinctly summed up his overall stance on snoozing for Business Insider: “The shorter your sleep, the shorter your life,” Walker said.

It’s estimated that two thirds of adults around the world aren’t getting enough sleep. The World Health Organization and Walker both recommend about eight hours a night as a good baseline.

Walker argues that routinely getting only six or seven hours of shut-eye per night can do serious long-term damage to your health, and in some cases even kill you. He insists on a strict eight hours of "sleep opportunity" for himself. That means he's in bed for at least eight hours a night, even if he spends a portion of that time falling asleep and waking up. He says that schedule helps keep him productive, as well as emotionally and physically fit.

Here are three of the key ways Walker says a lack of sleep can hurt your body and brain.

Lack of sleep puts the immune system at a disadvantage

When you haven't slept enough, it’s harder for the body to fight off illnesses ranging from the common cold to cancer. Sleep deprivation depletes stores of your “natural killer cells,” a type of lymphocyte (white blood cell) that nix tumor and virus cells. A single 4- or 5-hour night of sleep could lower your body’s "natural killer" cell count by around 70%, Walker says.

Missing sleep can also put your body on a crash course for chronic disease. Insufficient sleep has been linked to increased instances of Alzheimer's, obesity, stroke, and diabetes. Lack of sleep changes how insulin operates in your body and how quickly your cells absorb sugar. After a week of short sleep nights (say, five or six hours), your doctor could diagnose you with pre-diabetes, Walker says. That means your blood sugar levels are elevated enough that you're on track to become a diabetic. Long-term damage to your heart, blood vessels, and kidneys could already be in motion in such circumstances.

It's true that some people, a "sleepless elite" as Walker calls them, are built to survive on less sleep and will sleep just six hours, even in laboratory sleep conditions. Such lucky individuals make up just a fraction of one percent of the population, Walker says, and share a gene (BHLHE41) that's incredibly rare. (If you think you have it, you probably don't.)
Just an hour of lost sleep can kill

Walker likes to say that "there is a global experiment performed on 1.6 billion people, twice a year." You probably call it Daylight Saving Time.

After we lose an hour of sleep every spring when the clocks get pushed forward, car accident rates jump. Walker's seen this play out in the lab too — after study participants spent two weeks sleeping for seven hours instead of nine, their reaction times slowed by half a second. That's a long lapse if you're cruising at 60 mph. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has studied car crashes in the US, and found that tired drivers kill about 6,400 people a year.

Heart attacks also spike 25% around Daylight Saving Time, since sleep deprivation puts more stress on the heart. Researchers have found that men in Japan who sleep less than six hours a night are 400-500% likelier to have a heart attack than their better-rested counterparts.
 

Sleep debt is carcinogenic

Insufficient sleep makes the body a better breeding ground for cancer. Sleepiness is now being blamed for cases of colon cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer. An off-kilter sleep schedule may also give rise to cancer, since it causes melatonin to be suppressed. The World Health Organization calls night work a "probable carcinogen."

Because of all these factors, scientists warn that hanging on to the idea that you'll sleep when you are dead is truly deadly advice.

If you're not sleeping enough, "you will be both dead sooner, and the quality of your (now shorter) life will be significantly worse," Walker told Business Insider.

a burning cardboard box thrown between Thomas McQueen, 66, and Alice Reimiller, 53, caused the March 9 fire that claimed the life of Gordon Wanser, 58 in the 104 E. Mine St. apartment in Hazelton, PA

 Hazelton, PA

Magisterial District Judge Joseph Zola on Monday postponed ruling on charges against two city residents accused of involuntary manslaughter for the 2016 death of a man who died in an apartment fire.

Prosecutors allege that a burning cardboard box thrown between Thomas McQueen, 66, and Alice Reimiller, 53, caused the March 9 fire that claimed the life of Gordon Wanser, 58.

“I will hold my decision on both cases because there are some things I want to research a little bit and I can’t do it at this time,” Zola said after a preliminary hearing for the couple.

He expected to alert attorneys to his decision sometime today.

McQueen and Reimiller were charged with second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, arson, reckless endangerment and related charges. Like McQueen and Reimiller, Wanser was a tenant in the 104 E. Mine St. apartment building where the fire began.

An autopsy determined Wanser died from carbon monoxide poisoning due to smoke inhalation.

McQueen and Reimiller, both inmates at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility, entered not guilty pleas. At the end of the 2½ hour hearing, attorneys for the two requested a dismissal of charges.

Lt. David Bunchalk, who recently retired from the Hazleton Police Department, and Sgt. Shawn Hilbert, a Pennsylvania State Police fire marshal, were called as witnesses.

Bunchalk explained that he interviewed both defendants when they were in the hospital recovering from fire-related injuries. Both offered similar accounts of what happened, he said. Following a day of arguing, Bunchalk said McQueen ignited a cardboard box and tossed it at Reimiller as she sat on an enclosed porch.

“She picked up the still-lit box and threw it back into the apartment then went back to sit on the porch,” Bunchalk said.

Several minutes later, the apartment was on fire, he said.

Reimiller returned to the apartment, opened the door, and was hit with flames. She ran out and McQueen was also able to exit.

Three other tenants were at the property when the fire started. Tenant David Zook required hospitalization for his injuries, while residents Thomas Natt and Gary Strohl were treated for smoke inhalation, Bunchalk said.

The tenants were interviewed and collaborated the McQueen/Reimiller accounts.

Through his investigation, Hilbert determined the fire originated in the cardboard box inside the McQueen/Reimiller unit, then spread to a stairwell and to the second floor where Wanser had a room.

“The extent of the heat melted the plastic on his TV,” Hilbert noted.

Wanser’s room was located directly above the McQueen/Reimiller apartment, he noted.

Hilbert said that state police investigators returned to the scene a month later to perform a series of burn tests. All pointed to the cardboard box as the origin of the fire.

Attorney William Watt, who is representing McQueen, asked Zola to dismiss charges.

He argued that the fire would have never started if Reimiller didn’t throw the box back at McQueen.

Reimiller’s attorney, Paul Galante, said that if his client wanted to cause harm, she wouldn’t have returned to the apartment. He also said that she dropped the box in the apartment’s entryway, which was not the site where the fire originated. He suggested that McQueen may have moved the burning box further inside the unit, where investigators believe the fire intensified.

Prosecutor Tony Ross, however, asked that the charges be bound for court since “intentional” actions caused Wanser’s death.

Reimiller and McQueen remain in prison on the non-bailable offenses.

Nursing student Joanna Mei, 22, confessed to setting the Deadly Dyker Heights fire in Brooklyn that killed 56-year-old grandmother Feng Xu and 58-year-old grandfather Xi Huang; Mei was mad neighbors left garbage in the hallway

• Works at Brooklyn Community Services
• Lives in Brooklyn, New York
• From New York, New York

Fatal Brooklyn blaze set by woman who lit hallway garbage on fire
Woman Charged With Murder In Connection With Deadly Dyker Heights Fire November 10, 2017



NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — A woman has been charged with two counts of murder in connection with a deadly blaze in Brooklyn that fire officials said was deliberately set.

Flames raced through three-story walk-up at 6709 11th Ave. in Dyker Heights around 7 a.m. Thursday.

Police sources say Joanna Mei, 22, confessed to setting the fire and that she was mad neighbors left garbage in the hallway. It took over 100 firefighters to contain the flames.



Once they did, 56-year-old grandmother Feng Xu and 58-year-old grandfather Xi Huang were found unconscious in their third floor apartment.

“I heard them screaming, I thought they were fighting, but they were obviously in terror trying to get out,” Gina Fiumefreddo said.

Mei has been charged with two counts of murder and arson, police said.


Police sources said Mei had psychological issues and confessed to playing with fire in the past, CBS2’s Lisa Rozner reported.

She allegedly told police she set a fire in the first floor stairwell and tried to stomp it out. But it quickly spread, engulfing the second and third floors.

Police sources told CBS2’s Rozner that Mei said she was mad at neighbors for leaving trash in the hallway.

Outside the police station, Rozner reported that she and her crew spotted the same black Toyota police were focused on at the scene Thursday. Inside were packages addressed to Mei in apartment 3F — the same floor the victims lived, Rozner reported.

Neighbors were shocked by the news.

“That’s unbelievable and it’s disgusting. This is just crazy, what is going on anymore?” said Dawn Zatucci, who helped people as they jumped to safety from an awning.

“I think it’s really sad — beyond sad — this is a tight knit community,” said Heidi Pugni.

Ten people were injured, including three firefighters and the couple’s grandchildren — a 3-month-old boy and a 4-year-old girl.

Its not clear what accelerant was allegedly used in the fire, but police sources say they have Mei on camera at the scene, Rozner reported.

There were no working smoke detectors in the building, fire officials said.

For now the fire marshal is investigating.



========================



The deadly fire that ripped through a Brooklyn building and killed two people was an accident, according to the woman accused of starting the blaze.

Jailed murder suspect Joanna Mei claims she placed a smoldering piece of newspaper in the trash as she left her Dyker Heights home on her way to school, but didn't realize the scrap would spark an inferno.

"There was a newspaper on the ground that wasn't in the correct bin so I put it on top of a cardboard box and went downstairs," the 22-year-old nursing student told the Daily News on Saturday in a Rikers Island interview.

Mei, wearing a beige jumpsuit and glasses repeatedly pushed her long, straight black hair out of her face as she denied intentionally setting the Thursday morning fire.

Fatal Brooklyn blaze set by woman who lit hallway garbage on fire

"I was walking down the stairs and a few steps down I saw some bicycles laying around and something that looked like water on the floor," she said. "Some of the water got on me too and it smelled."

Specially trained dogs from the FDNY K-9 Unit found gas on Mei while police interviewed her, sources said.

A firefighter on the scene of the blaze, where stairways were completely charred. (Todd Maisel/New York Daily News)

The dogs also found possible accelerants in other spots, including the third floor, where tenants Xi Huang, 58, and Feng Xu, 56, died.
 

Mei, who also lived on the third floor with her family, was charged with two counts of murder and arson.


Despite her denials on Saturday, sources say that Mei admitted to cops she started the blaze because she was upset about trash in the hallways and about a relative's death several years ago.

Mei also had a small burn on her right hand, sources said.

After setting the fire in a garbage can, she told cops that she changed her mind and tried to put it out by kicking it over, spreading the smoldering rubbish, sources said.

Mei told The News she remembers the newspaper looking kind of black when she moved it.



Deadly 2-alarm fire reduces apartment building to ash in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn

It was only later that she found out what she thought was water on the floor was actually gasoline.

"I left around 6:45. By the time I made it down the block, the fire started," she said. "I ran back to my family."

She doesn't know who called 911, but said it wasn't her.

Her younger sister, mother and brother all got out safely from their third-floor apartment.


People watch firefighters at work on scene of the fatal Thursday fire. (Debbie Egan-Chin/New York Daily News)

As for the two victims that died, Mei said she only knew them as her neighbors.

"I didn't know them really well. They moved in about a year ago. I only said hi and bye to them," she said. I feel sorry for them. Two people died."

A neighbor told the accused arsonist that the pair briefly escaped the inferno but decided to go back into the building to save their belongings.

"A woman in our building saw them come out when the fire started and said they went back in to get their money and all their important stuff," she said.


Two of Mei's neighbors were killed in the fire. (Todd Maisel/New York Daily News)

In addition to the two dead, a family of four, which included a 3-month-old boy, was taken to Maimonides Medical Center with smoke inhalation. Three firefighters also suffered minor injuries.

Despite being ordered held without bail, Mei said she expects she'll be freed before too long.

"I'm not getting used this, I'm going to get out of here soon," she said.

Lieutenant Scott Compton, 55, died from a heart attack at his home after helping fight a fire that destroyed several local businesses at Riley Park Plaza in Greenfield, IN

A Greenfield (near Indianapolis) Indiana Firefighter died in the Line of Duty of a heart attack hours after helping fight a fire that destroyed several local businesses.

Lieutenant Scott Compton, 55, of Greenfield, died from an apparent heart attack this afternoon at his home. Lt. Compton was a 17-year veteran of the Greenfield Fire Territory. He was on scene Friday night as local fire crews fought a that fire at Riley Park Plaza.

Because his death occurred within 48 hours of fighting a fire, Compton’s is considered a line-of-duty death. Our condolences to all those affected. Rest In Peace.

========================

INDIANAPOLIS, IN -- A large fire at a Greenfield business has damaged multiple other businesses.

Firefighters were called to Mueller Auto Body and Glass on U.S. 40 in Greenfield around 5 p.m. after reports of a fire.

The Greenfield Fire Chief says the fire spread to stores in the Riley Park Plaza next to the auto body shop but it is unclear at this time how much damage the fire has done.



Firefighters were still putting out hot spots at 10 p.m.

No one was injured in the fire.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation although the fire chief says they think it may have started in the back of the building and spread.



===================


Four businesses burn in strip mall fire

By Noelle Steele -
Nov. 10 6:31pm

GREENFIELD — Four businesses east of downtown Greenfield were devastated by flames Friday afternoon after a fire broke out in a strip mall.

The fire started in Mueller Auto Body at the corner of Apple and Main streets around 5 p.m. and quickly spread to the neighboring storefronts. The other businesses are Burdock Boutique, Tangles Family Salon and PopIndy.

Officials have not released information about the cause of the fire. Efforts to extinguish the blaze are ongoing.

Avoid the area. The Daily Reporter is on the scene and will update this story as it develops.



==================

Lieutenant Scott Compton, 55, of Greenfield, died from an apparent heart attack this afternoon at his home.

GREENFIELD, Ind. -- A firefighter has died after fighting a large auto shop fire that spread to a nearby shopping plaza in Greenfield Friday.

The Greenfield Fire Territory announced Saturday evening the death of firefighter Scott Compton.

Compton was one of the many firefighters who responded to Mueller Auto Body and Glass on U.S. 40 in Greenfield around 5 p.m. Friday for a large fire that could be seen from miles away. The fire spread to stores in the adjacent Riley Park Plaza.

It took firefighters several hours to put out all of the flames and hot spots.

According to the Greenfield Daily Reporter, Compton, 55, died of a heart attack in the hours that followed the firefight.

Fire Chief Jim Roberts said Compton would have returned home between 12:30 a.m. and 1 a.m. He was discovered by paramedics Saturday afternoon.

"He loved serving his community and his department loved being part of the brotherhood of firefighters," said Roberts. 'Tremendous guy hard worker eager to do whatever needs to be done."

Because Compton's death occurred within 48 hours of fighting a fire, it's considered a line-of-duty death.


Compton served the fire department for 17 years, and was actively working part-time with the rank of lieutenant.

Roberts said Compton previously underwent the required department physical and said nothing indicated health problems.

"Never being through this - we've got a lot of tough days ahead of us," said Roberts. "When one of us have a tragedy we all chip in and help out."

Funeral arrangements, which will be public, are pending at this time and information will be provided as it becomes available.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation although the fire chief says they think it may have started in the back of the building and spread.

One passenger killed, 3 others injured after a speeding driver took a turn too fast, veered off the road, careened onto a lawn and slammed into a house on Round Swamp Road in Plainview, Long Island, NY

A 19-year-old woman was killed and three others were injured when a car crashed into a house in Plainview early Sunday morning, Nassau County police said.

Police said the crash happened at 4:15 a.m. at a house on Round Swamp Road.

Four people were inside the car and the 19-year-old was a passenger, police said. They did not release any information on the identities of the other victims. 

=====================

Sunday, November 12, 2017 09:50AM
PLAINVIEW, Long Island (WABC) -- One person was killed and three others injured when a car went out of control and crashed into the garage of a Long Island home early Sunday.

The accident happened at about 4:20 a.m. on Round Swamp Road in Plainview.

The driver apparently took a turn too fast, veered off the road, careened onto a lawn and slammed into the house.

A passenger in the car was killed.

Three other people in the car suffered non-life-threatening injuries and are recovering at a local hospital.

Four people were inside the home at the time, a husband and wife and their two young children. None were injured.

The identity of the victim has not yet been released.

A stairway collapse at the crowded San Diego parkour facility, Vault PK, injured 21 children and two adults on Saturday evening.

Sunday, November 12, 2017 10:11AM
SAN DIEGO --

A stairway collapse at a crowded San Diego parkour facility injured 21 children and two adults on Saturday evening.

According to the San Diego Fire Department, the injuries were considered minor to moderate.

The collapse happened just after 8 p.m. PT at Vault PK when a large group of kids climbed up on a platform and the whole structure collapsed, injuring those on the platform and underneath it, according to San Diego ABC affiliate KGTV.

Cory Brizendine, a parent, told KGTV there were about 50 kids there at the time, and they were called up to the platform for pizza.

"Once the majority of kids got up there the whole platform collapsed," he said.

One of the injured adults was a 72-year-old woman and the other was 46 years old. Neither were employees, according to authorities.

One child possibly suffered a moderate spinal cord injury due to the way he fell and a second child suffered a possible moderate head injury, the San Diego Fire Department said.

Vault PK owner and founder Jessica Ho issued a statement about the accident, saying she was "devastated."

"We are truly heartbroken tonight, as these children and their parents aren't just our members -- we see them weekly, they are our gym family," Ho said. "I had my own children there tonight. I am just as devastated for all the children affected as any other parent. Their safety has always been a priority. My heart aches for the families who call Vault PK home.

"We are working with authorities and will continue to do so to resolve this," the statement continued. "That is all we can say for now."

The parkour facility is located in a large warehouse in the Barrio Logan section of the city.

Parkour is a physical discipline in which participants attempt to get from one point to another, often involving jumping from one structure to another at obstacle course-like facilities. Developed in France, the discipline has gained popularity in the U.S. through media such as the "Assassin's Creed" video game series and TV show "American Ninja Warrior."



=====================



Two dozens of children were injured when a stairwell collapsed at an indoor obstacle course gym in Barrio Logan Saturday night.

The incident was reported at 7:40 p.m. at Vault PK on Main Street near Sigsbee Street, a large warehouse that shares space with a paintball facility and Crossfit gym. Vault PK specializes in parkour, a physically demanding sport that requires athletes to combat obstacle courses often by launching themselves from structure to structure.


The accident occurred in the midst of an open gym night for ages 5 to 14, according to the gym’s website.

Twenty-one children of various age and two adults, ages 72 and 46, were taken to hospitals with moderate to minor injuries. About three or four of the victims suffered spinal injuries when a 10-by-30-foot wooden platform came down on them, injuries that were considered slightly more serious, said San Diego Fire-Rescue Deputy Chief Steve Wright. No one was trapped under the rubble, he said.

“It could have been much worse,” he said.

The patients were taken to Rady Children’s Hospital, Scripps Mercy, Sharp and UC San Diego Medical Center, Wright said.

He said there were additional people with minor injuries who left on their own, rather than by ambulance.

Zachary Smith, there with his son for a birthday party, said he was standing on the platform, which he described as a viewing area, along with about 30 others, when the staircase below collapsed, sending the platform down with it. He fell onto a little girl but neither were really hurt, he said. His son had been on the platform in line for pizza and received minor scrapes.

“It was a freak accident,” Smith said, but added it could have been avoided because the structure didn’t seem built for the weight of that crowd.

Smith said the collapse sent the place into chaos with parents trying to find their children and pulling off chairs that had fallen on people.

Parents who had dropped off their kids for the evening rushed back to the area.

A parent who did not provide his name said the stairwell collapsed after so many children were running up and down to get free pizza. Many parents were likely using a Groupon that had been offered for the evening’s open gym, he said.

His 11-year-old son was not injured. He said he thought 40 to 50 people would show up for the evening “but there were probably three times that.”

Joe Saari said when he and his wife dropped off their two children for a few hours there were 100 to 150 kids at the warehouse. The couple had headed back home to Chula Vista when one of their children called and said there had been an accident.

His kids suffered minor scrapes, Saari said.

A woman said her 13-year-old son was unhurt but “devastated” by the traumatic scene. She said she went inside to get him out and saw one child with blood all over his face.

At Total Combat Paintball, which shares the facility with the gym, “It was business as usual until we heard a loud boom come from the gym, at which point our staff and some customers ran over to the gym to help any way we could,” the company said in a statement.

An hour after the incident, the street around the warehouse was lined with ambulances and fire trucks, some leaving with victims inside and yet still more emergency vehicles arriving. One woman stood on the sidewalk, holding an ice pack over one eye while she talked on her cellphone.

Children huddled nearby in groups, some with parents. San Diego police corralled the children and matched them up with parents as they arrived.

City building inspectors were on scene Saturday but will begin the bulk of the investigation into the cause of the collapse Sunday morning.

3 people killed, 2 injured after a drunk driver, 23, on a Honda Civic traveling westbound on Highway 145 drifted into the eastbound lane and collided with a Honda Accord in Madera County, California killing 2 and injuring 1 of its occupants from Firebaugh

BLOODY SATURDAY IN MADERA COUNTY

Three killed, two injured in three-car crash in Madera County

Hours before, a motorcyclist was killed along Highway 41 and Avenue 15 by a car. 

 
By Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado


November 11, 2017 10:44 PM


Three people were killed Saturday night in a three-car crash in Madera County after a man swerved into the opposite lane, the California Highway Patrol said.

The 23-year-old man was driving a Honda Civic west on Highway 145, east of Madera, and drifted into the eastbound lane, the CHP said. The driver of a GMC Canyon pickup tried to avoid colliding with the Civic and swerved south onto the shoulder, but the Civic hit the left side of it, causing it to spin out.

The Civic then collided head-on with a Honda Accord that was just behind the GMC.  

The driver of the Civic, who was from Madera, was killed in the crash.

The driver of the Accord, a 60-year-old woman, and the right rear passenger, a 60-year-old man, also died. A 62-year-old woman who was in the rear left passenger seat complained of pain to her entire body, the CHP said, and was taken to Community Regional Medical Center with major injuries. All three in the Accord were from Firebaugh.


A 55-year-old Los Banos woman who was a passenger in the GMC complained of pain but declined medical treatment.

The crash happened at about 7:48 p.m.

Although CHP officers initially stated the accident did not appear to be related to alcohol or drugs, they now say it appears it was a contributing factor.


========================


Sunday, November 12, 2017 12:03AM

California Highway Patrol says the crash occurred along Highway 145 near Highway 41 and Road 38.

According to authorities, a car traveling westbound drifted into the eastbound lane and clipped a pickup truck.

Officers say that same car then struck a second vehicle behind the pickup truck.

Two people in the car traveling eastbound died, the driver going westbound also passed away.

CHP says one person was transported to CRMC and is expected to be ok.

At this time, drugs and alcohol are not believed to be factors.  However,
although CHP officers initially stated the accident did not appear to be related to alcohol or drugs, they now say it appears it was a contributing factor.
Right now Highway 145 westbound is open but traffic is being diverted at Road 38 for drivers traveling eastbound.



===============



A stretch of State Route 145 is closed as the California Highway Patrol investigates a crash that killed three people.

It happened before 8:00 p.m. Saturday, along the 145, four miles west of Highway 41.

Officers say it appears two cars crashed head-on, and hit a third car.

One person was taken to an area hospital.

This was the second deadly crash in Madera County Saturday night.

Hours before, a motorcyclist was killed along Highway 41 and Avenue 15.

The motorcyclist was going eastbound on Highway 41 and was hit by a car going south on Highway 41.

No one else was hurt.

Henry Walker, 59, was awarded $2.5 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages after his foot got stuck in a wooden watermellon pallet on the floor, then fell and suffered several injuries, including a broken hip in Phenix City, Alabama

A Phenix City, Alabama man was awarded $7.5 million after he fell getting a watermelon at a local Walmart store.

A Russell County jury decided Thursday that Henry Walker should receive the payout from Walmart Stores Inc. after a days-long negligence trial.

Court records state Walker was visiting the Phenix City Walmart, located at 3700 Highway 280, in June 2015. Walker reached for a watermelon in a container, but tripped and his foot got stuck in a wooden pallet on the floor. He fell and suffered several injuries, including a broken hip.

According to one of Walker's attorneys Shaun O'Hara, the watermelon container was on top of the pallet and wasn't visible when Walker had to reach inside for his fruit. Walker did not step on the wood, but his foot slid in a side opening on the pallet. When he tried to turn towards his buggy, Walker's foot got stuck and he fell.

Jurors viewed security footage from the Walmart store and saw several other people have their feet caught in the side opening of the pallet, O'Hara said.

Walker sued Walmart on both a negligence claim and a wantonness claim-- the jury was in favor of Walker on each. Walmart had a duty to "exercise reasonable care, to maintain and keep its premises in a reasonable safe condition, and to warn the public of unsafe and hazardous conditions," the negligence claim in the complaint states. The store should have known the hidden pallet was likely to cause an injury, it states regarding wantonness.



Yesterday's jury verdict states Walker will be awarded $2.5 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, totaling a payout of $7.5 million.

O'Hara said before the fall, Walker played basketball three days a week with several of his friends. Now, the Army veteran has to use a walker.

"You don't expect to go into a grocery store walking fine on your two feet and come out on a stretcher," O'Hara said.

He said the award was reasonable and hopefully will encourage the retailer to use pallet guards, like other grocers in the area. "The jury of twelve members of this community certainly thought it was a fair verdict after hearing all of the evidence...this fall completely changed Henry Walker's life as he is no longer able to do everyday activities that many of us take for granted."

Randy Hargrove, a spokesperson for Walmart, said to AL.com, "We are disappointed in the verdict and believe that the damages awarded were excessive in light of the facts in this case. We plan to appeal."

Walker was represented by attorneys O'Hara, Charles Gower, and David Rayfield; Walmart was represented by Paul Russell Jr. and Stanley Sasser. 

=================






PHENIX CITY, Ala. (AP) An Alabama man who said he tripped and broke his hip while buying a watermelon at a Walmart store has won a $7.5 million verdict in his lawsuit against the retailer.

Court records show that Henry Walker on Wednesday was awarded the damages after a jury trial in Phenix City, Alabama.

Walmart spokesman Randy Hargrove said Thursday the company believes the damages were excessive, and plans to appeal.

Walker had sued Arkansas-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in 2015, saying his foot became trapped in a pallet beneath the watermelons as he reached for one.

In a Wednesday court filing, the company said the display wasn’t dangerous.

Charles Gower, one of Walker’s attorneys, tells The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer that Walmart should have covered the pallet so it couldn’t entangle a shopper’s foot.


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Army veteran Henry Walker was trying to buy a watermelon at a Walmart in Alabama when his foot got stuck in a wooden pallet. When he turned, the 59-year-old fell, breaking his hip.

Walker sued Walmart over the 2015 incident, and an Alabama jury has ruled that he should be awarded $7.5 million.

“You don’t expect to go into a grocery store walking fine on your two feet and come out on a stretcher,” Walker’s attorney Shaun O’Hara told AL.com.


A Walmart spokesman said the company plans to appeal.

“We are disappointed in the verdict,” said the spokesman, Randy Hargrove. “We appreciate the jury’s service, however we believe that the damages awarded were excessive in light of the facts of this case.”

The incident unfolded June 25, 2015, when Walker went to a Walmart store in Phenix City, Ala., according to court documents.

Walker reached to pick a melon from a display, and his foot became lodged in the pallet under the watermelon container. He turned, unaware that the pallet was there, and fell and shattered his hip, court documents state.

He sued the retail giant on claims of negligence and wantonness. Attorneys presented the case Tuesday and Wednesday in Russell County Circuit Court.

Walmart had a responsibility to its customers to provide a safe environment and should have known the pallet could cause an injury, his lawyers argued. But the company said the display was not dangerous, according to a Wednesday court filing.

The jury deliberated for about two hours late Wednesday before ruling in favor of Walker, awarding him $2.5 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.

“I think this jury appreciated what Mr. Walker went through and they compensated him accordingly,” another one of his attorneys, David Rayfield, told the Ledger-Enquirer. “This is a great verdict for the community because this jury wanted to make sure it was safe for shoppers.”

Jurors reviewed security footage from the store and saw that Walker wasn’t the only person to get his foot stuck in the side openings of a wooden pallet on the floor, O’Hara said.

Hargrove, the Walmart spokesman, said he could not comment on the use of wooden pallets or the chain’s safety procedures, saying the case is an “ongoing matter” since the company plans to appeal.

O’Hara told AL.com that the incident “completely changed Henry Walker’s life.” Among other things, the Army veteran who used to play basketball three days a week now needs to use a walker, he said.

“He is no longer able to do everyday activities that many of us take for granted,” the attorney said.