Expert Witness as a Traffic Engineer

A wide variety of Expert Witness cases involving:

►Examination of all roadway and traffic conditions, using state-of-the-art data collection (laser measurements, elevations/grade), drone aerial photography, video editing software for creation of visuals and proof of opinions, etc., regarding safety conditions of the roadway and installations.

►Examining traffic control device installations (signs, striping, signals, etc.) for compliance with MUTCD standards, Highway Design Manual, AASHTO Green Book, etc.

►Measuring vehicle sight distance using state-of-the-art methods in photography and laser measurements.

►vehicle speeds using radar at ground level and a drone for aerial videography of speeds over a distance.

►traffic patterns using drone video to capture driver behavior in turns, braking, lane changes, reaction to signals or signs, sight distance constraints, etc.

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In the following recent cases, 50% are for the Defense, and

50% are for the Plaintiff

 

Recent cases involve:

1. Driver hits a young Pedestrian running across a crosswalk.  There was no signal control at the crosswalk, and blind spots were numerous on this busy 4-lane boulevard.  Took photos at grade, and drone video over an hour to capture other video. Sample walking in the crosswalk at peak hours revealed that many drivers do not see you when you step in the crosswalk.   For Defense of Driver

2. Light Rail Train Crashes into Vehicle at a poorly designed railroad crossing.  The crossing is oversaturated with signs and lights, but the parallel street has no signage to instruct a driver on proper motion across the tracks or whether a train crossing is present.  No warning sign in place as required by MUTCD on the parallel street. Extensively examining signal timing with drone footage.   For Plaintiff against City.

3. Freeway Flooding after Rainfall.  This case examined a huge (200' across) two-foot deep large puddle that formed after rainfall in the dark hours of 5 am on the freeway.  A semi-truck comes along, overturns, and crashes.  The puddle was caused by clogged drains that were not maintained.  The puddle remained for hours after the rain stopped.  We took photos of the freeway, with drone footage capturing the difficult-to-film parts over the drains.  For Plaintiff against Caltrans

4. Car pulls out of driveway and cuts off motorcycle,  a pole was in the way for a split second.   We determined the precise locations using drone footage combined with line-of-sight photos on the ground, at 3.5 feet above the ground, and the available sight distance.   For Defense of Public Utility Company.

5. Freeway Lane Closure Dispute over whether one lane was sufficient to close or two lanes.  Semi hit the Attenuator Truck and spun out of control hitting a Construction Worker on the edge of the road.  Examining whether a MUTCD violation existed in the construction traffic control.  For Plaintiff against Contractor and Caltrans

6. Rear-End Accident at Construction Road Closure.  The road closure was on a 40 mph stretch, but the road was partially closed. There is a liability question in the Orange Cone/Traffic Sign combination.  For Defense of County.

7. Pedestrian J-Walking fatality, Speed Change from 50 to 45 mph, MUTCD violation, Signs improperly installed.  For Plaintiff against City

8. Pedestrian fatality on Hawaii State Highway, four lanes with inadequate lighting for a crosswalk;  the crosswalk was in an improper location. Was not subject to a motion for summary judgment. Mistakes were made by the defense and discovered by PRISM on their review of lighting data. Used a light meter to measure luminaire lumens in the field at night.  Involved extensive research and data collection using nighttime drone aerial videography, CAD creation of infographics of speeds and distances.  Created before and after diagrams of the installations of the crosswalk and striping. For plaintiff against HI DOT.

9. Severe nighttime vehicle broadside accident at a major intersection in Huntington Beach.  Alleged fault of signal timing/function. Use of drone aerial video to document signal operation, nighttime operations, and vehicle behavior and response. Full field inspection of all signs, striping, and signals.  For Defense of City.

10. Nighttime trucking accident at a major food company distribution center, with poor lighting in the truck parking lot.  Found unsafe lighting (measured with light meter), unsafe U-Turns, and crowded conditions. Used a drone to capture evidence of dangerous turning maneuvers with dangerous results to truck drivers.  For Plaintiff against Corporation. 

11. Car/motorcycle accident at a large intersection in an industrial park with some sight distance constraints and an alleged lane striping deficiency. Used a drone to sync the sight distance video to the position of the vehicle.  For Defense of City.

12. Vehicle hits a cattle herd crossing the AZ State highway at night. No fences, no lights, horizontal and vertical curves. There are a few warning signs on a 10-mile stretch. Nighttime vision was so limited (no street lights available) that large animals could not be seen in time to satisfy safe stopping sight distance.  For Plaintiff versus AZ State DOT.

13. Truck overturn accident on improperly designed and negligently maintained county highway.  The shoulders were a steep drop-off, causing the vehicle to tip due to multiple decades of repaving.  For Plaintiff against CA County.

14. Skateboard hits Vehicle in San Francisco on Market St. Investigation of all traffic signal operations, signing and striping, and driver behavior/maneuvers at the major Market Street intersection mixed with rail and bus traffic. For Defense of driver of vehicle.  

15. Sight distance issues on neighborhood collector / arterial intersection. Wall, bushes, and roadway design. For plaintiff against CA City.

16. Vehicle hit by Light Rail, signal dispute. Railroad crossing complexities, controlling signals, and signs. For Defense of CA City

17. Signal Timing issue on Expressway w/Car/Car fatality. For Defense of Driver and finding liability on CA city.

18. UT State highway pedestrian fatality on sidewalk of connecting street.  Design flaws. Safety flaws. Lighting. High-speed freeway-type speeds.  Improper TCDI installations. For Plaintiff versus driver and UT State DOT.

19. Railroad crossing at a major intersection with pedestrian fatality, skewed intersection. No pedestrian gates. For Defense of City.

20. High school Crosswalk w/severe pedestrian injury, Sight distance constraints due to sunrise blinding sunlight. Examine the crosswalk, street.  For Defense of City.

21. Absence of guardrail and motorist runs off the freeway fatality. An open ditch awaits the run-off vehicle that resulted in a head-on collision with the embankment. For Plaintiff versus CA State DOT.

22. Motorcycle ran off freeway offramp, alleged poor design. Examined ramp and approach speed, super-elevation of ramp, sight distance, and used drone video to measure all angles and speeds of traffic. Ramp was properly set to 45 mph.   For Defense of Caltrans CA DOT working with Caltrans attorneys.

23. Absence of sufficient guardrail on a high-speed rural freeway. Vehicle exits freeway, plunges into dry canal, and strikes a concrete wall, resulting in a fatal accident. For Plaintiff versus CA DOT (Caltrans).

24. Multiple close signals near freeway ramp w/Ped fatality hit by a semi-truck turning into the crosswalk.    For Defense of City.

25. Pedestrian killed in crosswalk. Alleged signal timing deficiency. Sun glare. For Plaintiff against CA City.

26. Motorcycle ran off the road, hit a utility pole. For Defense of local CA Utility Company.

27. Motorcycle fatality in a construction zone. Review of Contractor's Temporary Traffic Control plan sheets. For Defense of Contractor.

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Partial List of Recently Completed Cases (alphabetized):

• Arcadia, CA, Liu v. Alhambra Motors, Ped/Car/X-Walk

• Antioch, CA, Nartea v Sabedra, Car hits Skateboarder at Traffic Signal

• Arizona Grand Canyon, AZ, PARTHASARATHI v. STATE OF ARIZONA & UNITED STATES. Car hits Cow, Head-on Car

• Calaveras County, CA, Bowser vs Reed, Car/Ambulance fatality, sun was factor in sight distance

• Dixon, CA, Glenda Dew vs Caltrans, Head-on, fatal

• Emeryville, CA, Abad vs City, Fatal truck accident in Xwalk

• Fairfield, CA, Coppes v CALTRANS

• Fort Duchesne, UT US vs Austin, Construction Zone Temporary Traffic Control, Signage improperly installed.

• Fresno, CA, Paulino vs Jensen/Car hits long truck crossing two close spaced intersections

• Harriman, UT, High speed fatality on Utah DOT expressway, signal dilemma zone, sight distance

• Harriman, UT, Hancock v Holbrook, Car hits Pedestrian

• Honolulu, HI, Farrington Hwy, hit fixed obj., no guardrail

• Honolulu, HI, Farrington Hwy, Ped killed in crosswalk, poor lighting, mistakes in roadway design work.

• Hollywood, CA, Babak vs Grace & Frankie, Car/Truck

• Inglewood, CA, Pamela Passion Kennedy Ballou vs Shaikeith Lavaile Reed, Tesla Motors Inc. and City of Inglewood: for Defense of City

• Lancaster, CA, Romines vs Lancaster/Broadside fatality

• Laguna Hills, CA, John Doe vs Orange County Fire Authority/Fire Truck hits car at signal, high speeds

• Los Angeles CALTRANS vs Blanca Cavazos Motorcycle/Car

• Manteca, CA, Roundabout: Motorcycle fatal accident

• Manteca, CA, School Ped/Car accident in X-Walk

• Marin County, CA, CALTRANS Pino vs State, Car/CHP

• Marin County, CA, Goralka, Speed and Stopping sight distance on Panoramic Highway

• Marin County, CA, Rosenthal vs Johnson, Bike/Car accident @ Four Corners intersection

• Martinez, CA Daniel Nall vs CALTRANS, Motorcycle/Car

• Modesto, CA, Bernal vs Mendez, City, County, CALTRANS

• Newport Beach, CA, Heyer v Sosa, Broadside Car at Signal

• Oakley, CA, Vancil vs City, Bike/Car

• Pittsburg, CA, Sandoval vs City, Guardrail: Run off road

• Pittsburg, CA, Delta View vc Blue Wave Car Wash: Improper level of traffic

• Richmond, CA, Melida Diaz, RR Xing Ped/Train fatality

• Richmond, CA, Sakura Sims vs City, Ped/Car at X-Walk

• Richmond, CA, Jones & Randall, Motorcycle/Truck

• Richmond, CA, Ms Norma Supapo, Ped/Car fatality at unmarked intersection, sight distance issues

• Rocklin, CA, Googooian vs Anastasia, Car/Car stop sign

• San Francisco, CA, MICHAEL GUERRERO v MILESTONE CONTRACTORS, Truck hits Scooter at Signal

• San Bernadino County, CA, Tufesa USA v Rafael Guerrero Serratos, Carpool Van veers off freeway at night, fatality.

• San Rafael, CA, Ketron vs City, Ped/Car at X-Walk

• San Rafael, CA, Zaslavski vs City, Ped/Truck fatality

• Riverside County, CA, Penelope v Caltrans/Riverside County, Motorcycle hits Car on Highway intersection

• Temecula, CA, Romero vs Kimco/Parking Lot Accident

• Tulare, CA, Jathan Quiroz (plaintiff) vs CALTRANS, City of Tulare, Elizabeth Perez: Construction Traffic Control. Sight Distance Issues.  Striping was not installed during construction.  Signs poorly placed. For defense of Driver.

• Turlock, CA, Sederquist vs Turlock/Flooding Accident

• Vacaville, CA, Glenda Dew vs State of CA, Ped/Car

• Washington State, U.S. Department of Justice, FBI car

• West Jordan, UT, Fair vs Flake, Chick-Fil-A, Construction Zone accident (broadside, two cars) Signal/Obstruction