Urgent LA advice needed--car accident related

[Dexter Rutecki]

Call from my brother in LA a few minutes ago--he was in a car accident and his girlfriend is in the hospital. I don't know what shape she's in--they got nailed going through an intersection by some guy running a red light.
Two things:
He got nothing from the LAPD. In NY you get an accident report, but he has zero information. I told him to call them and get the report number or whatever he's supposed to have, but is there anything else he should know? He's concerned about legal/medical issues. He doesn't even have info about the driver who hit them, or about the witness who drove back and wanted to give him his information when the LAPD showed up and took my brother away--took him aside, I mean.
Second, I think he's at a hospital in East LA. Is this bad? He doesn't even know the name of the neighborhood, but should he get his GF moved elsewhere?
I did give him the phone number of a friend who's an LA judge, so I assume if he reaches that guy he'll get the info he needs, but any advice would be appreciated.

[FreakofSnow]

http://media.rapnewsdirect.com/ArtistPics/Eazy_E/fp.jpg

Hope everything works out. I wouldn't sweat the not having the information too much at this point. Although I am surprised they didn't give him a copy. I'd say that he should call the LAPD and ask for the report information.

[splat]

I don't know how far into East LA he is, but Cedars Sinai is not that far away. Bad time to be in the hospital, as all the good docs are skiing or in Hawaii for vacation. Ask someone to find a good lawyer to help with this shit, Dex. They know all this shit and your bro and his girl will need one eventually.

[Dexter Rutecki]

Yeah, I know that hospital is not where he is. Gonna try to see what's up over there right now.
Lawyer thing shouldn't be a problem, but that's down the road and I hope insurance does what it's supposed to before we get to that.
This sucks.

[splat]

Insurance companies don't build skyscrapers and hold other diversified assets because they pay claims and nursemaid their customers, Dex. That's what my lawyer says. You want the lowdown and action get a lawyer. If the other guy had insurance, things will get better faster if you ask for recommendations and find a good attorney who will jump on the hospital issue pronto. I'm not saying this will happen, but if it were me, I'd get a lawyer. I've been in a lot of car wrecks. Better to let them deal with as much bullshit as possible so they earn their chunk.

[Arty50]

He's probably at LA County/USC Medical. It's a good hospital. I hear the ER can get insanely crazy (as in unbelievably busy), but there are some really good doctors there.

http://www.usc.edu/schools/medicine/...c_medical.html

LAC+USC Medical Center
1200 North State Street
Los Angeles, California 90033
(323) 226-2622

Good local hospitals:
Cedars - Downtown
Huntington - Pasadena
UCLA - Westwood (no ER as I recall; more for specialized treatment)

Most importantly, good luck. My best wishes to him and his gf.

[tuffy109]

dex, let me know if there's anything i can do.

[basom]

man. thats tough. did they at least get some good mexican food in them before they had to spend the night in the ER?

not trying to be a smart ass, posi vibes and good stuff

[iceman]

heh, I was wondering the same thing.

Hope it all turns out okay.

[Dexter Rutecki]

I keep forgetting to ask him about the food. They were on their way from that really old Mexican restaurant that someone recommended when they got hit.
They were at a hospital in Al Hambra?? I guess it's actually outside of LA. CT scan came back on her OK, so they're trying to figure out whether or not they can catch their flight home today.
Of course, they have no car at the moment.
Spoke to a friend who lives near LAX last night, and she offered them a place to stay, but said they were far away. I told her they could call a car service, but she explained LA doesn't really work that way, and it might cost hundreds of dollars...oops. So they're at some hotel somewhere.

Anyway, I assume all the critical things are going to be OK. He's had advice from one or two lawyers already (friends, not to retain) so I think the legal aspect is under control, just gonna see how insurance handles this to start.

Thanks, mags. I'll let you guys know if anything else comes up, and what eventually happens.

-RD

[Viva]

Damn it! It really sucks to start the day like this. I'm so happy that they're okay. I wish that I were in LA already to hepl out. Alhambra is a pretty good area (Al Hambra is in Iraq).

I hate to sound racist, but was the person who hit them Chinese? Wouldn't surprise me in that area.

Your Bro should ask for the police report and they're obliged to provide one. It's possible that the officers that showed didn't want to do the paperwork. Did they get their names?

My best to your bro.

[DJSapp]

Dex,

I'd be more than willing to be a car shuttle for them. Such a bummer to hear about things like this. Glad to hear they're ok.

PM me if interested.

[yogachik]

Sorry to hear this - I was looking forward to a third hand TR on the Mexican restaurant they chose. Please keep us posted on their recovery and any specifics and if they need help while here.

By the way - all those hospitals you guys mentioned are CLOSED. Anyone read the paper lately? The ERs have been closed, which is proably why your brother and gf have ended up at a hospital in Alhambra.

[Helicrackjnky]

USC county generals ER is closed??? That sucks! Was a great facility for trama. Ended up there one night during my SC days but that was many cocktails ago & a whole nother story!
Hope all is well positive vibes sent!!

[Arty50]

By the way - all those hospitals you guys mentioned are CLOSED. Anyone read the paper lately? The ERs have been closed, which is proably why your brother and gf have ended up at a hospital in Alhambra.

Uhhh...yeah...does the Tahoe Tribune count?

Actually, County/USC's trauma center is still open. As I recall King/Drew is closing or has already closed. But Huntington still has a Trauma unit. So does Cedars. And I stand corrected, UCLA Medical does too.

Note that the latter 3 are all private hospitals. If King/Drew closed, then County/USC is the only county hospital left with an ER.

[irul&ublo]

Dexter:

1. Find out which PD responded...LAPD, LA Sheriff, CHP or other.

2. Have your brother contact the responsible agency, and, this is important, inform them that he was involved in the accident. Have him ask for the incident reportynumber. If they don't have it, he needs to ask further to make sure, one way or the other if a report was done. In my experience with auto accidents (which is pretty extensive), I have never seen an instance where there was an injury which required hospitalization where a report was not done. It usually takes about two weks for most agencies to have the reports available.

3. Have your bro contact his or GF's, depending on who was driving, insurance company. Hopefully they also do business in CA and can put you in touch w/ a local agency/adjustor.

4. Did your bro get the other driver's info? If he did, pass that to his/GF's insurer also.

5. He does not need an atty. at this point. But if he has any questions in that regard or about legal issues, dealing w/ insurance co., etc., you can PM me.

Hope your brother and his GF are ok.

[Barnballs]

dude, let me know if a ride is needed.

Hope things work out.

[AntiSoCalSkier]

There was a big series of articles on King/Drew in the LA Times last week. They are having serious problems (if they were there, I would tell them to leave immediately).

Alhambra will probably have pretty decent hospitals. It's a heavily Asian neighborhood with lots of well-educated middle-class people. There's lots of good Chinese food in that neighborhood (although I suspect that's not a priority, it would be better than hospital food).

If your brother needs a ride or anything, let me know, I'll PM you a cell phone number. I'm not too far from that neighborhood.

As far as police reports go, in LA you should consider yourself lucky if the police even show up. The last time I was in an accident, they refused to come to the scene, since there were no injuries and the other party was cooperative. However, your brother will need to fill out an accident report (SR1). Here's a link to all of the forms related to accidents. I've never had to fill out any of the others, but your brother MUST fill out the SR1.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/forms/formsaccident.htm

[Dexter Rutecki]

Thanks again to all you guys for the advice and offers of help. So far (I haven't spoken to him in the past six hours, though) it seems that they're working things out, and I assume he would've called again if things weren't going right. I should speak to him again shortly, and will update later tonight.
Thanks, mags.

[Dexter Rutecki]

They're on their way back to the City, so I guess everything is going to be fine. Both are a bit banged up, GF more than my brother (he said she looks pretty bad because of her face/head injuries), but since the hospital didn't admit them I guess it's not too bad.
Big thanks to all the maggots for stepping up and offering help, even though he didn't have to take you up on it.

Still forgot to ask him about the restaurant, but I'll get to it soon.

The only really funny thing is that Enterprise Rent A Car still doesn't know that their vehicle is totalled. He left messages for them (they don't answer their phones, it seems) but they didn't call back and hung up on him the one time he got through. I told him they'd figure out that the car isn't coming back eventually--like when the wreck is deposited on their lot.