San Francisco Injury Lawyer Blog

Most drivers instinctively improve their driving habits when passing police stations. Not so with one taxi driver, who cut off a bus while trying to make a right turn on Thursday, January 26. The Yellow Cab driver pulled the aggressive maneuver right outside the Bryant Street Police Department and the Hall of Justice, which houses the Traffic Division of the San Francisco Superior Court.

The SF Appeal reports that the taxi caused the bus to collide with it rear right bumper, sending it spinning into a fire hydrant. Luckily, none of the bus’s passengers was harmed and the fire hydrant remains intact. However, the taxi’s passenger was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

Taxi drivers are culturally regarded as aggressive drivers. Thursday’s accident may not help improve that image. Studies by both University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and University of Sydney, Australia posit that a combination of factors may make individual taxi drivers more likely to drive aggressively. Two factors that affect taxicab driver safety are the relatively low income and low regard that drivers receive in exchange for their work. Drivers feel pressure to increase the number of fares they have in a day, thereby raising their income, but also increasing the threat of accidents. Taxi drivers in the UCLA study cited avoiding the loss of income brought on by an accident as the biggest negative incentive to aggressive driving, rather than the importance of customer satisfaction.

In addition to income pressures, taxi drivers also deal with long hours in consistently stressful situations. A taxi driver’s job is essentially to commit to an endless commute. A driver may stay behind the wheel for longer hours than expected in order to make extra fares. Long hours and missed breaks contribute to driver fatigue and increase the chance of an accident.

A University of California, Berkeley study set out recommendations to tweak the taxi medallion system used in San Francisco since 1978. The medallions limit the number of permitted taxi drivers in the city, increasing income as a whole for taxi drivers, therefore alleviating the pressure to engage in risky behaviors in order to increase the number of fares. San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency is also looking into possible schemes for increased access to health care for taxi drivers. After everything is said and done, the Berkeley study lukewarmly asserts that a San Francisco taxi ride is reasonably safe. Of course, individual driver personality is a substantial factor in driver behavior. Therefore, it is impossible to generalize about the safety of taking any particular cab.

Continue reading "San Francisco Taxi Driver Runs Amuck Outside the Hall of Justice" »

The Brod Law Firm, your San Francisco car accident law firm, knows that anger and driving can be as volatile a combination as alcohol and driving. In our personal injury practice, our team has seen the danger of putting emotions before safety and we represent San Francisco road rage victims harmed by drivers whose emotions overtook their sense of due care.

Road rage made headlines again this week. In the early morning hours of Wednesday, January 25, a minivan and a truck collided on Interstate 80 in Richmond. The minivan, a Ford Aerostar, was driven by Ronald Zerangue who was travelling west on I-80 in the vicinity of Carlson Boulevard. The van struck a GMC pickup truck travelling in the carpool lane before crashing into the center divider and flipping repeatedly. Zerangue, 63 of El Sobrante, died at the scene of the crash. The unidentified driver of the pickup and his passenger only suffered minor injuries.

Although the accident remains under investigation, The San Francisco Chronicle suggests road rage is being investigated as a cause. The California Highway Patrol believes that Zerangue may have been attempting to “brake check” the pickup truck at the time of the collision. Brake-checking is the practice of intentionally swerving in front of another vehicle and then stepping on the brake. The Chronicle reports that Zerangue had attempted to cross in front of the truck but clipped it instead, sparking the chain of events that led to the fatality.
Road rage is a serious issue. Wikipedia defines it as “an aggressive or angry behavior by a driver of an automobile or other motor vehicle." The article further notes that the term actually originated in the Los Angeles area after a series of roadway shootings in the mid-1980s. Interestingly, road rage is contained within the leading resource on psychological disorders with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders including it as a symptom of Intermittent Explosive Disorder.

This seriousness is still a bit overlooked, however, by California law. As we’ve noted in this blog before, road rage is specifically addressed by the laws in many states but is generally lumped together with careless and reckless driving in California. Admittedly, road rage brings to mind the famous comments by Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart on pornography: “I know it when I see it.”

Regardless of the vagueness in the criminal law, victims harmed by an emotional driver should consider a civil personal injury lawsuit. Our San Francisco personal injury lawyer can help a victim pursue damages in court. A civil lawsuit after a car accident can include a recovery for medical damages, lost wages, and other costs stemming from another driver’s negligent acts. Further, courts may award damages for pain and suffering. In the most extreme cases, which can include particularly aggressive acts of emotional driving, the court may even award punitive damages in order to further punish a wrongful act.

If you or a loved one was harmed in a San Francisco road rage accident, please call to schedule a free consultation. Most cases of this kind are handled on a contingency basis so there is no cost to you unless you recover compensation for your injuries.

See Related Blog Posts:
The Legislation of Road Rage-Comparing California to Rest of the Country
San Francisco-Oakland Car Accident Attorney Comments on a Case of Road Rage in San Francisco

As a San Francisco law firm for car accident victims, The Brod Law Firm knows firsthand that car crashes are often much more complicated than they seem. It may seem simple to assess fault and the temptation to stop the analysis at the driver may be especially strong in cases involving DUIs. However, it is important to dig deeper to examine the many factors that contribute to drunk driving accidents. This process is vital to preventing future accidents and to ensuring justice is served for the victims.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported this week on charges filed against two adults stemming from a fatal car accident involving an intoxicated teenage driver. The details are in dispute but it appears fifty-one year old Amelia Chin accompanied Margaret Qaqish, a seventeen year old friend of Chin’s daughter, to the Good N Rich Dairy Market where an alcohol purchase was made. The involved parties debate who made the purchase, but the alcohol appears to have been a factor in a car crash during the early morning hours on the following day. The driver, seventeen year old Sean Quintero, was intoxicated and reportedly debating music choices with his passengers when he failed to notice that the car in front of him had stopped. Quaqish, the teen involved in the store visit the prior day, was sitting in the middle rear seat when the car collided with the stopped vehicle. She was thrown forward and died at the hospital the following day.

In November, Quintero, the teenage driver, pled no contest to charges including misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter and felony drunken driving. His blood alcohol level was 0.15% at the time of the crash, nearly twice the limit for drivers under California law. His sentence will be handed down next month. This week, additional charges were filed relating to the accident. Chin, a resident of Alameda, has been arrested on suspicion that she furnished alcohol to the teens. Additionally, Abduhl Azeem Buksh, a co-owner of the Dairy Mart and the clerk involved in the alcohol sale, has been charged with selling alcohol to minors. As noted above, there remains a dispute regarding who made the alcohol purchase and there are likely other specific facts that need to be clarified to determine how these charges will play out in court.

Underage drinking is illegal and dangerous, especially when cars are involved. Educating our young people is key, but it is important to remember that California law also imposes responsibility on adults. It is a crime to provide alcohol to a minor. A law that went into effect at the beginning of 2011 reiterated the legislature’s concern on the matter by expanding the liability of adults for actions that occur in their homes. The social host liability provisions make adults liable if they provide alcohol to minors in their residence, such as when hosting a party for their teenage children and their young friends. Parents may believe that hosting a party promotes a safer environment, but teenage drinking is still illegal and the law is very clear that the adults involved are committing a crime.

In addition to criminal charges, civil courts can and will hold adults liable when they furnish alcohol to an underage individual who is later involved in an accident. As a San Francisco law firm for DUI victims, we work to make sure that injured Californians receive all the compensation the law allows. We are fully prepared to include those whose disregard for the law and safety contributed to an accident in these lawsuits. Victims face staggering economic and emotional costs after an accident and we will work to ensure that they recover damages to help them in the aftermath of the incident. This means looking deeply at the events that led up to the accident, applying the law to the circumstances of the specific case.

We hope that adults will think twice before providing alcohol to teens. We believe that DUIs can be avoidable with responsible decision-making. However, if you or a loved one has been injured by a San Francisco drunk driver, please reach out to us. We can help you recover compensation from the driver and from other individuals whose poor decision-making contributed to your injury.

See Related Blog Posts:
Wrongful Death Attorney on Arrest of Driver in Fatal DUI Crash in San Jose
Holiday Message from your San Francisco DUI Accident Lawyers: Enjoy, Give Thanks, Be Safe

A story in The Oakland Tribune serves as a disheartening reminder that DUI dangers do not disappear after the holiday season fades away and that Oakland motor vehicle accident fatalities will remain a reality in 2012. As a law firm for Oakland DUI victims, we are saddened by every accident but we are proud to be able to help victims and their families in the aftermath of these tragedies.

Salvador Espino, a fifty-five year old from San Jose, has been arrested and is facing charges of driving under the influence, vehicular manslaughter, and other related violations. Reports indicate that he was driving a 2007 Dodge Caravan erratically, pinballing between the center median and shoulder, while reaching speeds over ninety miles per hour. Espino was driving in the northbound lanes of I-680 between Milpitas and Fremont and, in the area of Scott Creek Road, his vehicle struck two cars before veering off the road and slamming into two trees. The impact was strong enough to shear the right side off of the minivan and topple one of the trees. Espino was not seriously harmed but his passenger, another fifty-five year old man from San Jose, was killed and pronounced dead at the crash scene. The driver was arrested, booked, and taken to Santa Rita Jail on suspicion of numerous counts including an alcohol-related charge.

As Oakland wrongful death lawyers, we recognize that the law cannot bring back a victim who is killed in a senseless auto accident. We advocate for prevention and education because a post-accident lawsuit is always an imperfect remedy. Nonetheless, we believe that it is important for families who have lost a loved one to reach out to experienced legal counsel to discuss their legal rights.

Wrongful death claims are generally filed by the victim’s next-of-kin. These suits are filed in civil court and are separate from any criminal case brought by government authorities. Civil wrongful death suits are focused on compensating those impacted by the accident for their loss. The economic costs of a fatal accident can be very high and a court can award damages to cover these expenses. This can include final medical bills and funeral costs as well as the loss of the victim’s income and the value of any benefit packages carried by the victim. California law recognizes that the loss of unpaid household assistance, including child-rearing, is also a very real economic loss and the value of these services can be included in a wrongful death verdict. Although it is a much harder value to quantify, the court can also award damages for non-economic results of the loss such as the loss of love, companionship, and sexual relations. Where the conduct is especially egregious, a court may also include punitive damages to punish the offender and deter future violations.

Passenger fatalities may raise complex emotions. Where the driver who caused the accident was known to the victim and perhaps to the remaining loved ones as well, the grief of loss can be compounded by a mix of anger and concern for the driver. We appreciate these complexities, having worked with victims for many years. It is important to care for your emotional health and that of your family, addressing both the feelings of loss and the feelings towards the wrongdoer. It is, however, important to remember that legal recovery is your right. It is not selfish. It is not unfair to bring a wrongful death claim against someone your family knows. The losses are real and there is a reason the law provides compensation.

After a loss, please take care of yourself and your loved ones. Please seek any psychological support you may need. Please also protect your legal rights by calling our law firm to discuss your Oakland wrongful death claim.

See Related Blog Posts:
Salon Shootings Result in Civil Lawsuits for Wrongful Death
San Francisco Bay Bridge Accident Sends a Motorcyclist to His Death and Drunk Driver to Jail

The State of California requires drivers to carry insurance at all times. Many drivers assume that carrying the minimum insurance required should cover damage done to their car in most instances. However, this is not the case. California Insurance Code Section 11580.1b only requires that drivers buy liability insurance that provides at least $15,000 in coverage for injury or death to one person, $30,000 in coverage for injury or death to more than one person, and $5,000 in coverage for property damage. This type of insurance coverage pays medical expenses and vehicle repair costs to the other driver, if the insured is at fault. Therefore, if you find yourself the victim of a hit and run accident, the minimum amount of insurance would not cover any of your costs.

25% of California motorists are driving without insurance. Drivers who carry only liability insurance are not covered in the case of an accident with an uninsured motorist and must pay for medical bills and for repairs to damaged property out of pocket. In California, a hit and run accident where the driver is unidentified is treated by insurance companies as if it were an accident with an uninsured motorist. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 11% of accidents are hit and run accidents nationwide. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration puts the number of hit and run accidents in California specifically at 18% of crashes.

There are optional types of coverage that will pay for some or all of the expenses of a victim of a hit and run crash. First, collision coverage will cover damage sustained by the insured’s car, regardless of who is at fault, including hit and run drivers. However, this type of insurance requires the insured to pay a deductible out of pocket and is more expensive than other types of insurance. In addition, a claim to the insurance company may affect the policy holder’s future insurance rate, regardless of who is at fault. A driver would need to take out an additional personal injury policy in order to be covered for medical expenses in the event of a hit and run accident.

Insurance companies in California are also required to offer uninsured motorists coverage. This type of insurance covers the medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering of policy holders who suffer injuries as a result of an accident with an uninsured driver, including hit and run motorists. Additionally, drivers may choose to carry uninsured motorist property damage coverage for damage to their car. Uninsured motorist property damage insurance is advisable as 80% of hit and run accident involve only damage to vehicles. There is no deductible for this type of coverage, however there may be limits placed on the amount paid out.

If you are the victim of a hit and run accident, whether the driver is identifiable or not, it is recommended that you file a police report. You may have to complete a walk-in report at the police department, as some patrols will respond to the accident site, especially if the accident occurred on private property like a grocery store parking lot. A police report is important documentation of your claim and may be required to pursue a claim with your insurance company if you do have collision or uninsured motorists insurance.

Continue reading "Auto Insurance May Not Pay for Damage to You or Your Car in a Hit and Run Accident" »

With the arrival of 2012, our Sacramento automobile accident law firm welcomes the continued efforts of our state legislature to ensure the safety of our youngest residents. Among a number of laws that became effective when the calendar turned to January is a provision expanding the coverage of California car seat laws. Under the new legislation, children riding in cars in our state must be restrained in a properly installed booster seat until age eight. The law does make an exception for children under age eight who are taller than four feet nine inches. This is a significant change from the prior statue which required child restraints only until age six or until the child reached sixty pounds.

As car accident lawyers for Sacramento and all of Northern California, our team at The Brod Law Firm has seen too many children’s lives impacted or even tragically ended by a car crash. Passengers not only rely on the safety of the person driving their vehicle but also on the responsibility and attentiveness of every other driver on the road. Proper seatbelt use is essential for all passengers, but especially for children whose small size and still maturing bodies make them particularly vulnerable. According to the California Department of Public Health, injuries in automobile accidents are among the top five causes of hospitalization and death in individuals under age sixteen. A study by the Center for Disease Control found that 179,000 children were injured in car accidents nationwide in 2009. The same study found 1,314 children under age fourteen died in car accidents that year. Further studies found that 8,325 lives were saved in a thirty year period due to the use of child restraints, numbers that don’t include the many more injuries prevented or limited due to proper child car seat usage.

A few key pointers on child safety seat usage:

• Rear-facing safety seats provide the best protection for very young children. Ideally, children should remain in rear-facing seats until age two.

• Front-facing child seats should be used until at least age four.

• Booster seats should be used for children under age eight who have outgrown a front-facing safety seat. These seats will ensure safety belts properly fit a child’s small stature. Children who remain too small for the regular seat should remain in booster seats even after their eighth birthday.

• Children should always be placed in the rear seat. This is especially important where the front-seat is equipped with an air bag, technology that provides added safety to adults but can be very dangerous to children.

It is important that all child safety restraints be properly installed. Parents can contact their local highway patrol office to get professional assistance installing all forms of child safety seats. Many AAA offices also offer installation assistance.

As always, our priority is safety and prevention. We urge all parents to comply with the new guidelines to protect children from harm in Northern California car accidents. Should an accident occur resulting in injury to you or your child, please contact our team so we can help you protect your legal rights and recover compensation to help your family pay injury-related costs and move ahead from the tragedy.

See Related Blog Posts:

Possible New Fines for Distracted Driving in California
Failure to Notify Customers of Defect Leads to Sacramento Jury Imposing $73 Million Fine On Ford Motors

As another year comes to a close, The Brod Law Firm wants to thank all the clients who entrusted us to help them in their legal matters throughout 2011. We are proud of our work as your San Francisco personal injury law firm. We appreciate every client who trusts our team to provide legal support after a San Francisco car accident or other life-altering event in Northern California. We enjoy our work as victim’s advocates, but we can only help when victims reach out.

This blog often focuses on news stories and examines both legal and safety issues raised by current stories in San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, and the surrounding regions. As the calendar flips, we’d like to take a moment to discuss, on a more general and fundamental level, what we do as personal injury attorneys in Northern California. When a potential client reached out to our firm, we will schedule an initial consultation. This meeting is free of charge and allows our attorney to speak with you about your specific and unique case. In this discussion, we will discuss the appropriate approach to your specific circumstances. This is the start of a team effort, one in which the client is always actively involved as our team brings our legal experience to your case.

Many times, personal injury claims can be resolved without trial. Personal injury lawyers are skilled negotiators. The negotiation process is informed by our legal experience which allows us to evaluate the economic value of your claim. Accepting a settlement offer without your own legal advocate is risky because the initial offer rarely represents the true value of your claim. We have the experience to help you determine whether an offer is fair. We provide guidance but the decision to accept or reject an offer is always yours.

Settlement offers are also higher when the other side knows you are fully prepared to go to trial. Our team is always ready to represent each client at trial should negotiations fail to result in a fair offer. We understand the complex rules that govern the civil court system including the deadlines and the legal concepts that govern California injury claims. While the criminal courts focus on punishing wrongdoers for violating the law, a personal injury suit in civil court focuses on compensating the victim. As many Americans learned during the initial O.J. Simpson trials, the burden of proof is different in civil court and, in some cases, a victim may recover in civil court even if a criminal case is not successful. We know the civil system and we are prepared to advocate for our clients before a judge or jury.

When you engage The Brod Law Firm, our team becomes your team. We not only work “for” our clients, we also work “with” them. We have the legal knowledge and experience but we also know that every case and every client is unique. If you hire our firm, you will always be kept informed about your case and will be involved in all major decisions related to your suit. In most personal injury cases, we work on a contingent fee. This means there is no charge unless you recover for your injuries.

We hope that 2012 brings happiness and health to all of our fellow Californians. If you do, however, find yourself injured as a result of someone else’s actions, please do reach out. As a personal injury law firm for San Francisco and all of Northern California, we are ready and able to help victims in 2012 and beyond. We are a phone call away and prepared to guide victims through the legal system and help them begin the process of recovery.

See Related Blog Posts:
Legal Perspective on Property-Related Accidents
Guilty Plea in Fatal Hit-And-Run: The Aftermath of a Pedestrian Fatality

One of the best parts about the holiday season is that it gives us the opportunity to truly reflect on those who enrich our lives. In our work as a personal injury law firm in San Francisco and throughout Northern California, we talk to many victims who have recently undergone emergency care and hospital stays. We are proud to serve as attorneys for accident victims in San Francisco, but we know that there is a group of true heroes who make a real difference in the days after an injury. We applaud a recent piece on CNN that recognizes an often under-appreciated part of the medical system, the nurses.

As the CNN article points out, most doctors are able to schedule holiday shifts to accommodate family traditions. While some are on call, most still get to enjoy the season with their families. However, there must always be a full contingent of nurses on duty to care for those who are spending the holiday in a hospital bed recovering from either illness or injury. A hospital patient often spends many more hours with the nurses than with the doctors, but nurses rarely get the credit they are due. They work long shifts, often twelve hours at a time, yet they remain ready to not only care for the health of their patients but also to brighten their spirits with warmth and little acts of kindness.

Thanking nurses is particularly timely this year. As reported in the San Francisco Chronicle, nurses at several Bay Area hospitals are participating in a one-day strike this week. The nurses are protesting contract changes that would impact their union representation and their sick day allowance. The hospital system, Sutter Health, was given notice of the strike so they were prepared to bring in replacement workers to limit the impact on patient care.

We are not involved in the contract negotiations between the nurses and the healthcare system and we cannot comment directly on the merit of the protests. We do, however, work with San Francisco automobile accident victims on a daily basis. We know from their stories how much impact a good nurse can make. A hospital stay after an accident is filled with both physical and emotional challenges, with the latter extending to the victim’s loved ones as well. During the stay, nurses provide care and monitoring at all hours of day and night. They monitor vital signs, administer medicine, and tend to medical needs of their patients. Many also provide emotional support with a simple smile or an extra gesture like making sure “Get Well” flowers sit where the patient can enjoy them or a child’s dropped teddy bear is returned to her bed.

We hope you and your loved ones have no need for hospital care this holiday season. If you do find yourself as a patient or a visitor, do take care to thank your nurses and their support staff. They work hard and we admire them.

If you or a loved one is the victim of an accident, medical care should be your first concern. Once the immediate medical needs are addressed, reaching out to a skilled San Francisco personal injury attorney is also key. The Brod Law Firm team can help you recover for the economic losses related to your injury and help you move forward. We will never claim to provide the same care nurses do, but we are proud to be of service to injury victims and to help them receive the compensation they need and deserve.

See Related Blog Posts:
Guilty Plea in Fatal Hit-And-Run: The Aftermath of a Pedestrian Fatality
Tips on Choosing a Quality Nursing Home in San Francisco

As Oakland personal injury attorneys, the Brod Law Firm uses this blog to educate and inform Northern Californians about the law and victim’s rights. First and foremost, we hope to remind residents to exercise caution in preventing accidents. Additionally, we seek to educate victims to allow them to protect their rights if they are harmed in an automobile accident in Oakland or otherwise injured due to the actions of others.

We often use area news reports to provide context to our comments and the nature of our field means these stories are usually reports of accidents and other tragedies. Although this note does have a serious message, it is inspired by a fun take on safety in the Oakland Tribune. A Tribune columnist and his readers have been championing a movement to counteract a frequent pet peeve – drivers who neglect to use their turn signals. The column calls for a movement akin to the “Click it or Ticket” campaign, complete with amusing bumper-sticker slogans reminding drivers to signal before making a turn or lane shift. We applaud this column for addressing a habit that not only annoys other drivers but also places every driver at risk.

California’s vehicle code provides that drivers must ensure movement is safe and signal their intent before turning when another vehicle may be impacted by the movement. The driver’s manual reiterates the importance of using signals for a lane change, a circumstance in which many drivers neglect the precaution. There appears to be little data on how many accidents are caused by a driver’s failure to signal. However, an interesting study by the American Transportation Institute reports that one of the best predictors of future accidents involving truck drivers was a prior citation for failure to signal. The study found the likelihood of a future crash increased by a whopping 97 percent when the driver had previously been convicted of a signal-related offense, making it the top predictor of future collisions.

A recent court decision dismissed a ticket for failure to signal where no other vehicles were present to be impacted by the action. This ruling was based on a close reading of several provisions of the California vehicle code. As Northern California accident attorneys, we represent clients in civil court and we are not involved directly in traffic citation hearings. However, as victim’s rights lawyers we see the impact from the failure to signal and from other negligent driving habits. In injury cases brought in civil court, factors like the failure to signal can weigh heavily in a verdict. If a driver is injured as a result of another driver’s failure to signal, that fact can help the victim establish fault and recover civil damages for their injuries. An argument that the driver didn’t believe any other vehicles would be impacted by the failure to signal is unlikely to prevail when that belief is proven false by a subsequent crash.

We urge California driver’s to use their turn signals. It is a courtesy, but it is also a matter of safety. If you have been injured as a result of another driver’s failure to signal, please contact our Oakland car accident law firm for a free consultation to discuss your legal rights.

See Related Blog Posts:
California Personal Injury Law Firm Reminds Drivers to Exercise Special Care in Construction Zones
The Legislation of Road Rage-Comparing California to Rest of the Country

Road construction and maintenance is a necessary part of life in our times, especially here in California where driving is such a necessary part of our daily lives. At the Brod Law Firm, we represent Northern California automobile accident victims. As Sacramento car accident lawyers, we know that construction zones can be particularly dangerous and that it is especially important to exercise care when driving through work zones or when traffic is detoured to a less travelled route to accommodate road work.

This week Caltrans and the Sacramento Bee urged caution and asked drivers to slow down when using the current Highway 65 detour. Traffic-shifting to accommodate the Lincoln Bypass construction began in June and currently includes a 20mph speed limit in the northbound lanes of the highway in Lincoln near Sterling Parkway. The $325 million project is scheduled to be completed next summer and detours will likely remain in place until the new 11.7 mile span of roadway is opened. When it is finished, the roadway should be an asset to the region’s commuters but the construction process can be frustrating and carries an increased danger of automobile accidents.

According to statistics compiled by federal authorities, there were 680 fatalities in construction zone automobile accidents in 2009, a decrease from 720 the prior year. The studies indicate that at least 46 of the 2009 deaths occurred here in California. Additionally, the 2008 study found 20,000 individuals were injured nationwide in work zone car accidents. Surveys suggest that the most dangerous part of a construction area is the beginning of the designated zone, perhaps due to drivers driving too quickly and having difficulty merging into a new traffic pattern.

In response to safety concerns, the California Department of Transportation began a “Slow for the Cone” initiative in 2000. The program continues to work on safety-oriented promotions to urge California drivers to navigate construction areas with particular care. Likewise, the Federal Highway Administration has directed specific funds to work zone safety efforts, including $6 million marked in 2009 for Work Zone Safety Grants and the National Work Zone Safety Clearinghouse. Efforts at the federal level to reduce the number of such incidents include programs in education and enforcement as well as engineering studies to determine the practices that best help prevent work area auto accidents.

Like many states, California law recognizes the danger of work zones to both drivers and construction personnel. Where workers and signage are present, the fee for a traffic violation is doubled in a work zone. It is also common for speed limits to be reduced in a construction zones. Drivers should be alert for signage altering a standard speed limit, particularly on roads they travel frequently where they might proceed on auto-pilot with the assumption they know the applicable speed regulations. Road crews also bear responsibility to those travelling on the roads and they are required to properly mark changes and ensure appropriately sized and accessible travel lanes.

If you are the victim of a Northern California construction zone car accident, contact the skilled Sacramento personal injury attorney at the Brow Law Firm. Our team can help you determine what claims you may have against other drivers or the construction company and can ensure you recover damages.

See Related Blog Posts:
Safety Improvements Scheduled for San Francisco Streets
Holiday Message from your San Francisco DUI Accident Lawyers: Enjoy, Give Thanks, Be Safe

As your Oakland automobile accident attorneys, the Brod Law Firm team knows that many factors go into an automobile accident. Impaired or distracted drivers, aggressive maneuvering and poor road conditions can all increase the chance of a tragic outcome. Our Oakland car accident lawyer knows that one of the most complicated and sensitive factors in automobile accidents in the age of the driver. While age affects each individual differently, advancing years can impact reflexes and otherwise impair driving skills resulting in an increased danger of an inadvertent collision.

This week, The Vallejo Times-Herald reported on a car accident that may have age-related roots. In this incident, an 80 year-old driver reported that his foot slipped off the brake and landed on the accelerator. The slip caused the pickup truck to crash into the Safeway store located at 122 Robbles Way. Thankfully, no one was hurt when the truck went through the glass doors, passed by the register lanes and ended up plowing through the aisles until stopping at the far end of the aisles. As of the time of the report, the driver (also unharmed) had not been cited by the police.

With a large population of aging individuals across the nation, concerns about elderly drivers are on the rise. In June 2009, the National Highway Traffic Safety Association conducted a study of older drivers, based on data from 2002 to 2006. The study notes that, in many regards, seniors are often very safe drivers. Drivers over sixty are less likely to be involved in accidents involving alcohol or speeding. However, the study noted that drivers over seventy were more likely to be involved in accidents than their younger counterparts when faced with complex driving situations. This category includes tasks such as making left turns, navigating intersections, or responding to an imminent collision. The study noted this danger increased significantly at age seventy and was less prominent for drivers in their sixties. Drivers over seventy also had greater difficulty driving at dusk, in contrast to higher accident rates at dawn for younger drivers.

Declining health, slowing reflexes, and poor vision are among the many factors that can challenge older drivers. It is important that all drivers honestly assess their own driving ability regularly. It is also important that individuals consider whether aging loved ones may be a danger to themselves or to others on the road. Surrendering a driver’s license can be a difficult and emotional decision, but it is important to always put safety first.

Our Oakland accident legal team believes in prevention. Difficult decisions are sometimes necessary in order to avoid a dangerous collision. Working together as a society, we can work to reduce the number of harmful accidents in our region.

Prevention is key, but accidents remain a reality. If you are harmed in an Oakland automobile crash, please call to schedule a free consultation with the Brod Law Firm. We can help you pursue all sources of recovery that the law allows.

See Related Blog Posts:
Sacramento-San Francisco Car Accident Attorney Comments on Seniors and Driving Safety
San Francisco-Oakland Injury Attorney Comments on Driver Inattention

Road rage, also called aggressive driving, is particularly dangerous because it combines feverish emotion with bad decision-making. While most of us know what road rage looks like, it is more difficult to construct a concise definition for it, as aggressive driving usually involves multiple or sequential actions. Some states have attempted to create a statutory definition of aggressive driving to allow law enforcement to pull over drivers engaging in such bad behavior. As of November 2010, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Nevada, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Virginia had enacted aggressive driving laws. The Rhode Island definition of aggressive driving is representative of most states who have created road rage legislation. It states:

“Aggressive Driving” is defined as operating a motor vehicle in violation of any speed law and a violation of two or more of the following traffic law provisions: (1) obedience to traffic control devices; (2) overtaking on the right; (3) driving within a traffic lane; (4) following too closely—interval between vehicles; (5) yielding right of way; (6) entering the roadway; (7) use of turn signals; (8) relating to school buses, special stops, stop signs and yield signs; and, (9) use of emergency break-down lane for travel.

The problem with the definition is it simply lists behavior that is already in violation of the vehicle code and lumps it under one phrase, although it does allow for one citation instead of burdening officers with issuing two or three at one time. The fines imposed for aggressive driving by different states varies widely- from $100 to $5000 (Such high fines are only imposed if the driver caused bodily injury through disregard for others’ safety).

Indiana has one of the strictest aggressive driving policies, making it a Class A misdemeanor to intentionally harass or intimidate a person in another vehicle and engages in aggressive driving as defined by the statute.

By comparison, California has not pursued specific road rage legislation. However, Vehicle Code Section 23103 does prohibit “reckless driving”, defined as “A person who drives a vehicle upon a highway [or off-street parking facility] in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property is guilty of reckless driving.” Instead of requiring the driver to violate two or more Vehicle Code sections, the California definition of reckless driving allows law enforcement to look at the totality of the circumstances, including intention, when taking action against an aggressive driver.

In 1999, the Department of Transportation held an event called Aggressive Driving and the Law: A Symposium. Its goal was to promote enforcement against aggressive driving at the state level. In addition, the Department of Transportation conduction two studies- The Aggression Suppression Program in Milwaukee, Wisconsin completed in May 2001 and Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Trucks in Washington State: High Visibility Enforcement Applied to Share the Road Safely from May 2006. The symposium and the studies came to the same conclusion that enforcement is key to reducing aggressive driving and resulting accidents.

More than ten years after the Department of Transportation’s symposium, California and the country as a whole is still struggling with road rage. The AAA: Foundation for Traffic Safety’s 2010 Traffic Safety Culture Index states that 52% of drivers said driving feels less safe today than it did 5 years ago, a 17-percentage-point increase over 2009. The Aggression Suppression Program study encouraged law enforcement to look beyond speeding citations and widen their enforcement of bad driver behavior. It found that areas with increased enforcement saw a significant decline in aggressive driving in the future. Further, it encouraged states to advertise widened efforts to crack down on aggressive driving and to increase driver education about the dangers of road rage. Legislation that prohibits aggressive driving is a good step, but publicizing these laws and increased enforcement is essential to have a real impact on the safety of our streets.

Continue reading "The Legislation of Road Rage-Comparing California to Rest of the Country" »

Marking a sad milestone, The Oakland Tribune reported on the twentieth pedestrian or bicyclist fatality to occur this year in San Jose. As your Oakland personal injury law firm, we are particularly dismayed to note that this pedestrian death comes only a week after a cyclist was killed on the very same road.

The victim, a 34 year-old man whose name has not been released, was killed Monday evening. He was crossing a busy stretch of road just south of downtown Jose near where Monterrey Highway and Old Tully Road intersect. It is unclear whether he was in a marked crosswalk when he was hit and killed by a Toyota Tundra. The female driver did remain at the scene and alcohol does not appear to have been a factor in the crash. As of the time of the Tribune’s report, the driver had not been arrested or identified.

Although it is unclear whether the pedestrian in this accident was utilizing a crosswalk, the Oakland pedestrian accident attorney at The Brod Law Firm wants to remind readers that California law requires that drivers yield to pedestrians in a marked crosswalk. This rule also applies at unmarked crosswalks at our intersections. Pedestrians are required to exercise caution and the law does prohibit a pedestrian from suddenly leaving the sidewalk or otherwise stepping into the path of automobile traffic. However, the law does place the bulk of responsibility on drivers to prevent the injury or death of a pedestrian who is using appropriate precautions. While the law does prohibit pedestrians from crossing roads outside of intersections or marked crosswalks, that does not alleviate the duty of all drivers to be alert for pedestrians and exercise care at all times.

California is well-known for its driving-centered culture. At the Brod Law Firm, we believe that drivers have a strong responsibility to obey the law and drive responsibly. We also believe in the continued efforts of our state and our Northern California towns to create roadways that are safe for all of our residents. As your Oakland car accident lawyers, we know that automobile accidents are a very real part of life in our region but believe that the numbers can be reduced. We urge our local and state officials to make safety a priority. Well-marked crosswalks, appropriate speed limits, and a continued emphasis on preventing driver distraction can help prevent pedestrian injuries and deaths. We also support research studies aimed at finding the very best ways to protect our residents. These are studies that might have initial costs but will ultimately lead to economic savings and, more importantly, can save lives.

Pedestrian accidents are tragic, as are other automobile-related accidents that cause injury and death. We recognize that the aftermath of an accident is difficult for surviving victims and the loved ones of an individual whose life is lost. We encourage victims to seek emotional support in the difficult days after an accident. The legal system cannot undo an accident, but it can help victims or their families recover damages. If you or someone you love is injured in a Northern California car accident, please contact the Brod Law Firm team for help. In most of our personal injury cases, we do operate on a contingency fee and we do not get paid unless we help you recover. We work with victims in Oakland, San Francisco, Sacramento, and throughout the Northern California region.

We advocate for prevention first but accidents do happen and we are here to help.

See Related Blog Posts:
The Most Dangerous Places for Pedestrians in San Francisco
Guilty Plea in Fatal Hit-And-Run: The Aftermath of a Pedestrian Fatality

The sparkle of elaborate display windows makes the San
Francisco Bay Area a popular destination for holiday shoppers. Downtown San Francisco, Walnut Creek, and malls everywhere see an influx of cars and pedestrian traffic eager to share in the deals and the holiday spirit. Urban cities like San Francisco see an increase in bicycle traffic every year as well. The crowds and the jostle of bags are part of the holiday fun, but they can also lead to claustrophobia and frustration as people unexpectedly duck in and out of the bustle and rush across streets and parking lots to get to their next destination.

San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon is calling for heightened awareness from residents and visitors to prevent tragic accidents. He has teamed up with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and Walk SF to promote safe conduct in order to prevent accidents during the busy holiday season.

This call for safety follows four pedestrian deaths that have come under investigation in the San Francisco District Attorney’s office over the last six months. DA George Gascon stressed that each one of the fatal accidents was preventable, if only the persons involved had exercised more care. Elizabeth Stampe, the Executive Director of Walk San Francisco, expresses concern that similar accidents will be on the rise in November and December as it starts to get darker earlier.

The Brod Law Firm echoes the District Attorney’s appeal and reminds pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers to keep an eye out for unsafe behavior while out and about. Be vigilant of your surroundings and avoid dangerous situations such as:

• Distracted drivers- For example, ones that use cell phones or look up directions while behind the wheel

• Impatient drivers/cyclists that run stop signs or red lights and pedestrians who cross out of turn or outside of designated crosswalks

• Drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians who might try to get ahead of the rest of the crowd by making sudden, unsafe maneuvers

Awareness lessens the stress of the season, allowing shoppers to fully enjoy the sights and sounds of the seasonal decorations, displays, and excitement.

If you or your loved ones have been a victim of carelessness, you may recover medical expenses, missed wages, or other losses. Call the Brod Law Firm for a free consultation from our experienced personal injury lawyer.

The Brod Law Firm wishes you a joyous and safe holiday season.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, attorney Gregory Brod and the Brod Law Firm team is grateful for the clients who trust us to guide them through the legal system and to help them through one of the hardest times in their lives. We appreciate you visiting the blog and reaching out to us when facing your own legal matters. We hope you all have a wonderful season and enjoy a lovely meal with loved ones this Thanksgiving.

As Northern California car accident attorneys, we are keenly aware that holiday gatherings often involve alcohol. We see the horrible consequences that arise when people make the decision to drive despite having had too much to drink. Statistics suggest that the largest number of alcohol-involved automobile accidents actually happen at Thanksgiving, rather than New Year’s Eve which many associate more directly with over-imbibing. Perhaps people make plans to avoid driving on New Year’s but neglect to take the same precaution on a day more associated with indulging on a big meal than alcohol. As a reminder, it is illegal in California to drive with a blood alcohol level of 0.08% or above. For a 140lb adult, this is typically the equivalent of three alcoholic drinks over a two hour period, an amount easily imbibed at a holiday meal. It is important to recognize that even lesser amounts can result in dangerous impairment. California does allow for DUI convictions at lesser amounts and the danger of accidents rises with even a small amount of alcohol in the driver’s system.

We are attorneys for victims of drunk drivers in San Francisco. We are experienced and able to help victims recover for the financial loss and emotional trauma that follow an accident. We also believe that every DUI accident is preventable. We would welcome a world in which no innocent Californians faced the trauma of an alcohol-involved car accident. We can help victims, but avoiding the accidents from the start is always better than addressing them after the fact. Please take caution this season, both by making alternate transportation plans if you are drinking and by being alert on the roads for other drivers who may not have exercised the same care.

Unfortunately, as glance at area news reports confirms, alcohol-involved car crashes continue to occur. The Oakland Tribune recently reported on a case where 19 year-old Rafael Madrid of Antioch received a four-year prison sentence for a crash that killed Pablo Garibay. Alcohol is suspected in another crash reported in The Sacramento Bee where an SUV hit a mobile home in Woodland. If statistics hold true, there will be more sad news that comes out of the Thanksgiving holiday.

While prevention comes first, we are here to help if you are the victim of a drunk driver. We are experienced San Francisco car accident lawyers and we have handled alcohol-involved car accidents throughout Northern California, including the Sacramento and Oakland regions. We cannot reverse time but we can help residents of our communities reassemble the pieces after an accident. The legal process is complicated and it is vital that you have a skilled San Francisco automobile accident attorney on your side. If you or a loved one are the victim of a drunk driver, please contact the Brod Law Firm team. We are here to help.
We wish you all a safe and joyful holiday and hope your Thanksgiving is filled with smiles and good company.

See Related Blog Posts:
Oakland-San Francisco Car Accident Attorney Comments on Golden Gate Bridge Accident
San Francisco-Oakland Car Accident Attorney Comments on Deadly Accident

A California appeals court reaffirmed the state’s commitment to cracking down on distracted drivers in a ruling handed down on Monday. As the San Francisco Chronicle reported, the court found that cell phone use by drivers is a violation of the law, even if the driver is stopped at a traffic signal.

In the case at issue, the court upheld a fine levied against Carl Nelson who was ticketed for cell phone use while driving in Richmond in late 2009. Nelson contested the ticket, saying that the incident occurred at a stop light and that the law only applied to a car in motion. The court disagreed, finding that the intent and language of the law against handheld phone usage does cover vehicles momentarily stopped on the road, sending a message that distracted driving is a serious concern. The court did not rule on additional scenarios raised by the defense, such as placing a phone call when stuck for a long period of time due to an accident.

Before many other regions, California recognized the dangers posed by cell phone use. The California Vehicle Code section prohibiting the use of handheld telephones by all drivers went into effect in July 2008. Additional legislation effective January 2009 expanded the prohibition to texting while driving, including both reading and composing texts. Motorists under the age of 18 are also prohibited from using hands-free communication devices while operating a motor vehicle. Drivers over 18 are permitted to use hands-free phones as long as both ears are not covered by an earpiece. These rules are detailed in the Wireless Communications Device and Wireless Telephone Laws FAQs assembled by the Department of Motor Vehicles

It is important for local residents to remember that the problem of San Francisco distracted driving goes beyond just the use of cellular phones. In a recent report on the problem, the National Highway Traffic Administration) defined distracted driving as “a specific type of inattention that occurs when drivers divert their attention from the driving task to focus on some other activity instead.” This includes the use of communication devices as well as things like eating while driving, focusing on a child rather than the road, adjusting the radio or other devices and even daydreaming. All of these actions present a risk to the driver and to others on or near the roadway. The 2010 report indicated that, despite public awareness campaigns and legislation, the percentage of fatal crashes that involved distracted driving increased between 2005 and 2009. The study further showed that 20% of injuries and 16% of fatalities in car accidents involved distracted driving. Interestingly, 30-39 year-olds had the highest proportion of distracted driving fatalities involving cell phone use.

As experienced San Francisco car accident attorneys, the team at the Brod Law Firm sees too many cases where distracted driving leads to damage, injury, and even death. We are dedicated to helping victims of such accidents recover all the damages that the law allows and encourage those injured in a San Francisco auto accident involving cell phones or other distraction to contact us for legal support. We also believe in prevention. We are committed to supporting driver education to prevent these accidents from happening in our region, supporting law enforcement efforts to crack down on cell phone use by drivers. Ultimately, it is the driver who must take heed. All individual drivers must be aware of the danger that all forms of distracted driving pose and prevention is always better than trying to recover after a tragic accident.

See Related Blog Posts:

Possible New Fines for Distracted Driving in California

San Francisco-Oakland Injury Attorney Comments on Crackdown on Distracted Driving

Our Sacramento car accident lawyer was please to read that a Sacramento jury spoke loudly against companies withholding safety information and applied California corporate negligence law when it imposed a $73 million penalty on Ford Motor Company on Thursday November 10, 2011. The verdict, reported in the Sacramento Bee is an example of the legal system operating to protect our citizens from corporations that may put their bottom lines over the public welfare.

The case against Ford arose out of a crash that killed two and injured two others. The victims were travelling in a van after performing as members of a church musical group. William Brownell, the driver of the van, and front-seat passenger Tony Mauro were killed when the van skidded and flipped three times as the vehicle entered Highway 9. Testimony indicated that the accident was the result of tread separation on the van’s Goodyear tires. Although Goodyear had informed Ford of the defect two years prior, Ford did not share this information with vehicle owners, perhaps because the company was still dealing with the financial fallout from a prior $2 billion tire recall.

The verdict, believed by reporters to be the largest of its kind, is in addition to specific awards to the families of the deceased and to two others injured in the crash. The jury used California comparative negligence law to find that 59% of the fault fell on Ford Motors and this calculation did impact the injury and wrongful death awards. The reported testimony suggests that the two individuals who died in the crash were not wearing their seatbelts. While at one time a finding that the victims shared some fault might have entirely eliminated the potential for recovery on injury and wrongful death claims, the law now weighs the different factors involved and determines the degree of fault for all involved parties. The negligence of a victim can result in a reduced award but it no longer eliminates it entirely.

However, the reduction does not apply to the $73 million in punitive damages. This type of penalty is allowed under California Civil Code Section 3294 in certain cases when the evidence shows malice, oppression, or fraud by the defendant and is intended to punish the defendant and make an example of their poor actions. This Sacramento car accident lawsuit verdict serves to warn companies that they cannot act with disregard for human lives and public safety. Clearly, the jury felt that Ford knowingly withheld the recall information from the public, likely in order to protect the company’s reputation and profits, and that this blatant disregard for public safety was a key factor in the crash at issue. The verdict punishes Ford for this decision and warns other companies that similar actions will not be tolerated by the state of California.

Continue reading "Failure to Notify Customers of Defect Leads to Sacramento Jury Imposing $73 Million Fine On Ford Motors" »

Yesterday, a 22-year-old bicyclist suffered life-threatening injuries when he was hit by a taxi that ran a red light in the Mission District. While the cyclist was crossing at Cesar Chavez and Guerrero streets just before 2 a.m. Sunday, a 56-year-old driver of a Yellow Town Taxi heading east on Cesar Chavez ran a red light and struck the him with his Ford Escape Taxi. The bicyclist was not wearing a helmet and was taken to San Francisco General Hospital with life-threatening head injuries. According to a report, the cyclist was laying face down and bleeding badly from the mouth, and many people rushed to his aid. The paramedics were also quick to respond.

This accident is yet another reminder that San Francisco taxi drivers are some of the most negligent drivers on the planet. Taxis are often seen speeding, challenging traffic signals, failing to stop at stop signs, and changing lanes or pulling away from the curb without looking at the road. Therefore, there is a high probability that a taxi will hit a bicyclist at some point. Cyclists are most likely to be injured in an intersection because negligent or impatient taxi drivers are notorious for running lights. Also, taxis often sideswipe cyclists when they change lanes without looking. Many times a cyclist injured by a taxi will have substantial damages from medical bills and lost wages, and, usually any attempt to collect damages from the taxi driver are futile because drivers usually don’t have a lot of money. For that reason, it becomes necessary to recover damages from the company that provided the cab.

Each taxi-bicyclist case presents its own special set of challenges, all of which our firm has the experience and expertise to handle. We are committed to working hard for our clients, whether that be in mediation, arbitration or trial. If you or a loved one suffered painful injuries and/or a permanent disability, you will need fair compensation and a competent injury accident attorney to reprsent you. Our firm represents residents throughout the Bay Area, including visitors to the area and has been helping injured bicyclists and pedestrians in the San Francisco Bay Area for more than 10 years. If you were injured or a family member was killed in by taxi driver negligence, contact us for a free no-obligation consultation. We handle all taxi injury cases on a contingent fee basis, which means you pay no attorney's fees unless we are successful in achieving a financial recovery in your case

Cell phones are all but unavoidable in the United States these days. People use their cell phones while walking down the street, in stores, and while driving. Talking on the phone while driving is the subject of much debate. Many safety experts insist that drivers using cell phones invite accidents. Others insist that talking on the phone while driving is no more dangerous than playing with the radio or talking to a passenger in the back of the car. Nevertheless, many states, including California, have strict laws regarding the use of cell phones by motor vehicle drivers. Still, as our San Francisco car accident attorney has experienced, the use of cell phones can be an integral part of a legal battle after a San Francisco car accident. An accident that occurred in Concord last night may an example of that conflict.

As the San Francisco Chronicle reported this morning, one driver was killed last night when a driver using a cell phone crashed into his car. The events began around 6pm Tuesday night when the Concord police saw a man in a white pickup truck conversing on a cell phone without a required hands-free device. The officer attempted to pull the driver over, but instead of stopping, the truck driver led the police officer on a chase. The chase ended when the truck hit a BMW on Solana Way, near Highway 242. The driver of the BMW died as a result of the collision. Police chased the pickup truck driver on foot and apprehended him. Officials have not released the name of either man.

Scenarios like this are ripe for lawsuits, because much neglect and reckless was involved. Not only was the driver of the pickup truck violating the law when used his phone without a hands-free device, but he likely violated several traffic laws during the police chase. While any criminal charges would have be filed by the Contra Costa County’s district attorney’s office, surviving family members can file a civil suit against the truck driver.

One frequently used legal tool in cases like this is wrongful death action. A wrongful death claim allows surviving family members to collect damages, or money, to compensate them for the death. For example, the family can try to recover financial support to make up for the salary the deceased would have earned. A successful suit can also cover funeral expenses and the value of household services the late family member would have performed. In some instances, family members can also recover for noneconomic damages, such as loss of companionship.

When family members face the death of a loved one, contacting a lawyer is typically not high on their list of priorities. But finding legal representation sooner rather than later can be important since wrongful death actions have a statute of limitations. With some exceptions, a suit must be filed before the second anniversary of the person’s death.

Continue reading "San Francisco Innocent Bystander Killed After Cell Phone Prompts Car Chase" »

Quite often, serious accidents are the final and tragic result of a long chain of events consisting of bad luck and small mistakes. When many factors contributed to the accident, determining the most important cause of the accident can be a daunting task for a San Francisco car accident attorney. In other cases, it can be obvious what caused the accident, but determining who is more responsible for the mishap can be a challenge. For example, in a recent San Francisco car accident, two drivers bear some responsibility for a collision that injured both drivers and six passengers.

Last night, as described in an article in the Mercury, there was a two car accident. At 12:39 am a minivan broadsided a car in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood, at the intersection of 10th and Howard streets. The sedan was stopped a red light when the speeding van ran a red light and struck the car. In addition to the driver, the sedan contained five passengers, while the van had two occupants. All eight individuals were taken to local hospitals for serious injuries. Everyone is expected to recover fully.

For the drivers, however, the event did not end with a trip to the hospital. When police arrived
on the scene, they arrested both drivers. Officials suspected that both had been driving while intoxicated. In addition, police arrested one of the van’s passengers for possession of cocaine. Officials are also investigating whether or not the van was involved in a hit-and-run accident earlier in the evening.

After accidents like this, injured parties are often reluctant to seek legal advice. Many people believe that if they contributed to the events that injured them, such as getting into car with a driver who had been drinking, the legal system will not help them. Depending on the facts of the specific situation, however, contributing to the accident is not always an absolute bar to legal recovery. Traditionally, under the theory of contributory negligence, defendants who had a role in causing an accident could not sue the plaintiff and recover.

But today, in most state, including California, contributory negligence is no longer the rule. Instead, comparative negligence governs lawsuits. Under the comparative negligence system, plaintiff who played a role in causing an accident can recover in a lawsuit, but their recovery is limited by the amount of their fault. So if a passenger was 15% at fault for getting into the car with an intoxicated driver and damages are determined to be $10,000, the plaintiff will only receive $8,500. So the plaintiff will not recover his or her full damages, but could still collect a significant amount of money.

Continue reading "Eight People Injured in Midnight San Francisco Car Accident" »

Our San Francisco car accident attorney knows that motor vehicle accidents come in all shapes and sizes. Perhaps the most typical accident involves two cars that collide into each other. But crashes involving just one car occur on a regular basis as well. Depending on what the car hits, the results can be extremely serious. When a car hits a pedestrian, especially a young child, the potential for heartbreak is even greater.

Fortunately, it appears that the child victim of a recent San Francisco pedestrian accident will recover. As was recently reported in the Mercury News, an eight year old boy was hospitalized after he was struck by a car in the Western Addition neighborhood of San Francisco. The accident took place at around 3:45 pm last Friday afternoon at the intersection of Laguna and Turk streets. The youngster was crossing the street when he was struck by a car. The driver stop to assist and the boy was taken to San Francisco General Hospital. His injuries are not considered life-threatening. Police are investigating the accident.

In incidents like this, depending on the results of the investigation, a lawsuit may not be warranted. But in the event that the analysis of the accident shows that the driver failed to take proper precautions, the victim and his family may decide to file a negligence suit. A negligence suit is a classic example of a civil suit. In a civil suit, the case is initiated by a private party. This is in contrast to a criminal suit, which is always initiated by the government.

In addition to having different initiators, civil and criminal suits have different punishments. A defendant in a criminal case can end up in jail but a defendant in a civil case is only required to pay monetary damages. But civil and criminal suits have many similarities. The violation of a law can be critical in both. For example, if a pedestrian is hit because a driver was speeding, the driver can be found criminally liable for breaking the law. Evidence of speeding can also be used in a civil case. Speeding can be per se evidence of negligence. In layperson’s terms, the fact that someone broke the law can be automatic evidence that they violated the duty of care, an essential element of all negligence suits.

Continue reading "Boy Injured in Street in San Francisco Pedestrian Accident" »

For most Americans, getting in a car is an everyday activity. Most individuals drive to work in the morning, home in the evening and use their car to run errands. Since driving is such a common place activity for most people, we often forgot how dangerous it traveling on our roadways can actually be. Consequently, many drivers are not as cautious as they should be. But as our San Francisco car accident attorney knows, deadly car accidents are a much too frequent occurrence, especially here in a dense urban area.

Brandon Solem, a 33 year old man and San Francisco resident, recently died after his car rear-ended another vehicle in the area around the University of San Francisco. As The Examiner reported, the accident occurred last Thursday, just past midnight at the intersection of Fulton and Stanyan streets. Mr. Solem was driving west on Fulton street when he hit another car that was stopped at a red light. The impact was enough to cause the other car to turn over. Both drivers were taken to San Francisco General Hospital. Mr. Solem’s injuries were severe, and he died several hours later. The other driver, a 27 year old woman, is expected to survive. Police are still investigating the cause of the accident and additional details are not yet available.

At first glance the situation seems clear enough; a car did not stop for a red light, causing an accident. But an investigation will explain the “how” and “why” of the accident, not just the “what.” Understanding all the circumstances surrounding this crash and other San Francisco car accidents is critical.. Details can often mean the difference between a successful lawsuit and an unsuccessful one. For example, if one party was driving drunk the legal repercussion are very different from a case where the party was unable to stop because of defective breaks. Knowing if any laws were broken is also significant.

Generally, in order to hold the opposing side liable for the consequences of the accident, legal negligence rules require that the plaintiff show the defendant had a duty and breached that duty. In some instances, however, a violation of a law, such as the failure to stop at a red light, can be prima facie evidence of negligence. In other words, evidence that a law was broken means that the plaintiff can satisfy the first hurdle in a lawsuit without going through each individual step. Rather than requiring the plaintiff to show all the elements of his or her case, a prima facie case allows the plaintiff to move forward automatically and puts the burden on the defendant to rebut the charges.

Continue reading "Rear-End Collision in USF Area Ends in Death for One Driver" »

Over the past two weeks a few serious pedestrian accidents occurred at different intersections in San Francisco. The first occurred last week in Duboce Triangle. A 59-year-old man, was struck and fatally injured by an SUV as he was crossing the street in that area. He was resident of the mission district, was a regular in the neighborhood where he was fatally injured, and, according to his friends, he was a beloved member of that community. Police stated that the driver of the SUV was not cited and that he stopped after the crash and cooperated with investigators. Also last week, a mother was walking with two children southbound on Third Street at Williams Street at around 3:30pm. She had one child next to her and her five-year-old was following behind her as they crossed the street. As they were crossing private shuttle bus was driving eastbound on Williams Street and stuck the5-year-old boy as it turned right onto Third Street. He was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. The shuttle bus had one passenger who was not injured and the driver of the bus cooperated with the investigation. And this week, a pedestrian suffered suffered injuries after being struck by a car near the Haight-Ashbury district. The accident happened around midnight at the intersection of Page and Divisadero streets. The pedestrian was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

These accidents should be a reminder that of all the potential hazards to pedestrians, it is intersections that are riskiest of all. The major problem with intersections is that they are unanticipated or sudden requirement, and, in general, they are considered a necessary inconvenience by drivers. As a result drivers are not always patient and cautious when they reach them. What is more, most people feel intersections are an obstacle they feel forced to negotiate. Think about the psychology involved: Every person who arrives at an intersection is heading different directions with different purposes, and all trying to quickly get through on their way to their desired destination. For this reason, collisions regularly happen at intersections. So it is important for everyone who approaches an intersections become hyper vigilant, especially pedestrians. The following is a nice long list of tips for getting through intersections safely:
• Drivers need to remember that the law requires drivers to stop once someone has entered the crosswalk.
• A red light does not guarantee that vehicles will stop.
• drivers and pedestrians make eye contact with each other.
• Drivers should always yield to pedestrians at an intersection.
• When making a left turn, always yield the right-of-way to oncoming traffic.
• Leave enough space between your car and the one in front.
• Leave early, allowing extra travel time in case of delays.
• Remember: yellow lights mean stop unless it’s unsafe to do so.
• Look for—and expect to see-pedestrians, cyclists and motorcycles.
• Don’t make any sudden moves that might confuse another driver—or a cyclist or pedestrian.
• If you haven’t just seen the traffic light up ahead turn green, be ready to stop in case it changes to yellow.
• Always check your mirrors and look around. Slow down well in advance.
• Only go through a yellow light if it is unsafe to stop.
• Check the pedestrian signals—at most crosswalks the signal will change from a white figure to an red hand just before the light turns yellow, or will show how many seconds are left before the traffic light will change.
• Make sure you are always in the correct lane before a turn.
• Don’t change lanes in an intersection.
• Always use your turn signals well before you make a move, as it helps other drivers, cyclists and pedestrians know what you are doing.
• If you’re the first car to stop—make sure you remain behind the crosswalk.
• Ignore aggressive drivers—pay no attention if they’re honking their horns behind you.

Continue reading "The Most Dangerous Places for Pedestrians in San Francisco" »

Distracted driving, such as changing the radio or a CD, talking to passengers, looking outside at things other than the road, using a cell phone, or text messaging is a major cause of accidents because it prevents the driver from focusing on the complete task of driving. Interactive devices and navigational tools can also distract drivers. More and more states and localities are banning specific distractions. Yesterday, according to sfexaminer.com,a new bill aimed distracted driving was sent to Governor Jerry Brown by the Senate. If he signs the bill, fines for drivers who refuse to go hands-free while using their cell phones will increase. The base fine for texting or calling while holding a cell phone would increase from $20 to $50. Court fees would drive the cost from about $180 to $300, says the author, Democratic Sen. Joe Simitian of Palo Alto. Repeat offenders could be fined $100 or up to $528 with fees and get one point added to their driving record. Republican Sen. Ted Gaines of Roseville objected to increasing fines in a poor economy. Simitian responded by saying, “As long as you follow the law, there’s no fine.” He believes SB28 will save lives by deterring distracted driving.

The Governors’ Highway safety Association recommends that states around the country take appropriate measures to cut down on distracted driving. Actually, they are aiming at debunk the theory that hands-free is safer than using a hand-held cell phone. According to their findings there is no evidence indicating that the use of hands-free sets are any safer than handheld sets, and a Virginia Tech study indicated hands-free systems may be beneficial. Yet studies from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety at the University of Utah and Carnegie Mellon have reported that all cell phone use is distracting. They recommend several steps to combat the increasing problem of distracted driving. They recommend the federal government should do following:
• Fund research to develop effective methods for enforcing texting and cell phone bans.
• Fund research to determine the nature and scope of the distracted driving problem.
• Fund a media campaign to alert the public to dangers of distracted driving.
• Develop model policies for employers encouraging them to ban cell phone use/texting by all employees driving for business purposes.
• Provide financial incentives for states that pass comprehensive graduated licensing laws that include cell phone/texting bans for new drivers.
• Support technologies solutions that minimize driver distraction.

The success of such efforts depends on the combination of awareness and enforcement, which are the most effective means of ensuring compliance, as we still have not seen much success with anti-distracted driving laws. Even though California has laws banning handheld cell phone use and texting while driving, we have not seen a dramatic decline in such behaviors. It looks like we have a way to go before new driving behaviors become hard-wired in this state. Distracted driving laws are the begining and base for any campaigns against distraced drving to tak flight. Remember all drunk driving and seatbelt campaigns that were hammered into us before they really took effect. Such campaigns are proof that similar ones addressing distracted driving will most likely lead to substantial reductions in cell phone use while driving, and reduce the risk of accidents. Federal researchers have found that when enforcement campaign combine awareness with the threat of fees and penalties, they are much more effective in reducing distracted driving. We think the main message of any campaign should be: no text or phone call is worth you risking your life.

Continue reading "Possible New Fines for Distracted Driving in California" »

52-year-old Dr. Kevin Mack died yesterday morning, and three others were injured at the intersection of Octavia and Hayes. A big rig carrying cars crashed into a UCSF shuttle transporting employees to work. UCSF still have not made officials had no immediate comment. The big-rig was headed north on Octavia at Oak Street. Mack was ejected in the crash and landed underneath the big-rig. Three other passengers, ranging in age from 58-85 years of age, were taken to San Francisco General Hospital for treatment of minor injuries. Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi aknowleged the crash underscores the sometimes dangerous conditions on Octavia Boulevard. He said: “I am acutely aware of the ongoing concerns generated by traffic and those trying to negotiate in and around Octavia...the area is especially confusing to visitors in San Francisco,” such as out-of-state drivers."

Our research revealed that Octavia Boulevard was designed to resemble, both form and function, the multi-way boulevards found in many high-density European cities, which began in the age of horse-drawn carriages and foot traffic, and then had to find ways to accommodate cars. The urban planners of Octavia decided that such boulevards were pleasant, functional, and contrary to their reputation in America, not dangerous at all. They rejected the latter idea and made believe that the boulevards are better and less rigid than typical American streets and that they would allow pedestrians and cars to make instinctive, rather than enforced, room for one another. Well, that is nice in theory, but this is not Europe—and although Europhiles would like to believe San Francisco is like Europe—it is not. Over there, the driving situation is organized chaos, and everyone is on the same page. We have yet to catch on to that spirit. What is more, that boulevard carries many out-of-towners into the city, like this truck driver from min, who are not familiar with our hilly streets, nor our street engineering, such as that on Octavia. At the same time, there is no telling if that accident wouldn’t have happened all the same if the truck driver were familiar with our streets. We won’t know until the investigation is over, but the truck driver said he had the right of ways, and so did a witness, who said that the shuttle ran the red light. So maybe this is a straightforward case of driver inattention and has nothing to do with street engineering.

Continue reading "When a Big-Rig and Shuttle Bus Collide" »

During your commute do you ever long to finish that novel you started six months ago, or play on your iPad, or start knitting that sweater for your 6 year old nephew, or finish that report your boss asked for last week, or unwrap and take a bite out of the tuna sandwich you made for lunch? If you live in Nevada, you can. Nevada just passed a law requiring the Nevada DMV to set guidelines for a person to obtain an autonomous vehicle driver’s license. So, sometime in future, anyone in Nevada longing to unleash the rebel inside will finally get to feel the pleasure of driving and texting with a cop driving right behind them. Just think of it, it’s like giving the finger to the existing rules your driving instructor hammered into your brain, rules having to do with keeping your eyes on the road and both hands on the wheel, the very rules created to maintain order and safety on our roads. The creators and supporters of the law, and the cars, contend that the driverless car can speed up traffic times, invite greater packing of cars sharing the road, give city’s the opportunity to take in more cars, allow drivers more free time to work or enjoy their commute, and, most importantly, save lives by reducing traffic accidents caused by careless or inattentive (or even drunk) drivers. We’ll see what other amendments get tacked on to this law once the driverless cars are bought and driven. Really, how much can a driver sit back and not pay attention? What if the car malfunctions and an accident occurs? Will Google and auto manufacturers be exempt from liability when software or hardware malfunctions and causes an accident? Some economic experts suggest that a company may be not be so willing to accept legal liability associated with selling driverless cars and may not want to invest significant capital to help further the technology.

There are some other issues to consider as well. What if one these robotic cars breaks a traffic law? Who pays the fine then? How will they handle in some sort of unpredictable situation? Then who is responsible, the human or the car? Are we ready as a society to allow robots to control our live and to blindly accept they will keep us safe? More of these types of questions will present themselves down the road (pardon the pun) to be sure. How the law is interpreted and analyzed when it shows up in a courtroom, and how it morphs over time, and whether the law will be interpreted how the legislature intended will be interesting to watch. Because, like every law with its plain language, the courts will, most likely, have to decide what protections are applicable to car owners and their manufacturers and who is liable for negligence after an accident. The legal community will also have ample opportunity to examine and reexamine the language of the law. The next important question is: when will California pass its own hands free law?

Continue reading "The Dawn of Driverless Cars in Nevada, and Perhaps the San Francisco Bay Area" »

On Friday, June 24, an Amtrak train bound for Emeryville from Chicago, crashed in Nevada, killing at least 6 people. It has been reported that a truck crashed into the side of the train, though a team of 18 investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board ("NTSB") has not yet been able to determine how and why the crash occurred. The driver of the truck unfortunately died in the crash, however, leaving certain key questions unanswered.

In California, a party may bring a lawsuit in a variety of venues. Under California law, a party may file a lawsuit in the County where an injury, or the injury causing death occurs, or in the County where the defendants, or some of them reside, at the time the lawsuit is filed. Though this terrible train crash took place in Nevada, an injured person or the loved one of a person whose life was lost in this tragedy, may be able to pursue their claim in the State of California. Speaking with an experienced attorney is the best way to understand your rights. If you, or a loved one has been injured in this terrible Amtrak crash, or in any other train crash, please contact the Brod Law Firm for a free consultation.

Yesterday a crash at 19th and Valencia Street in the Mission District in San Francisco sent one person to the hospital with minor injuries. The crash occurred at 7:15 a.m. and involved three vehicles, according to sfexaminer.com. One car actually overturned, trapping the driver inside. The driver was taken to San Francisco General Hospital to be treated for minor injuries. The other two drivers were not hurt. Today a big-rig overturned on an off-ramp from southbound U.S. Highway 101 in San Francisco, also according to sfexaminer.com. The big-rig overturned at around 9:40 a.m. on the eastbound Cesar Chavez Street off-ramp from southbound Highway 101. No other vehicles were involved, and the driver of the overturned 16-wheeler was not injured.

Many accidents are caused because vehicles are driven in unsafe ways or in unsuitable conditions. In general if vehicle is overloaded and drives to fast around a corner, then it will more than likely overturn. A driver who does not wear a seatbelt and overturns in an accident is more likely to suffer an injury than drivers who do. In order to avoid overturning, drivers should remember to follow the speed limit and with caution on wet, slippery roads, when driving down steep slopes, or when approaching curbs and sharp turns. Also, drivers should make sure the loads they carry are appropriate for their vehicle, as overloaded or unevenly distributed loads can make a vehicle unstable, making it difficult to steer and brake.

Relatively speaking, it can be common for a serious accident to result in a vehicle overturning. When a vehicle overturns, it can cause serious injuries, such as head trauma, brain injury, neck and spinal injuries, and broken bones. Even vehicles driving at low speeds can experience a rollover and incur serious damage to both the vehicle and driver. Sometimes the drivers are at fault and sometimes the vehicle manufacturer is responsible. If you or a loved suffered an injuries due to a rollover accident, please contact our experienced rollover accident attorney today.

According The Bay Citizen, earlier this week seniors were protesting at a dangerous intersection in San Francisco, the intersction at Third Street and Yosmite Street. On Wednesday of this week, a group of seniors stood at the intersection and held protest signs, demanding more senior-friendly crossings in all of San Francisco, not just that one. In fact, that intersection they protested has been the site of just one accident in the last five years, but that does not change the fact that seniors feel many intersections in the city, like that one, do not allow enough time for seniors to cross. All along Third Street it is dangerous to cross. Most seniors who cross third street only make it to the median, which is just a cement sliver in between tow sets of Muni tacks where the T-Train travels.

The protest comes on the heels of a national report that found seniors and minorities were the most likely to be hit and killed while walking on the strets. The study found that ove the past decade there were nearly 7,000 pedestrian deaths in California, and nearly 700 in San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont. A spokesman for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency says that crosswalk times are set by federal guidelines based on the length of the crosswalk and the type of intersection. He said that the agency has no plans to change the signal time. The signal at the Third Street intersection gives 20 seconds for pedestrians to cross five lanes of traffic, not an easy task for some seniors. Needless to say, many seniors are aftraid of crossing the street, regardless of the statistics and federal guidelines. Simply put, it is dangerous for them to cross large, busy intersections, and they risk their lives when they do.

If you or a loved one suffered an injury due to crossing at an unsafe intersection, please contact our qualified pedestrian accident attorney for a free consultation. Our firm has over 10 years experience representing injured pedestrians of all ages and helping them receive the compensation they deserve.

According to streetsblog, on December 10, 2004, as Katie Liddell was walking to her Portside apartment at Harrison and Main in Ricon Hill, she noticed emergency vehicles surrounding the intersection near there. As she approached, she came upon a terrifying scene: her neighbor had been hit and killed, and lie in the middle of the street with a tarp covering her body. The force of the big rig truck had thrown 63-year-old Beverly Kees out of the cross walk so violently that the impact killed her. Kees was a SF State journalism professor who had recently retired and lived across the street from Liddell in the Bay Crest Towers. The dog she had been walking was also hit and injured. It turns out that Kee’s doctor told her that she needed to walk more, so she asked her neighbor if she could walk her dog. Her neighbor walks a lot too and feels, like most San Franciscans who enjoy walking in the city, that pedestrians are considered an inconvenience.

The intersection of Harrison and Main is the kind of place that is dangerous in the one of the city’s densest neighbor hoods. Harrison serves as a four-lane westbound thoroughfare that carries 12,600 drivers daily, most of whom are headed to the bay bridge. During peak-hour traffic, drivers are continually seen speeding and blocking the crosswalk. Three people have died there since 2003, and many others have been injured. Voters are expected to vote on a street bond measure in November. If they approve the bond measure, some of that money will be directed to pedestrian safety improvements in District 6. The SFMTA is also planning some engineering measures that they expect to improve Harrison and Main, which include:
• A head start for pedestrians crossing Harrison Street.
• The flashing red hand will now count down from 15 seconds instead of the current 9 seconds for pedestrians.
• Painting white continental crosswalks at the intersection.
• Pursuing legislation for No U-Turns for eastbound Harrison Street at Main Street.

Here at the Brod Law Firm, we fully support any effort to change a dangerous, traffic clogged neighborhood and make it better for everyone, especially the pedestrains who reside there. We hope to see some positive changes soon. Every neighborhood needs this kind of advocacy and change. For now it remains a small step in terms of improving the quality of life in San Francisco neighborhoods, but it speaks volumes in terms of city officials waking up to the need for change. If you have been injured in an accident in San Francisco, please contact our firm for a free consultation. Whether you were injured while walking, driving, or cycling, our personal injury attorney has the experience to handle any type of claim. We have over 10 years experience helping injured clients successfully settle their claims, and we will work hard to get you the compensation you deserve.

Ford has introduced an innovative solution to reduce car accidents and curb congestion—intelligent vehicles that combine technologies, like WI-FI, GPS, and radar-based safety features, to create vehicles that wirelessly “talk” to each other and warn of possible hazards. Hailed as the new frontier of collision avoidance innovations, intelligent vehicles are expected to revolutionize the driving experience and hold the potential of helping reduce many crashes. Prototypes were recently brought to Southern California to demonstrate the real-life benefits of the technology.
The auto maker believes, when combined with existing technologies already available on Ford models, advanced vehicle-to-vehicle communications will be able to automatically assist a driver in preventing a collision. They also claim, intelligent vehicles could help warn drivers of numerous potential dangers such as a car running a red light but blocked from the view of a driver properly entering the intersection. Also, the cars are expected to reduce traffic delays by providing up to date traffic information, allowing drivers to avoid congested roadways.

Ford is also partnering with other automakers and the federal government to create a common language that will ensure all vehicles have the ability to talk to each other based on a common communication standard—cars that simply rely on GPS and a wireless data connection to beam their location and speed to each other. Some predict that intelligent cars of the future could be intelligent enough to avoid pedestrians, bicyclers, and others who are not driving automobiles. But can we really trust cars to do our thinking and reacting for us, and expect they will make our lives easier and safer? Time will reveal the answer. However, as we see the need for newer safety measures and ways to decrease traffic congestion continue to grow, it is undeniable intelligent cars are one of the more innovative attempts, we have seen thus far, toward finding safer, more sustainable ways of commuting.

If you or a loved suffered injuries from a car accident, please call our firm for a free consultation today. Our firm is dedicated to helping injured clients and their families in San Francisco and throughout the Bay Area.

Be careful driving this weekend. The roads will be wet. Pay special attention when you are driving on the Golden Gate Bridge, as accidents there can cause a car to move accross into traffic traveling in the opposite direction. Last month, a man from Colma was placed under arrest for allegedly causing a drunken driving crash on the Golden Gate Bridge that injured several people and briefly shut down the bridge, according to today's news. The man--37 year-old Syed Ali-- was speeding in his 2007 Mercedes roadster and rear-ended a vehicle driven by Mara Lefkowitz in the southbound lane. The impact forced Lefkowitz to spin out of control and hit the west curb of the bridge, at which point she moved back across southbound lanes into the northbound lanes and hit the east curb of the bridge. At that moment, another vehicle driving in a northbound lane crashed into Lefkowitz’s car. Ali’s vehicle also crossed into a northbound lane and sideswiped a van, causing the driver of the van to lose control and overturn. The driver of the van and Lefkowitz were taken to the hospital with moderate injuries.

According to the CDC, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among those ages 5-34 in the U. S. More than 2.3 million adult drivers and passengers were treated in emergency departments as the result of being injured in motor vehicle crashes in 2009. The economic impact is also notable: the lifetime costs of crash related deaths and injuries among drivers and passengers were $70 billion in 2005. In addition to that, alcohol-impaired driving kills about 11,000 people and costs nearly $110 billion a year. Every day, 30 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This amounts to one death every 48 minutes, and one in 3 motor-vehicle crashes involve an alcohol-impaired driver. The following are ways all of us can prevent alcohol-impaired driving and its consequences:
• Designate a non-drinking driver in your before you go out drinking.
• Don’t let your friends driver impaired—take their keys away if they don’t listen.
• If you have been drinking and don’t have a ride, call a taxi.
• If you’re hosting a party where alcohol will be served, make sure all guests leave with a sober driver.

Alcohol impaired driving is a serious public health issue and hope that no is injured by a drunk driver. However, if you or loved suffered an injury from an accident in which impaired driving was involved, please contact our firm. We have over ten years experience helping car accident victims receive the compensation they deserve. Our firm accepts cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning we do not charge clients any fees until we recover financial compensation.

An 18-year-old woman from Rohnert Park named Kaitlyn Dunaway was charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter for allegedly running over a 2-year-old girl, according to sfgate.com. Dunaway was distracted by texting when she crashed her vehicle in to Cali Murray and Cali’s mothers as they walked through a cross walk holding hands on December 1st. Cali was killed and her mother was seriously injured. Dunaway has not been arrested, but she has been issued a citation letter to appear Thursday in Sonoma County Superior Court. If she is convicted, she could spend as much as a year in county jail. Dunaway is freshman at Sonoma State University and is considered a standout volleyball player who attended Petaluma High School. It is shame that she might have to suffer such heavy consequences for what, on the ground level, looks like such a small thing--the sending of a text.

Texting while driving has been banned because it has become a public health issue. The wireless communications law took effect on January 1, 2009, making it infraction to write, send, or read text-based communication on an electronic wireless communications device, such as a cell phone, while driving a motor vehicle. Some believe that making texting while driving a felony would be a good way to deter people from doing it. But what about texting while walking? Shouldn’t there be a ban on that as well? According to Ohio State University researchers, pedestrian texting accidents let to more than 1,000 emergency room visits in 2008. CTIA-The Wireless Association reported that Americans sent 1 trillion texts in 2008 and sent 2.1 trillion in 2010. That is a lot of people not paying attention to their surroundings. Whether you are driving and texting, or texting and walking, the message is clear: Texting via any means is hazardous and puts people at risk for injury.

If you or a loved one suffered an injury due to the negligence of another, please contact our firm for a free consultation. Our auto and pedestrian accident attorney is focused on helping victims receive the maximum compensation for their losses. With offices conveniently located in Oakland and San Francisco, we make it easy for Bay Area residents to meet with our experienced personal injury attorney.

A crash occurred this morning on Highway 1 near Montara State beach at about 6:45am, according to SFexaminer.com. Two vehicles appeared to have been involved in the collision, which caused one driver to drive off the road and plunge more than 100 feet to his death. At the moment, his name has not been released, and the crash is still under investigation. Interestingly, the area where the accident occurred has been a concern for its residents because that particular stretch, between Half Moon Bay Airport and Devil’s Slide, passes sensitive coastline, communities with high pedestrian and bicycle activity, and carries significant commuter and tourist traffic. According to San Mateo County’s official website, San Mateo County and the Local Government Commission are in the begining stages of conducting a participatory planning effort to improve safety and mobility on that stretch of highway. The reason for the project is, back in 2009, a 12-year old child was struck by a car and critically injured when she was crossing the highway. It turns out that more than 100 people have been injured over the last ten years from accidents along highway 1 from Moss beach to Montara. Highway traffic speed is cited by residents as a challenge throughout much of the area.

Here at the Brod Law Firm, we have handled our share of car accidents, and we have a few tips for driving coastal roads. When driving on coastal highways drivers should always remember to drive defensively, wear their seatbelts, pullover if too many cars are following—when it is safe, however—and never pass double yellow lines. Remember that when you are driving south to north, you will be driving on the inside curbs; but when driving north to south, you should use extra caution, as you are on the cliff side, with nowhere to go but off the road if forced to avoid a collision. Always allow plenty of time to get to your destination so that you don’t feel rushed and tempted to go over the speed limit. Use extra when as you navigate those especially sharp curves in the road (just think: you will be able to enjoy the scenery better if you slow down). Always be alert for animals on the road, bicycles and pedestrians--for they can suddenly appear and can startle you. And during rainy weather or times of decreased visibility due to fog, slow down.

If you or a loved one suffered injuries due to a car accident, please contact our firm for a free consultation to find out if you have grounds to file a claim. Should it be determined that you need to file a claim, our experienced car accident attorney will fight hard on your behalf to get you the compensation you deserve. Our firm has over 10 years both settling and winning complex personal injury cases, and have the expertise to successfully handle your personal injury matter.

Last week a pedestrian was struck while jogging through an intersection at Masonic and Grove. She survived the accident, but the driver managed to break her leg as he slammed into her after running a red light. The accident is one of several that have occurred on Masonic recently. As a result, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has installed a number of traffic calming measures on Masonic over the past nine months, and additional steps are supposed to be implemented over the next few months. Some of the steps include re-striping badly faded travel lanes, painting directions for motorists to merge where a number of lanes on Masonic change, and painting 25mph on the street surfaces. The MTA has also proposed removing parking spaces and installing separated bike lanes, bike lanes that would be from either a raised curb or soft-hit posts. In addition to all of that, North of the Panhandle Neighborhood Association has officially endorsed, along with the SF Bike Coalition and the community grout Fix Masonic, the Boulevard Option for Masonic avenue, which proposes to turn Masonic Avenue into beautiful tree-lined, safe boulevard. The project would plant 200 trees along the boulevard, improve the sidewalks, paint bike lanes green, and create bulb-outs to allow safer and easier crossing at intersections for pedestrians.

These changes are much needed on Masonic, as the current layout of the street and the many vehicles that travel at high speeds make it frightening for pedestrians and cyclists. Because Masonic is flat and moves north to south between height and the Presidio, it is a main thoroughfare for many pedestrians and cyclists, all of whom should not have to worry about becoming another statistic. But that the worrying will be over soon, and we can all thank the consorted efforts of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and Fix Masonic for pushing the SF Municipal Transportation Agency to move ahead with plans aimed at calming one of the busiest and most dangerous streets in San Francisco. If you have suffered an injury while biking or walking in San Francisco, please contact our firm. We have over 10 years experience successfully settling claims for cyclists and pedestrians.

A 48-year-old Oakland man driving to Reno with his family was killed when he crashed and rolled over on eastbound interstate highway 80 in Albany yesterday morning, according to SFGate.com. The man was driving a white Ford Explorer when he suddenly veered to the left, overcorrected, and then lost control. The SUV rolled multiple times before coming to rest. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, while his wife had a broken leg and his children, ages 10 and 12, suffered minor to moderate injuries. The wife was on the phone of the time of the crash. She was talking to family members who were also heading up to Reno. The family members told the CHP that the line went dead and when they called back, there was no answer. When they did get through after a few minutes, they heard sirens and commotion. The CHP are not sure if he was distracted at the time of the crash. They did say, however, there was no indication that alcohol was a factor.

This story brings up an important and forgotten fact about SUV’s: they are not vehicles built for safety. What is more, people die just as often in SUV’s as they do in cars, and people who drive SUV’s are more likely to die in a rollover than someone in a car. The simple truth is that the biggest SUV’s doesn’t make you safer than if you were in a large car or minivan. SUV’s make people feel they are in control and in charge, but that is just an illusion. Even though many more safety features are being built into vehicles today, many can’t afford them. Perhaps some of the newer models are safer, but it is hard to know for sure, as we still don’t see car companies making SUV’s safe in all foreseeable types of crashes, especially rollovers. Here at the Brod Law Firm, we believe the real and only way for a consumer to stay safe is to be an informed consumer. If you or a loved one suffered an injury in a rollover crash, contact our firm for a free consultation. We have over 10 years experience representing clients involved in violent SUV rollovers and can help you receive the compensation you deserve.

A lawsuit has been filed in Alabama federal court over Freightliner heavy duty trucks manufactured by Daimler Trucks North America LLC, a division of Daimler AG. The Freightliner truck lawsuit is seeking class action status and alleges Daimler sold thousands of vehicles with defective rac-and-pinion steering systems. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. The lawsuit points out that Daimler has issued voluntary recalls of its rack-and-pinion steering systems. According to the recall notice the left hand inner tie rod may loosen over time and potentially separate from the steering rack under certain conditions, which could cause in the driver to lose control and potenially cause a catastrophic accident.

Here at thehttp://www.brodfirm.com Brod Law Firm we have safety advice for drivers when they approach commercial trucks during their everyday commute. Firstly, you should always be extra alert as you approach a large truck, as their blind spots are difficult to avoid. That being said, the following is a helpful tip for navigating a truck’s blind spot: If you can’t see a truck’s side mirrors, then that means the truck driver can’t see you. Also, you should never pass a truck on the same side it is signaling to turn. Trucks need to swing wide to negotiate turns safely, and the rear wheels follow a shorter path than the front wheels. As a result, you could get cought in the middle of the turn and collide with the truck. In addition, trucks require much more distance to stop in comparison to cars. Forcing a large vehicle to stop quickly can result in a fatal accident, so stay at a safe distance in front of trucks. And you should always use the proper procedure to pass a large truck or a bus on the highway--accelerate slightly and maintain a consistent speed while passing, and wait until you can see the entire cab in your rear-view mirror before signaling and pulling in front of it. Lastly, never attempt to cut off a truck in traffic or on the highway to reach your exit or turn.

If you of loved one suffered an injury due to a collision with a commercial truck, contact our office for a free consultation. We have over 10 years experience helping victims of serious traffic accidents get the compensation they deserve.

According to almanacnews.com, fifty five drivers have been officially encouraged to think before using a handheld cell phone while driving. The Menlo Park Police Department issued citations to distracted drivers as they were driving through Menlo Park on April 4th and 5th —48 were cited for talking on a handheld phone while driving and 7 for texting while driving. In Atherton, the police department issued two citations for talking on the phone, and the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office issued 22 citations for talking on the phone and 2 tor texting. It turns out, traffic patrols throughout California have designated April as the “zero tolerance” month for distracted driving. The other two remaining days of crackdown are April 14th and 28th. Citations will cost drivers a minimum of $159 for the first time and $279 for subsequent violations. Drives who used a hand-held cell phone or device quadruple their risk of an accident serious enough to injure someone, according to studies that claim this behavior has a severe affect on reaction time, the same reaction time as drunken driving.

According to distraction.gov, distracted driving is any non-driving activity a person engages in that has the potential to distract them from the primary task of driving and increase the risk of crashing. There are three types of distracted driving:
• Visual—taking your eyes off the road;
• Manual—taking your hands off the wheel;
• Cognitive—taking your mind off what you’re doing.
In 2009, 5,474 were killed and 448,000 were in injured in crashes involving driver distraction.
Distracted driving comes in many forms, such as cell phone use, texting, eating, drinking, talking with passengers, and the use of electronic devices. There are less obvious, and much more difficult to prove, forms of driving distraction, such as daydreaming or dealing with uncontrolled emotions. If you or a loved one suffered an injury by a distracted driver, please contact our firm. We have over 10 years experience handling personal injury claim and will fight to get you the compensation you deserve.

According to SFWeekly, a speeding driver suffering from a bout of road rage beat a woman and her boyfriend walking through the Excelsior neighborhood earlier this week. Early that morning, the couple was walking across the street at Persia Avenue and Madrid Street when a driver speeding in a green car sped passed them. The woman looked at the driver and yelled out “whoa.” Then the driver made a U-turn, stopped the car, got out, and started beating the woman. The passenger of the car also jumped in on the attack and began punching the woman. The victim’s boyfriend tried to help her, but the men punched him and broke his nose. Both suspects got back into the car and sped off. But the best part of the story is what happened next, an incident of sweet justice that underlines the fact that many criminals are not so smart: one of the men left his driver’s license and DMV papers on the street where the beating occurred. Amazingly, at that moment, the couple still had their wits about them, and they were able to grab the papers and call the police, who were able to broadcast the name of one of the suspects. Both men were quickly found and arrested. The cops described the incident as “the best arrest of the day.”

The inability to handle anger, and/or deflect it, is usually the major factor behind road rage. More often than not, the typical road rager may be violent in other parts of his or her life, and exhibit one or all of the following personality traits—selfish, addicted to power, angry, and vindictive. But sometimes just the tension of a daily commute can turn a normally calm person into a road rager. Whatever the case may be, it is obvious that there is a need for anger management on the roads so that fewer drivers and pedestrians are victimized. Here at the Brod Law Firm, we heard many stories of car accidents that were either the direct or indirect result of road rage. If you or loved one suffered an injury due to a car accident, contact our firm for a free consultation today.

According sfexaminer.com, Presidio Boulevard was closed Tuesday afternoon after an SUV struck and severely injured a pedestrian. The elderly driver says he wasn’t paying attention when he struck a woman in the crosswalk at the intersection of Park Presidio and Anza Street around 2:30pm. Officer Eric Chiang said that a 92-year-old driver in an SUV was attempting to make a left turn from Anza boulevard to Park Presidio to head south when he struck the pedestrian. The injured woman is estimated to be in her 50s, and her injuries are life-threatening.
A report put out by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) underlines the fact that many collisions occur, like in the case above, due to driver inattention, meaning the driver looked away from the forward roadway. Driver inattention is broadly defined as any point in time that a driver engages in a secondary task, exhibits symptoms of moderate to severe drowsiness, or looks away from the forward roadway. The categories of driver inattention are operationally defined as follows:
Secondary task distraction—driver behavior that diverts the driver’s attention away from the driving task. This may include talking/listening to hand-held device, eating, talking to a passenger, etc.
Driving–related inattention to the forward roadway—driver behavior that is directly related to the driving task but diverts driver’s attention away from the forward field of view. This includes reductionist observing drivers checking the speedometer, checking blind spots, observing adjacent traffic prior to or during a lane change looking for a parking spot, and checking mirrors.
Drowsiness—driver behavior that includes eye closures, minimal body/eye movements, and repeated yawning.
Non-specific eyeglance away from the forward roadway—driver behavior that includes a moment when the driver glances, usually momentarily, away from the roadway, but at no discernable object, person, or unknown location.
Here at the Brod Law Firm we have over 10 years experience helping people who were injured due to driver inattention. If you or a loved one suffered an injury due to driver inattention or have questions regarding a potential claim, please contact our firm.

A week ago today a 57-year-old man from Pacifica was killed when a driver who was speeding and running multiple red lights plowed into his car on Geary Boulevard on Thursday, according sfexaminer.com. Leonid Stoliarov died on impact around 2:15 a.m. at the intersection of Arguello Boulevard. Frank Mabry, 31, of Walnut Creek was arrested in the crash. He was booked on Felony vehicular manslaughter, misdemeanor speeding, misdemeanor unlicensed driving and two counts of running a red light. According to reports, witnesses to the accident, including a Muni driver, rushed to the victim’s assistance but were unable to revive him. Before the collision, witnesses saw the driver speeding eastbound on Geary Boulevard in an Audi. He ran multiple red lights, including one at the intersection of Arguello Boulevard. The victim’s car was t-boned on the driver’s side as it crossed Arguello. Police are trying to determine whether Mabry was drunk or on drugs at the time of the accident.

Sadly, driving under the influence of alcohol has become one of the common features and causes of accidents today. According to the NHTSA, alcohol related motor vehicle accidents kill someone every 31 minutes and injure someone every two minutes in US alone. Each year, crashes related to alcohol ingestion in the United States cost about $73 billion. The ratio of lethal accidents in that are alcohol-related is roughly four times greater at night than during the day. Any driver who likes to drink should keep in mind the legal limit is .10% and that the effect of alcohol absorption is gradual and depends upon the rate at which one becomes drunk. What is more, if a person drinks faster than the alcohol can be eliminated, the more it accumulates in the body, which results n higher and increased levels of alcohol in the blood. In other words, it doesn’t take a lot of alcohol or time for a person to become intoxicated.
If you or a loved one suffered an injury due to an accident caused by a driver who was under the influence, feel free to contact our office today for a free consultation. We have the expertise and astute legal skills to get you the compensation you deserve.

Today, ktvu.com reported that the return of rain to the Bay Area yesterday kicked off a week of projected stormy weather with problems on roads across the region, particularly in Sonoma County where the California Highway Patrol responded to dozens of accidents. One CHP officer described the driving conditions as “crazy” as he explained how officers raced from one emergency call to the next all day yesterday. They responded to more than 40 crashes across Sonoma County during yesterday’s storm. One of the worst accidents left two people seriously hurt in a head-on crash on highway 121, and the CHP shut down the highway for about an hour while the wreckage was cleared. The CHP attribute the combination of rain and high speed as the cause of the accidents, as well as the fact that people forget they need to slow down and give extra space between them and the car in front of them when it rains. In fact, one driver, a 16-year-old girl-landed in a creek on Bodega Highway and suffered minor injuries. Another driver, a 70-year-old man, suffered minor injurs after he crossed into oncoming traffic and collided with another car on state Highway 116. The driver, who was allegedly under the influence of prescription medication was arrested on suspicion of DUI. Yet another driver escaped injury after his Toyota rolled over and landed on its top.

It is true that motorists have a dont's feel safe while in the rain and wind and seem to be out of control while driving in a storm. Gusty winds and rain do make driving tricky—wind causes drivers to feel they have less control over their steering and rain causes motorists to hydroplain—and both circumstances create a greater risk for accidents. Motorists better get used to hazardous driving conditions, though, as meteorologists have projected a couple of wet weeks for the Bay Area, as a string of cold winter storms coming through the Gulf of Alaska are heading for Northern California. The strongest system will move through the area today.

If you or a loved suffered an injury due to an car accident on wet Bay Area roads, please contact our office for a free consultation. We have over 10 years experience working with victims of car accidents, and we are happy to answer any questions you may have regarding a claim.

According to SFAppeal.com, six people were injured at around 2am on Sunday Morning after a taxi cab and limousine collided in an intersection near Nob Hill. After they collided, the limousine struck and shattered the bottom sleeve of a nearby light post. Two pedestrians were hit with the debris. Four victims were transported to San Francisco General Hospital and two victims were transported to St. Francisco Memorial Hospital—all were diagnosed with non-life threatening injuries. At the moment, it is unknown how many of the victims were passengers, drivers or pedestrians. Witnesses have reported that the collision may have been the result of one of the vehicles running a red light.

Sadly, accidents like this are not surprising. Taxi drivers in san Francisco are notorious for driving over the speed limit, pushing the time allowed to cross at a yellow light, changing lanes without checking over their shoulder—and generally placing passengers in danger. On the flip side of that is the unfortunate fact that passengers don’t always think top buckle up, nor are they encouraged by drivers to do so. The combination of all these factors makes for a disaster in waiting.

Despite taxi driver reputation, San Francisco taxi companies are common carriers, which means they are under obligation to provide a certain standard of care, what is referred to as “the highest duty of care.” As a passenger, you want any taxi you use to abide by this and adhere to this standard, since any time you get into a taxi, or any motorvehicle, there is the potential for an accident to happen. Taxis must be in safe and in good working order, and seat belts must properly function. Drivers of taxis must be familiar with city streets, obey all speed limits, and comply with right of way and traffic light rules. As for limousines, most people don’t know that limousines are not officially licensed taxis. They may or may not have insurance. You can tell when a limo is licensed and compliant with Public Utilities Commission Insurance requirements, as they will have a “TCP” number on the front and rear bumpers.

The most important thing to do after a taxi cab or limousine accident is to not sign anything, as you may be tricked into signing release of liability. If you or a loved one suffered an injury due taxi driver negligence, contact our firm and have our attorney look over your documents. We have over 10 years experience helping victims of taxi cab accidents, and we can help you receive the compensation you deserve.

According to the LA Times, a federal judge has ruled that he will permit Toyota owners of Toyota Motor Corporation vehicles to proceed with a class action lawsuit that alleges the issue with unintended acceleration resulted in a drop in car value. The attorneys for Toyota requested that the U.S. District judge, Judge James Selna, dismiss the case, arguing that attorneys for the plaintiff group were not able to isolate a defect in the vehicles, which means, essentially, that there is no case. In his tentative ruling, however, Judge Selna did not agree and allowed the case to go forward. Toyota has issued the following statement in response to the ruling: “Importantly, today’s hearing did not address the merits of Plaintiffs’ allegations and did not consider any evidence…At this early stage, this analysis by the Court requires a basic assumption that the plaintiffs’ allegations are true, even though they are unproven. The burden is now squarely on plaintiffs’ counsel to prove their allegations an Toyota is confident that no such proof exists.”

Even though Toyota is claiming they are innocent, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it is likely that Toyota vehicles have been involved in about 90 deaths linked to unintended acceleration crashes since 2000. Since last November, Toyota has recalled many millions of vehicles worldwide over floor-mat interference and sticking pedal problems that may lead to incidents of unintended acceleration. Some vehicles are subject to both recalls. Also, they are being sued by Allstate Insurance Co. over the millions of dollars paid in claims that have to do with accidents involving unintended acceleration. What is more, Toyota has just settled a lawsuit with the relatives of California Highway Patrol trooper Mark Saylor and his three family members, all of whom were killed in an accident involving unintended acceleration.

If you need help filing a claim involving defective Toyota vehicles or want to know if you have grounds to file a claim, please contact our office today. Here at the Brod Law Firm, we have over 10 years experience helping victims of car accidents receive the compensation they deserve.

Transportation for America writes: America’s transportation system is half a century behind-causing unnecessary pollution, expense, and congestion. We need our leaders to invest in public transportation, high-speed passenger rail, streets safe for biking and walking, maintaining our roads and transit systems, and green innovation. Here at the Brod Law Firm we wonder if the above listed things will come true or if we as a species will ever evolve past the automobile. Nevertheless, we face huge challenges-- considering the fact that the majority of the House does not fully support alternative transportation, clean energy, and protecting the environment (most experts predict a two year gridlock), and the fact that Americans love their cars. The following is just one, though there are many, good argument to pose to anyone against working toward alternative transportation.
According to the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey, in 2008 U.S. motorists spent on average approximately $2,700 per vehicle on ownership expenses (purchases, registration, insurance, etc.) and $1,400 on fuel and oil, and about $4,100 in total.That year, governments spent $181 billion to build and maintain roadways, or about $730 annually per registered motor vehicle. Less than half of these roadway expenses are paid by motor vehicle user fees, the rest are borne through general taxes.

Needless to say it looks like it is up to individual citizens to do their part to effect change, such as using their cars less, walking or riding bicycles more and pressuring policy makers to invest in change. If you do choose an alternative form of transportation, don’t forget to stay safe whether you decide on cycling, walking or taking public transportation. Speaking of cycling, we would like to remind cyclists about, what some consider to be, their #1 enemy: the car door. As reported in NYT, cyclists sometimes call it “the door prize,” or simply being “doored.” In addition they report that a compilation of episodes in which drivers opened the doors of their parked vehicles into the path of oncoming cyclist can be found on BicycleSafe.com, which includes details of cases from places as diverse as India, Canada, Chicago, New Orleans and San Francisco. Such collisions can seriously injury, even kill cyclists. Any cyclist who has been “doored” should contact a bicycle injury attorney. Our firm specializes in these kinds of cases and has over 10 years experience fighting for the rights of cyclists.

This past week-end two women were killed and the driver was seriously injured in a single-vehicle crash on U. S. Highway 101 near Blossom Hill Road in San Jose. According to the San Jose Mercury News, the two women were riding in an Infinity sedan early Saturday when the vehicle went across two lanes of the southbound portion of the highway, then slammed into several trees. It was estimated that the driver was traveling 70 mph when he changed lanes and went off the highway. All three victims were determined to be from Fresno.

Here at the Brod Law Firm we wonder if the accident the result of an error of judgment or simply bad driving? Or was there a hazardous road condition? If there was such a condition that caused or contributed to the accident, the city or governmental agency responsible for maintaining that particular roadway could be held liable. California has statute of limitations which may prevent the victim from filing a claim against a governmental agency if too much time has passed. Still, however, many questions remain. Whatever the cause of the accident many be, it would be in the victim’s and the families’ of victims best interest to contact an experienced personal injury lawyer, one who can analyze all the particulars and hire independent experts in accident reconstruction to establish of this tragic accident and ensure they receive the justice and compensation they deserve.

In the matter of a filing a wrongful claim involving a car accident, there are a special factors that an attorney must consider. First, these kinds of accidents are caused by someone else who acted negligently, usually through bad driving. In some claims this will mean the auto maker designed the vehicle poorly. Second, there must be adequate insurance or assets to provide the basis of recoverable legal claim. Sometimes, fatal car accidents that are the result of bad driving are uncompensated because there is no money to compensate a victim’s family, as many cars are under insured with small policies. An experienced attorney will how and where to look for available monies and assets by using investigators and asset searches.
If you or someone you love was in a serious accident and have questions regarding personal injury law, please call our office. We have over 10 years experience fighting for the victims of both serious and fatal car accidents, and we know how to win.

Did you know an employer could be held liable for its own negligence in failing to adequately warn employees about the risks of use of electronic devices while driving or failing to take other measures to reduce those risks? Put another way, there is the potential for an employer to be held vicariously liable for employees who use a cell phone the employer provided and not prohibited from using while driving. During the recent past, companies have been forced to settle costly cases arising from such circumstances. Consequently, issues of safety and liability regarding employers not having policies in place that ban the use of electronic devices while driving are becoming harder to ignore. As such, employers need to create and incorporate new policies into their everyday operations.

For these reasons, and because the leading cause of worker fatalities year after year is motor vehicle accidents, the United States Department of Transportation (DOT), in conjunction with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration(OSHA), has increased efforts to encourage employers to enact safety policies prohibiting employees from using electronic devices while driving. This initiative conicides with President Obama's Oct. 1, 2009, Executive Order that bars federal employees from texting while operating government owned vehicles. In addition, the DOT earlier this year announced, under the Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1984, a ban on texting by drivers of commercial vehicles. Approximately 30 states have existing laws to prevent some drivers from using cell phones or text messaging while driving. However, some states have laws that target only a segment of drivers, such as teenagers or those with learner's permits.

Speaking of teenagers, another bit of good news regarding their safety on the roads, as well as those who share the road with them, was reported yesterday. According the Associated Press, fatal car crashes involving teen drivers fell by about a third over five years. The CDC says that the number of deaths tied to these accidents has fallen from about 2,200 in 2004 to 1,400 in 2008. The CDC credits the drop in accidents to a range of factors, such as safer cars with air bags and highway improvements. The main reason, however, is credited to the fact that most states are getting tougher by tightening restrictions on when teens can drive and when they can carry passengers.
If you have questions regarding liablity and car accidents, or if you or a loved one were injured in a car accident and need legal representation, please call our firm.

Spride, a provider of personal vehicle sharing services, and City CarShare, a Bay Area nonprofit car sharing organization have announced the availability of the first personal vehicle share program within a car sharing fleet. The new Spride Share pilot program enables car owners to loan their vehicles to members of City CarShare, which has more than 13,000 members, by equipping their cars with City CarShare’s access and tracking technology. The launch of the program is directly related to Assembly Bil 1871, a bill that Governor Schwarzenegger recently signed into law. The new law establishes that personal vehicle sharing does not constitute a commercial use of the automobile, eliminating the primary barrier to broad adoption of personal car sharing opportunities. Prior to the law, car owners ran the risk of losing their personal auto insurance if they received compensation for sharing their cars.

Now car owners can make their cars available for hourly reservations, and members can conveniently locate, reserve, and gain access to a car using their phone. What is more, car owners can make money by sharing something they already own, while the cost for borrowers is only about $7 dollars an hour. Because choosing reliable transportation in the bay area is always a challenge, car sharing may prove to be bay area resident’s greatest option. The program allows residents to collectively share the responsibility of reducing carbon emissions and eliminating some of the hassle their daily commuting routines, and it may just make commuters feel less harried and frantic, which may, in turn, lead to fewer accidents. Here at the Brod Law Firm we believe the creation of such program proves that citizens can band together to make up for the failures of public transportation, and the dissatisfaction and burden many people feel owning a car.

German scientists have unveiled a self-driving car. They say that the days of humans behind the wheel are numbered, that the cars of today are the horses of yesterday, and that this new technology can slash accidents and help the environment. In addition they claim this new technology will sharply reduce the number of cars on the road, suggesting that people will no longer need their own vehicles so much and will used driverless cars pooled in car-share schemes, instead. They predict that the new technology could be applied to private areas like airports in 10 years, on motorways in 10-20 years, and in cities (once all the obstacles are removed) in 23-30 years. The cars, called the “Made in Germany (MIG), use cameras, laser scanners, heat sensors and satellite navigation to see other vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians, and respond to traffic lights.
Google engineers have recently introduced their own driverless car that uses artificial-intelligence software that can sense anything near the car and mimic the decisions made by a human driver. So far seven test cars have driven 1,000 miles without human intervention, although someone was behind the wheel in case something went awry, and more than 140,000 miles with only occasional human control. Google’s researchers do not have a clear plan on how to create a business plan using the cars, but the project's inventor, 43 year old director of Stanford Artificial Intelligence laboratory, Google engineer, and co-inventor of the Street View mapping service, is a passionate promoters of the use of robotic vehicles to make highways safer and lower the nation’s energy costs, which also happens to be a commitment shared by Google’s co-founder Larry Page.
Here at the Brod Law Firm we think these cars are a great idea in regards to public safety. For example a human can only see one or two cars in front of them, while these driverless cars can see in all directions at a range of 70 yards. At the same time however, it still remains to be seen how reliable they will turn out to be. Also this technology brings up legal questions. Current law currently states that a human must be in control of a car at all times. So what does it mean if a human is not really driving the car, say, when the car malfunctions and gets into an accident? Google researchers claim to have figured that one out; they say they have carefully examined California’s motor vehicle regulations and determined that because a human driver can override any error, the experimental cars are legal.

In 2007, very near Thanksgiving Day, an Illinois State trooper was driving over 100 miles per hour, responding to an accident. The former officer, Matt Mitchell, was reportedly talking on his cell phone to his girlfriend, and sending e-mails on the police car computer, while driving at outrageous speeds. It was estimated that Mitchell was driving approximately 126 miles per hour, and drove across the highway median, where he ran into an oncoming vehicle, and killed two, teenage sisters, aged 18 and 13. The police officer, who pled guilty in criminal court, but did not serve any jail time, has now denied any fault or responsibility in the civil action. In fact, the former police officer has applied for workers compensation benefits to receive payment for injuries he suffered as a result of the crash in which he killed two innocent girls.

Police officers and other law enforcement personnel are not above the law, and must be mindful of the safety of the general public, who they are sworn to serve and protect. In the horrible tragedy in Illinois, the accident that the former police officer was heading towards at the time of the crash, had already been responded to. Undoubtedly, the Illinois State Police are ashamed by this incident, which should have been avoided, and could have been prevented. Ideally, law enforcement agencies around the country will learn from incidents like this, and properly train their police officers to respect the safety of the public when in pursuit, or when responding to an emergency.

At the Brod Law Firm, we fight for people who have been injured due to the fault of others, including police officers driving in a high speed chase, in pursuit, or in response to an emergency. To learn more, please contact us at info@brodfirm.com.

According to newsinferno.com, Toyota is recalling some 1.13 million Corolla and Matrix cars for a flaw that U.S. regulators say may cause stalling at any speed without warning. This is a setback for the company as they try to regain their reputation for quality and reliability. Toyota is recalling the vehicles for the model years 2005-2008 in the U.S. and Canada following three reported accidents linked to the defect. The action raises new questions about Toyota’s electronics and adds to their recall list from the past year, which included more than 8 million vehicles worldwide for flaws related to unintended acceleration. Toyota tested 32 of the engine components and found four had cracking after thermal-shocking tests. Consequently, Toyota has concluded that this problem would likely continue to occur, and has decided to conduct a voluntary safety recall of all vehicles within the affected range. The recall also covers General Motors’s Pontiac Vibe hatchbacks, which were manufactured in a GM- Toyota venture in California. Toyota will repair the cars at no cost to owners and will reimburse those who had repairs done at their own cost.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has called for an investigation of possible electronics-related defects in Toyota vehicles. Earlier this year Toyota agreed to pay a record $16.375 million fine levied by the NHTSA for concealing information related to a January recall of 2.3 million vehicles for sticky accelerator pedals. This is in addition to the over 200 lawsuits Toyota faces in the US alone over accidents, decreased resale values, and stock drops. Consumer advocates and plaintiff’s attorneys have alleged that Toyota’s electronic control systems have played a major role in the defects that have lead to accidents and injuries. It looks like Toyota is losing their once-deserved rock solid reputation. If you are concerned about your car you visit Toyota.com/recall and review the list of current recalls. Also, if you or a loved one has been injured due to negligence of a car manufacturer, please call the Brod Law Firm.

With so many people in the Bay Area commuting to and from jobs in every part of the area, there is really no longer any typical or even “reverse” commute. Many people commute via car, however in some places, including the City of San Francisco, people commute on bicycle, scooter, motorcycle, and even skateboard. Hazards for drivers, particularly in San Francisco, are plenty, as there are several devices that can power people at a relatively high speed without the visibility of the mass of another vehicle. This is one of many reasons why it’s so important to drive, ride, or walk defensively. In most instances, one really needs to expect a driver who is not paying attention, particularly with cell phones, text messaging, and other distractions. Keep aware and keep safe.

At the Brod Law Firm, we have been advocating on behalf of injured cyclists for over ten years, and have helped clients who have suffered minor injuries to catastrophic injuries. If you or a loved one has been injured by the fault of someone else, please contact us for a free consultation.

Last night, on July 22, 2010, a Greyhound bus heading from Los Angeles to Sacramento hit an overturned SUV, killing six people, including three passengers in the SUV, and injuring many more. The CHP (California Highway Patrol) has not determined what caused the SUV, a Chevy Trailblazer, to turn over, and it is unclear as to whether or not the headlights were on, which would have affected the Greyhound bus driver’s ability to see it.

There were more than 30 people on the bus, which was not equipped with seatbelts for its passengers. California Vehicle Code Section 23715 requires taxicabs to install seatbelts in their vehicles, which addresses the policy to reduce highway deaths and injuries by encouraging the use of seatbelts. While the cause of this tragedy has yet to be determined, if the Greyhound bus involved had seatbelts available to its passengers, the number of serious injuries, and possibly some fatalities, would almost certainly have been reduced.

If you or a member of your family has been involved in a bus accident or a vehicle rollover, please call the Brod Law Firm, P.C. for a free consultation.

There are multiple California Vehicle Code sections that impose responsibilities on drivers of automobiles with respect to bicyclists. For example, California Vehicle Code § 22107 states: “No person shall turn a vehicle from a direct course or move right or left upon a roadway until such movement can be made with reasonable safety and then only after the giving of an appropriate signal in the manner provided in this chapter in the event any other vehicle may be affected by the movement.” In addition, California Vehicle Code § 21801(a) states: “The driver of a vehicle intending to turn to the left or to complete a U-turn upon a highway, or to turn left into public or private property, or an alley, shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles approaching from the opposite direction (emphasis added) which are close enough to constitute a hazard at any time during the turning movement, and shall continue to yield the right-of-way to the approaching vehicles until the left turn or U-turn can be made with reasonable safety.” Finally, though persons riding bicycles are not defined as “pedestrians” under the Vehicle Code, Vehicle Code § 21950(a) requires a driver of a vehicle to yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within any marked or unmarked crosswalk.

While the laws designed to protect cyclists may govern the fault and responsibility of a driver of a car or truck after an accident, they cannot, however, protect you as a cyclist. That’s why it is important to be as aware of the cars and trucks around you as possible, and to ride defensively. Assume that drivers do not see you, and always wear a helmet. In the event you’re involved in an accident with a car or truck, or even doored, ensure the local police are called so they can document what happened, take witness statements, and get the insurance information of the driver. The most important thing to do after an accident with a car or truck is to monitor your body and seek proper medical treatment for anything that’s bothering you. You should consult an attorney prior to speaking with the insurance company of the driver involved in your accident, though your health, not your legal case or claim for damages, is the most important thing.

At the Brod Law Firm, we have been advocating on behalf of injured cyclists for over ten years, and have helped clients who have suffered minor injuries to catastrophic injuries. If you or a loved one has been injured by the fault of someone else, please contact us for a free consultation.

This week the Bay Area has been slammed by a series of storms that are sweeping across California. Here at the Brod Law Firm, we have been wondering how drivers and cyclists are coping out there in the rain and wind. On their own bicycling and driving are innately dangerous – if you combine those with a storm and roads full of traffic, you have a recipe for injury accidents. We have helped many clients who have been injured while driving in hazardous conditions, and we have simple advice for both cars drivers and cyclist when it is raining: Keep your speed down, keep your distance, and drive defensively. At the same time, however, since cars are bigger and faster than bicycles and can turn into deadly weapens during wet weather, we do have more specific tips for drivers on how to drive in the rain.

On rainy days, you should remember that even a light layer of moisture on the roadway can cause a vehicle to hydroplane. And if you find yourself hydroplaning don't stomp of the brakes. This could send you into a spin. It is better to ease off the brakes and into a spin. If you drive through a puddle, or a series of puddles, you should gently tap your brake pedal. It is probably a good idea to tap the brakes several times until they respond safely and adequately. Tapping the breaks helps squeeze out any accumulated water that has built up in your braking system .
It is also important for you to slow your vehicle to match the speed of the majority of other vehicles on the roadway and drive on the outside lane, if possible. If it hasn't rained for a while, you should be extra careful. A lot of oils are excreted on to and into the road surface from trucks, cars, vans and motorcycles. This oil builds up and becomes very greasy and slick when it rains. You should also make sure no one is driving too fast from behind; if you see someone much faster than you, lightly tap your brakes a few times as a signal that you are going slower. But remember, if you are going a lot slower than the majority of the traffic, you may be rear-ended by a careless or distraced driver.
You should always plan ahead and make sure you have plenty of time to get to your destination. Keep in mind road conditions and choose alternative routes so you don't need to rush around in the rain. If the rain is coming down hard while you are driving, and the road is not visible to you, you might need to pull over until the weather lightens up-- be sure you pull far enough off the road so others who continue to drive will not hit you. Leave your flashers on and every few minutes tap your brakes so others will see your taillights. And never forget: that even if you doeverything right, not everyone drives safely or pays attention.

A horrible motor vehicle accident in May of 2007 changed the life of a young man, forever, requiring him to need permanent and constant medical attention. A Santa Clara jury found that two truck drivers were responsible for the accident, one of whom was talking on his cell phone at the time of the accident. The truck driver who the jury found to be 60 percent at fault, denied causing the accident, and even denied contributing to the cause of the accident. The jury awarded more than $49 million in damages.

The failure to take responsibility for an accident is perhaps one of the most overlooked reasons why the California courts are bogged down with cases. While the proponents of “tort reform”, mostly backed by insurance companies, blame California juries for large verdicts, little is heard about jury verdicts, large or otherwise, occurring in the face of a total failure to assume responsibility. Often, it is not the wrongdoer, or even their attorney, who make the decision to force an injured person to go through a trial in court to have justice served, but the defendant’s insurance company. The insurance industry spends a great deal of money to ensure that everyone is familiar with the term “frivolous lawsuits”, but rarely are cases where a “frivolous defense” is raised, brought to the public’s attention. Cases like the one in Santa Clara County should send a message to insurance companies and to those responsible for causing injuries to others. Don’t think your conduct can cause serious injury to someone and get away with it in Santa Clara County.

Apropos my last blog, there are two other projects underway in the City of San Francisco that focus on the safety and well-being of both its residents and visitors. One project, adopted by the Board of Supervisors on February 6, 2006 and appropriately called Better Streets, is a joint effort by several city agencies to improve the design of San Francisco's streets and sidewalks and was. Since that time, Better Streets has created a collection of street types which are a great improvement over our current automobile-centered street scheme and focus on the appropriate use of land (i.e. residential, commercial and industrial), the efficiency of street width and the street's role in the transportation system. The highlights and benefits that stand out most to us here at the Brod Law Firm are the ones that focus on safety, though there are many others--such as its support of neighborliness, civic interaction , community identity, and the enhancement of the quality of life for San Francisco’s residents and local businesses—and they are:
• The Design of sidewalks and medians, pedestrian safety and accessibility features, ways to mange storm water in the right-of –way, design and placement of streetscape elements such as street trees, lighting ,benches, and more
• Decreased likelihood of pedestrian/auto collisions injuries and fatalities
• Increased accessibility for all street users, create settings that make it safe and easy to be physically active and enhance the everyday quality of life for San Francisco Residents.
• Increased Space for public life, including safe useable public seating for neighborhood gathering, generous curb extensions for seating and landscaping , reclaiming of excess street space for public use, space for outdoor café and restaurant seating and merchant displays.
• The Integration of pedestrians with transit and available transit rider amenities at key stops.
• Safe convenient pedestrian routes to transit mutual features that benefit pedestrian safety and comfort and transit operations such as bus bulb outs and boarding islands.
• The promotion of public safety, an ‘eyes on the street ‘ approach that will enhance residents sense of safety and security from crime and violence.

The other project called the Valencia Streetscape Improvements Project spans from 15th Street to 19th Street and is intended to provide a safer, more inviting environment for its users. Back in 2004, the Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) secured an Environmental Justice Grant from Caltrans to develop a Pedestrian Safety Plan for Valencia Street. The MTA held four meeting in 2004-2005 in the community, whereby the community expressed a strong desire to widen the sidewalks along Valencia Street and improve the streetscape. Then in spring 2006, MTA Planning and the Department of Public Work’s (CPW) Great Streets Program teamed up to create a collaborative vision for all users of Valencia Street. Eventually the project secured funding through a multi-year federal transportation bill, two federal Transportation for Livable Communities (TLC) grants and local support. Last month the project began and will move block by block over the next nine months, during which time the Department of Public Works crews will: remove the striped center median, widen the sidewalk, add bulb-outs at some intersections and in the middle of some blocks, and add pedestrian scale lighting, art elements, bike racks (assuming the injunction mentioned in my last blog is lifted), and new street trees, widen Parking lanes to prevent dooring of bicyclists, and add curbside loading zones for trucks.
As we move into the future, a future concerned with global and environmental issues, we consider all these changes to our city’s streets—especially those concerned with safety-- critical not only for our city but for the all communities everywhere that want to create sustainable living environments . By redesigning our city around public transportation and creating walkable and bikeable streets, we can change our city into a safe, healthy, livable and affordable one, thereby providing an example to other cities here and around the globe interested in doing the same.

Recently, friends from Europe stayed with me and my family. During their time here they spent their days touring San Francisco by bicycle. I asked them if they felt San Francisco was as bike friendly city as most European cities. They said that they felt drivers were really aware of bicyclists and looked out for them. But they felt that bus drivers were not very considerate, if not hostile, toward bicyclists. I explained how cyclists have fought hard, with the help of the San Francisco Bike Coalition (SFBC), educating motorists as well as buses on being both cautious and vigilant as they share the road with cyclists. At the same time, I also explained how some bicyclists seem to have less interest in following the vehicle rules of the road and believe that red lights and stop signs are meant only for motorists. My friends agreed with me when I pointed out that there is a victim attitude among some bicyclists who feel --because buses are bigger, and can kill bicyclist, and most streets are not designed for bikes-- that they are at a disadvantage on the road and should make their own rules. Bus drivers who encounter bicyclists with the victim attitude usually end up developing the same victim mentality and, as a consequence, ignore the safety of all cyclists. One might think there may never be a middle ground for bus drivers and bicyclists. Every story has at least two sides, though. The bottom line is this: If either bicyclists or bus drivers make their own rules on the road, that can, and usually does, lead to dangerous situations. But buses and bicyclists can coexist as long as bus drivers and motorists act professionally and bicyclists follow the rules of the road. Each year there are more bicyclists on the road, and everyone on the roads would follow the laws of the road, as well as use a little courtesy, our streets will be far less dangerous.
Since cyclists will be increasingly populating the roads and asking for more space in the years to come, we need, now, more than ever, the creation education campaigns that foster safety and respect among cyclists as well as bike network improvement projects that keep our city streets a safe place for all. There is good news. The SFBC has spent years planning and appearing at public hearings in an effort to get the city to implement improvements for cyclists and motorists on the road called the SF Bike Plan. This summer, 3 years after a lawsuit and injunction that barred any improvements and the city’s Bike Plan, the SFBC is celebrating their biggest victory: on June 26th, 2009 the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency voted to adopt their bicycle plan. Once the injunction is lifted, the vote gives a green light for 45 new bike lanes throughout the city. The plan also includes the implementation of on-street bike parking corrals, experimental colored pavement treatments and thousands of new bike racks. Another bit a good news for the SFBC is Mayor Gavin Newsom’s recent announcement that he will implementing a package of trial improvements to market street beginning September 29th, modeled on Projects for Public Spaces –which is in partnership San Francisco Great Streets Project and SFBC. As we collectively move forward during these planned changes, go safely and considerately out there, people!

With unemployment on the rise and the current economic downturn expected to stay with us in the New Year, there has been little to look forward to in 2009. However, there are several laws which will take effect on January 1st, laws that will protect workers, consumers and the environment and improve public safety and health access. Here in San Francisco, there will be some positive changes specific to the safety of our community. On January 1, fines will double for traffic violations on 19th and Van Ness Avenues—two of the busiest and most dangerous streets in San Francisco. Tickets will range from $137.00, for speeding, and $2, 750, for reckless driving. The San Francisco Chronicle recently reported each avenue, between 2003 and 2007, was the site of more than 500 collisions, a dozen of which involved pedestrians. And according to the examiner.com, 19th Avenue has been dubbed a death trap for walkers, serving 85,000 vehicles and 80,000 pedestrians each day, while Van Ness Avenue serves about 80,000 commuters each day. As part of his signing this bill, Schwarzenegger has pledged that public safety is his top priority, pointing out how critical it is to ensure the safety of everyone on our roadways. Here at the Brod Law Firm, we believe these new penalties will encourage drivers to pay attention and slow down, which should, in turn, begin to put an end to the loss of innocent lives. For we have seen enough wrongful death, car accident and motorcycle accident suits-- which have been the result of careless driving on these two roads-- not to take note of the importance of this new, and long overdue, law.

When we came across the headline "Escondido Boy Dies In Highway 78 Accident," it gave us a moment for pause. Here at the Brod Law Firm, we never like to read about anyone dying for any reason, but we especially don’t like to read about children dying in tragic car accidents such as this one. On Saturday, July 12th around 4:20pm an 8 year old boy was traveling with his family west on Highway 78 when the tragedy occurred. According to Highway Patrol Officer Brad Denham, the boy’s Grandmother was driving when one of the tires blew out, causing them to veer off the freeway and crash through a chain- link fence that bordered the off-ramp. Sadly, the boy was ejected from the back seat and was rushed to Tri City Medical Center, where attempts were made to keep him alive, but he died that same evening. His family suffered minor injuries.

After reading such a story, we don’t have enough factual information to make any conclusions regarding fault. All we can do is speculate. What we do know for sure, however, is that there was a tire blow out. We can ponder over whether or not hazardous road conditions led to the accident or if the tires on the car were defective or poorly maintained. The sad truth is, though, sometimes blow outs happen even if tires are not defective or properly maintained and road conditions are safe. We hope the victims of this accident focus less on finding the answers to these questions and more on finding the strength and resources to cope with their loss. Regardless of why the tire blew out, this story brings to mind the importance of tire maintenance. Even if you are a safe driver, there are some instances where the proper maintenance of your tires can save your life. According tiresafety.com there are few simple safety tips you can follow regarding maintenance of your tires, that don’t require much time, and they are:

• Look for the manufacturer’s recommended air pressure located on the door jamb of your vehicle, and always check your air pressure to make sure it is up to standards, especially if you are carrying extra weight.
• For accuracy, you should do a monthly check on your air pressure with a tire guage when tires are cold. Driving heats up tires and makes the reading incorrect.
• Don’t overload your vehicle as overloading results in tire damage.
• Always do a visual check of your tires and look for signs of wear.
• For maximum mileage, rotate your tire every 5,000 miles.

These tips are a good example of what it takes to stay safe on the road. We wish our clients and readers heed these tips as well as continue to educate themselves on how to be safe drivers. If your tire blows out, you could lose control of your car and hurt not just yourself but other drivers as well. Everyone deserves to feel safe on the road, and maintaining your tires is just one way you can ensure the road is a safe place.

July 1, 2008 has arrived and the new cell phone laws in California are now in effect. It is now against the law to use a handheld wireless telephone while operating a motor vehicle. A friend recently asked me if it would be considered a violation of the law to dial a telephone while driving, even though he planned to talk on the phone through a hands free device. His question raised an interesting point. California Vehicle Code Section 23123, which states the law, is silent on the issue of dialing.

The law specifically prohibits the use of a wireless phone that doesn’t allow for hands-free talking and listening. The point of the law is to reduce the significant number of motor vehicle accidents caused by distracted driving, which I discussed in a previous blog entry, California Cell Phones While Driving - New Laws. The new laws are not intended to tell drivers everything they should and should not do while driving a motor vehicle. I have personally seen drivers in the Bay Area eating food, applying makeup, and even reading the newspaper while driving. I am not aware of any laws that specifically prohibit a driver from eating a sandwich while on the highway, for example, but if it happened frequently enough, and traffic collisions were caused as a result, you could expect a law to address that conduct, as well. It does not appear that dialing your hands-free telephone while driving is against the law, but as with anything you do while operating a car, you have to be smart, cautious and keep your eyes on the road.

In my last posting, entitled "California Cell Phones While Driving - New Laws", I noted the new cell phone laws that will affect drivers throughout the State of California, beginning in July of 2008. Currently, there are only 5 states in the entire country that have enacted state-wide laws that prohibit the use of hand held mobile phones while driving, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. Those states are California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Washington.

In February of 2005, a school bus driver in Maryland was charged with negligent driving after talking on a cell phone as the bus went down a 25 foot embankment, and thankfully, no serious injuries were reported. Believe it or not, laws have been enacted in 15 states that prohibit a school bus driver from using a cell phone (except for emergencies) when passengers are present, which I find remarkable. Maryland is not one of the states that currently bans school bus drivers from cell phone usage.

Whether or not a given state enacts legislation that bans cell phone usage while driving is currently a decision that each state makes on its own. Any responsible school district or private company, however, ought to have strict policies regarding cell phone usage for those who transport children to and from school, notwithstanding the law of that state. It is simply unimaginable that a bus driver, entrusted with the safety and well being of children would chat on a cell phone while driving.

For more information on the cell phone driving laws, please see the website for the Governors Highway Safety Association.

In 1997, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted a study regarding the safety implications of driving an automobile while using a cell phone. In the past ten years, the increase in cell phone usage has increased dramatically, resulting in distractions to more drivers than ever before. The dangers of inattentiveness while driving a car may seem obvious, but should not be understated.

When even minor distractions while operating an automobile can cause serious injury or death, the consequences of engaging in today’s advanced technology of dialing, text-messaging and even talking, can be grave.

New cell phone laws take effect in the State of California on July 1, 2008. California Vehicle Code Section 23123 will prohibit drivers from using a handheld wireless telephone while operating a motor vehicle. In addition, California Vehicle Code Section will prohibit drivers who are under the age of 18 to even use a hands-free telephone while driving. These laws will ideally help California drivers, who should be mindful of the distractions and dangers that operating new technology can cause.

For more information on the new cellular phone laws in the State of California, please see the website for the California DMV. For more information on the November 1997 NHTSA Study, please refer to the the NHTSA.