Wrongful Death

Supreme Court Declines to Review San Francisco Gun Regulations

June 13, 2015 | Gregory J. Brod

According to Bloomberg, on Monday, June 8, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a decision upholding San Francisco gun laws. While we do not take a stand on this issue, we recognize that gun violence and unintentional shootings pose a real danger. We believe that it is important to understand the state of the law when it comes to gun rights and regulations.

San Francisco Gun Regulations

According to NPR, the laws at issue in the ruling date back to 1994 and to 2007. In 1994, a San Francisco ordinance banned the sale of hollow-point bullets. Hollow-point bullets are bullets with a hollowed out shape in the tip, often intended to cause the bullet to expand upon impact.

Examining Wrong-Way Highway Crashes, Protecting Wrong-Way Crash Victims

May 15, 2015 | Gregory J. Brod

Some time ago, a video made the rounds of in-boxes and television newsmagazines in which a driver pulled up close behind a vehicle being towed and woke his passenger up shouting, pretending they were staring into the headlights of an oncoming truck. While many found the prank funny, our Northern California car accident law firm couldn’t help but think of the real nightmare of head-on wrong-way crashes. Although relatively uncommon, wrong-way accidents are more likely to cause death or serious injury than an average collision. We help the victims of these terrible crashes, those who saw real headlights approaching and the families whose loved ones final moments may have been marked by that terrible image.

Three Dead in Sacramento Wrong-Way Crash

A wrong way-crash claimed three lives in Sacramento not long after midnight on Tuesday April 12. According to The Oakland Tribune, a 24 year-old Hayward man from and a 25 year-old South San Francisco man were killed when their vehicle was struck by a Ford F-150 pickup truck on I-80 near Madison Avenue. Police say the truck was going the wrong direction in the highway’s fast lane at the time of the crash. The driver of the pickup, identified only as a male as of the time of this writing, also died in the collision.

Pedestrians and Drunk Drivers: A Dangerous, Often Deadly, Mix

April 28, 2015 | Gregory J. Brod

There are few activities that involve more trust than the simple act of crossing the street. While we learn at an early age that we should look both ways before crossing, we still trust that stopped vehicles will remain stopped and that people will heed basic traffic laws. Very few drivers set out to hurt or kill a pedestrian. Yet, people continue to drive drunk, an act that violates the trust of every single pedestrian. As a Sonoma pedestrian accident attorney, Greg Brod is dedicated to fighting on behalf of pedestrians hit by drunk drivers and holding drivers accountable when they violate our trust and endanger us all.

Petaluma Pedestrian Hit By Suspected Drunk Driver

Late last week, The Press Democrat reported on an accident involving a suspected drunk driver and an elderly pedestrian. According to police, 85 year-old George Stucky was badly injured when hit while using a crosswalk at the intersection of Petaluma Boulevard North and East Washington Street in Petaluma on Thursday at 5:16 P.M. Police say an unidentified driver was stopped at the intersection, apparently waiting for Stucky to cross before making a left turn onto Washington Street. Allegedly, 48 year-old William Atkinson hit Stucky when Atkinson drove around the stopped vehicle in order to make the same left-hand turn. Police suspect Atkinson had been drinking; he was transported to an area hospital for a blood-alcohol test before being booked on suspicion of felony drunk driving involving injury. As of late Thursday, Stucky was being treated at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and listed in stable condition.

Fresno Pipeline Explosion Calls Attention to an Ever-Present Threat

April 18, 2015 | Gregory J. Brod

This September will mark the five-year anniversary of the massive San Bruno pipeline accident that killed eight and left dozens injured. Sadly, pipeline explosions remain a very real and very present threat as became all-too-clear to another California community on Friday. As a California pipeline explosion lawyer, Attorney Greg Brod stands ready to help when pipeline explosions cause injury and/or death. Our legal team strongly believes that holding companies accountable for pipeline accidents not only compensates the injured/grieving but also helps prevent future tragedies.

Pipeline Explosion Rocks Fresno

It was just before 2:30 P.M. on Friday. At the Fresno County Peace Officers’ Range near Highway 99, deputies, a prison work crew, and others were hard at work. Suddenly, as reported by The San Francisco Chronicle (discussion based on version revised at 9:03 A.M. Saturday) the day turned from routine to unforgettable as an explosion rang out. Flames sprouted to the treetops, rising more than 100 feet in the air. The explosion and the intense heat it generated left at least 11 people injured and requiring hospital aid, including four in critical condition and two in serious condition.

Oakland Apartment Fire Attorney on Civilian Deaths in Residential Fires

March 24, 2015 | Gregory J. Brod

Many of us have sat before a burning fire and marveled at its intricacy and beauty. While fire can be fascinating, it remains one of the most powerful and dangerous forces known to man. As described below, residential fires pose a greater threat to human lives than any other type of fires. When an apartment fire death results from a blaze caused by the negligent or wrongful acts (or failure to act) of a property owner/landlord, a wrongful death suit may be appropriate. Our Oakland apartment fire attorney works with grieving families to help them recover following these terrible tragedies.

West Oakland Fire Claims Two Lives

Early Saturday morning, a fire in a West Oakland apartment building claimed two lives. As reported in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Oakland Fire Department was called to the 600 block of 24th Street at around 3 A.M. and found smoke emanating from a two-story brick building. The property involved had been an armory before being split into two apartment buildings, one on 24th and one on 23rd. Flames spread from a unit in one building to apartments in the other.

ATV Accidents: Statistics, Safety, and Legal Representation

February 27, 2015 | Gregory J. Brod

While cars are responsible for a strong majority of vehicle-related accidents, they are not the only culprit in the fatal or injury-causing accidents we see in our Northern California injury practice. All-terrain vehicle accidents (“ATVs” or “ATV accidents”), can cause serious injury or even death. When someone other than the injured is at fault, our Sonoma County ATV accident lawyer can help the injured victim or surviving family members obtain financial compensation from those responsible.

ATV Overturns, Seriously Injuring Petaluma Teen The Press Democrat reported on an ATV accident that occurred in Petaluma on Saturday and left a teenager seriously injured. Three teens were riding an ATV on private property when the vehicle overturned and rolled over onto one of the passengers, leaving him with a severely broken arm, a broken vertebra in his neck, and a severed artery. An uninjured rider called 911 and used his own shirt to staunch his long-time friend’s bleeding. The injured teen underwent emergency surgery and is expected to make a strong recovery.

ATV Accident Statistics In April 2014, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”) released its 2012 Annual Report of ATV-Related Deaths and Injuries. Through the end of 2012, the CPSC had received 12,391 reports of ATV-related fatalities between 1982 and 2012, including 353 in 2012 and 554 in 2011. Notably, accident numbers for the years 2009 to 2012 are expected to increase as reporting is finalized; in 2008, the last year for which reporting is deemed complete, there were 755 ATV deaths. Of the 12,391 reported deaths in the study period, 24% involved victims aged less than 16 years. CPSC statistics also show an estimated 107,900 ATV-related injuries treated in U.S. emergency rooms in 2012, with 25% involving children under 16.

Aviation Accidents: Statistics & Causes

February 3, 2015 | Gregory J. Brod

Some people will tell you that luck comes in threes; stub your toe, trip over your kid’s skateboard, and you best be on high alert. While we can’t vouch for that particular sentiment, it does seem like there have been a number of serious airplane accidents in the recent past, many of which we’ve discussed in these pages. This prompts our San Francisco airplane accident attorney to take a look at the numbers.

Pilot Locked Out of Cockpit on Delta Flight

Before getting to the stats, there’s one particular incident that made headlines not for the outcome but for the seeming absurdity of its situation. On Thursday, as Good Morning America reported, a Delta Air Lines plane travelling from Minneapolis to Las Vegas made an emergency landing after the pilot became locked out of the MD-90’s cockpit. Apparently, the pilot had left the cockpit to use the restroom but the door malfunction when he tried to return to the helm. A piece of string was later deemed the culprit. Passengers say the pilot calmly explained the situation to all onboard. The First Officer successfully landed the plane to a round of applause. Not one of the 168 people on board suffered injury. The successful resolution turned what could have been a tragedy into an amusing anecdote. The crew did alert the tower and there were ground crews ready to help had a problem occurred.

Compensation & Change: Our Law Firm’s Goals Following a Pedestrian Death

October 31, 2014 | Gregory J. Brod

Sometimes it takes a tragedy that really hits home in order to lead to meaningful change. As advocates for safer roads who believe that commitment includes the full-range of travelers, the Brod Law Firm team is always saddened to hear about pedestrian deaths. We believe our work as a San Francisco pedestrian death law firm not only compensates victims but deters future tragedies. Our hearts go out to those impacted by the recent tragedy and we hope the death of a City Hall employee inspires meaningful changes that will make the streets safer for everyone.

Veteran City Employee Hit and Killed by Motorized Cable Car While Walking Near City Hall

As CBS San Francisco reports, officials continue to investigate the collision between a motorized cable car and a pedestrian on Thursday October 23. It was approximately 11:30 A.M. when the cable car struck 68 year-old Priscila “Precy” Moreto in a crosswalk near San Francisco’s City Hall, by the intersection of Polk and McAllister streets. Moreto, an accountant and longtime employee of the City Controller’s Office, was taken to the hospital in critical condition and died as a result of her injuries.

A Reminder of Why the Fight to End Distracted Driving Must Continue

September 26, 2014 | Gregory J. Brod

Distracted driving is a topic we discuss with some regularity here at the Brod Firm. Simply put, we talk about it often because we see it often. We see it in our own travels on the region’s roadways. We also see the tragic consequences of distracted driving when we represent people whose lives have been forever altered because of a distracted driver. Cellphone use is just one form of distraction, but it is a major one and it is an issue that we need to talk about until it is no longer claiming lives and causing terrible injuries. In this post, our Santa Rosa distracted driving law firm looks at one tragic crash allegedly caused by a driver glancing at a cellphone screen and then turn to a piece of technology that police hope will aid in the fight against driver distraction.

Driver Sentenced in Case Where One Moment of Distraction Claimed Two Lives

As reported earlier this month by The Press Democrat, an area court handed down a one-year sentence for a driver charged with causing a crash that killed two women. Back in March, Nicholas Tognozzi was driving a GMC pickup at a speed when he looked down to see if he had received a text message. The brief look away from the road while travelling over 50mph left him unable to stop in time to avoid slamming into the rear end of a Toyota Camry stopped in traffic on Highway 12. Two women sitting in the Camry’s backseat, Sue Hufford (53) and her mother-in-law Sharon Hufford (74), were killed instantly. Front passenger Don Hufford suffered serious injuries.

Guardrails: When a Safety Device Becomes Dangerous

September 19, 2014 | Gregory J. Brod

They are supposed to be there for our safety. Guardrails can help prevent an out-of-control vehicle from careening over a cliff or other hazardous terrain and can also keep such vehicles away from opposing traffic. In these roles, they save lives. However, guardrail accidents can also be a serious danger and our Oakland highway crash attorney is closely following developing studies on balancing the role of guardrails as safety devices and the potential for guardrails to be roadside hazards.

FHA to Conduct Study Following Research Showing New Guardrail Design Raises Risk of Serious Injuries and Death

This week, ABC7 News reported that the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) is looking into the safety of guardrails after multiple reports of people losing limbs or dying in pain because a guardrail pierced their vehicle. The focal issue in the planned research study is whether the “guardrail heads,” the start/end piece of a rail, can absorb a head-on impact at up to 62mph in real life conditions. A team of public and private highway engineers as well as other subject-matter experts will conduct the FHA research.