San Francisco Injury Lawyer Blog

Manslaughter Charges to be Filed Against Bicyclist Who Hit and Killed a Pedestrian

April 27, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

When our San Francisco accident lawyer hears about an accident involving a bicycle, the cyclist is often the victim of a negligent driver. So it is with particular interest that the team at The Brod Law Firm, an experienced San Francisco collision law firm, has been following the developing story in which a cyclist struck and killed a local pedestrian.

This week, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that District Attorney George Gascón is moving forward with felony vehicular manslaughter charges stemming from an incident that occurred on March 29, 2012. Chris Bucchere, age thirty-five, was riding his bicycle in the Castro district when he struck and killed seventy-one year old Sutchi Hui. At the time of the accident, Hui was a pedestrian and in the crosswalk located at the intersection of Market and Castro Streets. The charge is a felony and could carry a sentence of sixteen months incarceration.

While it is believed that Bucchere had a yellow light when he cycles southbound through the intersection, a witness reports seeing him go through several stop signs and red lights on Divisadero Street before he reached the accident scene. A tracking device on the bicycle also indicated Bucchere was travelling faster than 35 miles per hour in a 25 mile per hour zone. The district attorney’s office believes these and other facts support a charge that Bucchere was grossly negligent and failed to yield to Hui at the crosswalk. Surveillance footage also shows that the cyclist was hunched over and made little or no effort to avoid hitting the pedestrian.

The Comparison between Drinking and Driving and Cell Phone Use while Driving

April 26, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is calling out for a federal law against talking or texting on a cell phone while driving, MSNBC reports. Currently 37 states have laws on the books that specifically prohibit texting while driving, while 10 prohibit talking on a handheld cell phone while driving. LaHood added that the Department of Transportation is currently researching whether hands free devices actually make driving safer.

Lately, the statistic that has been trotted out again and again that using a cell phone while driving is as dangerous as driving while drunk. For instance, the website Distraction.gov by the U.S. Department of Transportation cites a University of Utah study and states, “Using a cell phone while driving – whether it’s hand-held or hands-free delays a driver’s reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent.” From government departments to the Discovery Channel’s the Mythbusters, many are making the comparison.

Drunk driving is firmly embedded in American drivers’ minds as unacceptable behavior, although 1.44 million DUI and DWI arrests were made nationally in 2009. Likewise, the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration recently conducted some driver surveys which show a contradiction between belief and behavior regarding cell phone use and driving. According to their research, 90% of respondents said it makes them feel they are in peril as a passenger when the driver is using a cell phone. Yet, most admit to receiving calls while driving. The NHTSA survey also reports that drivers 25 years and younger are two to three times more likely to text and drive than older drivers.

Until the the education effort to make cell phone use and driving as unacceptable as drunk driving, the numbers of drivers who text or talk by phone will increase as more Americans who grew up with smart phones start driving. A 2009 study by the Allstate Foundation reported that 49% of teens admitted to cell phone use while driving (the number was 57% in a State Farm study), while 23% admitted to drinking and driving. It may be inferred that the education effort still has a long way to go.

LaHood also used the comparison, saying the drunk drivers used to get cabs from police officers but now they get jail time. He believes that enforcement should also be much stricter when it comes to cell phone use, according to the Chicago Tribune. The many comparisons beg the question, how far will the responsibility for texting and driving and other cell phone use go? In California, under Section 53150 of the Government Code, a drunk driver may be liable for the costs associated with sending emergency responders to the site of an incident caused by his actions. Furthermore, debtors in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court may not discharge personal injury judgments that were a result of drunk driving (11 USC Section 523(9)). Interested parties may want to watch for future developments in this area of the law to see how close the comparison between driving under the influence and cell phone use while driving converges, not only on statistics but enforcement and punishment as well.
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Train Safety Tips Following a Muni Fatality

April 25, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

Our San Francisco accident attorney knows that transportation safety is not limited to cars, trucks, and SUVs. This week, a story in the San Francisco Chronicle served as a tragic reminder that San Francisco train accidents can also be fatal. An individual in a wheelchair fell onto the rail tracks on Monday at Muni Metro’s Civic Center Station. The man’s leg was severed when he was run over by a train. Emergency response crews were alerted by witnesses to the crash and arrived at the scene just before 11:30 A.M. The victim died at the hospital as a result of his injuries. Authorities have not yet released the man’s name but reports indicate he was in his 50s or 60s. It is not yet clear how the man fell but early reports suggest the fall was accidental.

The Federal Railway Administration reports that over 11,000 railroad/train incidents occurred in 2011. This figure includes train and highway rail accidents, issues stemming from trespassing, and other events that caused death, injury, or illness involving railroads. These incidents caused 712 fatalities and 8,033 additional injuries.

Train safety is important for both pedestrians and drivers. Today’s trains are often quieter than in the past so vigilance is particularly key. The average train weighs about 200 tons and trains can weigh as much as 6,000 tons. Trains take time to come to a complete stop and cannot veer around objects in their path. It is thus vital for all of us to exercise extreme caution around trains and railway tracks.

Drivers with ADHD at Higher Risk of Accidents

April 24, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

Drivers tend to be wary of teenage drivers, who are four times more likely to get into an accident than drivers 20 years and older. Teenage drivers are more accident prone because, in general they take more risks, have less experience with driving, and are more distracted by their passengers.

Another group of drivers fall into this category as well: drivers of all ages with ADHD. Drivers who live with ADHD are also more likely to be distracted by noisy passengers, radios, cell phones and even day dreaming. SF Gate reported recently that ADHD drivers struggle with attentiveness, which makes them less likely to identify and react to dangers on the roads. ADHD drivers are also susceptible to impulsive or aggressive behavior off and on the road. Teenagers with ADHD are four times more likely than their peers to get into an accident and seven times more likely to get into a second accident.

The combination of a teenage driver and a driver with ADHD is unnerving, and in any case, driving safely will continue to be a struggle into adulthood. Drivers with ADHD often have many minor accidents in their driving career. Yet, ADHD drivers can improve their driving skills by coming up with strategies to stay focused on the road.

Parents of children with ADHD should set down guidelines to help their child become a safer driver. Life with ADHD is different for every child, so parents may want to observe their child while driving to become more aware of what presents the biggest distractions. Parents may also observe their child to see if their child exhibits any sort of impulsive behavior behind the wheel. Additionally, the 2006 study “Manual transmission enhances attention and driving performance of ADHD adolescent males: pilot study” reported that the male teenagers observed benefitted from driving a car with a manual transmission. Apparently, the focus needed to prevent grinding gears or sputtering forced the drivers to pay more attention. The teenagers also felt more in tune with the car. Of course, some may find the focus needed to shift the gears distracts from what’s going on around them on the road. Once again, each person experiences ADHD differently.

Finally, ADHD experts suggest that drivers of all ages plan out their route beforehand and leave plenty of time to make it to their destination, to avoid making impulsive U-turns or falling into other aggressive behaviors when lost.

The number of children diagnosed with ADHD has increased by 66% in the last ten years, according to a study cited on Science Daily. With more children and adults alike being diagnosed with ADD and ADHD, drivers should take notice. You cannot infer from looking at a car’s driver how the driver may respond to a dangerous situation, which is why it is important to always drive defensively.
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Legal Battles Continue Over 2010 BP Spill

April 23, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

The San Francisco toxic tort law firm at The Brod Law Firm continues to follow the legal battles that have grown out of the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. We follow the developments because we want to be prepared to help victims should an oil spill in Sacramento or other Northern California oil and gas accidents result in harm to our community.

As the Associated Press reported, last Wednesday, BP and a team of plaintiffs’ attorneys presented judge overseeing the BP cases with the formal terms of a proposed settlement for the pending class-action claims. The lawyers are looking for the judge to issue a preliminary approval that would impact BP and a plaintiff-side class composed of more than 100,000 businesses and individuals. There is no indication of how long it will take the judge to reach a ruling. Judge Barbier is expected to hold a formal fairness hearing to evaluate the settlement prior to issuing a final approval.

The proposed settlement would have BP paying an estimated $7.8 billion to resolve claims from private parties. Settlement papers put no cap on the total damages that BP may have to pay. If approved, it would be one of the largest class-action settlements in history. The parties believe the settlement is reasonable, fair, and adequate and that it builds a comprehensive system for awarding compensation to class members.

The Importance of Teen Driving Safety

April 20, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

The Brod Law Firm represents individuals who were injured in car accidents in Oakland and throughout Northern California. Gregory Brod is an experienced Oakland personal injury attorney and our law firm can help victims receive compensation for their injuries. While we are here to help you put together the pieces after an accident, we also believe in putting prevention first. All drivers should recognize that driving is a responsibility and young drivers in particular should be taught to always make safety a priority when behind the wheel.

The Oakland Tribune reported on a serious car accident that occurred on Wednesday night near Napa. A fifteen year old girl was driving on Buhman Avenue in the area south of Congress Valley Road. The teenager was speeding when she lost control of her vehicle at a curve and crashed into a tree head-on. Although the car, a 1992 Honda Civic, was only intended to seat five, there were a total of seven teenage occupants in the vehicle at the time of the crash. All of the car’s passengers were taken to Queen of the Valley Medical Center with three (males aged nineteen, fifteen, and fourteen) suffering major injuries. The driver of the car reportedly fled the scene of the accident. Alcohol is not believed to have been a factor in the collision.

According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, the accident rate for teenage drivers is higher than for any other age group. In 2007, 217 drivers between the age of fifteen and twenty died as a result of car crashes in California. That year, accidents claimed the lives of 161passengers of young California drivers, 148 occupants of other vehicles involved in collisions with teens, and 67 victims who were not in a vehicle. Teenage drivers are especially at risk for being involved in a crash when they are transporting passengers. For sixteen and seventeen year old drivers, the risk of a fatal crash is 3.6 times higher when they have a passenger and the risk increases with a higher number of passengers. The crash rate is also higher at night with the accident rate per mile after 9 P.M. being three times higher than during daytime hours.

Insurance Company Ordered to Pay Elderly Woman for Kicking Her Off her Health Plan

April 17, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

In a blow to insurance companies across the country, a unanimous Montana jury at the US District Court in Billings recently awarded 90 year old Arlene Hull a $34.3 million judgment against Ability Insurance Company of Omaha, Nebraska. It is one of the largest jury awards in Montana’s history, and amounted to $250,000 for breach of contract, $2 million for violating Montana’s Unfair Trade Practices law, and $32 million in punitive damages, according to the Billings Gazette.

In a story that is all too common to those of us who work in insurance law, Mrs. Hull and her husband purchased long-term care insurance in 1997 from a company then called Mutual Protective Insurance. Mr. Hull died in 1998, but Mrs. Hull continued to pay premiums. The company changed names and shifted ownership over the following years. In 2007, Mrs. Hull was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and it became more difficult for her to care for herself. A year later, she moved into St. John’s Lutheran Home in Billings, when she began receiving benefits from her long-term care insurance policy. Ability Insurance bought the company holding Mrs. Hull’s policy in 2007 and decided to review her policy in January 2010. Ability decided to cut off Mrs. Hull’s benefits, and when her daughter appealed the decision, it was denied. Ability told them that then 88 year old Arlene Hull, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s for three years, did not need “continual supervision due to severe cognitive impairment” and that she was only “moderately” not “severely” impaired. In September 2010, Mrs. Hull and her daughter brought this lawsuit against Ability in the US District Court. The insurance company then reversed course and reinstated her benefits in October 2011, but the company refused to pay for the period she was without benefits.

Unfortunately, Montana law caps punitive damages at $10 million, so Mrs. Hull’s $32 million in damages from the judgment will not likely stand in an appeal. Regardless, this is a significant victory for insurance victims like Mrs. Hull. Her attorney said, “Long-term-care policy holders are responsible people who don’t want to be a burden to others and should not be wrongfully denied benefits under these policies.” Insurance companies need to understand that they cannot get away with these kinds of shady business practices, harming their hardworking customers by denying them deserved benefits to save the company money.

California Class Action Firm Following Developments Stemming from 2011 Oil Spill in Brazil

April 16, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

The San Francisco class action attorney at The Brod Law Firm has been closely following developments stemming from an oil leak that occurred off the coast of Brazil last fall. Last month, The San Francisco Chronicle reported on developments stemming from the accident. The continuing story serves as a reminder of the importance of legal accountability following an oil-related accident. This story is particularly relevant to our coastal communities since a pipeline accident in California could impact dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of local residents and businesses.

In November 2011, a drilling accident led to an oil spill at Chevron’s Frade field. The Frade site is a deep water field in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. It is estimated that three thousand barrels of crude oil flowed into the water as a result of the Frade incident. According to allegations, the companies involved in the Frade project used faulty equipment, applied excessive drilling pressure, and failed to fulfill requirements aimed at preventing oil spills.

Brazilian authorities have filed lawsuits against Chevron as well as Transocean, the company that operated the Frade drilling rig, and Petroleo Brasilero SA (“Petrobas”), Brazil’s state-controlled oil producer. Individual company executives have also been named in the litigation with prosecutors seeking prison terms of up to thirty-one years on charges they obstructed the government’s investigation into the accident. Prosecutors are seeking $5.5 million each from Chevron and Transocean and additional damages of approximately $549,100 from the individual executives. Petrobas may be responsible for thirty percent of damages charged to Chevron. The Brazilian government suggests these civil damage figures reflect the environmental damage stemming from the Frade spill.

Study Examines Factors Influencing Pedal Confusion Accidents

April 13, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

Our Sacramento car accident lawyer knows that collisions can take many forms. For most people, the first images that come to mind when thinking about a Sacramento car crash involve a high-speed highway collision or an alcohol-fueled incident. However, our Northern California personal injury attorney knows that accidents can have many causes and that each incident is unique.

This week, The Sacramento Bee carried a report detailing the results of a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The study focused on accidents resulting from a driver mistakenly pressing on the gas when they intended to hit the brake pedal. Study directors examined a North Carolina database of crashes including four hundred gas pedal accidents and also looked at news reports detailing nine hundred crashes stemming from pedal mistakes. Interestingly, the study found that nearly two-thirds of driver involved in accidents stemming from a pedal mistake were female. This is particularly notable since men account for a greater percentage of all crashes, with male drivers accounting for sixty percent of drivers involved in all collisions.

Age also played a significant role in gas pedal crashes. Both the news reports and the North Carolina data examinations found that a high percentage of pedal confusion cases involved drivers over seventy-six years of age. The state database found a similar number of accidents involved drivers under age twenty. The news report analysis attributed four times as many accidents to seniors in contrast with teens. Seniors accounted for forty percent of such accidents and teen drivers were involved in ten percent of the incidents covered in news reports. Overall, the examination concludes that age is a significant factor in pedal confusion crashes. The article suggested that this age disparity may be influenced by teenagers and the elderly having less robust functioning in certain areas of the brain. Areas of the brain involved in executive functioning develop later than other functions and only reach full capacity in early adulthood. These functions include the ability to plan, organize, and fully focus one’s attention. Brain functionality in these areas may also begin to decline with age. Tests examining executive functioning also found that older drivers experience a drop in ability.

New Ballot Initiative to Stop Rising Premiums in California

April 11, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

legal%20pen.jpg As always, our San Francisco insurance attorneys have their eye on insurance news. We are aware that perhaps the insurance that causes the most stress and worry is health insurance. No one wants to face a serious illness with no insurance or not enough coverage. And health insurance is something that everyone will have to use at some point in their lives, no matter how careful a person is.

Another cause of significant stress is how to pay for health insurance, since it is so critically important. Health insurance companies do not make this easy for consumers, jacking up premiums at every opportunity. Even by industry standards, though, the recent premium hikes have been extreme. Consumer Watchdog, a non-profit advocacy group focused on insurance issues, claims that California’s largest insurance companies have increased premiums 20 percent since April 1, and are set to increase another 20 percent on May 1. These higher rates will affect more than one million Californians. Californians are already struggling with these costs. Premiums have increased 153.5% since 2002, more than five times the rate of inflation.

To combat this problem, Consumer Watchdog has proposed a new ballot initiative for the upcoming election stopping these rising premiums. Currently, insurance regulators do not have authority to modify or deny rate increases. Last week California’s Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones called insurance giant Aetna’s rate hikes, which were as high as 21% for some customers, “unreasonable.” He told the Los Angeles Times that he supports this ballot initiative to give him power to modify or deny these outrageous rate hikes. “Like the recent unsustainable rate increases imposed by other health insurers on Californians,” he said, “Aetna’s rate increase proves again that we need to close the loophole in California law which denies the insurance commissioner the authority to reject excessive health insurance rate hikes.” The Insurance Commissioner already has this power with regards to automobile, homeowners, and other types of property and casualty insurance.