San Francisco Injury Lawyer Blog

Car Accidents and Teen Drivers

March 10, 2014 | Gregory J. Brod

From teachers in classrooms to parents in living rooms (and even law firms on injury blogs), teens are constantly warned about the dangers of irresponsible driving. Still, for every safety message, there’s another message sent through movies, video games, and peers that glorifies speeding and other hallmarks of reckless driving. It often seems like an uphill battle, but it is a fight we can’t abandon. We’ve seen too many injured people and too many families left grieving following a crash caused by a teen driver. While we are honored to help these victims through our work as a San Jose injury law firm, we know we cannot undo their loss or reverse their injury. We can, however, hope to prevent future tragedies by continuing to push for prevention.

Danville Teen Killed in Single-Car Crash

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, a 17 year-old from Danville lost his life in a crash on Highway 24 in Lafayette. California Highway Patrol Sgt. Joseph Johnson reports that Anthony Grosso was speeding, weaving in and out of traffic lanes, and generally driving recklessly before he lost control of his vehicle near the central Lafayette exit at approximately 11 A.M. on Thursday. Grosso’s 2014 Subaru Impreza crashed into a traffic sign and slid down an embankment before coming to a stop. The teen who had been a student at San Ramon Valley High School prior to transferring to Walnut Creek’s Fusion Academy, died at the scene. Grosso was wearing his seatbelt at the time of the incident. Sgt. Johnson noted that the CHP is also looking into reports that Grosso and another driver had been racing just prior to the crash.

S.F.’s Newly Announced Safety Measures Are Encouraging, but Pedestrians Still at Risk on City Streets

March 7, 2014 | Gregory J. Brod

The mayor and police chief of San Francisco unveiled on Thursday a program to improve pedestrian safety on the streets of the city by the bay, and the campaign could not come soon enough for those, including San Francisco pedestrian accident attorney Gregory J. Brod, who have been alarmed by the significant number of pedestrian fatalities and injuries there.

According to local CBS station KPIX 5, Mayor Ed Lee has pledged that the city would spend $17 million into redesigning intersections and streets, with the anticipation that the modification would lead to greater pedestrian safety. There have been four pedestrian deaths this year, 21 in all of 2013, and 120 over the last seven years in San Francisco. During that same seven-year period, there have been more than 5,600 collisions involving a pedestrian, most of them with a motor vehicle.

The gravity of the situation was not lost on Police Chief Greg Suhr, who said that the San Francisco Police Department would be cracking down on traffic violators, both drivers and pedestrians, by issuing citations at the five most dangerous intersections in each police district. And the police chief made an observation that drove home the seriousness of the problem.

“Year to date, we’ve had more people killed on the streets of San Francisco in vehicle collisions than we have by homicide,” Suhr said. “It’s a problem.”

A measure of how dangerous some intersections can be has been on grim display this year at Sunset Boulevard and Yorba Street, where on Feb. 3 a man crossing the street was killed after being struck by a car and where, just two weeks later, a teenager was seriously injured while crossing at the same intersection after being hit by an automobile. Most recently, a pedestrian was hit and seriously injured Thursday when a taxi struck him while he was attempting to cross Van Ness Avenue, another notoriously dangerous stretch of road in San Francisco.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the city’s WalkFirst program has compiled statistics and analyzed more than 2,000 crashes over a five-year period in the city. The program found that during that timeframe, there have been more than 100 fatal or severe injury accidents each year, with another 800 injury-producing collisions, each year in San Francisco. The study determined that just 6 percent of the city’s streets accounted for 60 percent of the severe and fatal injuries.

In an ominous prediction, an official with the Municipal Transportation Agency’s Livable Streets program said that the week after daylight-saving time should be more perilous for pedestrians because drivers tend to be a bit sleepy and due to the darker conditions.
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Northern California Injury Lawyer Asks: Does Increasing the Speed Limit Lead to an Increase in Accidents?

March 7, 2014 | Gregory J. Brod

Our decades of work as a San Francisco car accident law firm have shown us the tragic consequences of dangerous driving behaviors. We have learned that accidents have a multitude of causes, but there are some that appear time and time again. As we’ve noted in prior blog posts, speeding is one of the most common culprits in car accidents. Excess speed causes crashes and also exacerbates collisions, making what could have been a fender-bender into a true tragedy. Given the clear link between speed and accidents, we wanted to look at a related question: What impact does increasing the speed limit have on the number of accidents on a given roadway?

Oakley Leaders Approve Increased Speed Limits on Several Roads

This issue is particularly relevant to residents (and those who drive through) Oakley, a city of 35,000 in the San Francisco Bay Area. According to the Oakland Tribune, the Oakley City Council approved changes recommended by the city engineer to speed zones on part of Main Street and other roadways. The engineer’s suggestion came after studying traffic speeds and the physical characteristics of the roads, information that California law dictates must be updated every seven years for roads with speed limits above 25mph if the community wants to enforce speed limits using radar. Most speed limits will stay the same, but limits on parts of Main Street will go up to 30, 35 and 40mph. Additionally, legal speeds on Brown, Brownstone, West Cypress, and O’Hara will increase by 5 to 10mph.

Considering the Health Impact of the Next Generation of Nicotine

March 5, 2014 | Gregory J. Brod

For many years, tobacco companies resisted admitting that cigarettes were hazardous to consumers’ health. Such a position is no longer realistic. Today, there’s a new front for a similar debate: the safety of e-cigarettes. While they eliminate the actual smoke, electronic or e-cigarettes deliver nicotine and other substances using an aerosol cartridge, often adding a flavoring such as mint, fruit, or even chocolate. Our San Francisco health lawyer is incredibly worried about the dangers posed by e-cigarettes and the mistaken belief that they are a fully safe alternative to traditional cigarettes. We are committed to holding manufacturers responsible for spreading this false message and targeting it to an underage market.

San Francisco Looks to Lead the Nation and Crack Down on E-Cigarette Use

The San Francisco Chronicle recently reported on efforts to crack down on e-cigarettes in the city. These efforts include work by Slanton Glantz, a researcher who helped San Francisco pass pioneering legislation curbing smoking in the workplace 31 years ago, rules that led to some of the nation’s toughest anti-tobacco laws. Glantz joined city officials earlier this week when they discussed Supervisor Eric Mar’s proposal to treat e-cigarettes the same as traditional cigarettes, limiting where they can be used and sold. Supporters say the proposal would help limit children’s use of e-cigarettes and prevent secondhand exposure to the aerosol emitted by the newer devices which are not yet regulated at the federal level.

California Toxic Torts Law and the Many Dangers (and Uses) of Chlorine

March 3, 2014 | Gregory J. Brod

While it is a subject that has frustrated many high school students, chemistry is essential to modern life. Likewise, chemicals are essential to everything from medicine to transportation. Still, many useful chemicals are dangerous and chemical exposure can be illness-inducing and life-threatening. As an Oakland chemical exposure lawyer, Attorney Brod uses the legal system to help people injured by dangerous chemicals recover monetary compensation and also brings wrongful death lawsuits on behalf of families who have lost a relative due to chemical exposure. These cases, often classified as toxic tort lawsuits, call upon his legal expertise and his ability to work with expert witnesses to convey complex science to judges and juries.

Repeat Toxic Chlorine Gas Release at Pittsburg Plant Hospitalizes Worker

Investigators with California’s Division of Occupational Safety & Health (“Cal/OSHA”) are looking into an accident that sent a worker to the hospital when, for the second time in only three months, dangerous chlorine gas was released at a Pittsburg plant. According to The Oakland Tribune the K2 Pure Solutions plant was shut down in December when an equipment malfunction in its liquefaction unit allowed a small amount of chlorine gas to be released. The plant’s liquefaction unit supplies chlorine to Dow Chemicals and the main portion of the plant produces bleach products for use by other customers. No one was hurt in December’s incident and the closed portion of the plant reopened in early January.

San Jose Mobile Home Resident Lawyer Discusses Proposed Conversions

February 28, 2014 | Gregory J. Brod

Earlier this week, we discussed the ongoing San Francisco housing crisis. Sadly, as too many of you know from personal experience, the housing issues in California go beyond one city. California mobile home residents, particularly those living in San Jose mobile homes, are also living in fear of losing their homes because of owners selling to luxury home developers. Our San Jose tenant’s lawyer is ready to protect the rights of residents throughout Northern California who are facing unjust or unlawful eviction.

The Fight at Winchester Ranch

The San Jose Mercury News recently covered the fight between residents of the Winchester Ranch Mobile Home Community and the park’s owners. There are 150 residents, mostly seniors and largely people on fixed incomes, in the 16-acre West San Jose community. Most own their coaches but pay between $833 and $1,000 to rent their site. The homes are mobile in name only because the coaches are anchored to the ground and, if they could move, are unlikely to be accepted elsewhere because of their age. Owners of the park lands are negotiating with developers who want to buy the prime real estate and build projects that would likely include luxury condominiums catering to high-salary tech professionals.

A Dangerous “Game”: Street Racing in California

February 26, 2014 | Gregory J. Brod

Americans, particularly Californians, have had a love affair with the automobile. Countless movies from the 1950s and ’60s include scenes with young people gathered around as two drivers face off. In the movies, the victor gains honor and admiration (and, often, gets the girl), with the only injury coming in the form of a blow to the loser’s ego. Unfortunately, real life street racing in 2014 often ends in tragedy rather than victory. Street racing can cause serious accidents, leaving participants or bystanders facing catastrophic injuries or even death. Our San Francisco street racing crash lawyer is prepared to help people injured and/or families left mourning when this reckless pursuit has a tragic end.

Street Racing Kills Fairfield Bystander

According to a San Francisco Chronicle report, Fairfield police have determined that street racing was to blame for the death of a motorist on Sunday afternoon. Sergeant Matt Bloesch told reporters that the incident began with a race between an Infiniti coupe and a Toyota Tundra pickup at around 5:15 P.M. As the racing drivers sped south along Lopes Road in Fairfield, Ron Brackett began turning left off of Canyon Hills Drive and onto northbound Lopes Road. The Infiniti slammed into the driver’s side of Brackett’s Mazda sedan. Brackett, a 31 year-old from Fairfield who was not involved in the race, was left dead at the scene. Authorities say the Infiniti driver was transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. His name has not been released. Police are seeking the driver of the Toyota who veered around the turning Mazda and then continued driving south on Lopes, speeding away from the crash. Sgt. Bloesch notes that alcohol was not a factor in the collision.

Tenants’ Rights Attorney on the San Francisco Housing Crisis

February 24, 2014 | Gregory J. Brod

It has been the subject of local discussions for some time and concerns about the San Francisco’s housing crisis are now being talked about on a national level. As a San Francisco tenant’s law firm, The Brod Firm knows that for many the crisis is much more than coffee-talk, it is their life. This reality makes our work protecting the legal right of San Francisco’s renters even more critical. We encourage San Francisco tenants to assert their rights and believe doing so is crucial to helping renters survive the housing crisis and making the market work for renters.

The Crisis Gains National Attention

This month, Time Magazine focused on the affordability crisis in San Francisco where housing is more costly than anyplace else in the nation. Mayor Ed Lee recently reiterated a vow to provide the affordable housing the city needs, including below-market rate units for lower income renters. Lee’s latest solution involves cutting the red tape that complicates the cumbersome review process for new housing projects and giving priority to projects that include low-income options.

Older Drivers: San Jose Lawyer Comments on the Importance of Hard Conversations, Injury Litigation

February 21, 2014 | Gregory J. Brod

Teen drivers are the target of many an angry tirade, sometimes with good reason. Only in recent years has attention shifted to the particular dangers at the other end of the age spectrum. Our San Jose personal injury law firm believes it is important to examine the unique concerns raised by older drivers. This can lead to hard conversations, but it can also prevent accidents and keep everyone safer on the roads. When accidents do occur, we are prepared to help injured plaintiffs seek legal damages regardless of the age of the responsible party.

Article Focuses on Older Drivers, Accident Risks, and Hard Conversations

A columnist for the San Jose Mercury News recently focused on the issue of aging drivers. He noted that his own father had been involved in a fender bender shortly before he passed at age 81 and observed that, once a careful driver, his father had begun to drive faster and react slower in his last years. While the author’s father only bent a parking sign, an accident involving a 90 year-old Woodside man could have been much more tragic. Edward Nelson’s SUV jumped a curb in Menlo Park and hit twin 6 year-old boys leaving one with a broken arm and the other in need of extensive surgery. The twins’ family is pursuing a claim, asserting that Nelson should not have been driving, especially after a 2012 accident. According to police, he mistook the gas pedal for the brake.

Post-Chatsworth Accident Recommendations Still Lacking Among Bay Area Trains

February 20, 2014 | Gregory J. Brod

The collision between a Union Pacific freight train and a Metrolink commuter train on Sept. 12, 2008, in the Chatsworth area of Los Angeles was a tragically memorable accident in which 25 people died and another 135 were injured. In the wake of that sad day, the National Transportation Safety Board issued a report that pinned the blame for the accident on the engineer of the Metrolink and called for additional safety measures to help prevent future collisions. However, San Francisco train accident attorney Gregory J. Brod has learned that apparently the NTSB’s recommendations have fallen on deaf ears among some rail agencies in the Bay Area.

The NTSB report determined that the probable cause of the Chatsworth collision was the fact that the Metrolink engineer failed to notice and properly respond to a red signal by stopping at a critical juncture because he was distracted from his duties while text messaging. The NTSB identified two specific safety issues relevant to the Chatsworth incident, which were as follows:

Inadequate capability, because of the privacy offered by a locomotive operating compartment, for management to monitor crew member adherence to operating rules such as those regarding the use of wireless devices or the presence of unauthorized persons in the operating compartment.
Lack of a positive train control system on the Metrolink rail system.

The NTSB’s safety recommendations to the Federal Railroad Administration were very specific as well, including the need to install audio and image recorders within locomotive cabs to verify that crew actions were in compliance with the rules and procedures necessary for safety and train operation. In addition, the NTSB recommended that railroads regularly review and employ the audio and image recorders in tandem with other performance data.

One would think that a high-profile tragedy with multiple fatalities such as the Chatsworth train accident would be a seminal event that would prompt train authorities to review their safety measures and modify them as needed, especially with a major report with safety recommendations having been produced by the relevant federal agency as a result of the accident. However, according to KTVU News, in the Bay Area the NTSB’s recommendations have gone largely unheeded among the region’s transit agencies.

Among the key rail agencies, Amtrak is working on installing equipment that the NTSB recommended in its cars by 2015; BART has added the suggested cab interior cameras but lacks a video view of its tracks; and Caltrain has no cameras within locomotives but has cameras outside its trains.

“If an engineer runs a signal the system will automatically stop the train,” said Caltrain spokeswoman Christine Dunn. “If another train is coming into the station too fast, it’s going to slow that train down. It’s going to prevent accidents.”
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