California Injury Attorney Blog

As California consumer and injury lawyers, we have seen the tragic consequences of serious accidents of all kinds. Among the most likely to cause catastrophic injury, are those that occur when cars and people or bicyclists collide.

Recently, a Ventura County driver hit and ran after striking and killing a bicyclist -- he was arrested in his driveway. Two other bicyclists were hit but not killed by this driver.

We are all aware that pedestrian accidents and injuries can happen at any time and tragically, can result in serious injury and even death. We sometimes forget how vulnerable we are when simply walking across a street or riding a bicycle on a country lane. But pedestrians and cyclists cannot protect themselves from a driver under the influence who is not obeying the rules of the road.

That is what happened last week in San Francisco when a pedestrian was killed in a hit and run at Masonic Avenue at Turk Boulevard. The 61-year old pedestrian died at the scene and had been crossing at the intersection when a suspected drunk driver struck him while on what ended up as a hit and run rampage.

The driver of the car also hit several cars after striking the pedestrian and finally slammed into planters at the St. Mary's Medical Center on Stanyan Street.
The driver was injured and taken to the hospital. He was also arrested and will likely be charged with vehicular manslaughter.

Tragically, the Masonic and Turk intersection has been the scene of a fatal hit and run. Last year a German tourist was killed at that intersection as he rode a bicycle.
Masonic Avenue is under study for redesigns to make it safer.

The executive director of the pedestrian advocate group Walk San Francisco was quoted as saying that Masonic Avenue is under a redesign process that should lead to safety measures. Sadly the changes have not yet been made and another life has been lost.

Hersh & Hersh can help victims of bicycle and pedestrian accidents. Please contact our offices for a free consultation with one of our lawyers.

A decade after recommendations were made for truck and bus safety, the conversation continues. As California injury attorneys, we are pleased that, at the very least, safety is being discussed.

The national forum on truck and bus crashes and safety began earlier this week in Washington, D.C. The two-day forum which convened at the National Transportation Safety Board goes through today. Live webcasts and other information can be found at the NTSB website.

The NTSB has been raising the level of awareness in the areas of truck and bus accident safety and the forum is intended to bring together industry experts including safety, regulatory and the trucking and busing industry to talk about the continued dangers of transportation. Long-standing recommendations have yet to be enacted or implemented.

The Associated Press report on the forum, reminds us of one of the major safety issues being discussed during the forum -- the terrible consequences of truck driver fatigue. For example, some remember the 2009 accident in Oklahoma in which a truck failed to stop to avoid a fender bender in its path. Although there was plenty of time and space for the truck to avoid the cars in front of it, the truck drove through the sitting traffic. Ten people were killed as the truck rode over passenger cars dragging them until it stopped. The investigation revealed that the truck driver had slept only about five hours the night before the accident and had been driving for nearly 10 hours.

The forum is looking at fatigue as a big factor in these crashes, roughly 40 percent are due to fatigue. The Obama administration is seeking to ensure measures like mandatory rest breaks, reduction of hours behind the wheel and other rules are put in place to manage driver fatigue.

Although truck fatalities have improved in the past few years, dropping from 2005 to 2009 by about 2,000, there are still too many such tragic incidents.

Similarly, bus fatalities have continued with recent fatal crashes, including one this past March in New York involving a casino trip to Connecticut in which 15 people were killed and 18 injured. Many injuries in bus crashes involve ejection of passengers from the vehicles.

Bus safety improvements are part of this conversation. For years, the NTSB has had a recommendation that buses have similar safety measures as cars, such as seat belts, stronger bus roofs, windows that open and other basic measures that could save lives in a bus accident.

Hersh & Hersh has represented the victims of serious car and truck accidents for many decades. We applaud the conversation about safety, but would hope that recommendations are implemented that would help save lives.

If you or a family member has been injured in a motor vehicle accident, please contact our San Francisco office for a free consultation with one of our lawyers. We represent accident victims throughout California and can help support you and your family through this most challenging time in your lives.

As San Francisco personal injury lawyers, we are all too aware of the dangers of driving since we represent those who have been involved in serious accidents and have suffered often traumatic injuries.

And even though California law prohibits drivers from holding a cell phone or texting while driving, there are many other distractions that can result in a serious accident. If you thought it was just cell phones, you are wrong.

Recently, the New York Times reported on the other areas of distraction that many drivers engage in daily that carry the same risk as driving while under the influence. These include opening a bag of chips or nuts, programming a GPS, getting something off the car floor your child dropped, searching for a CD or putting on makeup.

According to the experts, none of these activities is safe since cognition is compromised and all are just as big a problem as holding a cell phone or texting while driving. As noted by the NYT piece, experts say that: " '[d]riving while distracted is roughly equivalent to driving drunk.' "

Sobering isn't it? So much so that the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the Orthopaedic Trauma Association, have started a "Decide to Drive" campaign. Its amazing that we even need such a thing, but since Americans seem to think that they should multi-task while driving, this campaign seeks to educate drivers of the dangers of doing so while driving.

The numbers are truly staggering. The National Safety Council has stated that just this year so far there are over 300,000 accidents related to distracted driving.

The thing to do, according to the experts, is to get everything you can organized before starting the car or pull over if you need to attend to something other than driving. The long term consequences of doing otherwise are just not worth the potential for tragedy.

Hersh & Hersh represents the victims of serious injury, including that caused by car accidents or other motor vehicle accidents. If you or a loved one have been injured in an accident, please contact us for a free consultation with one of our experienced trial attorneys.

As California brain injury lawyers, we have represented victims and families dealing with the devastation of head injuries. These injuries can range from mild traumatic brain injury which can itself have devastating symptoms, to traumatic brain injury which can result in tragic medical consequences. The word "mild" does not actually mean that the symptoms are mild. In fact, a mild traumatic brain injury can cause life-changing symptoms and have a major impact on such functions as memory, cognition and other areas of brain function.

And now a medical research project at the VA San Diego Healthcare System which started about three years ago to discern post-traumatic stress disorder from traumatic brain injury, is gaining national attention and could help all patients who are suffering brain injuries.

Mingxiong Huang and his colleague Roland Lee are medical researchers at the University of California San Diego. They have focused on the specific diagnostic tool magnetoencephalography, or MEG, and diffusion tensor imaging to determine whether this tool might be a better diagnostic method than MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).

According to the report in the North County Times, these research findings are so promising that Huang is headed to Washington to brief officials as to how these advanced brain-imaging techniques might just be the answer for more accurate detection of not only mild traumatic brain injuries, but distinguishing these injuries from the post traumatic stress disorder.

We are aware that MRI does not reveal some brain injuries after car accidents for example, because we have represented clients that had normal MRI's, but suffered severe symptoms after an accident, such as a rear-end vehicle collision. As it turns out, the research reveals that in fact 70 percent of traumatic brain injuries are not found on MRI which is the most commonly used device for scanning and diagnosing brain injuries.

These researchers have found that "damaged areas of the brain appeared on MEG scans as having slower-than-normal brain waves, while diffusion tensor imaging recorded those areas as black holes or as frayed or weakened fibers." This will not only help doctors distinguish brain trauma from post-traumatic stress disorder in about 90 percent of the cases, it will also help diagnose mild traumatic brain injuries.

Continue reading "San Diego Brain Injury Research Could Provide Better Diagnosis" »

The Los Angeles Times reports that several important steps are being taken to protect pedestrians as they browse the Santa Monica Farmers Market. The system of protections will include signs, barricades and nets that are able to stop vehicles.

The planning for all of this started several years ago. It was prompted after 10 people were tragically killed as an elderly driver went off the road and crashed into pedestrians at the Farmer's Market. Santa Monica and additional defendants paid $21 million in damages for the loss of life and other injuries. As injury lawyers, we know the shock and sorrow that families experience in tragic accidents.

The nets are reported to be relatively safe for those in the car or other vehicle, but are capable of stopping even a very heavy vehicle. They are similar to tennis court nets, and are strung with cables on the top and the bottom of the net.

As can happen with elderly drivers, the man who was driving at the time of the tragic loss of life, hit the accelerator thinking it was the brake. He was sentenced to five years probation after his conviction in 2007 of ten counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.

After the elderly driver car accident, various entities concluded that not only were the signs inadequate, but there was no hard barrier system to keep traffic out of the market.
Other cities have used the nets to keep traffic out of areas such as construction zones.

Continue reading "Protecting Pedestrians Against Injury" »

The tragic bus accident that killed 15 passengers earlier this year in New York, is a sad ending to the many lives lost. Now it has been determined that the bus was traveling 78 miles per hour when it crashed and flipped. The wrongful death and injury lawyers of the California Injury Attorney Blog know that this indicates the accident could have been avoided.

This news was delivered last month by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) which found that the bus was traveling at the highest rate of speed possible for the vehicle only 45 seconds prior to its departure from I-95. At the time of the crash, the bus was traveling between the Bronx and a casino in eastern Connecticut.

In addition to the work of the NTSB in putting together the pieces of this tragedy, the New York State Police are involved in the investigation and have been interviewing witnesses and conducting studies of the crash. The purpose of the investigation is to determine whether the bus driver will be charged criminally.

The bus driver's account of the accident included a claim that he was trying to avoid hitting a tractor-trailor that had passed him and veered towards the bus. And now it has been revealed that he had served time in prison for manslaughter and larceny convictions -- his license has been suspended.

In fact there is no evidence that the accident happened the way the driver described it. Another truck driver came forward as a witness and has said that the tractor-trailer that is alleged to have swerved towards the bus, did not do so.

The investigation has revealed that the bus reached its fastest speed of 78 miles per hour in the 45 seconds before the crash. The speed limit was 55 miles per hour.

There is some thought that the driver may have fallen asleep at the wheel of the bus according to some of the surviving passengers.

Continue reading "Fatal Bus Crash -- Speed Possible Factor " »