San Francisco Personal Injury Lawyer - Motorcycle Accidents

Motorcyclist Under the Influence Kills Nine-Year Old Girl and Critically Injures Her Father

Margaret Embry — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:45:12 GMT

On May 27, 2009, a father and his nine-year old daughter were struck by a motorcycle that was being operated by a man under the influence of alcohol in Novato, CA, according to foxreno.com. The nine-year old girl died from her injuries and the father is still in critical condition. As the father and daughter were crossing the street on a crosswalk, the impaired motorcyclist was speeding and ran a stop sign, subsequently hitting the two pedestrians. The motorcyclist was arrested for vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, mayhem, and enhancement alleging infliction of great bodily injury during a felony.

Driving under the influence in any type of vehicle is illegal and extremely unsafe. Operating a motorcycle under the influence of alcohol can put the driver at an even higher risk for injury to themselves or to others. According to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's Quick Tips for Alcohol Awareness:

Having any alcohol in one’s body increases the chance of crashing by five times.

Having a BAC greater than 0.05% increases the risk of crashing about forty-fold.

46 percent of all motorcyclists killed in crashes were using alcohol.

One fourth of all fatal alcohol-related motorcycle crashes involve motorcyclists running off the road, overturning, or falling from the motorcycle rather than striking another object.

The Motorcycle Safety Foundation has a helpful Riding Tips Handbook for those interested in learning more about motorcycle safety.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Margaret Embry

Highway Safety the Focus When Motorcycle and Tractor-Trailer Collide in Accident

Claude Wyle — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:36:24 GMT

Sad news earlier this week when a local motorcyclist was killed as a semi made an illegal move across traffic in an attempt to make a freeway connection. According to the San Jose Mercury News:

Herbert Saxton Jr., 33, was killed in the crash that occurred about 6 p.m. when the big-rig drove from the right shoulder of eastbound Interstate 580, just past the split with Interstate 205 west of Tracy, across two freeway lanes and into a dirt gore point separating the two freeways, said Officer Steve Creel.

Driving Safety expert Reed Berry has a great collection of videos about safe driving at VideoJug.com. Below I have included a short video that reminds drivers to be careful on the road, especially around motorcycles.

Since even the safest drivers let their minds wander and lose focus at times, Reed's videos serve as a great safety refresher to reference every now and then. This tragic accident could have been avoided if the truck driver had practiced basic highway driving safety. Remember, if you miss a turn or exit, it's important not to panic. Continuing on until you find a safe way to correct your route may cost time, but it also may save a life.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Claude Wyle

Car Pulls Out of Driveway; Another Motorcycle Accident Death

Claude Wyle — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 13:59:53 GMT

Last Friday night, a 22-year old motorcycle rider was killed in Hayward when he crashed his Yamaha R1 into a Dodge Intrepid that had just backed out of a driveway. The rider, a man named Escobar, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police has mentioned speed as a factor in the collision. The Hayward Police Department is investigating the motorcycle crash, and people with additional information are requested to call Officer Eric Mulhern at (510) 293-7011.
As San Francisco motorcycle accident attorneys, we encounter similar factual situations all the time. While it is clear that a car driver is negligent for backing his vehicle into the path of traffic, the speed of a motorcyclist will always be in question. A motorcycle rider absolutely needs to ride defensively. When a car crashes into a car, fenders bend. When a motorcycle crashes into a car, the motorcyclist gets hurt or is killed. If you see a car in a driveway and the lights are on, or the reverse lights are on, please slow down and give that vehicle a wide berth. You may have the right of way, but your life and health are yours to protect. Have fun, and ride safely, Claude

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Claude Wyle

Deadly Motorcycle Accident Kills Tracy Man on Highway 238

Claude Wyle — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:14:16 GMT

Sad news for the motorcycling community, and a bit of a mystery for some motorcycle attorneys to unravel. Leopoldo Zaragoza, riding a 2001 R1, was killed at or around 5:25 a. m. on Interstate 238 early this Monday morning. Zaragoza, a 38-year-old Tracy resident was pronounced dead at the scene of this deadly motorcycle crash. Although no other vehicle is thought to be involved in this motorcycle accident, there was some metal debris on the highway, which possibly came from a big rig. Witnesses said that Zaragoza was trying to avoid the debris when he lost control of the bike. If the big rig can be identified from the debris, or if Zaragoza had uninsured motorist coverage. then his family can potentially recover for wrongful death. Another question would be why the State had not cleaned up the highway, leaving it a dangerous condition of public property?

Anyone with additional information on the accident is asked to call California Highway Patrol Officer Jose Gonzalez at 510-489-1500.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Claude Wyle

San Francisco Motorcycle Accident Attorneys Settle For $2,250,000

Claude Wyle — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 16:43:08 GMT

We are pleased to announce victory for one of our motorcycle accident clients. Our San Francisco motorcycle accident attorney team recently settled a case for $2,250,000. As our 26 year old client, Dwight L. was riding his motorcycle in Marin County, the driver of a minivan pulled a U-turn across both lanes and directly into
Dwight's path. Although Dwight made a statement to the reporting CHP officer that he had been riding 65 mph, our team of experts, including accident reconstruction experts, physicists, and human factors experts, was able to refute the van driver's assertion of comparative negligence. Dwight suffered multiple fractures to both arms and both legs, and survived 11 surgeries, and our motorcycle accident team was able to make the negligent van driver fully accountable.

This case was filed in Marin County Superior Court in San Rafael, California. Liability for this crash was hotly contested for over a year. The defendant driver of the mini-van actually passed away during the pendency of the litigation, and negotiations were with three different law firms for the defense. This case settled after two mediations in San Francisco. Dwight has taken his settlement money and paid off his mother's house. He also chose to use part of the settlement to fund a structured settlement, which will pay him over time for the rest of his life. Dwight is a very deserving young man, who has demonstrated tremendous strength of character throughout this litigation. He is a true survivor, and we have been proud to represent him.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Claude Wyle

Lane Sharing is Legal and Reduces Motorcycle Accidents

Claude Wyle — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:05:16 GMT

I thought that I should chime in, since I have settled at least four or five lane sharing cases for six figures in the last year or so. You should take these cases and evaluate them carefully. The claims representatives have no idea what is legal in California or what is reasonable riding and they should be educated that lane sharing cases are valid. First of all, I recognize the prejudice in jurors against motorcyclists, particularly bikers who are lane sharing or filtering or lane splitting. No matter how you slice it, car drivers don't like it. Did you know that lane sharing is legal only in two states, California included, and that studies have shown that it is actually safer for a motorcyclist to split lanes than to sit in traffic and await being rear ended? In days gone by, most motorcycles were air cooled and would overheat unless they were actually moving forward (Harleys and Triumphs and Nortons are a good example). Thus, we had bikes dying in traffic, and creating a hazard when they got stuck in the roadway. Bikers were injured when they were rear ended. Bikers were still getting rear ended and getting hurt even when they were not stalled in traffic, because they were more difficult to see than cars or trucks.

The only real comprehensive national study on motorcycle accidents is the famous "Hurt Report", and is available as noted below:
Interestingly, Hurt, no pun intended, opined that it was more dangerous for motorcyclists to be stuck in traffic than it was for them to lane split. Of note is the fact that Hurt himself was rear ended on his motorcycle and was injured thereby. So, it is legal here in California, but is it safe? The California Highway Patrol has a brochure on safe motorcycle riding and they used to actually provide the specific parameters as to what was considered safe lane splitting. They have since taken out the specific answers to Mark's question, and replaced them with more of a reasonableness standard. Still, I think that some parameters are still important and the CHP have guidelines for what they consider reasonable without putting it into the brochure. If the reporting officer did not add your biker's conduct as a contributing collision factor, you can bet that they did not believe that he or she was violating the CHP guidelines for lane splitting. 20-25 mph faster than the speed of traffic is marginal. 15mph is a more acceptable figure. 30-40 mph for speed is acceptable but 35 is almost always considered reasonable. I have found that the key to the lane sharing cases is in determining if your motorcyclist was actually engaged in lane sharing at the precise time of the impact. Most of the time, a biker might have been lane sharing, but then will end up in control of a lane just before the other party changes lanes into them. The devil is in the details, and in careful deposition preparation. There are many factors at play, including exactly where the biker was in the lane and what the biker saw just before the car moved into their lane. I would be happy to discuss this topic, or any topic related to motorcycle cases or racing or riding with any of you. Corner me or my partner George at the Convention, or, better yet, come riding with us on any given Sunday morning. Check out the Hurt Report at:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, Virginia 22161
(703)-487-4600
and order:
Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures, Volume 1: Technical Report, Hurt, H.H., Ouellet, J.V. and Thom, D.R., Traffic Safety Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90007, Contract No. DOT HS-5-01160, January 1981 (Final Report)
Vol.I (The Main Report and Summary) is PB81206443 (~400 pages)
Vol.II (Appendix: Supplementary Data) is PB81206450 (~400 pages)
Either document is $42.95 plus $3.00 shipping. (circa 1990)

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Claude Wyle

Unsafe Left Turn Causes Fatal San Francisco Motorcycle Accident

Claude Wyle — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 19:40:29 GMT

This last Thursday, a negligent car driver made a left turn into the path of a motorcyclist in San Francisco, causing the motorcycle to collide with the side of the car. This dangerous left turn caused the wrongful death of 37-year-old Teterio Carpenter. The fatal motorcycle accident occurred at approximately 8:30 p.m., at 1100 block of Gilman Avenue, in San Francisco, California. As motorcycle attorneys, we see so many unsafe left turn cases per year. The unsafe left turn in front of a motorcycle is the most common type of motorcycle accident, by far. Sadly, this motorcycle crash has caused a wrongful death.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Claude Wyle

When Drivers Kill Motorcyclists It's Civil Law That Helps The Family

Claude Wyle — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 10:15:10 GMT

A 25 year old reckless driver Ramon Pineda caused a deadly motorcycle-car crash this past Sunday, killing an off-duty Flint police officer, Vincent Owen, age 26, of Goodrich. According to witnesses, Pineda was driving a Camaro about 8 p.m. Sunday on Sashabaw when he rear-ended the motorcycle driven by D'Anna. Pineda, attempted to run from the accident, and was restrained by witnesses. Although this inebriated illegal driver was charged Tuesday with second-degree murder, DUI, leaving the scene of an accident, and driving on a suspended license, how will criminal prosecution help this motorcyclist's family in a practical way? Is criminal prosecution of this scoff-law enough? Although putting a reckless driver behind bars makes us all feel a bit better, only a civil claim through the court or an insurance claim under the uninsured motorist provisions of D'Anna's own motorcycle policy will help his provide his family compensation for their loss. This family should proceed with a civil claim for wrongful death. Given the profile of the reckless driver, he is probably poorly insured, so the family of Mr. D'Anna should consult with a good attorney to proceed with an uninsured claim under D'Anna's own policy.

The driver who caused this wrongful death had illegally slipped into the U.S. from Mexico about 10 years ago, according to police. Federal authorities have been advised of his arrest. Throwing Pineda in jail or out of the country will do nothing to pay for funeral expenses or to put food on the table of D'Anna's family. The criminal courts help society at large, while it takes the civil justice system to provide a remedy to the actual persons harmed.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Claude Wyle

SUV Makes Deadly Lane Change and Kills Motorcyclist

Claude Wyle — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 16:49:59 GMT

On Tuesday, in downtown Oakland , a motorcyclist was killed when an SUV while attempting to make a lane change, brushed the motorcycle he was riding, and caused him to hit a parked car, and then a cinder block wall.
The motorcycle accident happened about 6 a.m. in the 100 block of Seventh Street, between Jackson and Madison streets, near Chinatown. This apparently is another case of "I just didn't see him", or "he came out of nowhere". Hopefully the family of the motorcycle rider will hire a good motorcycle attorney to help them with this wrongful death claim.

The name of the dead motorcycle rider, a 42-year-old Alameda resident, was not released pending notification of his relatives. The name of the SUV driver, who police said was a Coast Guard enlisted man, was also withheld. The Oakland PD said both vehicles had come out of the Posey Tube into Oakland from Alameda and were traveling eastbound on Seventh Street. the motorcyclist was in the far right lane, and the SUV was trying to change into that lane when he brushed the bike, making it hit a parked car and jump a curb where the rider was ejected into a cinder block wall, causing fatal injuries. This is another tragedy that should have easily been avoided.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to our section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents and Wrongful Death.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Claude Wyle

Deadly Motorcycle Race Claims Two Lives

Claude Wyle — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 18:02:49 GMT

Let's hope others learn from the fatal mistake of the four motorcyclists who crashed into a concrete wall on Middle Harbor Road in Oakland, California last night during a "street race." Two of the riders were taken to Highland Hospital for treatment of serious injuries; the other two did not survive this deadly motorcycle crash. This is one good reason to keep racing to the track.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Claude Wyle