San Francisco Injury Attorney Blog

From time to time I am asked if I can handle a personal injury claim for someone who lives here in the San Francisco Bay Area, but was injured in a car accident or other incident elsewhere. The answer is always yes. Personal injury cases are generally "venued" in the state where the injury occurred, or where the party at fault lives. To litigate a case outside California, local counsel are properly retained in the place where any necessary lawsuit will happen. Done properly, this will not increase the client's fee at all.

There are many advantages to hiring an attorney near home. Meeting with your attorney from time to time during a case is important. Having to travel to have an initial meeting and hire someone can be inconvenient for someone recently injured. When the injured person is asked about travel after an injury, as often happens, it will not sound good that the first trip post-injury was to seek a lawyer. By retaining someone locally, clients can have a professional find and hire any "local" counsel needed, and still have someone nearby with whom to work.

Over the years, we have worked with people whose cases are in various other states, and even in Canada. If the case must go all the way to a judge or jury trial, (as happens with less than 10% of injury cases) a California lawyer can also gain special, limited admission to the local bar so that he or she can represent the client in an out-of-state court.

The same principal applies to someone with a personal injury case in California, but far from the San Francisco Bay Area. Hiring someone close to home is even easier when the case is based in California, as local counsel may not even be necessary, and no special permission is needed.

Continue reading "Can My San Francisco Accident Attorney Handle My Out Of State Injury Case?" »

Of course no one wants to drive for even a minute without insurance against claims for personal injury caused by a car accident, and for damage to any cars in an accident. Here in San Francisco, car accidents can cost tens of thousands of dollars even if no personal injury is involved. Sometimes, people will delay taking delivery of a new car until they have notified their insurance carrier of the purchase. But, especially with used cars purchased on an evening or weekend, this is not always feasible. This can be especially inconvenient if the car you are buying is far from home. Fortunately, most major insurance carriers will cover you for damages caused by a car accident, including personal injury claims, when you buy a new or used car, even though you have not given them any advance notice. Typically, you must notify the carrier and confirm coverage of the additional car within 30 days of purchase. The coverage extended for "newly acquired" cars is usually the same coverage you had for your other car or cars.

Before you rely on this coverage, you should either look at your policy brochure, and/or call your agent to confirm that this type of coverage is included in your policy. Look in the Definitions section at the beginning of the policy for the phrase "newly acquired." Auto insurance carriers typically don't put their policy terms online, but here's a link to a recent State Farm Policy. Look on page 2 for the "newly acquired" terms. Here's an important warning though: If you have an older car, and have dropped collision and/or comprehensive coverage, you will need to make arrangements with your agent before you put your new car into gear.

After you confirm that your policy does include full coverage for "newly acquired" cars, you are free to shop, buy, and drive right off with the confidence that you are covered so long as you inform your insurance company within the 30 days specified. If the "newly acquired" car is replacing one of the cars on your policy, rather than adding an additional car, you may be covered even if you do not notify the insurer. To be sure you are covered for car accidents in California, though, you should always notify your carrier of a car purchase well within the thirty days.

Continue reading "Will My California Insurance Cover Me For Car Accidents In A New Car?" »

One question people injured in car accidents in San Francisco, Oakand, and all over the Bay Area have been asking me for many years is whether or not they should hire an attorney to handle their injury claims. Of course, they know that an lawyer is not an unbiased source of information on this question. But it's my duty to give the most even-handed advice I can. If I don't think I can add value to the client's bottom line recovery, I will not take a case. For some small cases, with a fairly quick, full recovery, the answer is no, you may not need an attorney. In that type of case, even the lower settlement you get may be about equal to what you could pocket after attorney's fees and costs were deducted from a higher settlement. Small claims court is another viable option for people who are comfortable presenting their case to a judge, and the recovery limit was raised to $7,500 a few years ago.

But for cases much beyond the small claims court limit, a good personal injury lawyer will most often be able to get you much more in your pocket than you could achieve on your own. Insurance carriers just don't take unrepresented injury claimants very seriously. They know that they won't be able to evaluate the true worth of the case, and that they will probably just settle for what they can get. Also, most of us who don't do it for a living are poor negotiators--just look at what happens at car dealerships. The major auto insurance carriers also rank lawyers, and settlements can vary depending on who you choose. They know that some lawyers like to settle other cases, and that others will take them to court and fight until their client's claim is compensated fairly.

Continue reading "How to decide if you need a lawyer for your San Francisco car accident case" »

Many San Francisco car accidents are caused by our streetcars, also known as light rail vehicles, or LRVs. Many people do not realize how much longer it takes streetcars to stop. There is essentially a double delay: LRV brakes do not even begin to work until a second or two after they are applied, then they stop the car much more slowly than a car's brakes would. On San Francisco cable cars, the primary brake is a pine block! Many San Francisco car accidents are caused by our streetcars, also known as light rail vehicles, or LRVs. Many people do not realize how much longer it takes streetcars to stop. There is essentially a double delay: LRV brakes do not even begin to work until a second or two after they are applied, then they stop the car much more slowly than a car's brakes would. On San Francisco streetcars, the primary brake is a pine block.

A recent accident, on April 6, 2010, was covered in a San Francisco Chronicle piece. The same story was picked up nationally in a Associated Press story. This injury accident was caused by faulty brakes on the streetcar. In this injury accident, the streetcar hit a bus from behind, pushing it into the streetcar, which then hit passenger cars.

Another factor in car accidents involving streetcars is the physics: since "light" rail vehicles are actually massive and heavy, they cause much more injury-producing forces at any given speed than a car would.

I think people can always use another reminder about the need to act quickly in a personal injury claim involving San Francisco, or any other town or city: there is a six-month claims filing deadline. This also applies to community hospitals, such as San Francisco General Hospital, and Highland Hospital in Oakland, as well as any claims against the State of California. Anyone injured in an accident that was caused by a government-funded employee should seek a personal injury attorney promptly, so that this crucial deadline, called the statute of limitations, will not bar the claim.

Continue reading "Another San Francisco Injury Streetcar Accident" »

Do you turn you head to check your blind spot before making a lane change? Here in congested San Francisco, turning your head even briefly away can increase your risk of being in a car accident. There's a way to reset your mirrors that makes head turning unnecessary. It's the Blindspot and Glare Elimination (BGE) mirror setting. The BGE was developed in 1996 by a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) named George Platzer. The BGE setting changes the view of your side mirrors to show your blind spots, rather than the view behind, which is already covered by your rear view mirror. An added benefit of the BGE setting is the elimination of glare from passing cars.

For drivers who are accustomed to the typical side mirror settings, switching to the BGE setting is a bit difficult initially, due to disorientation when looking at the side view mirror when the side of their vehicle is no longer visible, but after switching, most acclimate to the new settings and find it a better way to drive.

There are several advantages to the BGE setting:

The BGE setting involves tipping your mirrors out about 15 degrees farther than the typical setting. Here's how to do it:

Place your head against the driver's side window and adjust the driver's side mirror so you can barely see the driver's side of your car. (This is the view you would have on typical settings without moving your head.)

Move your head as close to the center of the car as possible and adjust the passenger's side mirror so you can barely see the passenger's side of your car.

To check your BGE setting, watch as a car passes you in an adjacent lane. It should enter your outside mirror before it leaves the rearview (inside) mirror. Also, the car should appear in your peripheral vision before it leaves the outside mirror.

Continue reading "California Driving: How to set your car's mirrors to really see your blind spots" »

Like many of us, I am still finding my way to a safe personal driving and talking policy here in San Francisco. Of course, California law now prohibits using a handset while driving, but we are one of just seven states with this restriction. Is it safe to talk and drive, even using a speakerphone or headset? The New York Times online has an entire section devoted to articles on the risks of driving and talking.

A U.S. News & World Report piece points to research that indicates that talking while driving can impair the brain's ability to process what a driver is seeing by 50%. Many reports are linking cellphone use with San Francisco car accidents . This piece also cites an interesting statistic: at any given time, about 11% of drivers are on the phone. A Wired Magazine online piece featured tests that showed only 1 in 40 drivers retained their full ability to reach quickly to changing road conditions while talking and driving. But those "supertaskers" were able to perform competently on driving tests while talking, leading the magazine to emphasize that for some drivers, talking and driving pose no added risk of harm.

Combining these two statistics-the 11% of drivers being on the phone, and the 1-in-40 who can so do without impaired driving ability-highlights the danger of combining the two. Of courses, many of us would like to think that we are the 1 in 40. It would be interesting to see how many people in a survey felt that they were among the "supertaskers" that Wired cites. Based on my experiences, I don't think that I'm one of them. I have noticed that my driving attention suffers when I am on the phone. For now, I have decided to avoid driving and talking while here in San Francisco, or any urban area, but I still do it on longer freeway drives in uncongested traffic. Being able to utilize that otherwise-wasted time is hard to give up. But I know that multiple studies show that it is taking something away from my reaction abilities.

For now, I still talk while driving on a limited basis, but I am open to limiting it even more, or giving it up entirely if I become convinced that it is always unsafe.

Continue reading "Driving and Talking in the San Francisco Bay Area" »

Having a car take off as if it has a mind of its own is pretty unnerving. It happened to me when I was in college, driving a friend's old Buick, and the accelerator stuck. I felt panicked at first, then shifted into neutral, which solved the problem. Fortunately, I didn't hit anything between the onset of the problem and deciding what to do. Now everyone's thinking about sudden acceleration, and, I would imagine, what they would do if it happened. Here's the Consumer Reports guide to how to deal with sudden acceleration.

Now we are all hearing about this problem on a daily basis because of the massive problems with Toyotas. First we heard that it was caused by sticking floormats, and Toyota had a big floormat recall. Then we heard that it was faulty accelerator pedals, and Toyota announced another recall. Now we are seeing reports that cars that have had "the fix" are still having the problem, and it's been suggested that the problem lies elsewhere--perhaps with electronics.

This isn't the first time that this has happened, of course. If you've been driving a while, you may recall the major problem Audi had with the model 5000 back in the 1990's. That acceleration problem was much less dangerous, because it usually occurred from a stop. It resulted in lockouts being installed on virtually all automatic transmission cars thereafter, requiring drivers to press the brake pedal before a solenoid releases the shift lever out of park. Already there is talk of the Toyota problems causing new regulations requiring a safety override that would kick in when the brakes are pressed.

As cars become laden with more electronic substitutes for direct mechanical operation of basic functions, the possibilities for these problems increase. Already, there are "drive by wire" and "brake by wire" systems, where the driver's actions have no physical connection to the wheels or brakes, only to electronic sensors that signal motors to do the work.

Hopefully Toyota owners will be reassured by a definitive solution to this problem. But going forward, drivers of all cars should be prepared with an action plan in the event of sudden acceleration.

Continue reading "San Francisco Bay Area Accidents: Sudden Acceleraton Can Always Happen" »

If you haven't done so recently, now is a good time to double check your auto insurance policy limits. Many people end up with liability coverage limits that are recommended by their insurance agents when they first buy the policy. Often, these limits have been in effect for many years, even though an individual has accumulated more assets--such as a home in the San Francisco Bay Area--and their financial picture has changed considerably.

Even the best driver runs the risk of causing a death or serious personal injury while driving a car, or being involved in an accident where he or she is blamed for a serious accident that severely injures someone. How could that happen to a good driver? Here's one example: a child runs out in front of a car without looking. Accident reconstruction tests are performed, showing that the driver was going 35, when the speed limit was 25. This can easily happen in areas where the roads are marked with limits that are low for the type of road, or where the speed limit on a road changes during a drive. When an accident causes a death of a wage earner, or causes catastrophic injuries, the liability exposure can be in the millions of dollars.

If you have little or no assets, you may not be very concerned about injury liability exposure. But if you own a home, other real estate, have savings, investments, or other assets of considerable value, an auto accident claim could wipe you out.

We have handled numerous cases over the years in which the party at fault did not have enough car insurance, and had to mortgage their home, and sell investment property as a result of a lawsuit.

So how much auto insurance should you carry? The more the better. You may not be able to buy enough insurance to fully cover a catastrophic personal injury claim, but by having high limits, you create a fund that could be a big bargaining chip in getting a "full and final" release from further claims by the injured person. Many attorneys do not want to go through the very difficult process of collecting from an under-insured person's personal assets, and may encourage their clients to accept the insurance proceeds instead of proceeding against your personal assets.

Auto liability insurance limits of $250,000 or more provide a thick layer of insulation between you and personal injury claims and do not cost that much more than lower limits. An even better choice is to purchase an "umbrella" policy. This is an additional policy that extends your liability for personal injury and wrongful death claims to a high limit, usually 1 or 2 million dollars. Umbrella policies typically only cost a few hundred dollars per year, and are well worth the investment if you have significant assets.

Continue reading "Auto Accidents: Do You Have Enough Insurance?" »