Articles Posted in Bicycle Accidents

The San Francisco wrongful death lawyers at our firm understand that no accidents are tougher on area families than those that take the life of a loved one. All losses are difficult, but there is something especially tragic about those deaths that are caused by the negligence of another. Far too frequently that misconduct involves improper driving on our area roadways. Deaths in traffic accidents remain one of the most common forms of fatal accidents. “Accidental” is a bit of misnomer, as most of these crashes can be traced back to unsafe and sometimes reckless conduct on the part of someone involved in the crash.

For example, CBS San Francisco reported last week on a tragic San Francisco bicycle accident that took the life of a local man. Fifty-seven year old Robert Eugene White of Ryde was killed on state Highway 113 when his bike was hit from behind on Sunday afternoon. Officials are still conducting investigations to figure out exactly what happened. However, as it now stands, investigators believe that the man was riding his bicycle northbound on the highway around two in the afternoon in an unincorporated part of Solano County. While peddling on the edge of the road a car driven by a twenty-one year old young man came up behind him. Authorities believe that the driver began to pass the bicyclist, but for reasons still undetermined, he swerved and actually hit Mr. White. As most would expect, Mr. White was thrown from his bike by the impact. He ultimately landed on the windshield of the car that hit him before ending up on the shoulder of the road. Unfortunately, as often happens when a bicyclist is hit by a speeding car, the man’s injuries were quite severe and he did not survive the collision.

It is tragic to hear about these preventable accidents. Sadly, events just like this occur all the time on roadways inside and outside the city. Many car and truck drivers fail to understand that they must share the road with cyclists. As a result, many bike riders fall victim just like the man in this latest accident. When this occurs, it is almost always a clear case of negligence. No driver who abides by reasonable standards of care when behind the wheel would hit a bicyclist while trying to pass him. The civil law is clear when it comes to sorting out liability in many of these accidents. Those who are harmed are able to hold the wrongdoer liable any time that wrongdoer owed a duty, breached that duty, and caused injury. All drivers owe a duty to fellow travelers, and that duty is breached causing injury when their vehicle strikes another.
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For those of you who do not get around by bicycle, you may not know that the door zone, the space in a bike lane between the cyclist and a parallel parked car, is one of the biggest threats to bicyclists in San Francisco. According to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), dooring is the second most common form of injury collision involving cyclists, behind unsafe speed, though the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition contends that dooring is the highest injury collision type caused by motorists or their passengers. The good new is the San Francisco Municipal Transportation agency is piloting a series of projects designed to encourage bicyclists to steer clear of the door zone. On sections of Polk Street, for example, the SFMTA has painted a batch of T’s in the bike lanes that are supposed to guide bicyclists away from the door zone. The design proves to be an improvement over the standard bike lanes, yet it does, at the same time, underscore the fact that there is not much space available for cyclists to ride safely. Research shows that bicyclists are only given a very narrow area of a space in a bike lane when a car door opens, about one to two feet wide, depending on the width of the lane and size of the car door.

The SFMTA is also trying out this T style cross-hatch design on 17th Street between Dolores and Guerrero streets, and they have installed the T design in the bike lanes on Howard Street between 5th and 7th. The T design is becoming more and more cities across the country and is a feature that is highlighted in the Urban Bikeway Design Guide put out by the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO). The SFMTA has done before/after studies on both Polk and Howard where they were able to reduce the number of cyclists riding in the door zone. In a 2006 study in Howard Street, the average distance from the curb where cyclists rode increased from 10.3 feet to 10.9 feet, with 24% riding in the door zone before and 10% after. In a 2009-10 study on Polk Street, the average distance from the curb where cyclists rode increased from 10 feet to 10.4 feet, with 41% riding in the door zone before and 30% after.

The SFMTA says the T installations have been effective so far. They are also considering implementing left side bike lanes. Left-side bike lanes are conventional bike lanes placed on the left side of one-way streets or two-way median divided streets. They offer advantages along streets with heavy delivery or transit use, frequent parking turnover on the right side, or other potential conflicts that could be associated with right-side bicycle lanes. The left side bike lane benefits are:
• Avoids potential right-side bike lane conflicts on streets,
• improves bicyclist visibility by motorists by having the bike lanes on the driver’s side,
• provides consistent facility configuration in locations where right-side travel lanes are subject to rush hour parking restrictions and other flexible uses,
• minimizes door zone conflicts next to parking because of fewer door opening on the passenger side of vehicles,
• fewer bus and truck conflicts as most bus stops and loading zones are on the right side of the street.
If Bike lanes are to provide a measure of safety, then they must provide minimum safe distance from cyclists. This world is changing, and as more people become conscious of the environment, interested in sustainable living, and turn to public transportation and bicycling, then society and governments must move along with those changes. Consequently, as this happens, it is imperative that urban planning designs evolve to include safer routes for cyclists.
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Nancy Ho, a 25-year-old cyclist was struck by a food delivery truck in downtown San Francisco on Tuesday. The truck was heading west on Mission, and s much as I would not like to say the next part, it must be said: the cyclist made an illegal left turn onto Fremont in front of the truck and was not wearing a helmet. Consequently, sadly and unfortunately, she died yesterday, as reported by sfweekly. Maybe this young cyclist didn’t know that she was making an illegal turn until it was too late. Maybe she did know. But this is not the time or place to make contentious arguments in either direction. We will never know what she was thinking. Either way it is simply tragic, and sometimes and accident is just accident. However, this incident does underscore the importance of keeping safe out there on San Francisco’s bustling streets, whether you are driving, walking, or cycling, and that is a point we cannot stress that enough. (For information on bike safety and road rules, see our former post– San Francisco Bike Attorney: Bike Accidents with Cars or Trucks)
Cyclists must remember that their lives are at stake once they start pedaling. Every moment counts out there. Wearing a helmet, cycling defensively and not taking any chances by assuming that drivers are looking out for you is a great way to stay safe and a great way to stack the deck your favor. Also, knowing your bike route before you hit you road could save your life. Our friends over at the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, folks who work hard campaigning for a complete system of safe bikeways to be built throughout San Francisco, offer free workshops on how to ride your bike safely, confidently, and respectfully. We encourage both novice and experienced cyclists alike to sit in on these classes –from which the former can learn something new and the latter can pull information they may have forgotten or never knew. With all the recent bike and pedestrian accidents, we feel the need to share some other general safety tips for cyclists:
Be extremely aware of traffic around you and be prepared to brake in an instant.
Yield to all pedestrians (this is not just a tip-it is the law).
Use extreme caution when cycling past park cars, as driver may not see you when the open the door or when pulling out of the space.
Stay out of a driver’s blind spot and make sure you are noticed as much as possible.
Avoid traveling alongside cars when moving thru intersections, as they might turn into you without signaling.
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Police in San Francisco have a new entity, a type of watchdog/public eye, to contend with: The Bike Accident Tracker App. According to baycitizen.org-the creators of the app– police will write an accident report only if an ambulance is called. As you can imagine, a lot of reports go unwritten because many victims don’t have health insurance and can’t afford a trip in an ambulance. Some injured victims will resort to picking themselves off the pavement, getting the driver’s information themselves, and finding their own way to the emergency room. Then they will go to a police station to file a report, at which point the police may not write one and will only give a case number. In order to get a full picture of bike collisions, baycitizen.org has engineered the Bike Accident Tracker App to allow cyclists or motorists to submit their own crash data. Their hope is that this, combined with statistics from the police, will provide a better idea of where and why crashes are taking place.

Since launching the Bike Accident Tracker, they’ve received about 30 reports, and they’re adding them to the map. The self reported accidents are all different. For example, one woman got caught on the F-Line tracks while turning left onto Valencia Street form Market Street. In another incident, a man trying to cross Geary Boulevard was doored by the passenger of a car that decided to stop in the intersection. Just as in other cases, the police refused to take a report of these cyclists because they did not want to go the hospital. Since police reports are used for insurance purposes, they are key component in the filing a claim and the foundation of a demand for compensation. Here at the Brod Law Firm, we think all cyclists should be treated fairly after they are injured in an accident and that no cyclist should have to choose between having a report written and taking their injured selves to the emergency room. For over 10 years we have been fighting for the cyclists from all bay area cities. Whether you suffered an injury here in San Francisco or in Walnut Creek, we have the ability and experience to help you get the compensation you deserve.

Last weekend, a 24year old man who was cycling in the mission district suffered serious injuries after being struck by a hit a run driver, according to SFGate.com. The cyclist was taken to San Francisco General Hospital. There is no detailed description of the suspect, except that his vehicle is described as tan or gold newer model four-door. The time was 12:20a.m. on December 25th and the cyclist was heading west on 25th street, and the car was heading east on 25th street. The driver hit the cyclist as he was making a left turn onto Bartlett Street. The police stated that the cyclist had the right-of-way, as the car was the one that was turning.

As it turns out, this intersection is notorious for car crashes and many near misses. Several people in the neighborhood wonder why there is not a stop sign at that intersection on 25th, as there are four-way stops at all the other intersections-the only stop signs at that intersection are on Bartlett, one of which is covered by foliage. Also they wonder: if there was a stop sign there, could this accident have been avoided? Many drivers take the smaller streets to avoid traffic, thereby placing cyclists who do the same in jeopardy. Some drivers coming from the freeway onto Caesar Chavez and into the Mission neighborhoods forget to slow down. Residents are petitioning for more stop signs at all dangerous intersections and vulnerable points in the area. They are also seeking to have the property owner, at the stop sign covered with foliage, trim the back the potential hazard. Here at the Brod Law Firm, we too believe drivers need to slow them down as soon as they take the off-ramp and begin entering neighborhoods with children, pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users.

If you or a loved one suffered an injury as the result of a bicycle accident, please contact our firm to see about filing a claim. With over 10 years experience defending injured cyclists, we have the expertise to guarantee you get the compensation you deserve.

According to the Press Democrat, the CHP is looking for a maroon-colored SUV in connection with a hit-and-run collision that seriously injured a cyclist in Saturday’s GranFondo ride, a 103 mile ride through northern California. Witnesses told officers it could have been a ford Explorer or something similar. As of yet, officers don’t have a description of the driver or a license plate. The cyclist, Anoush Zebarjadian, a 57 year old veteran bike rider of San Francisco, was on Graton Road at around 4pm when he was hit. He was knocked unconscious and suffered serious head injuries, and he remained in the hospital Wednesday in serious condition in ICU at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. A CHP officer, as of yesterday, was continuing to try to learn the driver’s identity and find the vehicle. A witness to the collision said the driver drove aggressively as he passed riders on a downhill slope just prior to hitting the cyclist. The witness also said that as driver passed the cyclist, he pulled the large vehicle to the right and hit the cyclist and his bike. At that moment Zebarjadian hit the ground and the driver did not stop.

These rides are often on windy roads with skimpy or no bike lanes at all that make it nearly impossible for drivers and cyclist to share the road safely, but that is no excuse for drivers to become impatient and angry, and then drive aggressively. Here at the Brod Law Firm, we think perhaps the planners of these rides need to provide better info to the public by alerting drivers– days before as well as the day of the ride–of possible delays and perhaps provide detours during the rides so that cyclists are not put at such a risk. The most seasoned rider, as we have seen here with Zebarjadian, can become a victim of hit and run in an instant. Zebarjadian will obviously need the public’s help finding the hit-and run driver, because there may not be enough of an effort on the part of the police put into solving this crime, and also because, even though there several witnesses, no one was able to provide a thorough description of the car or license plate. Sometimes other witnesses and people who have information don’t bother to speak up because they assume that others will provide the information.

If you are loved one were the victim of a hit-and-run accident, please contact our office. We have over 10 years experience fighting for victims of hit-and-run accidents, and we are happy to answer any questions you may have regarding these kinds of cases.

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