Car and Auto Accidents

Aggressive Driving: Santa Rosa Injury Lawyer Examines a Danger to Drivers Everywhere

July 26, 2016 | Gregory J. Brod

When you first get your license, driving can feel like freedom. Over time, sitting in the driver’s seat can become more about frustration. We all experience frustrating and even enraging moments behind the wheel and how we respond can make a real difference. Serving as a car accident lawyer in Santa Rosa and throughout Northern California, Attorney Greg Brod knows that the problems of aggressive driving are not always confined to San Francisco or other supersized cities. Aggressive driving is a danger on EVERY roadway.

Report Looks at the Prevalence and Risks of Aggressive Driving

This month, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Study released a report titled Prevalence of Self-Reported Aggressive Driving Behavior: United States, 2014. The report details the results of a survey of 2,705 drivers nationwide conducted in 2014. In the survey, the researchers asked drivers to review a list of eight driving behaviors and identify whether, over the past year, they engaged in the behavior regularly, fairly often, rarely, just once, or never. More than three-quarters of those surveyed admitted to engaging in at least one of the listed aggressive driving behaviors in the past year including:

Ensuring Safety for All: Keeping Northern California Roads Safe for Individuals with Disabilities

July 19, 2016 | Gregory J. Brod

At the Brod Law Firm, we believe that Bay Area roads should be safe for every traveler. As a recent news report reminds us, this includes people living with disabilities. Whether a person is in a wheelchair or on foot, whether a person is blind or sighted, everyone should be able to navigate our streets safely. Our Santa Rosa pedestrian accident law firm is committed to protecting all of our residents and remembering that pedestrian safety includes wheelchair safety and other forms of access for people with physical challenges.

Advocates Work for Access and Safety in Santa Rosa

Sunday’s Press Democrat included an important reminder that pedestrian safety includes access for people with a range of physical abilities. Reporters spoke to a man who is working with Santa Rosa officials to ensure the streets are safe for people with mobility, vision, and/or hearing impairments. He pointed out that electric cars pose a special problem for people with visual challenges since they are often nearly silent so an individual who cannot see may not know a car is approaching. Other challenges include overly steep ramps and intersections with no ramps at all that impede access for people in wheelchairs. A lip at the base of a ramp can also trip up someone using a cane. Even overgrown weeds can be a real challenge.

Northern California Dangerous Roads Lawyer Examines Continued Concerns About Defective Guardrails

July 15, 2016 | Gregory J. Brod

In previous posts, we have discussed significant problems with certain guardrails used on U.S. highways. Now, a government reporting agency is adding its voice to the outcry about dangerous guardrails. As a San Francisco defective roads law firm, we are concerned about this continued problem and a “safety device” that appears to be anything but safe.

GAO Report Criticizes Government Response to Concern Over Guardrails

This week, ABC7 reported that, three years after the news channel first discussed problems with certain guardrails, the General Accounting Office (“GAO”) has come out with a report criticizing regulators for failing to protect Americans from a guardrail system that has been tied to numerous injuries and even death. The GAO is an independent government agency that performs audits and investigations for the U.S. Congress. Its report suggests that the Federal Highway Safety Administration has failed to sufficiently address the problem of defective guardrails and urges the Department of Transportation to improve its oversight of guardrails. The report also criticizes states for being slow to install improved device. Further, the GAO’s brief questions the crash-testing process used in the development of some guardrails and calls for improved testing using third-party verification.

San Francisco/Oakland Injury Lawyer on the Dangers of Car Fires

June 28, 2016 | Gregory J. Brod

It’s a common scene in action movies: A car is racing down the highway, perhaps engaged in a high-speed chase, when there’s a crash and the car explodes in a giant ball of fire. Car fires make for a dramatic moment on film, but they are absolutely terrifying in real life. Vehicle fires can have a wide range of causes and tragic consequences. Oakland car fire lawyer Greg Brod works to get the victims of car fires compensation from those responsible. His team can help uncover the cause of a car fire and use the law to recover money for the injured and/or the grieving.

Weekend Sees Two Oakland Police Vehicle Fires

As KPIX reported, car fires consumed two police vehicles over the most recent weekend. Per the article, the first such incident occurred late Saturday when an Oakland officer was chasing a carjacking suspect on I-580 near the High Street exit. In an attempt to avoid hitting another vehicle, the officer crashed into a pole. His vehicle burst into flames but, thankfully, he was able to escape and his colleagues were able to capture the carjacking suspect. A second police vehicle fire occurred on Sunday afternoon when two police cars crashed during a chase on 38^th Avenue.

Northern California Vehicle Defect Lawyer on the Danger of Recalled Rental Cars

June 17, 2016 | Gregory J. Brod

It seems like every few weeks we hear about a new vehicle recall. In some ways, our San Francisco vehicle defect lawyer sees this as a good thing because it suggests vigilance on behalf of those issuing and performing recalls. In other ways, it is distressing because it means unsafe vehicles are making it to the market and on to our nation’s roads. When a recall is issued, car owners typically receive a notice in the mail and may also hear about the recall in the media and recognize that it impacts their vehicle. A question has lingered, however — What happens to recalled rental cars?

NHTSA Announces New Law Addressing Recalls and Rental Cars

This month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) issued an important policy announcement involving recalls and rental cars. Effective June 1, rental car agencies are required by law to remedy any and all open safety defects before renting a vehicle to a consumer. This law applies to any company or dealer with more than 35 vehicles in its fleet and makes it illegal for those organizations to rent out an unrepaired recalled vehicle. Additionally, the law gives the NHTSA the power to investigate and punish those who violate this new rule.

Refusing to Learn: The Problem of Repeat Drunk Drivers

June 1, 2016 | Gregory J. Brod

With all the knowledge and information available today, there is no excuse for driving drunk. Yet, some people continue to do so and some do so over and over again. Repeat drunk drivers, a problem also referred to as drunk driving recidivism, are a danger to all of us. As a Sonoma DUI injury law firm, we have seen the consequences firsthand and we are committed to helping individuals and families impacted by drunk driving.

Woman Arrested Twice for Alcohol-Related Offenses in Less Than Twenty-Four Hours

Although not technically a case of drunk driving recidivism, an incident last week had us wondering just what it takes for some people to learn that drunk driving is not okay. The Press Democrat reports that a Petaluma woman was arrested for public intoxication around 10 AM on Monday May 23 and bailed out of jail around 9 PM that day. Just five hours later, at approximately 2AM on Tuesday, witnesses called to report that an SUV had been in an accident. Petaluma police arrived to find the same woman that had recently left the jail sitting behind the wheel of the SUV. The SUV had hit a fence and collided with a parked vehicle before rolling over. Police smelled alcohol and the woman, who was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital, eventually agreed to a screening test that put her blood alcohol level at 0.19, more than twice the legal limit at which someone is presumed too drunk to drive. The woman was, once again, booked into jail, this time on charges of felony drunk driving and leaving the scene of an accident.

Safety and Justice: Northern California Accident Attorney Examines What Causes Fatal Car Accidents

May 25, 2016 | Gregory J. Brod

According to the California Office of Traffic Safety, 3,074 people died in traffic-related incidents in California in 2014. As far as our San Francisco car accident lawyer is concerned, that is 3,074 deaths too many. At the Brod Law Firm, we represent people left grieving after a family member dies in a fatal car accident in the San Francisco Bay Area region or anywhere in Northern California. We are also dedicated to providing our readers with information to help them stay safe. We know about the tragedies that can stem from a car accident and we want to do everything in our power to prevent those tragedies.

Study Focuses on Causes of Traffic Fatalities by State

If we want to prevent fatal car accidents, we need to know what causes them. Last year, the journal Business Insider looked at this very question. The report relies on a study conducted by the Auto Insurance Center, an insurance information website, that reviewed all fatal car accidents recorded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s information systems from 2009 to 2013 to determine what dangerous behaviors caused the highest number of fatal accidents in each state. For purposes of the study, the researchers included pedestrian, passenger, and driver fatalities.

Marijuana Behind the Wheel: Unanswered Questions, Unnecessary Risk

May 17, 2016 | Gregory J. Brod

Marijuana has been a topic of discussion and debate for many years. While medical marijuana is accepted here in California, debate continues over how to control medical usage, whether to permit recreational use, and how to resolve conflicts between state and federal law. There is one question, however, that our San Francisco injury lawyer feels has not gotten nearly enough attention – the impact of marijuana use on driving ability.

The Debate Over Driving While High and the Criminal Law Question

Over the weekend, KPIX took a look at this important issue. Three drivers with varying histories of marijuana usage were put through a testing course in Washington state. On the first round, despite having an unclear amount of marijuana in their systems, all three drove acceptably. However, after smoking again, the report notes that fact that all three were high “really started to show” and one driver almost hit the photographer.

Focus on Safety: The NTSB’s Most Wanted List 2016

May 13, 2016 | Gregory J. Brod

Every year, the National Transportation Safety Board (“NTSB”) releases what it calls its “Most Wanted List.” This list represents the NTSB’s top advocacy priorities for the year, improvements to safety that the NTSB believes can make the biggest difference in preventing transportation accidents and saving lives. Our San Francisco injury law firm shares the NTSB’s commitment to transportation safety and, while we advocate for injury victims in California every day, we know that prevention is always the best goal.

The following items are on the NTSB’s 2016 Most Wanted List:

Reduce Fatigue-Related Accidents: It is impossible to know exactly how many car accidents are due to drowsy driving, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration believes anywhere from 2% to 20% of yearly traffic fatalities are due to drowsy drivers. The problem also extends to other areas of the transportation field and the NTSB identified fatigue as a probable cause in 20% of the Board’s 182 major investigations between 2001 and 2012.

The Deadly Cost of Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol or Other Drugs

May 3, 2016 | Gregory J. Brod

Impaired driving, whether due to alcohol or other drugs, kills. We all know this long before we are old enough to step behind the wheel. Yet, for reasons we’ve never truly been able to understand, people continue to choose to drive drunk and drive under the influence of illicit drugs. Our Oakland drunk driving victims’ law firm works with the families left grieving because someone else made a dangerous decision that had terrible consequences — consequences that are all the more tragic because impaired driving deaths are both foreseeable and completely preventable.

Police Suspect Impaired Driving Caused Deadly Vacaville Collision

At least two families are facing the grim realities of impaired driving after a deadly crash occurred in Vacaville early Sunday morning. CBS SF reports that the driver of a Jeep SUV had pulled onto the shoulder of eastbound Interstate 80 near Lagoon Valley around 5:30 AM because she was feeling ill. After she exited her vehicle, a Honda Accord drifted into the shoulder and hit the SUV, causing the Jeep to spin and hit the driver. A woman inside the SUV died at the scene and the SUV’s driver and two other passengers were taken to a local hospital with minor to moderate injuries. The driver of the Accord had to be extracted from her vehicle by emergency crews and was also taken to the hospital where she later succumbed to her injuries. California Highway Patrol officials believe that the 28-year-old driver of the Honda vehicle was intoxicated at the time of the crash.