By admin
Jeffrey Althoff was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of alcohol was arrested yesterday when he struck and injured a man on a bicycle. The crash occurred on Balboa Avenue and the bicycle rider was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of head injuries.
The bicycle accident happened at 10:30 a.m. No further reports have been released. If you have been injured in a bicycle accident in San Diego, call now and talk to a lawyer for free. Don’t guess about your legal rights, let us fight for you.
By admin
Yesterday, Mohamed Abdirahman Husien, 82, was crossing the street as a pedestrian when he was struck and killed by a car in San Diego. Husien who was from Somalia was crossing University Avenue early Monday on his way to morning prayer at Masjid Alnasar, a mosque on Winona Avenue.
Husien was a devout Muslim and prayed several times a day. He was rushed to Scripps Mercy Hospital in nearby Hillcrest where he died from traumatic brain injuries.
Police are currently investigating the accident, but reports have indicated that the driver of the car was an unlicensed driver and did not see Husein in the dark.
By admin
On Monday, at about 3:35pm a speeding car heading northbound near Otay Mesa Road lost control and struck a pedestrian who was walking along the road. The victim, who has not yet been identified is 33 and was pinned between another parked car and was rushed to the hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries to his legs.
Pedestrian accidents in San Diego can be life altering. Do not risk losing more. Call now for a free legal consultation and protect your legal rights.
By admin
On December 2, 2008, a group of riders traveling on bicycles went down and suffered injuries on North Torrey Pines road. The cause of this crash was a damaged bike lane which has numerous pavement and cement cracks and ruts.
On January 23, 2009, another rider on a bicycle, Jon Robins suffered 13 rib fractures and a shattered clavicle when his bike caught a rut on the same path in Torrey Pines.
The City of San Diego is well aware of this problem. More than half a dozen bicycle accidents have occurred in this very lane, on this street. City crew members have laid down a temporary fix, however, this does not prevent cyclist from being thrown off of their bikes.
If you or a loved one has been involved in a bicycle accident in San Diego, call now for a free consultation of your case. Don’t allow your legal rights to be taken away.
Read our blog posts for more information on bicycle accidents in San Diego, California.
By admin
The California Vehicle Code contains laws designed to make the roads safe for pedestrians to cross the street at crosswalks. The rules that apply to a pedestrian include persons on foot, in a wheelchair, using a walker, or pushing a stroller. The laws are designed and intended to provide convenient and safe passage for pedestrians on and across all streets and highways, encourage people to walk, and reduce pedestrian fatalities and injuries.
There are two types of crosswalks: marked and unmarked. Marked crosswalks are those that are painted on the road, whether at an intersection of two roads or in the middle of a long block. A middle-of-the-block marked crosswalk may be dangerous because of a lack of a traffic sign warning of the upcoming crosswalk or no traffic signal light regulating the flow of traffic. Such a crosswalk may also be dangerous where it is not properly lighted at night. Unmarked crosswalks exist at every intersection regardless of whether or not there are traffic signal lights there, unless a posted sign states otherwise (e.g., a yellow “No Ped Xing” sign).
Generally, a driver must yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the road within any marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection. Common causes of vehicles striking pedestrians in crosswalks include driver inattentiveness, speeding so that the driver does not see the pedestrian in the crosswalk in time to stop, and trying to beat a yellow light before it turns red and making a right turn into a crosswalk just as a pedestrian steps off the curb to cross the street as the signal light changes. Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs – whether illegal or prescription – plays a major role in many crosswalk accident cases.
A driver approaching a marked or unmarked crosswalk must reduce his or her speed or stop as is necessary to protect the safety of the pedestrian. Also, a driver must yield the right-of-way to any pedestrians on the sidewalk before driving over the sidewalk, such as to enter a shopping center parking lot. An existing marked crosswalk may not be removed unless proper notice and the opportunity to be heard is given to the public at least 30 days before the scheduled date of removal. The notice of proposed removal must also be posted at the crosswalk slated for removal.
If a pedestrian crosses a street or road at any place other than a marked or unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, he or she must yield the right-of-way to all vehicles on the road that are so near as to pose an immediate hazard. However, the driver is still required to use due care for the safety of the pedestrian. In other words, a pedestrian crossing a street in the middle of a block does not become fair game for vehicles.
Note, however, that a pedestrian cannot just walk into the crosswalk and expect all cars to stop. The pedestrian must use caution (“due care”) for his or her own safety, and may not suddenly leave a curb and walk or run into the path of an oncoming vehicle that is so close as to constitute an immediate hazard. However, a pedestrian’s failure to use due care for his or her own safety in crossing the street at a marked or unmarked crosswalk does not excuse the vehicle driver from his or her own duty to drive carefully for the safety of a pedestrian within any marked or unmarked crosswalk.
If both the driver and the pedestrian are at fault, the injured pedestrian is entitled to recover that amount of damages attributable to the driver’s fault. In legal terms, when the victim is also at fault, this is known as “comparative negligence” or “comparative fault.” For instance, if the pedestrian is negligent in stepping into the crosswalk without looking, and the driver is speeding and can’t stop in time to avoid hitting the pedestrian, they will both likely be considered legally at fault. Suppose a jury determines that each of the parties was 50 percent at fault. That means that the injured pedestrian (or family of a pedestrian who was killed in the accident) is entitled to recover half of his or her damages from the driver. In a vehicle-pedestrian accident, the pedestrian is often severely injured and has medical bills in the tens of thousands of dollars. The injured victim would be entitled to be reimbursed by the driver for one-half of those damages. The injured victim would also be entitled to recover one-half of his or her other damages, such as lost wages and pain and suffering. In the case of a pedestrian who broke his or her neck (a quadriplegic) or lower back (a paraplegic), even if he or she was partly responsible for the accident, his or her monetary recovery from the negligent driver could still run in the millions.
Often, a car on a multi-lane road stops for a pedestrian at a crosswalk, the pedestrian starts walking across the street, but is hit and injured when another car flew right past the stopped car, injuring the pedestrian. The California Vehicle Code expressly provides that, when a vehicle has stopped at a marked or any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection to let a pedestrian cross the roadway, the driver of any other vehicle coming from the rear must not overtake and pass the stopped vehicle. So on multi-lane streets and highways, when one vehicle has stopped to let a pedestrian cross the street, a car traveling in the same direction in the other lane must also stop. The reason for this rule is that the car that stopped to let the pedestrian cross may result in the pedestrian being hidden from the view of other approaching cars.
Walking on, across, or next to a roadway—even if you are on the sidewalk—can be a dangerous thing. According to statistics compiled by the United States Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, approximately 5,000 pedestrians are killed and more than 78,000 pedestrians are seriously injured each year by cars, trucks, buses, and other motor vehicles. Pedestrian deaths make up about 15 percent of all highway fatalities in motor vehicle crashes and 85 percent of all non-occupant deaths. The vast majority of pedestrian fatalities involve a single motor vehicle, and, while a significant number of pedestrian fatalities occur in a crosswalk at an intersection, the majority of pedestrian fatalities occurs at places other than intersections. Pedestrian fatalities account for approximately 11 percent of motor vehicle-related fatalities each year. Over 180,000 pedestrians were killed in motor vehicle accident between 1975 and 2005. Pedestrians make up the second largest category of motor vehicle accident deaths, following only occupant deaths. On average, a pedestrian is injured in a traffic accident every 8 minutes; a pedestrian is killed in such an accident less than every two hours.
Some of the leading factors in cases of pedestrians being killed or injured by a moor vehicle include impairment due to alcohol or drugs, an inattentive driver, the driver driving too fast for the conditions, the driver’s failure to yield the right-of-way to the pedestrian, the failure of the driver to keep in the proper lane, and erratic or reckless driving. Pedestrian factors involved in single vehicle pedestrian deaths include being under the influence of alcohol, improper crossing of a roadway or intersection, walking, playing, or working in the roadway, failure to yield the right-of-way to the vehicle, darting or running into the road, not visible to approaching traffic, inattentiveness (talking on a cell phone, eating, etc.), and failure to obey traffic signs and signals.
Young children and the elderly are most at-risk for being struck by a motor vehicle. While children are more likely to be injured rather than killed in a pedestrian/motor vehicle collision, elderly pedestrians, even though they are struck less frequently than children, are more likely to die after being struck by a vehicle. The elderly account for 16 percent of all pedestrian fatalities, but only 6 percent of all pedestrian injuries.
Most pedestrian fatalities occur in urban areas at non-intersections and roadways without crosswalks. Darkness and dark-but-lighted streets play a major role in pedestrian deaths. 50 percent of pedestrian fatalities occur between the hours of 6:00 p.m. to midnight; 64 percent of pedestrian fatalities occur between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. 45 percent of pedestrian fatalities involving children under 16 years of age occur between 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. The vast majority of pedestrian fatalities from vehicle accidents occur on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, in later evening hours. Most pedestrian fatalities in single vehicle crashes occur on roads on which the posted speed limit is 30 to 39, followed by 50 and over, and then 40 to 49 miles per hour. Almost 70 percent of pedestrian fatalities are male, and the male pedestrian injury rate is about 58 percent higher than females.
Q. Does it help my case if the driver of the vehicle that hit me was in violation of a provision of the Vehicle Code designed to protect pedestrians in crosswalks or other places?
A. When a driver violates a provision of the Vehicle Code (or the Penal Code), such as failing to stop next to a car that has stopped to let a pedestrian cross or failing to stop in time to avoid hitting the pedestrian because he or she was speeding, and the pedestrian is injured or killed as a result, there is a legal (“evidentiary”) presumption that the person was negligent and was the cause of the victim’s injuries or death. The presumption of negligence for injuries or deaths resulting from a breach of a provision of the Vehicle Code (in legal terms, a “statute”), or city or county ordinance or regulation must be a cause of the victim’s injuries or death, and the victim must be a member of the class of person whom the statute was designed to protect.
Q. What type of damages am I entitled to do if I have been injured in a crosswalk or other pedestrian accident by a negligent driver?
A. As you can imagine, when a pedestrian has been struck by a vehicle driven by a careless (“negligent”) driver, the injuries are frequently catastrophic, even fatal. A 150-pound person is no match for a moving vehicle weighing several thousand pounds or more. If you survive such an accident, you may suffer broken bones, such as your arms, legs, pelvis, or ribs, or severe internal injuries. You may even break your neck (quadriplegia) or your back (paraplegia). You may also suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI) when your head hits the pavement or other surface. You may also receive severe friction burns to your body by being dragged by the car. More information on the types of damages you can recover when you or a loved one has been struck by a motorist are available at the Damages You Can Receive Information Center and, in the case of a pedestrian who has been killed, at the Wrongful Death Information Center.
Q. My child, spouse, or parent was seriously injured or killed when he or she was struck by a car while out walking. Should I hire a lawyer and how soon after the accident should I do so?
A. If you or a loved one have been injured or a loved one killed by a negligent driver while in a crosswalk or when out walking as a pedestrian, it is important that you promptly retain an experienced personal injury lawyer. The lawyer can often help arrange for proper medical care for the injured pedestrian, and will often want to visit the scene of the accident or send an investigator to the scene to inspect it and take pictures while it is in the same or a similar condition as when the pedestrian was injured. The lawyer will also want to interview witnesses to the accident while the event is still fresh in their minds. The lawyer may want to hire an expert in accident reconstruction to recreate the scene as it was at the time of the accident to prove that the driver of the car was at fault.
By admin
Last night, a suspected drunk driver was arrested when Alan Mabrey, 45, struck a woman who was crossing the street in Pacific Beach. The accident occured just after 7:00pm. The woman, who has not yet be identified is in her 20’s and suffered from very serious injuries.
San Diego crosswalk accidents continue to plague pedestrians as remain some of the most violent types of accidents. This accident is currently under investigation, but Mabrey, if found to have been intoxicated can be charged with felony DUI.
By admin
Yesterday, an 18 year-old Mountain View man, not yet identified, was struck by a car while he was obtaining items from his trunk. The crash took place on California street at around 2:40pm.
The Mountain View Police have indicated that a 53 year-old man lost control of his truck. The truck, then jumped the curb, smashed into parked cars, then drove through a fence finally ending up pinning the victim against his own car.
The 18 year-old man is in intensive care and has suffered from very serious injuries. For more information on pedestrian accidents and legal rights, visit our pedestrian accident practice area.
By admin
Walter Carl Joller, Jr., 55, was identified as the fatal victim of a bicycle accident on Tuesday morning. According to reports, Joller Jr., was on Sabre Springs Road when he was struct by a BMW that swerved into the bike lane. Police on the scene did not cite the auto driver and an investigation is still pending. The driver may be charged with midemeanor vehicular manslaughter.
Joller Jr., was a retired Navy Captain and was riding int he bike lane when the crash occurred. If you have been seriously injured in a bicycle accident, or a loved one had been killed, it is important that you speak with an attorney now. There are important steps that must be taken to preserve evidence and conduct an investigation. By delaying, you are potentially hurting your case. Call now for a free legal consultation of your bicycle accident case.
By admin
The San Diego County Medial Examiner’s Office has identifyed Leonardo Ramirez Palado as the victim of an accident who was stuck by a motorcycle and killed on Christmas Eve. Palado was believe to have been crossing the street on Miramar Road when he was struck and killed by a motorcycle who was heading westbound. The biker who has not yet been named was seriously injured in the crash.
Crosswalk and pedestrian accidents can be some of the most dangerous types of accidents of all. Anytime there is an impact of a motor vehicle and an individual, the injuries are typically are catastrophic. Speak with a San Diego pedestrian accidents attorneys for a free legal consultation of your case.
